"The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted" Matthew 23:35
A thought-provoking question, "Do you wish to be great?" I can say with one hundred percent certainty – absolutely not! The very question presents a paradigm I am not interested in using as a litmus test of the quality of my life. Let me try to explain myself. Who quantifies the attributes of greatness? Is it culture, inner drive, resources poured into your life, popularity, money, or even social status? This is how the world views greatness, and yet it fails to reveal anything remotely close to a positive definition of what greatness might be.
In the Gospel of Mark, there is a story that I have learned to love that is all about greatness. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus with a question, "Teacher, Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory" (Bible Gateway passage: Mark 10:35-37 - New International Version, 2022) In other words, they want greatness and power.
Indeed, the world runs on power and thinks it is greatness. We applaud the person who is prettiest, most affluent, funniest, strongest, and most intelligent. We build monuments to people we have never known and quote people long dead as if their grasp of power in life was the end-all and do all of life. When Jesus said, "The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 23:11-12 - New International Version, 2024), his intention was to blow the world's concept of greatness to kingdom come.
Here is a better picture of greatness. We waited in the dark, quietly watching for the first light to be turned on, knowing full well we would distinguish nearly all light in this mother's life before the day was over. We had been awake since midnight, in our location since 5 am. We didn't talk much. The few words spoken were directed entirely at the task ahead of us. Two men, a Master Sergeant, and a Chaplain, sat waiting in their dress blues to hurl a family into darkness as gently and professionally as possible.
At about 6 am, a light turned on in what appeared to be the kitchen.
I turned to my partner in this dark task and said, "Are we ready?"
He replied, "I think so, Chaplain."
We prayed a short prayer and walked the longest twenty yards one is ever asked to walk. Finally, we rang the doorbell, and a woman in her fifties came to the door. I saw the life drain out of her in a moment as our dress blues came into focus. She paused before opening the door, and when she finally did, her words were simple…
"Please don't tell me until I am ready."
She sat us at her dining room table and insisted we have a cup of coffee. When she joined us at the table, she bowed her head for the longest time and then finally, softly, hesitantly said,
"I'm ready."
"Ma'am, the Secretary of the Army has asked me to express his deep regret that your son, SGT John Anderson, died near Kabul, Afghanistan, on January 12th. At approx. 2130 Afghan Time, your son's convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device that detonated near his vehicle, killing him instantly. The Secretary of the Army wished to express his deepest sympathy to you and your family."
Rarely does one have the privilege to witness such dignity as exhibited by this beautiful soul. I will not soon forget the steel-like strength she showed that morning as she began to make the phone calls of sorrow. I will not soon forget the look of compassion & empathy as she cared for us, saying, "I cannot imagine how hard it is to do this job." She thanked us repeatedly for our service, hugged us, and cared for us—dignity, character, strength, in a word, GREATNESS.
So, no, I do not wish to be great; I wish only to be faithful to the task and role assigned to me by whom I have accepted as my Lord. If there is some semblance of greatness in this posture, to God be the Glory.
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