Exodus
12:1-14 Psalm 116:1-18 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13:1-17, 31b-35
A Maundy
Thursday Parable
Our coffee had run
out. We all noticed it at the same time…perhaps it was because we all needed to
do something after our CEO dropped the bomb on us. The atmosphere in the
boardroom was tense…electric…and it suddenly felt stuffy in here like someone
needed to open a window to let in some fresh air.
Jesse was an
amazing employer…as the CEO of the company we had seen her work miracles…she
had taken us to heights we never knew we could reach. Now she told us that she
had been diagnosed with 4th stage ovarian cancer…in short, a death
sentence…and she had decided after consultation with her superiors to forego
any form of treatment.
The silence that
followed this announcement was awkward…so we all reached out for our coffee
cups at the same time…all of which were empty. But nobody made a move. The
coffee machine was on the table in the corner, and there were two full flasks
next to it…but no one budged. Filling our empty cups was the task of the coffee
girl and she had stepped out momentarily. And so we all sat and stared into our
empty cups. Someone cleared their throat…someone shuffled in their seat…we were
all very uncomfortable. How were we supposed to react? Of course we were sorry,
but how did one express sorrow appropriately at a time like this?
Peter couldn’t
help himself…everyone knew he always spoke too quickly…he always said whatever
popped into his head first…he did not deal well with silence, especially
awkward silences. This time his voice was a little too loud…too fast…perhaps even
too high pitched and he squeaked out the first few words. “I really must,” he
cleared his throat noisily, “I really must disagree with your decision, Jesse.
You simply must take the treatment…you must fight this…you can’t just give up.
I will be there for you through thick and thin…even if no one else will, I
will…to hang with what your superiors and your doctors think. They are wrong.”
We all nodded in agreement. Jesse looked at him. Her expression was one of love
and tenderness…perhaps even gratefulness…but there was also irritation and
annoyance. I didn’t think it possible that the two could be expressed at the
same time. “Peter, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.”
Then she turned to
us. “I want to help you all to be prepared for when I am no longer with you.
So, you need to listen carefully to what I have to say. I know I am your
employer, but I can truly say with all my heart that what I feel for you all is
love…what I mean is, I really want the best for you all…for each one of you to
excel.” Her voice was heavy with emotion. “We don’t have much time and every
millisecond is precious.” She began to give instructions…she addressed each one
of us, praising us for what we had done and giving advice as to how we could
improve in the future.
I looked at each
one of my fellow employees in turn. Most of us were still staring into their
empty coffee cups, but still no one moved a muscle. Suddenly, without a word, Jesse
got up from her chair and walked to the coffee machine…she took one of the
flasks and began to pour coffee into each one of our cups. When she got to
Peter he jumped up and attempted to take the flask from her. “No, Jesse,” he
blurted out, “ you can’t serve me.” She gave him that double expression again.
He backed down and allowed he to fill his cup. She kept going until we all had
a full cup in front of us…we all sat in silence. She returned to her seat.
“Now, do you
understand what it means to be the CEO of this company?” She looked at each one
of us in turn. “If we don’t learn to serve each other, we will end up doing the
exact opposite…if we don’t serve each other, we will trample each other as each
one of us strives to get to the top. And the company will suffer because of
that…and if the company suffers, our customers will suffer too. All these years
as your CEO, I have served you and that is what has made each one of you excel
in your respective roles. Do you understand this?” We all nodded…what else were
we supposed to do…but did we really understand what she just said?
Clearly Jim didn’t
get it. We couldn’t believe that he had to gall to say what he said. “Uhm, Jesse.”
There wasn’t even a hint of
embarrassment or shame in his voice. “Have you thought of which one of us will
be your replacement? I’d be happy to shadow you over the few weeks we have left
with you.” There was that look on Jesse’s face again…tenderness and yet also
irritation…so it wasn’t reserved just for Peter!
There was a long
pause…awkward silence again. Shut it, Peter, I thought…don’t say a word…please
don’t say a word. But it was Jesse who broke the silence.
She spoke
softly…so softly we all had to lean forward to hear what she was saying. “This
company is not like other companies out there. This company became great
because we worked together…as equals…moving towards one goal as a team. You
see, we all need each other if we are to function properly. We are like a well
designed and a well constructed machine…no part is superfluous…no part is more
important than the other. If one part malfunctions, the whole mechanism
suffers.”
Jim’s cheeks
showed a bit of colour finally…but then I noticed a number of red faces around
the room. I swallowed hard. Yes, mine was glowing too. If truth be told, Jim
simply said what we were all thinking.
“Jim, you will be
shadowing me.” An almost inaudible murmur filled the room as each one dropped
the veil for a brief moment. Jesse looked up at us; once more sweeping the room
with that gaze that seemed to penetrate steel. “You all…” she emphasised the word “all”…“you all will be shadowing me as I
want you all to know what it is like to be the leader of this team…I want you
all to know what I do and why I do what I do…I want you all to know me inside
out so that you all will be like me. I won’t be with you for much longer, so it
is important that when I am no longer with you here, that you all do what I did
and think like I thought…that way the company will continue to flourish and
expand.”
She paused…then
she added: “The gift I want to leave with you…my parting gift, as it were…is
that each one of you will know me so well that it will be as if I never left.
That each one of you will continue to do what I did in such a way that it will
seem as if I am continuing to do what I started…even though it will be you, not
me. That way the company will be able to reach new heights…we will be able to
do so much more!” Jesse began to paint a picture before our eyes. “I am only
one person, but if you are all like me and if you all work like me as a team…as
one mechanism…with each wheel and cog functioning as they ought to function for
the sake of the whole company…well then, the ends of the earth will be the
limit.”
We all shadowed Jesse
over the next few weeks…we all saw how she did what she did…how she always
managed to see the best in us. It was as if she had the ability to see what we
could not see…what we could be if we were built up and nurtured properly…and so
she did everything in her power to encourage us to grow and excel. We watched
her struggle as the cancer began to gnaw away at her body…the pain was often etched
on her face even though she never complained. There were moments when she
involuntarily folded over in agony as a scream escaped from her lips. But she
never stopped teaching us…training us…caring for us…not until the very end. It
was in those moments that we learned how important it was to her that we
understand her work ethic…her philosophy of interdependency…of mutual service,
one to the other…of raising up a work force equal to her determination to make
the company better and greater.
It wasn’t long
after she had left us that someone from a rival company made a remark intended
to be a sneering sarcastic comment, but one that we all wore as a badge of
honour. “They are nothing but rubber stamps of their former CEO” he spat out in
an interview on a major television network. “A bunch of little Jesse’s…clones
and copy-cats. There is not an original thought among the lot.” When the
interviewer remarked that the company seemed to be expanding more rapidly than
most, all our rival could do was make a snorting noise.
Yes, we were like Jesse.
We served as a team…we served each other for the sake of the company…and we
trained others to be just like Jesse too…we had to because the company was
growing so fast we needed more workers in the field…more workers like her, that
is. So we served…so we trained…so we encouraged and couched and mentored and
held one another accountable…all for the sake of the company and those we
supplied.
Oh, and by the
way, we never had empty coffee cups again…
© Johannes W H van
der Bijl 2019-04-10
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