Back-to-school season is interesting, especially since I'm no longer in it. :)
I DO remember that one of the BIGGEST DEALS EVER in elementary school was where the teacher placed my desk. I was a good kid and a good student...which meant that if the teachers were strategic (like many are), I would usually end up sitting next to some loud, obnoxious and smelly boy who thought bodily functions were absolutely hilarious and ate boogers in class. Ugh!!! (Note to self: Find that kid on Facebook...I bet he's totally hot and hilarious now...which would be my luck.)
"Where you sit is important," was a lesson I learned back then.
I also learned that lesson in junior high and high school. I think most schools resemble cheesy teen movies in the fact that each one has the holy grail "Cool Table" in the cafeteria and the "Oh My Gosh I Never Want to Be Seen Here" table as well.
Even now, whenever my friends and family members go out to concerts, sporting events or comedy shows, getting REALLY good seats holds some prestige--like the time when my Dad sat in the owner's box at a Mariners' game. I heard things like, "You. Don't. UnderSTAND! It was unbelievable!!! They had a buffet table and so-and-so was there and I talked with him and...!"
As human beings, many of us learn the importance of getting a good seat. Even the disciples struggled with it. In today's passage, they fought over the VIP section in heaven (well, that's my way to say it anyway). Check it out:
"Arrange it," they said,
"so that we will be awarded the highest places
of honor in your glory—
one of us at your right,
the other at your left."
Jesus said, "You have no idea what you're asking.
Jesus said, "You have no idea what you're asking.
Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink,
of being baptized in the baptism I'm about to be plunged into?" ...
"You've observed
"You've observed
how godless rulers
throw their weight around," he said,
"and when people get a little power
how quickly it goes to their heads.
It's not going to be that way with you.
Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.
Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.
That is what the Son of Man has done:
He came to serve, not to be served—
and then to give away his life
in exchange for many who are held hostage."
Whoa. If I was one of those disciples, I would have had a, "Why the heck did I even ask that for?" moment.
VIP seating in heaven is a whole lot different than it is here. It's WAY more expensive. But you don't get in heaven's best seats by being rich, cool, powerful, good, poor, beautiful, or funny. You get there by totally surrendering your life in service to others, just as Christ was willing to give His life for people. That's intense. But it's how God rolls in the VIP section.
(Yeah...I can't even begin to talk or write in a cool hip-hop style, so I'm just going to stop. Now.) :)
Tomorrow: Mark 12-13
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