The Last... is First? - Thursday, June 23rd

Sonshine camp. Day 2. What a week we're having! Yesterday was jam-packed with activities; we played everything from Ninja at outdoor sports to Red Dawn at night (a game where Frisbee's are thrown back and forth across a dividing line and the team with the most Frisbee's at the end wins). Although it was cloudy, the rain was mostly held at bay which left our plans unhindered - thank goodness! The weather has been simply chaotic, which makes planning for normal programming rather difficult.

Meals in the Dining Hall are usually also pretty chaotic, and yesterday was no exception, even with the smaller-than-normal amount of campers. A way the SALT staff keep order is by having the campers line up by cabin outside the Dining Hall before meals. That way the staff can dismiss the cabins one at a time and no one is stuck inside waiting in a huge line to get at all the delicious Camp food we have prepared. Dismissal is often one of the highlights of the day because the SALT staff usually make the campers answer a fun question or do some kind of a silly activity to earn their way into the Dining Hall. I know it is hard for me to be patient, however... I just always want so badly to get inside and start chowing down! And I don't deal with it well when I have to be last...

Our passage today is from Mark 9:35 and says:

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Because this was the day's passage, counselor Carolyn Mayes, a music education major at Martin Luther College, wrote an original song about the text called, "Who is the Greatest?"  The context of this passage is Mark 9 - let me tell you a little bit about it. In this chapter, the disciples saw Jesus' transfiguration - they saw Him in all His glory high up on a mountain! How amazing! Shortly after that, the disciples started arguing amongst themselves about who was the best in their tight-knit group of 12. Finally, they went to Jesus and asked Him who was the greatest and Jesus responded "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
That doesn't seem to make much sense; Jesus' methods always seem to be contrary to our human reason. In order to be the first, to be the best, doesn't it stand to rational logic to do whatever you can to get ahead? Shouldn't you do what you can to be successful here on earth? Isn't that what you do to be the greatest in the business world or in the high school social hierarchy? Here, Jesus says "NO!" In order to be the greatest... you should aim to be the last and the "servant of all." Jesus Himself modeled this fact in the way He lived His life; did He come down and put others down to get ahead? No. Did Jesus hurt other people's feelings to get ahead socially? NO! Jesus humbled Himself to be born of a virgin. He lived here on earth in a feeble human body, washed His disciples feet, hung out with the dregs of society, and eventually died on a cross to save us from our sin. He was the least... and He is the greatest. Thank the LORD of life and love who gave up heaven to give us life!

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