A
few summers ago I was visiting a friend in San Antonio. He was teaching at an
Episcopal School there. A parent of one of his students invited us to go see
the Spurs take on the Utah Jazz in an NBA Playoff game. That parent was a
well-known lawyer in the city, so the accommodations were outstanding—free wings,
burgers, and beers! How could this get any better? Then, at halftime our host asked
if we wanted to sit courtside for the second half. WHAT? Things couldn’t get much
better!
The
game was already out of hand by the time we sat down in our seats, as the Jazz
had no chance. Soon the second string players for both teams would enter the
game. But, for a few moments I watched Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili
play together. I will never forget seeing their pure, athletic greatness up
close. Even when they left, the bench warmers were so quick, physical, and massive!
These players were great and they
made their opponents know it. The game turned out to be quite a blowout. But,
what I really took with me from that night was being able to witness someone
who is one of the best in the world at something do that very thing.
Our
world recognizes this sort of greatness all the time. People pay lots of money
to see the greatest athletes, comedians, and singers, to eat at the best
restaurants, to watch the most acclaimed plays, to visit the most exquisite art
galleries, and to take in the most renowned museums. With the advent of the
internet we have list after list of the greatest this, that, or the other.
Sometimes it feels like people create these lists just so their town,
restaurant, or business is on it! We love greatness and we want to be part of
it. Humans even seem to be hard wired to want to be great. And, maybe this is a
worthwhile thing to want to be great, but I am not sure that it is what Jesus
envisioned when he walked the earth.
Christ
Jesus walked and talked, preached and taught, lived and died the way of true
greatness. And, many of his apostles and saints in their own age have followed
after him. But, they may not have figured out Jesus’ counter-cultural, anti-instinctual
path of greatness right away. Take James the Great for example, whom we
celebrate in the Church today.
Depending
upon the Gospel account writer, either the mother of James and John, James and
John themselves, or all of the disciples were arguing with Jesus over who was
the greatest. In the story we heard this evening the mother of James and John
knelt at Jesus’ feet and begged that her sons might have the honored places in
Jesus’ Kingdom. James and John fought for those honored spots in the way that
Mark told the tale. And, all of the disciples had a free-for-all over who was
the greatest in Luke’s version. Regardless of how it happened, this fighting
over “greatness” happened. Jesus though was not interested in that way of
thinking.
Seizing
on this opportunity, Jesus pointed to Gentile rulers and tyrants who lorded
their position over one another. Yes, sort of like the blowouts in basketball
or a self-congratulating award recipient or a restaurant who flaunts all its
prizes. Jesus though pointed out another path. A way that was not about
comparisons and competition, but rather seeking to serve others.
We
often talk about service in the Church, and that is all well and good. However,
what do we really mean by this? The type of service that Jesus called his
followers into was not like simply being a friend to someone in need, but
rather it was taking the lowest possible position. Jesus was calling his
followers to be like those in his own day who had no autonomy, no choice, and
no agency.
One
of those who heard Jesus was one of the children whose mother was begging for a
prized spot in the first place. James the Great may not have thought much of
what Jesus first said that day long ago. However, later something happened.
Whether it was Jesus’ words finally sinking into his soul or whether it was
seeing Christ Crucified or whether it was meeting the Resurrected Jesus,
something in James changed. For he soon sought not the great place of honor or
the promotion of Jesus to a place of worldly power, but rather that lowliest of
places.
James
is the only original apostle whose death is recorded in the New Testament. He
was willing to promote the message of Jesus’ Good News that God is not
interested in self-aggrandizement, worldly greatness, or lording something over
someone else. Rather, James realized what Jesus came to do in his life, death,
and resurrection. Namely to show us the true way of greatness—the way of love.
To be great be a servant, following after the example of Christ that James did.
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