Excert taken from The Drum Major Instinct. Sermon delivered by Martin Luther King
"...But that isn't what Jesus did; he did something altogether different. He said in substance, "Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be." But he reordered priorities. And he said, "Yes, don't give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That is what I want you to do.'
And he transformed the situation by giving a new definition of greatness. And you know how he said it? He said, "Now brethren, I can't give you greatness. And really, I can't make you first." This is what Jesus said to James and John. "You must earn it. True greatness comes not by favoritism, but by fitness. And the right hand and the left are not mine to give, they belong to those who are prepared.'
And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."
This weekend, some of the greatest minds and hearts in urban ministry convereged at Christ Tabernacle for RELOAD NYC - a one day training for leaders. Whenever I see great leaders (in their own right) willing to 'serve' in whatever capacity they're asked in order to accomplish a larger than life purpose and the task doesn't necessarily revolve around them - it is the most powerful example to me as an emerging leader in the game. Among many other things this weekend,(I'll blog later) I will cherish my rare moments with Larry Acosta, Harvey Carey, Bo Boshers and Dr. AR Bernard! Gentlemen, thanks for a glimpse of real greatness - in praxis!
Ralph
