‘The first shall be last, and the last first’ – how often have we all heard and used that well-worn adage?   This phrase can be found no less than four times in the gospels, twice in Matthew and once each in Mark and Luke, although in fact two of these are references to the Parable of the Vineyard, so there are in reality only two events. Neither of these occurs in today’s gospel, although it could perfectly well have done, being so implicit in its intention.  The unifying factor however in today’s readings is surely ‘humility’, and this is particularly evident in our 2^nd reading from the Letter of St. James, which states clearly that so many of the troubles in the world stem from the hatred which is engendered by over-arching ambition.  He reminds us that the root of most conflicts is selfish ambitions within us – we have an ambition which we cannot satisfy, so we fight to get our way by force!

Then, in Mark’s gospel we find the apostles arguing amongst them as to who was the greatest.  Now, of course, our Lord was fully aware of exactly what was going on, but when he asked his chosen band what they had been talking about on the road, they were all struck dumb with embarrassment, not wanting to lose face over their patent lack of humility – Jesuswanted simply to serve, whilst they wanted only to rule!  Jesus dealt with this by taking a little child and setting it in their midst, telling them that whosoever welcomes one of these in his name welcomes him, and whoever welcomes him welcomes the one who sent him.  In the innocence and lack of ambition of the child, then we see clearly a reflection of the face of God the Father himself.

Now this poses Christians with a very real dilemma.  Is Jesus really telling us that all ambition for personal advancement is wrong and therefore sinful?  No, of course not, but as so often in life it is not what is done, but how it is done that is important, and makes all the difference!

One only has to venture onto the roads here in Thailand to see countless examples of the ‘me first, me only’ attitude, with drivers showing no regard whatsoever for fellow road users, as they dart from lane to lane in a highly dangerous fashion in their determination to be first and ‘beat the traffic’, no matter how congested the highways and roads might be. They seemingly have no thought at all for the effect their reckless behaviour has on other road users, and are completely oblivious of the risks to both life and limb, not only of their fellows but also show a complete disregard for their own safety.  It seems like only last week I had to visit the Ministry of Land Transport, in order to renew my Driving Licence, and as I’m sure those of you here in Thailand all are well aware, as part of that procedure, one has to sit and watch a video in the Thai language, on a screen far too small for the room, with the rather diminutive English subtitles almost entirely illegible, due to the background being too light for the white lettering to show up with the necessary degree of clarity.  The hope is, that by inflicting this, regardless, on all drivers, in my case one with over half a century’s experience behind the wheel, the standard of driving in this country, which now has the second most dangerous roads in the entire world, will improve, and the obscene level of carnage which takes place on a daily basis, decrease to a significant degree.  Unfortunately, though, this pious hope takes no account whatsoever of the fact that many Thai believe that whether they live or die, this is entirely down to their Karma, and therefore there’s absolutely nothing which can be done to change that – what an absolutely terrifying state of affairs!  I’m sure the Lord Buddha would not agree for one moment with any such interpretation of his teaching, or the Prophet Muhammad of some of his more fanatical followers reading of the Koran.  Not that we Christians either have any cause in the slightest for self-righteousness, bearing in mind the atrocities which have been committed down the centuries, by those with a wholly misguided and in some cases totally warped view of our Faith.

None of us are free to trample over the rights and feelings of others in the realisation of our personal ambitions.  This is what James tries to define very clearly, in that our expectations must be reasonable and pursued with fairness, gentleness and without envy.  We must not regard ourselves more highly than we should, and seek for ourselves a status which is unjustified by our capabilities – in other words, allow ourselves to become too big for our boots!  Judgements must be fair and impartial so that they do not create enmity and ill-will amongst those around us, because all such actions come not from divine wisdom, but rather from the devil himself!

To revert now to the opening of today’s gospel passage, Jesus was once again wanting to be incognito and in low profile, so as not to be disturbed whilst he sought for the second time (we heard of the previous attempt last week and of Peter’s reaction to it) to prepare the disciples for the wholly inescapable fate that awaited him – betrayal, death and resurrection, but they did not understand and were simply too afraid to ask him.  Did this lack of understanding too stem from their own pride and lack of humility, being infinitely more interested in their own standing and status?  There are none so deaf as those who don’t wish to listen, and Peter’s reaction previously was ample proof of the disciples’ unwillingness to take on board facts they simply did not wish to hear!

Arrogance is the subject of our first reading from a very self-righteous and hard-done-by Jeremiah, who was constantly bewailing what the ungodly had inflicted upon him, as they tried constantly to destroy him for his upholding of ‘the truth’.  Hardly surprising then that he wanted to see the Lord take his revenge upon them!

The psalmist too is seeking to be saved from ‘the ungodly’ in their arrogance, with due retribution being exacted from them for their many evil deeds.  Persecution has existed from the earliest times until now, as we have seen almost on our own doorstep in the treatment of minorities, whether these be the Rohinga in Myanmar or LGBT people, not only in India, but in a number of other places across the globe.

This rather brings us back to ‘me first, me only’; ‘my way is right and yours is wrong’; thinking of ourselves more highly than we should, and a general lack of humility, which, as I suggested at the outset, is what binds today’s readings together, and is the cause of so much trouble and disunity in the world.  We should try to focus sincerely and solely on the things that unite us, rather than the ones which divide us and separate us from the love of God.  We all desire harmonious relationships with other people, yet many communities, families and homes are marked by frequent disagreements.  Although conflicts are unfortunately inevitable in this life, we must never allow these to tear us apart.  Let us pray then that God will give us all humility of mind, meekness of heart and sincerity of purpose, so that our ears will be open to his word as we seek to do his will here in the all-too-often rather uncongenial environment of this city of Pattaya.  Amen