“The Greatest”
September 23, 2012
Mark 9:30-37
The Pastoral Prayer
O God, we praise your name for the wonders of your creation. Wonder of
wonders, we are in awe of your power, and we sing your praises.
We thank you for the wonders we have seen with our own eyes here in Ohio
But we are aware of conflict in the world. We pray for American diplomats in all
places. We pray for those who would
attack our embassies and missions in the misguided belief that we have injured
their faith. May they find peace of mind and clarity of thought. We pray for
the people of Syria
We pray for the American service personnel who are seeking peace in many
places around the world. May their work
result in a just and lasting peace, and may they come home safe, and sound, and
soon.
We pray for those whose lives are affected by drought. We complain about the weather, but what is
happened in too many places is life or livelihood threatening. We pray that you will open our hearts and our
hands to help.
We pray today for those in pain--whether the pain of physical illness or
the pain of grief. Grant them healing
and peace.
We especially pray for the concerns of our Saturday morning guests, whose
difficulties are many. Grant them your
loving consolation
We pray for those who serve our cities, county, and townships, especially
our own Russ. Grant them patience,
courage, mercy, and understanding in the difficult service they provide.
We know that much of what is on our hearts is unspoken, and we ask that
you will hear us in our silence as we pray.
We offer these prayers in the name of Jesus, our Christ. Amen.
Mark 9:30 They
left that place and passed through Galilee .
Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was
teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be
betrayed into human hands. They will kill him, and after three days he will
rise." 32But they did not understand what he meant and were
afraid to ask him about it.
33They came to Capernaum
I know you've
heard words like these at a funeral.
“She was the greatest Christian this congregation has ever known. Her
prayers at the communion table were just perfect. Perfect.
We just know that such a good woman is in heaven now.” “No greater bass ever sang in our choir. He was the greatest. Heaven's choir now has the best bass
section—ever!”
A fable from Fr.
Andrew Greeley: Once upon a time, a CEO
of a large and important corporation groomed two of his brightest young
executives for rapid promotion because they were so creative and so intelligent
and so hard working. Everyone knew, including the executives whom he had passed
over, that one or the other of these men would be the next CEO. One was named
president of the company and the other the Vice CEO. They had been close
friends for twenty years and their combined talents and dedication had been
responsible for the rapid growth of the firm. However, once it became clear to
both of them that only one could win the prize, they began to try to undercut
one another. Their friendship ended. Their wives stopped speaking to one
another (though they had been friends too). The other executives enjoyed the
rivalry and plotted how they could undercut both of them. Now the big problem
was that the two stopped cooperating with one another and that cooperation had
been the key to firm’s success. Sales fell off, a little bit and then a lot.
Wall Street, as you can imagine, didn't like that at all. Two months before the
CEO was to retire, the board of directors intervened and fired him. Then they
brought in a new CEO from another company. Everyone said that if the two crown
princes had only cooperated a little more, they both would have won. Two
children, an analyst said, could have run that company, it was so successful, but
these adults couldn't.
Who is the
greatest? What an interesting debate the disciples entered into. Perhaps they
never intended Jesus to hear their debate. Whoever started the debate probably
was really embarrassed when Jesus called them onto the carpet. Who is the greatest?
Who is the most spiritual? Who prays the most? Who can follow Jesus the
farthest without his sandals hurting his feet? Who can nod the hardest when
Jesus tells off a Pharisee? Who deserves to sit on the front pew? Which begs
the question: who is the worst? Who is the most pathetic? Who is the worst
elder? Who lost his job and can’t help
pay the bills? Who lost her husband and can’t stop grieving? Who has doubts and
questions and problems and can’t cope with life on their own? Who is the best,
who is the worst?
Don’t we ask the
same questions? How long did you pray? How much of the Bible did you read? Why
don’t we rank ourselves 1-12? As if spirituality could be ranked. As if
Christianity was about numbers, and salaries, and how many books you’ve written.
And then the elderly and children – they can’t help mow the lawn – are they
worth anything at all? Where do they rank?
To make matters
worse, Jesus continues to shame the 12 disciples. Jesus responds, “to be my
disciples, you must abandon seeking position and rank.” In verse 35, he tells
them they must become servants. In
verses 36-37, he tells them that welcoming a child in my name is to welcome God
himself. Whoever receives a servant receives the master. Whoever receives a
child receives Jesus, and whoever receives Jesus receives God. Both child and
servant are without status. They can’t pay you back.
In antiquity,
childhood was a time of terror. Infant mortality was about one third. 2/3 of
children died before the age of 16. Disease and hygiene wiped out 2/3 of the
child population. This might be a cultural norm we don’t understand, but
ancient Middle Eastern cultures denigrated children as nearly useless. Even
medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas taught that in a fire a husband was first
obliged to save his father, then Grandma, then his wife, and then if he had
time save the children. During famine children were also last to be
fed….survival of the fittest. Survival of the greatest. Survival of the best.
