Some people feel like a small pebble lost in the immensity of a canyon.
But no matter how insignificant we judge ourselves to be, we can be greatly
used by God.
In a sermon early in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. quoted Jesus’ words
from Mark 10 about servanthood. Then he said, “Everybody can be great, because
everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You
don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to
know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. . . . You only need a heart full of
grace, a soul generated by love.”
When Jesus’ disciples quarreled about who would get the places of honor
in heaven, He told them: “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be
your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For
even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).
I wonder about us. Is that our understanding of greatness? Are we gladly
serving, doing tasks that may be unnoticed? Is the purpose of our serving to
please our Lord rather than to gain applause? If we are willing to be a
servant, our lives will point to the One who is truly great.