“He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. For he who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12 Modern English Version)
The great James Cleveland sang a rendition of “Jesus Is The Best thing That Ever Happened To Me.” The song starts out with these words, “If anyone could ever write my life’s story, for whatever reason there might be.” He made it plain that his faith in Jesus and how that changed his life should be mentioned by any authors or speakers called to detail his life-story posthumously.
On February 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “Drum Major Instinct” sermon. He spoke some motivating words, expressing what he wanted people to say about his life when he had gone home to be with the Lord. The following is an excerpt from that sermon.
“Every now and then I guess we all think realistically about that day when we will be victimized with what is life’s final common denominator—that something that we call death. We all think about it. And every now and then I think about my own death, and I think about my own funeral. And I don’t think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, “What is it that I would want said?” And I leave the word to you this morning. If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that’s all I want to say.”
Let me just ask you, yes, days before we go into a new year, the Lord willing, “What are people going to say about you?” As you ponder, perhaps you will end up coming to the conclusions that I did, “I can do better. My commitment can rise to a higher level. My focus in the right now, on my way to the afterwhile, should provide people with words that suggest that I was not only committed to the climb, but I saw that there was much more to do on this side of Heaven.” Have a great motivated Monday my friend. Now that’s all I want to say. Be blessed!
“After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” (Mark 9:33-35 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King