Greatness

By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy

“If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; v44and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of all. v45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”
Mark 10:35-45
And the show begins. The deadline for filing of certificates of candidacy (CoCs) for the coming midterm election ended last Wednesday (October 17, 2018). If we base our appreciation on the characters of those who filed their candidacy for public office, indeed, the show has begun. One news print bannered, “Star-studded election” revealing a swarm of new and come-backing show business personalities aiming for a position from the lowest in the ladder Barangay Chairman to the highest authority in the Senate. And there are those claiming to be super humans – one even claiming to be Jesus Christ and another with a ‘third eye’. Well of course, the traditional politicians notorious for their empty promises of ‘vote for me and I will do this and that for you…’ dominate the filers of CoCs. These lunatics are poisoned with position, prestige and power. But of course for all intents and purposes there are exemptions of those seeking to be elected next year; sincere to lead honestly and serve faithfully. But the bottom line here is about greatness.
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“Magagawa ko ang lahat, kahit kanino.” This line of Edu Manzano acting as de facto President in the evening tele-serye “FPJ: Ang Probinsyano” captures the gist of the poison pills of position, prestige, and power. As a scheming power hungry head of state, his character exemplifies what these can do – even to the extent of elimination of his close confederates if they will go against his plans. The character portrayed here sees greatness in having full grasp of power over his subjects.
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Every normal person wants to be great in his or her own way. Every society and culture has its own norm or measure of greatness. Normally, greatness is appreciated in a matter of leadership authority or high personal achievement. Social norms measure greatness in position, office, leadership power, influence, academic degrees, fame and fortune (money), great accomplishments or success. But all of these were overturned by Jesus’ set of standard to be great.
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The gospel story this Sunday tells us about two brothers seeking greatness by asking the choice position: “When you sit on your throne in your glorious Kingdom, we want you to let us sit with you, one at your right and one at your left.” (Mark 10:37) And Jesus told them this, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. v43This, however, is not the way it is among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; v44and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of all. v45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.” (Mark 10:42-45) Jesus is telling them and us that true greatness is a matter of inward spirit and heart. It is seen in the person who expresses his or her love for Christ, and a willingness to be seen as the least important in God’s kingdom.
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Kenneth L Carder in his book, “The Call to Downward Mobility, The Christian Century” wrote, “Everybody wants to be somebody. Since the dawn of history, human beings have been trying to move up the scale of importance. The clincher used by the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve was “when you eat of [the tree of good and evil], your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). Henri Nouwen says that ever since then, we have been tempted to replace love with power. “The long painful history of the church (and society) is the history of people ever and again tempted to choose power over love, control over the cross, being a leader over being led.” This is a theme running through the Bible, through human history and through our own psyche.
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True greatness requires that we become great in the right areas. We need to be great in faith, humility, godly character, wisdom, self-control, patience and love. It is to have the greatness of Christ, who loved “righteousness and hated wickedness” And this reminds me of a story which I cited in this column many years back which we can relate to our aims to be great in this life.
Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty. “Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”
Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”
After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of
woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter, “and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
At the second tree the woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree, I’ll take this one,” and he cut it down. When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.
Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second
tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said “Peace” and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.
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The moral of this story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way (towards greatness), always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don’t always know what God’s plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.**