Rank

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt...

Star Wars: The Force Awakens did it and much faster...the latest entry in the science fiction franchise yesterday passed Avatar to become the highest grossing domestic film in history. Does that make The Force Awakens a better movie than Avatar, or is its marketing just better? That's a question for history to decide, I suppose, but for now, until another blockbuster film comes along, The Force Awakens will be ranked as number one.

This is the time of year when we rank a lot of things. You get lists of the "top ten" of everything from last year. Songs, movies, TV shows, best moments, most important news stories, even people. Apparently, according to one source, Kanye West was the most influential person in 2015...though, despite a decent Google search, I can't figure out why.

Rank...we're taught early on to learn what our rank is. What is your place in your class in high school? That makes a difference in how or where you get into college. We learn our place in our circle of friends, who is influential and who is not. We learn what matters by their rank. Or we spend time trying to make sure we "rank" with the best of people. (I know of a man who has spent his whole life making sure he is seen with wealthy and influential people, just to try to somehow improve his perceived "rank" in the town he lives in.) And then along comes this prayer that dares us to allow God to rank us with whomever he chooses.

The problem with that prayer? We know whom God would rank us with. The nobodies. The poor. The hungry. The prisoner and the sick. Not the people we would choose or the people we are told we should choose. We prefer the porticoes of power. God walks among the potholes of poverty. Jesus says things like, "Whatever you did for the least of these...you did for me" (Matthew 25:45). He told those who had high rank in those days that "the prostitutes and tax collectors are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you" (Matthew 21:31). And he reminded them that he came "to seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10).

We resist this prayer because, in our flesh, we don't really want to be ranked with the folks God would rank us with. We want to be ranked with the somebodies, the important and glamorous folks, the ones who will help us get known. Rank me with whom thou wilt? There's something within us that says, "Anything, God, but that."

But, as the prayer implies, we can't do what God really wants us to do and we can't reach the ones God really wants us to reach unless we let him lead us to the people who are lost, who are on the outside, who are not like us. Rank me with whom thou wilt...

Lord, if that is where you are calling me, then I will go. Help my feelings catch up with my willingness. And help me to give up the seemingly endless pursuit of rank. Allow me to be content with being your child and nothing else, for that is the only rank that matters.