The Humble Servant

As competitive people, we always want to be the best.  We always want to be better - at least better than the people around us.  It's a good thing, but may get out of hand from time to time.


A man named Jim Collins did a study a few years ago about what makes a great company.  He specifically was wondering how companies that are good move to being great.  Therefore he wrote a book with that title.

There seemed to be qualities and behaviors of the leaders that made them different, and he categorized leaders into five different levels.  Most of the descriptions made sense, but the top leadership - Level Five Leaders - were different from the other four leaders.  Level five leaders had a quality that was rarely found in leaders, and in general it was rarely found in people at all.  Jim Collins was surprised to find that beyond the determination, working hard, good communication, creative thinking, and other leadership qualities, the quality that can make a leader great is humility.

Jesus sometimes taught this concept.  "The greatest among you will be your servant." Matthew 23:11  But more than that, he lived it.

In Matthew chapter twelve, Jesus is described as a a servant, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy from 800 years earlier.  Jesus was a leader who was gentle with the weak (not breaking a bruised reed or snuffing out a smoldering wick) with God's Spirit on him, and people would put their hope in him.  This was the first

Isaiah 42:1-4
 ¹ “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, 
   my chosen one in whom I delight; 
I will put my Spirit on him, 
   and he will bring justice to the nations. 
² He will not shout or cry out, 
   or raise his voice in the streets. 
³ A bruised reed he will not break, 
   and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. 
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 
 ⁴ he will not falter or be discouraged 
till he establishes justice on earth. 
   In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

This was the first of a few songs in Isaiah know as the Suffering Servant Songs.  They were descriptions of the coming Messiah, the one who was going to make everything right again.  The servant would also display God's splendor in Isaiah 49, would not be disgraced even though people beat and mock him in Isaiah 50, would lighten the nations with his justice in Isaiah 51, and would be pierced for our transgressions in Isaiah 53.  Jesus was a great leader, and his leadership was marked with humility.  It was nice that Jim Collins reminded us of this - and nice that the Spirit is reminding us of this every day.

This Suffering Servant was able to be great, though not in the world's eyes.  In the humility of the cross, he was victorious.  In humility, he shares that victory with us.

1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thoughts about the Rest of God

The gift that Jesus offers at the end of Matthew chapter 11 might not be what you expect, but it might be something that you really long for.  He offers peace, comfort, rest - a break from what we are trying to do all the time.

We are busy people.  We are busy trying to do our work, busy trying to play sports or get our children to sports, busy trying to find new and fun activities, busy trying to keep up our appearance, busy trying to stay busy.  There are very few times we rest.

The busy-ness translates to our spiritual life, too.  When we are so busy with everything else we are trying to do, we find ourselves trying to fit in "Jesus Time," as well.  And sometimes it is a lot of work.  Is God happy with me?  Am I doing enough?  Do I need to be doing something more, something better?

The popular teachers of Jesus' time would pile up instructions for their followers, or disciples to follow.  If you want to follow a rabbi, you would need to take up his 'yoke.'  A 'yoke' was the body of teachings the rabbi would give to his followers.  Just like a two oxen would wear the same yoke while plowing a field, a rabbi and his disciple would be bound together in going the same direction.

Jesus gives a different description of what his yoke is like.

^{Matthew 11:28-30}

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus had a message that is different than other religious leaders.  (Even today many Christian pastors wear a stole over their robes to symbolize the yoke of Jesus.)  The point was not what his followers needed to do, as much as a reliance on what he would do for them.  The message is still different than other religious leaders.

Almost every religion is about what a person needs to do.  There are requirements for offing sacrifices to the Hindu gods.  There are steps to becoming a more enlightened Buddhist.  There are five pillars of actions that accompany a good Muslim.  The Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons have specific activities they need to accomplish to please God.  Christians are even tempted to fall into that trap of 'doing' enough to make God happy, but Jesus' message is different.  It's about what Jesus has done.  It's about the cross.

Jesus is reaching out to us and offering us rest for our busy lives.  He wants to give us what we really need.