I’m sure many of you know what an oxymoron is. It’s two words that don’t go together, usually because one is the opposite of the other and so the meaning doesn’t make sense. It’s contradictory. Some have entered our language on a regular basis, such as ‘friendly fire’ or ‘deafening silence’. Sometimes they are designed to be clever. Sometimes they are incredibly insightful, such as the title of this blog: Servant King. Kings rule, they don’t serve, do they?
I’m stepping down as a church leader after three and a bit years. As I look back over this time, I believe it’s been fruitful for me, and hopefully for the Leadership Team and for the church. We’ve presented together, discussed and debated together and most importantly prayed together over a whole variety of issues. Although there are appointed roles within the team, some more ‘leadery’ than others, no-one has sought to dominate, each has ‘submitted to one another out of reverence for Christ’ (Ephesians 5:21). Why is this? The answer lies with Jesus, of course.
Mark’s gospel records Jesus as saying: “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35). He demonstrated this at the Last Supper, by wrapping a towel around himself and washing the disciples’ dirty, road-weary feet, a task reserved for the humblest servant. He told his disciples: “I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done for you,” (John 13:15). This was despite knowing that he had come from God and was returning to God and that God the Father had put all things under his power.
This shows us just how topsy-turvy the Kingdom of God is. It doesn’t do what we may expect. ‘The first shall be last and the last shall be first,’ (Matt 19:30). Our late Queen Elizabeth understood this deeply. Jesus, the Servant King, is the ultimate oxymoron.