Greatness

Sermon for SMHP, Year B, Proper 20, Sept. 23, 2018

          Before I read the gospel text, I want to show you some pictures.  As you look at them, ask yourself one question:  “Which of these persons is the greatest?”

[Show slides]

          We have Bill Gates.

          A teacher, helping a student.

          And Patrick Mahomes, who last Sunday set the record for touchdown passes in the first two games of the season.  In his third start.

          Got your answer?  Shout it out.

         

          Now I’d like to read the lesson:

The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the ninth chapter.  Glory to you, O Lord.

Mark 9:30-37

          ³⁰They went on from there and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know it; ³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” ³²But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

               ³³Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” ³⁴But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.

³⁵He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

The Gospel of the Lord.  Praise to you,  O Christ.

          Let me show you the pictures.  And ask again.  Of all of the people you see, which one is the greatest?

          Who is it?  Who would Jesus tell us it is?

         

          “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.  Whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

          The greatest of these is the student, who needs help from his teacher.  The one with little autonomy, probably no big bank account.  And little chance of throwing a touchdown pass in the NFL.

          We have now reached the part of Mark’s gospel that is about Identity.

          Who is Jesus?

          Who are we as his disciples?  What do disciples look like, and what values do they hold? 

          We can talk about what disciples do, but it is clear that Jesus is more interested in teaching them who they are.  Because—as we’ve noted before—what we do flows from the values we hold.

          It’s not enough just to put on a t-shirt that says “Christian.”  People will know you are a Christian when they see how you treat others…especially the Last Ones…the least of these.

          Christians move the last to the first, and themselves to the places of less honor.

          So Christians hold some pretty counter-cultural values.  Those are not the values of our 21^st century Western culture, are they?

          Who would our culture say is “the greatest” of the people I showed you?  Probably Bill Gates, since Patrick Mahomes hasn’t quite proven himself.  Maybe if I put up Kobe Bryant…  And our culture isn’t exactly holding up and valuing teachers—or children—these days.

          But our call to do so should be very clear.  There should be absolutely no question for us as Christians where greatness lies.

          It can be hard to understand a message so countercultural, can’t it? 

          Our lesson opens with Jesus offering his disciples another chance to understand his purpose.  “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”

          How did they do?

          They didn’t understand and were afraid to ask.  In Mark’s gospel especially, the disciples have a very difficult time understanding things.  Understanding Jesus.  And discipleship.  Kind of important things.

          Jesus keeps telling them that the end game of this whole operation is suffering and death.  And that doesn’t make much sense to them.    

          After all, this is the most powerful human ever, right?  Since they’ve been with him, they’ve watched him still a storm, walk on water, feed five thousand people with a few loaves and fish, turn around and feed four thousand people. 

          He has cast out demons and healed people of all manner of diseases.

          He even brought back a little girl everyone thought was dead.

          Jesus has incredible, super-natural power.  If he can raise other people from the dead, why would he allow himself to be betrayed and killed?

          It makes no sense to the men who were, just that day, arguing about which of them was “the greatest.”

          Do you think they were arguing about which of them was the most like a powerless little child?

          The most likely to welcome a little child?

          The one who would be willing to suffer on behalf of other people?

          Probably not.

         

          The word “Great” seems to have a life of its own these days.  It’s not an eternal life, though.  That’s the life we find in following Jesus.  A life which sacrifices for the other.  A life which cares about the last and the least. 

          As Christians, we are called to stand over against the sort of “greatness” that sacrifices the little ones for the sake of earthly power.  And these days that means standing up when we see our children yielded to the bottom line of gun manufacturers.  It means speaking up when we see our immigrant neighbors sent back to dangerous places and their children incarcerated.  For the sake of a seven hundred fifty dollar a day payoff to the prison industrial complex. 

          “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

          That is the place of the disciple.  End of the line.  Giving up power, rather than accumulating more.  Following those who lead us to serve, not to destroy.  Strength through vulnerability.  Power through grace.

          It ain’t pretty.  It ain’t glamorous.

          It ain’t “Great.”

          This world will not reward our discipleship.  And that is how we will know that we are doing it right.