When Jesus tells the people to become like little children, he insults them, he
insults their culture, he insults their values. When children finally reached
maturity they finally have value. At least the boys. This continues in cultures
today. The world is not interested in a world where rank and stature don’t
matter. We make victims out of the powerless.
For most of us,
the incident in our scripture would be a very discouraging time. It had
been only recently that Simon Peter had identified Jesus as the Messiah and
Jesus now for the second time tells the disciples he will be put to
death. He is on the way to Jerusalem
Now this.
Out on the Capernaum Road village of Capernaum
Jesus did not go
to the rich or powerful or famous to gather troops for his movement. He chose
the "rag-tag" crew on the Capernaum
There is an old
legend that tells how Jesus, after his ascension, was asked by the angels how
he planned to complete his mission. The angels were incredulous.
"Them?" they exclaimed pointing to the fearful, unlearned disciples
who stood lost and confused on the earth below, "You are going to depend
on them to complete your mission?"
"That's
correct," Jesus answers.
"And should
they fail??" the angels counter, "If they are not capable of carrying
on your work, do you have a back-up plan?"
"They are my
only plan," Jesus says.
There are two key
issues in our gospel lesson about the way Jesus intended to shape imperfect
people into bearers of his good news.
·
He chose people who were
teachable
·
He chose people regardless of
their station in life
[1] Jesus took
his disciples aside and did some teaching about what it means to be
great. Because they were teachable and receptive of his words, there was
hope for their transformation. The word of Christ was the transforming
power and the teachability of the disciples was the transforming premise.
"If you want
to be first, you must be last," he taught them. They had argued
about who would be the greatest in terms of the world's view of greatness.
In the eyes of God, however, greatness is measured by servanthood. Those
who live with a "me first" attitude will come in last with God.
Those who live with a "you first" attitude in the family of faith
will come in first with God. Jesus would continue on from this event to
his arrest and crucifixion in Jerusalem
[2] Jesus
set a child in the midst of his followers and said that the welcoming of a
little child was a welcoming of Christ himself. To welcome a child is to
welcome the most vulnerable and the most insignificant. This was a great
reversal of the "children should be seen and not heard" attitude of
his world. If fact it was more than that. Women, children, gentiles,
the sick and the dispossessed were the insignificant and even rejected part of
society. A male, Jewish Pharisee was at the top of the ladder, a
gentile woman was a "dog."
Jesus turned all
of this inside out and upside down. He chose the fisherman and tax
collector over the priest and the scribe. He put a child first and a
ruler last.
The way up with God is down!
Here's the genius
of the Master's plan. Whenever the followers of Jesus Christ would think
about the fact that Jesus had chosen them - of all people - to carry on his
mission, they would automatically be called back to the heart of the good news
of God. "If God can love even me, then God's love is truly for
everyone!"
Here's Jesus's
plan for us today It's as easy as ABC.
Acceptance:
Jesus Christ has accepted us for who wee are and his spirit works within us to
make us who God wants us to be. Our acceptance by Christ translates into
our acceptance of others.
Belief: I
believe or trust that Jesus Christ knows what he is doing by choosing me for
his work. I may feel insignificant or powerless to help with his mission,
but the fact is that as a Christian, I am chosen to bear the good news to
others. The greatest of all might find
it demeaning to share her faith with others, but the least among us should have
no problem
Commitment:
I make a commitment to choose the way of Christ instead of the way of the world
when it comes to the meaning of greatness. Instead of "me
first" - it is "Christ first." Instead of "my
way" it is "his way."
How many of you
remember Gale Sayers? Sayers was an
extremely gifted running back for the University of Kansas
He published an
autobiography that year that I read--along with thousands of teenage boys who
were sports fans. It had a curious
title--I Am Third. He explains in the book that his philosophy
in life that God is first, others are second, and I (Sayers) am third. God First, others next, me last. How far in life do you suppose you can go if
you don’t put yourself first?
Sayers has been
successful in everything he has done--from university athletics administration
to the computer business, he’s finished near the top every time--by putting
himself last.
You see, being last is the way to being first. Who is the greatest? Whover would be the least. What do you think?
Offering
Invitation
It is so easy to talk about
something, so much harder to do it. Scripture tells us that words and intent
only count when they are backed up by action. Our offering is one way we take
action for God’s ministry and focus our lives on being God’s servants. With
this offering, we intentionally demonstrate our support for the church.
Remember, it is an act of worship to give to God. Our offerings will now be presented.
Prayer
God of deliverance, help us to
remember to put action behind our words. Please accept the offerings we give as
our sacrifice and praise. Enliven us to do your work, and grace us with the
wisdom to make good choices with our gifts. Amen.
Benediction
In the power of the Spirit, we
now go forth into the world, to be third.
Go in peace, love and care for one another in Christ's name,
and May God smile upon your every moment,
may The Spirit energize your every hour,
and may The Living Word guide your every step along the way
this both now and forevermore.
Amen.
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