“And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“To be humble means to consider ourselves deserving, for our sins, of every humiliation, injury, persecution, and even blows; and to be meek means to patiently endure injustice, abuse, et cetera, and to pray for your enemies. If you wish to be truly humble, then consider yourself lower than all, worthy of being trampled on by all…” (St. John of Kronstadt, from My Life in Christ).
I have heard it said many times by many pastors, or those in positions of authority—be it workplace authority, or parental or spiritual authority: “You can’t be a door mat. Sometimes you need to stick up for yourself. You can’t let people push you around. Servant leadership is as much about leadership as it is about service.” I am sure we all sympathize. This sounds very reasonable. This feels balanced. I should be able to serve and to be respected. I should be able to serve and to have my authority heeded. Again—this sounds reasonable. And I would go so far as to say: this is the Christian ideal. This is the ideal behavior, the ideal inter-communal ethic of the Church of Jesus Christ. A servant leader leads and serves. The beneficiaries of said leadership are prompted to co-service. The Body is led and edified through an ethic of mutual service, respect, and love, as St. Paul writes, “You, my brethren, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (Gal 5:13). We all ought to wash one another’s feet (cf. John 13:14-15), although this “washing” will be in different ways and capacities, as St. Peter confirms his fellow Apostle,
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 4:10-11a).
I serve—you—here. You serve—me—there. I sing for you to the glory of God. Another makes coffee for me to the glory of God. I mop the floor for you to the glory of God. You count the offering for me to the glory of God. You get the point. Ideally, servant leaders are equipping servant followers to the end of mutual service to the glory of God.
But what about when this doesn’t happen? What about when service is met with, at best, oblivion, that is, a sort of “blind beneficence.” “Golly, how does all this stuff just get done?” Any parent of a teenager has surely experienced this nigh willful ignorance. “My gas tank is full—a Christmas miracle! My clothes are folded; my room is vacuumed—miracle upon miracle!” In most cases, ignorance is tolerable. But what about when service is met with, at worst, oblivion, and ingratitude, and abuse, and humiliation, and chastisement, and disregard, and mocking, and disrespect? What happens when the servant leader lays himself down in front of his flock and the flock gleefully traipses upon him, sticks a heel in his shoulder, kicks him in the face? Does servant leadership cease to the be the operative ethic of the Christian pastor when those whom he serves take advantage of his leadership?
What does our Lord say in today’s Gospel from St. Mark?
“Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, [… with persecutions], who shall not receive a hundredfold. … But many who are first will be last, and the last first. … [And] whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all” (Mark 10:29-31, 43b-44).
Does our Lord say, “And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all… unless they start to disrespect you… unless they start to call you names… unless they start to take advantage of you”? No, our Lord says, without qualification, “Whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.” And in case his listeners misunderstand him, he uses the most extreme rhetoric possible. In fact, his rhetoric is just that—a calculated oratory. In v. 43 of Mark, chapter 10, our Lord says, “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant [servant = diakonos].” This is the verse that is easy to quote. A diakonos, from whence we get our word “deacon,” is a servant, with qualification. He is not a slave: a bondservant or property; he is not a possession. He is a minister, surely. But he is free to minister. Maybe our Lord uttered this saying, and the disciples’ ears perked up, “Oh yeah, I can be a diakonos.” So, he pushes them further, and in v. 44, he says, “And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave [slave = doulos] of all.” Between diakonos and doulos there is overlap, but no ancient Greek would have understood doulos as anything better than “slave,” i.e., “chattel.” “Whoever of you desires to be first shall be the [property] of all.”
Beyond extreme, his sounds like abusive rhetoric. In our day and age, how else could it be understood? We like to be served. We love to be served. We live in the age of DoorDash, Uber, Amason Prime. The world comes to us. The world does our bidding. But we must remember: we are Christians. We are disciples of the “Man of Sorrows.” We are disciples of Isaiah’s “Suffering Servant” (cf. Isa 53). In today’s Gospel, Christ does not pontificate from a place of privilege. He instructs us by his example, in v. 45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Christ came teaching, and healing, and serving. What did his flock, his people, do to him? From St. Luke’s Gospel, after Jesus is betrayed by Judas, after Jesus is denied by Peter,
“Now the men who held Jesus mocked him and beat him. And having blindfolded Him, they struck him on the face and asked him, saying, ‘Prophesy! Who is the one who struck you?’ And many other things they blasphemously spoke against him” (Luke 22:63-65).
Can you also recall the stichera at the Antiphons from Holy Friday Matins?
“O my people, what have I done to you? And what do you give me in return? For the manna, you give me gall, and vinegar for water from the rock; for my love you nail me to the cross” (Holy Friday Matins, Antiphon 12, verse 1).
Jesus preaches, and in return, he is mocked. Jesus heals, and in return, he is struck on the face. Jesus serves, and in return, he is nailed to the cross—sentenced to death. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16). The world persecuted and crucified our Lord. We should not expect any less.
I emphasize this again, brethren: we might expect persecutions from the world, but this is not to be the inter-ecclesial norm. To quote the brother of our Lord, “Out of the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. These things, brethren, ought not to be this way” (Jas 3:10). But sometimes, the difference between “ought” and “are” is palpable. Christian should not slander Christian. Christian should not abuse Christian. But it happens. When a servant leader is abused does it nullify his vocation? When a servant leader is abused does it undermine his ordination? No. It just makes his service much more difficult—much more painful. How then does a servant leader continue to serve? By the grace of God, and with great love and humility.
Today, we commemorate St. Jacob (Netsvetov), Enlightener of the Peoples of Alaska. He is one in a long line of Alaskan saints—Alaskan missionaries and servant leaders who fulfilled the words of Christ:
“Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers… or wife or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold in this time… and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).
I am especially reminded of St. Jacob’s compatriot, who reposed six years before his (St. Jacob’s) birth, the Protomartyr of America, St. Juvenaly. No greater example of a servant leader—save our Lord—can we have than St. Juvenaly. While evangelizing and educating the Quinhagak (kwinÇhak) natives he was murdered. Over and above being trampled on, over and above being abused and slandered, over and above being “used as a door mat,” St. Juvenaly was murdered for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those whom he faithfully served and loved murdered him.
Let us not abuse one another, brethren. Let us not use the liberty of the gospel as an excuse for callous behavior. But also—if we are called to be servant leaders of the flock of Christ—let us not operate under the assumption that it will not be without great difficulty and sacrifice, possibly, even unto death. Let us serve one another in love knowing that our reward will be great in Heaven (Matt 5:12, Luke 6:23).
To be humble means to consider ourselves deserving, for our sins, of every humiliation, injury, persecution, and even blows; and to be meek means to patiently endure injustice, [and] abuse, … and to pray for your enemies. If you wish to be truly humble, then consider yourself lower than all, worthy of being trampled on by all…” (St. John of Kronstadt, from My Life in Christ).
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!