Any Less

Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.   John 13:16

Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.   John 15:20

it’s easy to love Jesus,

when you drive a brand new

F-350 diesel,

while vacationing for the winter

in Gulf Shores, Alabama

in your 100 thousand dollar RV,

taking charter bus trips to Biloxi

for a night at the casinos;

easy, when you live in

middle-class America,

surrounded by all your healthy,

happy children and plump,

giggling grandchildren,

your body free from pain,

not twisted and grotesque

by diseases like aids and cancer,

not panting and short of breath,

from clogged arteries to the heart,

because you have health insurance

and can afford the best

medical treatment available,

with all the specialists and

bypass surgeries money can buy;

yes, it is easy then;

not so easy,

when you go through life

worried and afraid,

worried about feeding your children,

worried about providing a shelter

over their heads,

worried about the lump growing

on your child’s arm,

unable to get it tested because you have

no health insurance,

praying for the strength to get through

one more day,

as you go to your low paying job,

where America’s elite treat you

like a hired servant,

because they have money and drive

diesel powered F-350s,

with ‘I Love Jesus’ on the

front license plate,

and you don’t;

some day we will all be the same,

standing before a holy and righteous God,

I wonder how they will answer then,

when they see themselves

speaking with derision and disgust,

to the person working

for minimum wage,

because their cheese was sliced

a millimeter thicker than requested,

or because they had to wait

in the checkout line

more than 5 minutes,

I wonder who will be blessed then,

I wonder if their diesel powered F-350s,

with the ‘I Love Jesus’

front license plates,

will mean anything then;

then He speaks to me;

reminding me that He walked

this earth with nothing,

in spite of being the King

to whom everything belongs,

that He endured humiliation and torment,

without ever once complaining or hating,

that even though He was the greatest,

He became the servant of many,

laying down his life for all,

paying a cost only He could pay,

doing the will of the Father

despite the suffering and pain,

giving us the example to be followed,

proving that He loves us all,

unconditionally and without favor,

even those who drive brand new F-350s

with ‘I Love Jesus’ front license plates,

and He asks me;

“Is the servant greater than the master?”

as I quietly, and humbly, think to myself;

should I do any less?