Proper 26 / Pentecost 24 / OT 31
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
-- Matthew 23:11-12
There is a disturbing contemporary ring to this passage as churches and church leaders strive to ascend the ladder of popularity, success, and power. Jesus saw the accommodations that religious leaders were tempted to make to the class stratification of society as a contradiction to the egalitarian relationships called for in the law of Moses. The ruling elite, of which the Pharisees were a part, disparaged manual work of all types and insisted that the lower class perform it for them. Status in agrarian societies was displayed in very clear modes of dress. Religious symbols like phylacteries (Deuteronomy 6:8-9) and long, long tassels (Numbers 15:38-39) became a luxury that working people could not afford but were clear symbols of the elite class. Places of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, proper salutations in the market place, and being called rabbi by others were all ways that lower-class people gave deference to their betters
In contrast, Jesus called on his disciples to reject such inequality and to live in equality with each other. One should challenge such inequality in society by responding to the needs of others as if you were a servant because you recognize that God intends to upset the structure of society that places some people in exalted classes above others. The increasing development of a service class in our own society and the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor provide uncomfortable challenges to our contemporary church. The expansion of the megachurch movement will also create clear challenges to clergy in the areas of status and influence. The consumer mentality of our society presses churches to emulate rather than challenge the values of our society. It is not an easy gospel to proclaim. This gospel calls on clergy and members to seek their satisfaction in serving others and to resist the temptation to exalt oneself or one's church at the expense of others. Try to picture the impact of all our individual churches seeing themselves as part of the one body of Christ and seeking as servants of that body to build up the other parts of the body.
-- Matthew 23:11-12
There is a disturbing contemporary ring to this passage as churches and church leaders strive to ascend the ladder of popularity, success, and power. Jesus saw the accommodations that religious leaders were tempted to make to the class stratification of society as a contradiction to the egalitarian relationships called for in the law of Moses. The ruling elite, of which the Pharisees were a part, disparaged manual work of all types and insisted that the lower class perform it for them. Status in agrarian societies was displayed in very clear modes of dress. Religious symbols like phylacteries (Deuteronomy 6:8-9) and long, long tassels (Numbers 15:38-39) became a luxury that working people could not afford but were clear symbols of the elite class. Places of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, proper salutations in the market place, and being called rabbi by others were all ways that lower-class people gave deference to their betters
In contrast, Jesus called on his disciples to reject such inequality and to live in equality with each other. One should challenge such inequality in society by responding to the needs of others as if you were a servant because you recognize that God intends to upset the structure of society that places some people in exalted classes above others. The increasing development of a service class in our own society and the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor provide uncomfortable challenges to our contemporary church. The expansion of the megachurch movement will also create clear challenges to clergy in the areas of status and influence. The consumer mentality of our society presses churches to emulate rather than challenge the values of our society. It is not an easy gospel to proclaim. This gospel calls on clergy and members to seek their satisfaction in serving others and to resist the temptation to exalt oneself or one's church at the expense of others. Try to picture the impact of all our individual churches seeing themselves as part of the one body of Christ and seeking as servants of that body to build up the other parts of the body.
