Pushing Past Being Misunderstood
- davidwperk
- 1 day ago
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Devotional Reflection, Thursday, August 14, 2025
Proper 14, the week of the ninth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel reading:
43…whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary readings (BCP, 978)
AM Psalm 105:1-22; PM Psalm 105:23-45
2 Samuel 15:1-18; Acts 21:27-36; Mark 10:32-45
Today we celebrate the Feast of. Jonathan Daniels. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
The prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi includes the petition:
“Grant that we may not so much seek to . . . be understood as to understand.”
In today’s Gospel, James and John could well have benefited from that prayer and it’s underlying attitude with regard to Jesus. He had just verbalized for the third time, in Mark’s sequencing of the events, his impending rejection and death. On the heels of that repeated revelation, James and John asked to be his two top political subordinates in Israel once he had led the rebellion that threw off the Roman yoke.
The depth of their misunderstanding gets plumbed in Jesus’ retort, which climaxes with the statement, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” The statements leading up to that final aphorism completely subvert the normal political practices of the day, the ranking and exercising of power common to monarchy and dictatorship. Kings and emperors exercise power by coercion and intimidation. The messianic community exercises power by serving. Monarchy values status and position. The messianic community eschews all such concerns in favor of serving the “little ones” hungry and thirsty for God.
We could spend our ink today on that topic—seeking to create Christian community with no sense of rank or priority established by tenure of membership, intelligence, social status, possessions, giftedness, attractiveness, winsomeness of personality, or ordination status. But, let’s spend our ink rather on the topic of misunderstanding.
I’ve griped aplenty over the years about the ways in which members in churches I’ve served have misunderstood me; and my fellow clergy have nodded in agreement and shared their own wounds. None of my wounds can compare with those of Jesus, who ran into misunderstanding at every turn. Had I spent more time trying to understand those who were misunderstanding me, I would have been living more in harmony with the spirit of St. Francis and with the Spirit of Jesus.
What difference would it make in our daily walk if we made this a core
value? “I will seek to understand more than to be understood?” Would we listen more and talk less? Would we see beneath the words and actions of others to the fears and anxieties and wounds that might be driving their behaviors? Would we be more accepting and caring? Would we be less self-referenced? Would life be less about us and more about others?
That feels like the drift of Jesus’ words, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” Oh, yes . . . and it captures the spirit of St. Francis. “Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (BCP, 833).
Collect of the Day, Proper 14, the ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 231)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Jonathan Daniels, seminarian, activist, and martyr (died 20 August 1965 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Jonathan Daniels
O God of justice and compassion, who puts down the proud and the mighty from their place, and lifts up the poor and afflicted: We give you thanks for your faithful witness Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who, in the midst of injustice and violence, risked and gave his life for another; and we pray that we, following his example, may make no peace with oppression; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Protection
O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 124)
For stewardship of creation
O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 259)
A Prayer for Light
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 816-817)
Daily Office Gospel, Mark 10:32-45
32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; 34they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ 36And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ 37And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ 38But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ 39They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’
41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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