You’ve Got to Serve Somebody

Yesterday, the Gospel reading was the account of the disciples James and John, the Zebedee boys (as they were described by the preacher) asking Jesus for a favour.  They want Jesus, "to do for us whatever we ask.” Jesus certainly was not going to be taken in by that ploy i.e. answering an open request without knowing what was being asked of him.  In this case, it was a blatant request by the boys to have places of honour in God’s kingdom.

Here we have a great example of ego run a muck.  The Zebedee boys think that they should be in positions of honour when God’s kingdom is established.  After all, hadn’t they been his loyal disciples, ones in his inner circle.  Shouldn’t their loyalty and sacrifice be rewarded?  They had earned it.  They deserve it.  They wanted to get their just rewards.  And why not you might ask.

I have called the ego God’s greatest gift as well as man’s greatest challenge or perhaps curse.  The ego believes it is and should be in charge.  It naturally believes is the centre of its universe and will do just about anything to confirm and maintain that position.  

This desire for control and to be in charge has led to no end of trouble for human kind throughout history.  Of course, we could not be conscious beings who are aware of our place in the world and our relationship to all of God’s creation and to God without the ego.  So, it is not a question of eliminating the ego.  It is a question, as least for Christians, of knowing that the ego should serve God and not the other way around.

In effect, are we going to serve God or are we going to behave as if God and everything else should serve us.  If we try and have the world serve us things are going to go badly awry and we will serve other things and believe we are serving ourselves.   The song by Bob Dylan sums it up nicely:

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world

You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
Indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody

As Bob says, we’re going to have to serve somebody or some thing.  The choice is up to us.  It ain’t an easy choice (as I’m sure somebody must have sung sometime) but it is a choice thanks to free will. 

Blessings on you journey and on the choices you make.