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.
