What is the hardest spot to fill in the orchestra? I’m told it is second fiddle. Something inside each of us longs to be first. This owes in part to our natural competitiveness. Perhaps, though, more is at stake. Some of us need to be first because it validates our existence. If we are best at something, then we must be worth something.
Jesus’ disciples struggled with this. On the one hand Peter has just made the great confession. He must have felt like he was first. Then he fell off his high horse when Jesus compared him to Satan. Later James and John would get their mother to ask for the positions of highest honor in the kingdom. They must have known Jesus did not agree with this competition. They likely whispered on the way. Alas, Jesus’ hearing was exceedingly good. He asked. They stayed silent. He helped, “The way up is the way down. To be great you must serve the others."a
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Everyone can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." Are our hearts full of grace? Are our souls generated by love? How will we serve today?
