Letter to the Congregations: 4th July 2026

Our Dear Brethren,

Two of the disciples, who seemed to be very zealous for following Jesus, stood back a few feet as their mother knelt down before their Master. It isn’t clear if James and John (also known as the Sons of Thunder) had sent their mother to talk to Jesus since it’s also recorded that they asked the same question of Him personally (see Mark 10:35). But it was clear that this mother wanted great things for her sons.

“She said to Him, ‘Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom’” (Matthew 20:21).

Jesus didn’t address their mother but instead turned to His own disciples since they truly needed to learn the lesson He was about to teach them. “You do not know what you ask” He said to them (see Matthew 20:22). I can almost hear the disappointment in His voice as Jesus tried to get His students to understand what He had tried to teach them all along. But their focus was too much on the physical state of their present lives, even though they were looking forward to the coming divine kingdom.

These men, like most of the other disciples, would truly share in the type of life Jesus had during His ministry on the earth. They too would rarely have a place to lay their heads (see Matthew 8:20). They too would be teachers of men on the earth, being given a commission from Jesus to go and preach the gospel to the world. Their lives would also be lives of service to their God, but first they needed to learn how to become servants just like their God.

And so Jesus called the Sons of Thunder and the rest of His disciples to Himself and began to teach a lesson: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).

This lesson is for us as well. If we want to continue to follow after Jesus Christ then we must learn how to be servants just like Him. In word, in action, in heart, willing to give our lives as servants to our God and to those around us.

Our love is with you,

Lewis VanAusdle

Pastor, United Church of God

NYC, NJ, CT, Malawi, Zimbabwe