A Wink Or A Prayer

Jesus’ manner of speaking is not our manner of speaking. Consequently, the text we have just repeated sounds almost irrational in this year of 1984. What is he talking about? Another Sunday dose of hopeless idealism? Another example of what we have come to expect when we come to Church? One gets the uneasy feeling that nobody expects anybody to take this kind of talk seriously. One senses a response, as though on cue, in the form of an impatient, irreverent, congregational wink

“Let the greater among you be ….. the servant.” These are Jesus’ words, not mine, and He intended them to hit His listeners right where they were living. Jesus never spoke into the air. He spoke to real men and women about the real problems they were having. His words got under their skin, churned around in their hearts, shook up their souls, demanded a response, either affirmative or negative. Jesus had a manner of speaking that made people listen, made…