So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest (Hebrews 5:5)

A prince can mak a belted knight, 

A marquis, duke, an' a' that; 

But an honest man's aboon his might, 

Gude faith, he maunna fa' that! 

For a' that, an' a' that, 

Their dignities an' a' that; 

The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth, 

Are higher rank than a' that. 

A prince can mak a belted knight, a marquis, duke an’ a’ that. Yes, he can. And someone with the right status and authority and power can make a High Priest. We like our titles, don’t we? Once one group in society  gets a bit more wealth and we just love to invent words to mark out those who are up there from folk who are down there. We have titles - Sir This, Lord That and Prince of The Other. And we’re taught that we have our place in that pecking order of status. If someone gets knighted for services to their wallet - sorry!; for services to the banking industry - we’re supposed to look up to them. If ordinary Alan Sucrose becomes Lord Sucrose we’re supposed to address himself with reverence.

That was every bit as true in Jesus’s time. In Roman society people came from the senatorial class, or from the equestrian class or whatever: there were Praetors, Censors,Quaestors and, of course, Emperors. In Israel too there were titles and statuses that placed you in the pecking order and at the bottom were the servants. I should say, by the way, that pretty much every time you read the word “servant” in the New Testament, you should also read “slave”; for which you should also read, “bottom of the heap”.

So, here’s a question. Where in that heap do we expect to find Jesus? The only title we hear applied to Jesus in the New Testament is “Rabbi” and it’s one he doesn’t always seem entirely comfortable with. Jesus was, in all the ways that seem to matter so much to people, to have been a completely ordinary man - without special status or position or wealth. Yet this is the life in which God came into this world. This is the life in which God revealed what he was about and what serving him is about. This is the life in which God addressed his creation, addressed humanity, and said, “Look! This is what matters!”. 

If we look at it the way the world teaches us to think then it’s a crazy idea. If you’re going to change things in the world - if you’re going to make a difference then surely you should come into the world as a captain of industry or as a general at the head of a great army or the Emperor of Rome. After all, these are the people who make a difference in the world, aren’t they? They’re the folk that histories get written about. They’re the folk who get paid a fortune as Chief Executives of companies because “they’re worth it”. They’re the folk who change the world, right? I put it to you that’s exactly what they don’t do. 

I suppose we all get sucked into that mindset sometimes. What a difference we could make if we were in positions of power or status! But here’s the thing - since the time of Jesus we’ve had two thousand years of powerful people with flashy titles and bags of status; but how many of them have helped us understand the truth that God came into the world in Christ to teach us: that each and every human being is a unique creation of God. That each and every human being is precious beyond measure in the eyes of God. That the poorest nameless, homeless piece of human flotsam adrift in the world is our brother; our sister. That the lifeless child washed ashore, thrown from a life filled with fear and want is our son; our daughter.

Instead the wealthy stay wealthy; the powerful stay powerful. And if we’re honest, when we imagine joining them, don’t we echo the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard Of Oz”: 

If I Were King Of The Forest not queen, not duke, not prince.

My regal robes of the forest would be satin, not cotton, not chintz.

As I'd click my heel all the trees would kneel and the mountains bow and the bulls kowtow

And the sparrows would take wing, if I were king.

Jesus shows us the way of the servant. Jesus came into this world not to lord it over those he met, but to serve them: to make sure they were fed, to heal them, to teach them and, ultimately, to die for them, and for us and for all of God’s children. Jesus came into this world as the Son of God to show the world that we are all the children of God - that the poorest beggar on the street is as important in the eyes of God as the highest of priests; that the coldest tramp huddled a doorway is as important in the eyes of God as the most elevated Duke or Marquis; that the most frightened child in the most shattered war-torn shadow of a home is as important as the wealthiest businessman in the loftiest penthouse.

We’re approaching Easter week. During that week Jesus got his followers to sit down and he washed their feet. Where is status, where is power, where is wealth or position or any of the things this world values in that? You might remember that when John the Baptist was speaking of the coming of Jesus he said “I am not fit to unfasten his sandal”. The task of handling a master’s feet was the job of the lowliest, most humble of servants. Here was Jesus going to the bottom of the social heap and washing their feet. What is that telling them? It’s telling them they matter.

You matter. I matter. Everyone matters because everyone is a child of God. That is the world-changing idea that burns at the heart of Christianity - the idea that God came into the world in Jesus Christ to proclaim. You can buy into the story the world tells you that the folk who are at the top of the heap - the ones with the fancy titles - are the only ones who are important, the only ones who make a difference in the world. And hasn’t that done a bang-up job of making the world a better place?

Or you can tell a different story. You can tell the story of Jesus: the story of God come into them world to show us the power of love; to show us that we are all important in the eyes of God. You can tell it every time you put someone else ahead of yourself. You can do it every time you buy a cup of coffee for a beggar in the street. You can do it every time you hand over some of your stuff to  refugees and asylum seekers who really need it. You can do it every time there are people in your place of work who need someone to stand beside them in the face of folk more powerful than they are. You can do it every time someone needs a hand to hold: someone to tell them they matter; to tell them they are loved. And every time you do any of that you change the world - maybe just a little; but maybe “just a little” is all that matters.

Because, as the old saying goes, “many a mickle maks a muckle”. God is working his purpose out - the purpose begun in Jesus Christ - through you and through me and through all his servants in the world:

Then let us pray that come it may, 

(As come it will for a' that,) 

That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth, 

Shall bear the gree, an' a' that. 

For a' that, an' a' that, 

It's coming yet for a' that, 

That Man to Man, the world o'er, 

Shall brothers be for a' that.

Lord, in a world awash with titles and status, in a world where we are taught to see some as important and others as not, may we be your servants by serving others

Preached at Gretna:St. Andrews Parish church