My
wife and I have enjoyed watching the British television series
Downton Abbey. The show, for those unfamiliar with it, follows
the life of the Crawley family and their servants during the early
years of the twentieth century. The series begins at the time of the
sinking of the Titanic and ended its second year at the beginning of
the 1920s. A third year is currently being produced for release in
the UK this fall and, presumably, in the US in 2013.
The
show highlights a period of time in which an aristocratic family such
as the Crawleys (the Earl and Countess of Grantham, according to the
program) lived on large country estates and were attended to by a
host of household servants. Downton Abbey depicts aspects of
the lives both of the family and of many of their servants, giving us
some insight into the differences in life between the upper class and
their servants. I do not argue that the program shows exactly how
life would have been, especially for the servants, but it certainly
gives some good indications of it and clearly demonstrates that
significant social and lifestyle differences existed between the
servants and their masters and mistresses.
This
distinction between servant and master as shown in Downton Abbey
came to mind today as I was reading from Luke 12. In verses 35-40
Jesus speaks about the need for servants to be ready for their
master's appearance. In the television program we saw regularly how
the household staff had to be prepared to respond to the needs and
requests of the master and his family at a moment's notice. Failure
to do so would have been considered poor work and quite possibly
grounds for dismissal.
But my
thoughts were particularly captured by verse 37, which in the latest
NIV translation reads:
“It
will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when
he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve,
will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.”
I had
never noticed the aspect of this verse that I have highlighted here.
Did you catch it? Speaking of his kingdom and the coming of the Son
of Man, Jesus describes a situation in which the roles are reversed.
The master, who would normally be dressed and waited upon by the
servants, dresses himself, seats the servants at the table and waits
on them. This is radical. I cannot imagine that this would have ever
happened in an aristocratic household in our world. In Downton
Abbey the Crawley family strives to treat their servants well,
but they certainly never reverse roles with them. In fact, in one
episode the servants are given time off on Christmas Day to celebrate
among themselves, leaving the family to serve its own drinks and care
for themselves for several hours. One visitor, a very wealthy
businessman, complains about this state of affairs because he
considers it beneath himself to have to serve himself in any way,
especially while the servants are allowed time to make merry. His
response strikes me as far more common in our world. The powerful,
the elite, the masters demand to be waited upon and the servants do
the waiting. But not in God's kingdom.
If we
pray for, long for and strive to see God's kingdom come on earth as
it is in heaven, what does a verse like this imply for the way we
live? Certainly it tells us something of the amazing relationship
between ourselves and the Master, God and that in itself is worth
reflecting upon. We are to be formed into the image of the Master
ourselves, so what does this mean concerning how we live on a daily
basis, especially those of us from the West who have long been in the
position of master rather than servant on a global scale. What does
it mean in terms of our churches, our social organizations and our
families? Are we willing to step down from our position of master,
whether it be master in our family, in our workplace, in our church
or anywhere else, and serve those whom we normally expect to serve
us? (And are we even aware that we have such expectations?)
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