Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Worship September 23, 2012


“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.  The beauty of autumn and the joy of human love.  We thank you just for being alive and awake, and for the joy of being here today.

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, where one in ten citizens there is a brother or sister in Christ caught in a full scale civil war. 

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. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." 36He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

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 where he will be denied by Peter, betrayed by one of his disciples and be arrested, tried and condemned to death.
Now this.  Out on the Capernaum Road, just when the crisis begins to intensify, the disciples are arguing about who is the greatest.  Seem unbelievable?  Think about it.  The world we live in is no less troubled than the world of Peter, James and John and the village of Capernaum.  While churches squabble, cities crumble.  Christians debate as societies decay.  Religious parties struggle while children starve.
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 road and still  chooses people like you and me to build the church and carry God's  good news to a fractured world.
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.  The disciples would witness the greatest "you first"  in all of history.
[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 and the Chicago Bears.  There are still records he holds in the NFL, even though he retired in 1971. 
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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