24 A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25But he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. 27For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
When I was in seminary we had a professor in church history who on the first day of class each semester would pull out one of those large hanging maps of the world and then turned it upside down. Her intent was obvious. She wanted us to see the world differently. She wanted us to look at church history from another perspective -- an upside down perspective.
In today's Lesson Jesus turns the world upside down. He tells his disciples they need to think from another perspective. They need to see the world from another perspective. Specifically, they need to look on whatever they think it means to be "great" with totally new perspective. They need to turn it upside down. For the one who is great, Jesus told them, is not the one who rules from the top but the one who serves from the bottom.
Here's an experiment for today. What if we were to go through the day thinking about all those who serve us as great, as people on top, as royalty. How would we treat the man who shines our shoes? How would we talk to the woman who takes our breakfast order? How much time would we give to the blue collar guys on the ladder in the hall or the ladies making the copies for the staff meeting?
What would it be like to turn our world upside down today?
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