Reverent submission is not a popular concept in 21st century culture. We don’t like the thought of submitting to another—not even God. To be independent, in control is one of our greatest desires. Yet today’s epistle reading tells us that “[Jesus} was heard because of his reverent submission,” his incarnation (Phil.2:6-8), his offering of his life in service for others, his “thy will be done” prayer in Gethsemane. In our gospel passage, Jesus reminds us of our call to servanthood if we intend to follow in his footsteps, coming to serve one another with that same kind of self-giving love.

Becoming other-centered, rather than continuing our usual self-centered way of looking at every situation, is the path to servanthood. We need look no farther than to Mother Teresa or Dorothy Day to find modern examples of those who experienced the blessing of servanthood as they provided faithful service “in small things but with great love,” as Mother Teresa put it. The “others” they worked with and for weren’t the lovable; they were the unloved, the marginalized, the oppressed, the forgotten. In Jesus’ parable of separating the sheep from the goats, he points out that when we feed the hungry, assuage the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit the prisoner, we are blessed for “ . . . just as you did it unto the least of these who are of my family, you did it to me.” (Mt.25:40) When we reach out to others with love, compassion, mercy, kindness, we are servants of God, incarnating divine love here and now in our time and place. Sometimes the others we are called to serve are near and dear to us. In those cases, choosing reverent submission to God’s call to loving service is the desire of our hearts, even when we know it will not always be easy. We might picture such self-giving love showing forth in the nursing mother calming the colicky baby, the exhausted parent sitting up all night with the sick child, in our enduring the rebellious teenager, in supporting the spouse “for better or worse,” in companioning the elderly parent to the hour of death, and on and on—you no doubt have other examples that come quickly to mind.

Our reverent submission requires trust that God’s will for us is just what we need in this life and in the world to come and that the Holy One will be with us to comfort and uphold us through it all. Can we today wholeheartedly join with Jesus and pray: “Thy will be done”?