St. Bartholomew’s Day (observed on August 23, 2009

St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia

The Rev. Haywood Spangler, Ph.D.

Luke 22:24-30

It seems the creating lists of “top” things has become a bit of a national pass-time. Often, what passes for content on television are shows dedicated to lists: top 10 scariest places; top 10 sexiest beaches; a celebrity’s top 10 favorite restaurants. Magazines and internet sites feature topics “top 10 ways to tell is your significant other is cheating,” or “top 10 things to tell your boss to avoid being fired.”

I suppose lists have become popular because they provide media content that requires little research or thought, and because they are good marketing tools. Top 10 lists often seem to be a means of product placement.

I’m opening by making some editorial remarks about our cultural tendency to “list” because Luke describes a scene in which the disciples seem to be asking for a top 10, or more accurately a top 12 list – which of them will be the greatest? Jesus does not give them a direct answer. He doesn’t name the greatest one.

I would like to offer some reflections on the answer Jesus does give. While Jesus does not seem to criticize the existence of hierarchical categories such as “greatest” and “leaders,” Jesus does seem to criticize a preoccupation with status, which may often be expressed by creating rankings. Making this criticism, Jesus suggests that attaining the status of leader or great person does not come through a focus on gaining status, but through acting as a servant to other. I would like to conclude that Jesus’ insistence on service over ranking bears on the way each of us individually exercises the power we each have.

The scene we hear Luke describe takes place as part of the Last Supper. Jesus has just suggested that one of the disciples will betray him. And, this leads the disciples to speculate about whom, in contrast to the traitor, will be the greatest. An easy, and I think common, interpretation of this passage is to say that Jesus criticizes hierarchy. That the server shall be the leader somehow must mean that unequally distributed power or authority is per se problematic. However, I do not think this is exactly the point Luke’s Jesus is getting at.

In his answer to the disciples’ question, “which of us will be regarded as the greatest,” Jesus states “the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.” In saying this, Jesus still retains the categories of greatness and leadership, which imply hierarchy. So, he doesn’t seem to attack the disciples’ belief that there are distinctions and gradations among themselves and other people, or that some people – leaders – will have more authority or power than others.

Rather, Jesus indicates that the qualities that constitute greatness and leadership are different from what the apostles might expect. The one with true leadership ability is the one who serves the others, not the one who seeks to dominate or control the others (as the Romans, or Gentiles, dominated and controlled the Jews). Jesus holds himself up as the prime example of the great one, the leader, who serves.

In giving the disciples this answer, Jesus does not seem to criticize a hierarchical distribution of power or authority, but he does seem to criticize the disciples’ preoccupation with their individual status. The Greek word translated as “dispute” in the first verse, “a dispute arose among the apostles,” literally mean “love of conflict.” So, the disciples seem to be enjoying trying to one-up each other. And this interest in one-upping distracts them from what really constitutes leadership. Jesus corrects them for loving to one-up each other. Or, put another way, Jesus criticizes their interest in ranking or creating a top-12 list. In this gospel passage, power or authority is distributed based on the ability to serve others, not the ability to one-up others.

Well, then, what does Jesus’ answer to the disciples mean for us. One commentary I read states that Jesus’ words mean that we should operate on the basis of servant-hood rather than authority. I don’t think this is actually what Jesus’ words mean for us. Because, as I have suggested, I don’t think Jesus is attacking the existence of authority or hierarchy; Jesus is not contrasting having power with the ability to serve others. Jesus contrasts the ability to serve others and a preoccupation with status.

Since most of us inhabit one or more hierarchies – the Episcopal Church, a corporation, a school, a public agency – I think it is important to say that servant-hood is possible within a hierarchy, or a system in which power and authority are not equally shared by all members. Inhabiting hierarchies does not necessarily prevent us from helping each other in the way Jesus teaches. Within any hierarchy, every member has some power with which to help other people.

However, it is equally important to say that tendency to rank or list is incompatible with servant-hood. Top-10 lists are a trivial example of the desire to rank. But, ranking people by neighborhood, or income level, or school, or nationality - to name a few ranking systems - does impeded our ability to serve other people, or to work for their good rather than our own. Jesus’ remarks suggest that that there are validly distinctions among people. That some will be leaders implies that some will be followers. That some will be greatest implies that others will be very good, or pretty good. The problem, then, isn’t distinctions. The problem is becoming preoccupied with what the distinctions may mean for our own status. Jesus calls us away from this preoccupation, callus to use whatever degree of power or authority we each have actually to help others.