Our world has its own metrics for the measurement of success. The 1st Reading speaks to our current standard of achievement. Sometimes we experience this during a funeral. In fact, there is a demand for the eulogy in some services. There appears to be a need to sing the praises of the deceased in order that he or she be remembered for the things that they have done. But the Book of Wisdom reminds us that the greatest memorial is not a mausoleum. It is to be remembered by God.
If anything, we should behave in a manner that God can celebrate us. Thus, the Gospel also challenge our thinking when Jesus holds up what He considers to be the standard of success. The disciples wanted to stand tall in society. In a way, success for them is achievement-centred. But for Jesus success is not ambition but rather servitude.
What is significant is that Jesus took the example of a child to be the standard of our service. A child is powerless because he or she stands outside the legal framework that offers him or her protection. The servanthood that Christ wants His disciples to know is that we serve those who are the most unwanted in society.
There is basically no comparable reward for the work we do. The remembrance by the Lord is the reward we should work for. St James warns us against the ambitions of the world. The desire to be successful in the measurement of the world frequently leads to jealousy and selfishness. It makes sense that all our advertisements are targeted towards massaging our envy. “You need that house, this car, those travels, and etc., if you want to be counted”. There is a cafe nearby here and it is popular. The cars parked outside clog the road leading to Jalan Serampang. The food? No comments but it is the location, it is the place to be seen at.
Christ is often seen in places where those in the know will not frequent. He came to serve rather than be served. Within this framework of ministry, St Peter asked a perfectly valid question. What is in it for us who serve? We happens to us if we have poured out our lives for others and have nothing left for ourselves. It is not selfishness but rather a question of trust. Nobody wants to disappear. Nonentity is not a great option. Everyone longs to be loved. Everyone wants to be complete rather than dissipated.
Maybe it is the blindness of the modern world to believe that one’s existence or presence is predicated upon one’s self-definition. It means that “I alone” determine who I am. It is an amnesia which fails to remember that one’s personhood is dependent rather on God. “I am” only because “God is”. It is not “I am” and only then can I serve but rather “I am because I serve”.
This is important for the fear of losing oneself is real. For those who have placed their trust in God, they can never be lost. It is a wisdom that exudes peace since we know that we can never be lost because of God.
It is this personhood that is built upon God that allows one to spend an entire life in servitude. Two examples in the last two hundred years are helpful. St Damian of Molokai. After a while, he realised that the only way to continue serving Christ in the poor was to become a leper himself. St Teresa of Calcutta who left the cushy comfort of her convent in order to embrace Christ hungry and poor. In fact, over a period of years, her life was markedly dark and devoid of consolation from God. Yet, she continued to put her trust in the Lord as she continued to serve even when not feeling it.
Another word for this service is to lay down one’s life. As Jesus Himself said, “Those who want to save their life will lose it. Those who lose their life for my sake will keep it for eternity”. It is another way of telling us that we risk losing ourselves if we try to protect ourselves too much. It is when we are not afraid to lose ourselves that God will remember us. That is a way for us to dare to lay down our life.
The psalmist says, “Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler”. You may have heard of this. We can transfer this to the movies. It is an accept fact that history is written by the victors. I grew up on a diet of British war comics. Remember those barbershop comics that detailed the exploits of the British Army during WWII? What about the stories of the losers? The Germans. Here, in our context, the Japanese.
There is a movie called “Taking Chance” starring Kevin Bacon. Quite a boring movie but it centres around accompanying the remains of a Marine fatally wounded, from the airbase to his hometown, to be buried. For that one story of a soldier who died, imagine the thousands of forgotten Iraqis whose bodies lay unclaimed and rotting in the sun or buried in Mass graves. Who remembers them? For everyone memorialised in Arlington national cemetery, there must be many who are unremembered. They only have God.
It is a kind of certainty knowing that it is dependence on God who gives us the sense of who we are. It is the same for who unloved souls, in the aborted and in the unwanted embryos stored in many of the IVF fertility facilities.
Likewise, for every saint who is officially canonised, there must be countless martyrs and confessors who are not known to us but known to God. If you can imagine a candle. Its purpose is only to be burnt. It is best only when it is burnt. Likewise a Christian. He or she is best a servant and the basis is Christ. For if God can care for the uncared for, perhaps we can find strength to embrace the Cross or even be forgotten. Our service is often a Cross. For those who find it burdensome, it will weigh down like a ton. But if we are filled with love, then the service, even if it be a Cross will also be a joy.
