"Servants are not greater than their master."--Jesus Christ of Nazareth

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and we started on the journey with Christ to the cross.  We were reminded that "from dust you came and to dust you shall return; repent and believe the gospel."  The community of faith came together again to confess sins, acknowledge our dependence on the true God, and to give thanks for God's great mercy and grace that he gave us by incorporating us into his household.  Since we are incorporated into the Royal Family, shouldn't we look like them?

Over the last couple of weeks I have been reading from the gospel of St. Luke.  As I have been making my way through this gospel, I have continued to read the stories that I have heard for many years now.  Stories about Jesus' birth, stories about John the Baptizer, and stories about Jesus interaction with his disciples.  As I go through these stories my faith is renewed, my heart ponders the teachings of our Lord, and my mind tries to wrap itself around the Kingdom of God.  However, this morning the Holy Spirit showed me something that I have never seen before. 

Now maybe I'm jumping ahead a little bit here, but this is something that the Spirit has laid upon my heart after I read St. Luke 12 this morning.  Here is the passage, "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them." (12:35-37).

When I read this section from the gospel, it seemed as though I was reading these words for the first time.  I honestly do not remember ever reading this section of Scripture.  I am certain I have, but the words failed to penetrate into my heart and transform me into the image of Christ.  But not this morning.  As soon as I read these words, my "heart was strangely warmed" and my mind began to anticipate the truth of the gospel once again.  I flipped over to the gospel according to St. John and I re-read chapter 13.  Jesus lived out this parable!  He fastened his belt and served his slaves.

Now I realize that we still have several weeks before we get to Maundy Thursday.  We still have a long road ahead of us before we take that final trek down the Via Dolorosa.  We still have much to learn along this Lenten voyage and yet I do believe that we can take something away from St. Luke's parable.  We know that the church will remember Jesus washing his disciples feet in a few weeks and we have his story of the master who serves his slaves as a preamble to that.  My prayer is that as we journey this road to the cross that we will be given the heart of the Master and that we will serve.  I hope that the inversion of the Kingdom of God in this worldly kingdom will become evident in our lives and in the lives of the communities in which we find ourselves.  I pray that we remain alert and do those things we see our Lord doing.


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