“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all."

- from Mark 10:42-44

One day, two of Jesus' disciples asked him for a special favor. When the other disciples heard about it, they became indignant. That's the context for today's passage.

Jesus starts by acknowledging what's normal in our world. Leaders are often afforded great privilege. They get paid more. They get better parking spots. They get titles and attention. That's normal. We intuitively link greatness with power and authority.

But Jesus does something unexpected. He affirms their desire to be great. But then he provides an unexpected redefinition of greatness. He redistricts and regerrymanders greatness around the notion of service.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus perpetually redefines and renames things. He calls Simon "Peter," which means "The Rock." He redefines the sabbath and purity. And he reshapes the way we think about greatness. For him, the way down is the way to go up.

This Sunday is Chatham Serves. We're going to be following Jesus' invitation to step into greatness as he defines it, particularly in the arena of service. We're going to be sharing reflections from Scripture about service this week.

And we want to invite you to join us for Chatham Serves. If you haven't signed up for a project yet, it's not too late. Go to www.chathamserves.org for more information and to register. We're going to serve Chatham County is some wonderful ways this Sunday and we think it's going to be ... well ... pretty great.