Lent - Day Fifteen - Lording It Over The Team

Gospel
Matthew 20:17-28 ©

They will condemn the Son of Man to death

Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on the way, he took the Twelve to one side and said to them, ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the pagans to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and on the third day he will rise again.’

  Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low; and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus answered. ‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ ‘Very well,’ he said ‘you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.’

  When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

One of number, Uriah by name, came from Nairobi Kenya. He was short of stature and was appointed our leader.  It was he that got us out of bed in the morning.  He also saw to it that we were not slow in eating breakfast and then, except for the days the Master wanted to speak after breakfast, was the one who got us to break camp and load the burdens onto the camels. I will be charitable and tell you only that he was not a kindly man.  The only one he spoke to with respect was the Master.  As far as his fellow walkers, we were the slobs that would eat up every moment of daylight asleep in our beds so it was with a heavy hand that he daily got things organized.  Once we were moving, he calmed down and tried his best to be "one of the boys."  The boys treated him like camel spit. 

One day the Master came and watched how the work was going.  He saw Uriah at work and did not stop him directing the work but when it was all over he called us together.  He often did this before we broke camp for the day to pray with us.  This time He decided to share His wisdom.  He said that He appreciated how hard we worked in getting the camp broken down and how quickly and efficiently he did it.  He thanked Uriah who was beaming with pride and then the Master went on to say, "A man who has authority over another should exercise it with respect for the man and a deep abiding love for him.  He should be ready to help in any way possible and treat those under him as brothers and not as slaves for each of them are beloved of the Father and the Father serves the people on earth.  The Father has gone so far as to send His only Son to die for them.  And those of you who are workers, work as if God is watching you.  Be charitable and helpful to all of your mates and spread good cheer and teamwork and your Father in heaven will see and be pleased."

We then got going for the day and twelve hours later we ended our trek for the day and it was a new Uriah that went out of his way to be helpful, working with the weaker members of our team and no longer treating them as stubborn beasts of burden but as brothers.  The work went faster and the feeling towards Uriah changed and he was accepted as one of the gang.  We all respected him but now he and we understood what his job was supposed to be.