Who desires greatness? And if we are humble enough to push the plate away to take a smaller portion when it comes to money or stardom, we all certainly desire to leave a mark. In William Shakespeare’s comedic play Twelfth Night, there is a quote that had been repeated in other more modern times, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” There are some we see—Elon Musk, pick a US president, pick a famous athlete, etc.—and they easily fit either first two categories for born great or achieve greatness. But for the bulk of us, we cannot wait for the “check in the mail” or our rags to riches moment when we finally achieve our moment. We want the recognition that we believe we deserve. When eyes are cast upon a crowd, it would be nice if eyes would stop on us or at least a notable pause. Many of us—myself included—would immensely enjoy a letter or a phone call that said that so and so passed away and whether you knew him/her or not, he/she knows you and wanted to give you something so our lives would be saved as it were. The tears, the late nights, the worry, the stress lines on our faces, etc. are finally at an end.
This feeling or attitude is not unique in modern times. With all the true-heart filled philanthropic efforts or those pressured upon us as a tax write off, we, nevertheless, want to achieve a point of ease. That we mean something. That the birthday party finally happened for us. That the always a bridesmaid finally became the bride and really celebrated. And despite kind words (and true words) said at our funeral, it would be nice to receive it now…not when we’re gone and no one to share our achievement with anyone else or at least no one we can brag to.
The world—humanism, pride, vanity, etc.—has pushed its influence into the church and it is evident from the song service team (examples range from the songs that are sang focus on God giving us (and not salvation) to distracting and detracting talking in between songs to take all the focus and attention off from worshipping Jesus to how spiritual the singer is) to preachers who rise to celebrity status within their community or better yet beyond. I do not have specific numbers, but I am willing to suggest that the bulk of tweets, posts, etc. are from a pastor of some kind trying their best to get known, discovered, reward, and attention. Even in conversations between Christians, it is sadly not uncommon that someone attempts to set themselves as the alpha of the group (even if it is just two people). No one wants the number two position…or even lower down the list. We incorrectly believe that our worth is found being number one and that our purpose can be minimized or vanishes when we’re not front and center. We want something that says, _____ has ____ (and for us to fill in the blank with our name first and what we’ve said or done in the second blank).
While listening to a sermon tonight, a new word—a Hebrew word—was said. Vayikra is a Hebrew word for “and He called” with its origins found in Leviticus 1:1-5:26. It is brought up in other instances and in other ways, but the meaning remains fairly similar. Departing from the sermon, I looked up this word and noticed something that was said in my research. It is important to know that Hebrew words are written from right to left, Hebrew sentences and paragraphs (as we know them) are also written right to left. So, the “n” symbol found in עליות is important to take note of. Chaim Bentorah said that, “the final Hebrew letter is an aleph (the n). In a traditional Torah scroll, this letter is written noticeably smaller than the rest of the text.” Torah.org says, “According to Jewish tradition, Moses wrote this small aleph out of humility. While God was calling out to him, Moses wanted to minimize his own importance. In Hebrew, without the aleph, the word becomes Vayikar, meaning to “happen upon” or to meet by chance. By writing the small aleph, Moses ensured the word retained its sacred meaning (“called”) while maintaining a humble posture before God.”
Once I read that, a host of Bible verses and people came to my mind. The collection of these verses is important upon themselves individually, but when brought together is something we need to take note of. The first I choose to mention comes from Paul in his letter to the church at Colosse with the following flow. Chapter three begins with the importance of Christ and how He has separated us—called us out—from sin toward salvation and that we need to live in a sanctified or holy or set apart way. It continues beginning in verse 12 about our attitude and character towards one another and then he jumps to the famous verse that many a man would love posted on a wall somewhere, “Wives, submit to your own husbands…” and then about marriage, children, and then bondservants. He ends with how we need to conduct ourselves with this promise and challenge found in verse 23, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men”. I want us to keep that verse in mind of what we do—from dressing for the day, to morning prayer (or the lack thereof), to Bible reading (or the lack thereof), to how we work our job or our tasks at home, to how we treat our spouse, children, family, friends, and others, to how we live and think and process things are all aimed or shined through the lens that everything we do (which also means to have a spirit of excellence in whatever we do) is for the Lord. Doing the dishes is for the Lord. Answering the phones at work is for the Lord. Picking up our kids from daycare or school is for the Lord.
So, take our ethic and apply it to another very important verse spoken by John the Baptist concerning his position in ministry and his purpose to life toward Jesus Christ (John 3:30, yes, this verse and portion does exist after Jesus’ famed conversation with Nicodemus about being born again and that God so loved the world), “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Further, when many of the New Testament letters begin, they called themselves a bondservant or a lowered task holder position in life.
Jesus, again, challenged His disciples in Matthew 20 (and Mark 10) by saying in verses 26-27 of Matthew, “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.” And no matter how much we wrap Jesus’ (God’s) words in pretty paper, ribbons, and wonderful music playing, we find those words offensive especially for us to be a slave. A slave has no rights. A slave has no power. A slave has no permanent position. A slave is not free. A slave works for the master for the sake of work. Jesus, again, in Luke 17:10 talks about the master and slave relationship by finishing His instruction, “So likewise you, when you have done all those things, say, ‘we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” We refuse to lower ourselves. We find dignity in our worth, despite our sin and lives make us lower than who God sees us to be. Nonetheless, our worth is testified by our stuff, our relationships, our position, and our money.
Which then brings me to my final scripture in John 13 when Jesus took out a basin, took off His outer garment, and began to wash His disciples’ feet. Peter, the only bold one in the group, was offended that Jesus was about to wash his feet. Peter couldn’t understand the correlation. Jesus had said in Matthew 20:28, “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” So, with that, how do we serve? How do we live like Jesus? How are we to be a Christian? What is our purpose? And what position do we take? God calls us all, the Vayikra, for a purpose. And when we take all that I wrote about serving, humility, etc., let us then tie in what Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” When our feelings, our pride, our attitudes, our perspective, our purpose clouds our position to one who desires (and even commands) greatness, Jesus flips it that it is through our love—a serving, giving, surrendering love, a lowering—that not only will reveal His will on the earth in the church, but even the world will take note that _(insert your name here)__ was vayikra by the Lord.
And why is this important or to take note of? The desire of a Christian is to see God—His will, His glory, His manifestation, His presence, His approval, His healing, His provision, His…everything—and how we can see God the Father is through what His Son not only taught us in word but also lived out in deed. It is never when we arrive or achieve greatness when we see God. It is when we decrease and God increases that all see God. God calls us so that He increases and that we decrease so that no one can ever say, this is a work of man or __ (insert your name) __ but this was God all along. And truly, that is ALL that matters. Let us be His sheep who hear His voice and Him calling out, Son/Daughter I have vayikra (called you).