Servant First

“Lord, should we order down fire from heaven to burn them up?" 

Luke 9:54

Wasn't this presumptuous of James and John that they could actually order a holocaust to destroy the Samaritan village which ignored Jesus? Jesus rebuked them for their audacity. 

I wonder how many times we wished we could call down fire from heaven to destroy people who have insulted us, made us angry, or on a bigger scale, are unfit to hold public office? But what did Jesus do? He reprimanded them and set off for another town. How many of us, if we had absolute power would be able to walk away from using it against our enemies and detractors? We read of dictators and despots who  get mad from the "hubris syndrome" of power. 

In Deuteronomy 28, we find many curses against those who do not obey God and insist on doing things their own way: madness, defeat, failure, confusion. "You will become a thing of horror to all." (verse 27) 

Humility, kindness, gentleness. We lose these if we are not careful. The day PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi received news that she was appointed to the company's board, she arrived home bursting with the 'huge' news. Her mother asked her whether she could go out and buy some milk before she told her "great news". Fuming, Nooyi got the milk, and when she returned, her mother reminded her, "Leave your crown out in the garage." 

We do need an imaginary crown, but only to remind us of how loved we are, how unique and precious we are to God. We are His sons and daughters, and that is why we need to learn how to be like His only begotten Son, who puts others first, who was an obedient servant first and foremost.