I wonder if you watched the final of ‘The Apprentice’ on Sunday evening? The result was quite a surprise, wasn’t it? For weeks we have watched as a group of clever, ambitious, self-motivated young people clawed their way to the final prize of setting up in business with Lord Sugar. Bright, rising stars in the world of commerce, they were all willing to step on the fingers of their companions in order to climb to the top of the ladder.
Tom didn’t look like a winner. He didn’t seem ‘hard’ enough. He was agreeable and polite. He didn’t shine by winning every task, as some did; in fact, he lost most of them. He was dyslexic, and, maybe, a bit goofy; but he was also inventive, dedicated, interested, willing to learn, to change, to adapt, and it was his pleasant manner and his vulnerability which made Lord Sugar say ‘You need me and what I have to offer, and I can certainly use what you are bringing to the table; YOU’RE HIRED!’ Thus, Tom was crowned the new ‘Apprentice’
It made me think of Jesus’ words about the Kingdom ‘Many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here, will be the greatest then.’(Mat. 19 vs 30)
Earlier that day I went along to the big, all-age family service in Upchurch Village Hall. It’s a joyful, informal gathering, and on this occasion it was a Family Communion. A semi-circle of kneelers had been laid down around the altar table, and the children were invited to come first to receive the bread. They came running, happy, smiling, and knelt, eyes closed, hands held out. The Priest knelt on the hard floor to give them the torn bread, as some of them were so small. As he approached, a little girl in a princess costume, took off her sparkling tiara and placed it onto the head of her friend. They giggled and ate the bread, then she ran to her father and carefully put the crown on his head. He received it with a good grace and wore it for the rest of the service;
But as I watched the people come and kneel, it was as though Jesus was the Priest, kneeling before each person to be at their level – looking into their eyes, knowing them, feeding their souls with life-giving bread, and gently speaking their name saying ‘This is my body, given for you’. No wonder that little princess felt the need to take off her crown.
The Book of Revelation, chapter 4, verse 10 describes a vision of Heaven.. ‘The twenty four elders fall down and worship the One who lives forever and ever, and they lay down their crowns before the throne and say “You are worthy, O Lord our God to receive glory and honour and power. For you created everything and it is for your pleasure that they exist and are created.”’
I’ll remember those children – their gladness of heart, their willingness to bend the knee, to reach out and receive, and to lay their crowns aside, and I’ll pray for God to help me be more like that. The following verse from Charles Wesley’s hymn ‘Love Divine’ always gives me goose bumps!
‘Changed from glory into glory
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.’
Jane Gransden
