How to be Great

Greatness Defined

Pam and I got married in April 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics.

That started what has now become a 16 year tradition in our marriage, watching the Olympics until way too late for 2 weeks straight.

We have slept a bit more this week than the previous 2.

The 2008 Olympics was the one Michael Phelps broke the record for gold metals won in a single Olympics.

He won 8 of his eventual 23 gold metals and we watched everyone of them.

I can remember watching Michael Phelps and thinking “will there ever be anyone as great as him at swimming in my life time?”

I remember watching Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Lionel Messi and thinking the same thing.

All these names represent the greatest players in their sport and in sports in general.

And the definition of greatness based on these names is someone whose natural talent, relentless effort, unwavering commitment, and unquenchable hunger brought them to a level of success that little to no one has ever achieved.

They are the GOAT’s (Greatest Of All Time)

If you were asked to define greatness, what would be your definition?

The world around us would define greatness as power, status, control, success, and affluence, which leads to luxury, security, and ease.

To be great in our world is to have everything and to need no one.

It really is a natural human desire to want to be great in some way, even the guys that followed Jesus 2000 years ago desired to be great.

Listen how our passage starts today:

Matthew 18:1 CSB

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

They wanted to know what it would take to put themselves at the top of the podium, the front of the line, in the corner office, or mansion on the hill.

And their question invites Jesus to show them, and us, how we can be great in His kingdom.

Matthew tells the story differently than Mark, not in a bad way, Mark just records some more details that Matthew decided to leave out.

In Mark 9, Jesus confronts them about an argument He heard them having on the road to Capernaum.

And in 9:34 Mark said none of the disciples wanted to speak up because they had been arguing about who was the greatest among them.

A lot had happened in the last few days/week.

They had been a part of Jesus feeding 5k and 4k people.

Peter had walked a few steps on the water and had made a really awesome confession of faith.

Peter, James and John had been chosen to be on the mountain when Jesus showed them His resurrected and glorified self.

And all these things led the disciples to have an argument on who was most important in Jesus’s eyes.

So at some point in the conversation, they asked Jesus to settle their argument.

And His response, I am sure, is not what they were expecting...

Jesus calls a small child over and says:

Matthew 18:2–3 CSB

2 He called a small child and had him stand among them. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

The disciples were looking for Jesus to give them the criteria necessary to be the greatest in His kingdom and Jesus brings to question whether they are even welcomed into His kingdom.

That would be a bit of a shocker for the disciples, who likely weren’t too worried about that.

Jesus is saying that greatness in His eyes and in His kingdom is much different than what we know and pursue in the world…it is actually quite the opposite.

And throughout the rest of the verses, 4-14, Jesus lays out the 3 ways greatness is defined in the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 18:4–5 CSB

4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me.

1) Greatness is found in HUMBLE DEPENDENCE.

Kids in Jesus’s day weren’t considered very important beyond their value in carrying on the family name and taking over the responsibilities of their parents as they got older.

No one would have thought of them as a symbol of greatness.

And that is at the heart of Jesus’s words!!

What does Jesus mean by “become like little children”?

Get a kid volunteer or walk through each of these questions hypothetically

How did you get to church today? Did you drive?

Do you have a job? How do you buy food and clothing?

How much do you pay for electricity? Water? Trash Pick-up? Who pays for all that?

Do you do laundry? Can you cook supper?

If your mom and dad went on vacation for 1 week and left you home alone, what would happen?

Would you say you need your mom and dad?

Kids are dependent aren’t they?

They need people to provide for them.

They need people to protect them.

They need people to care for them as they grow and develop.

They need people to teach them and help them to grow into maturity.

Jesus says if you want to be a part of His Kingdom. If you want to be great in His Kingdom, they you need to be like these kids.

It takes humble, dependent, trust in Jesus.

That's hard for tough dudes who change their own oil and fix there own furnaces.

That hard for women who can balance work, home, and full sports schedule.

That's hard for the student who wants to prove to others and themselves that they are tough and don't need anyone's help.

No one gets into the kingdom by self-action or self improvement.

It is only when you realize you are lost, broken, needy, helpless, dependent, AND LOVED that you can receive the invitation to trust in Jesus and receive the Salvation He offers you through His death and resurrection.

Matthew 18:6–9 CSB

6 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but woe to that person by whom the offense comes. 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire.

2) Greatness come through a PURSUIT of HOLINESS.

Jesus is talking to his disciples here who are the seeds of his church.

He understands the seriousness of their influence on new and future believers.

There argument on the way to Capernaum reveals something about their focus and their attitudes.

They were concerned about position, prominence, and privilege much more than they were concerned with following Jesus and His ways.

There were people watching them, following them, and looking to them to show them what it means to follow Jesus in our world.

Jesus wanted them to be more concerned with holiness than prominence and position.

So He emphasizes the destructive power of sin, not only for the sinner but also for others.

If they are too focused on their position or privilege they will take their eyes off their holiness.

You see this in families don't you.

When we lead our families to value sports, entertainment, hobbies, or work we take the focus off walking with Jesus and we diminish the seriousness of our sin.

We even come up with excuses for our sin and the sins of our kids,

struggling to hold them accountable because we are either worried about messing up our relationship with them

or feel like it is too late since we haven't held them accountable to this point.

What we prioritize and what we practice in our families is what we are training out kids to prioritize and practice.

And if follow Jesus isn’t high on our list, it likely isn’t going to be high on their list either.

Jesus wants us to take SIN seriously.

He wants us to take aggressive action:**

He uses hyperbolic language to illustrate the severity with which we should treat sin in our lives.

Cutting off a hand or gouging out an eye is extreme, but it highlights the importance of removing anything from our lives that leads us to sin.

This isn't about literal self-mutilation, but about taking drastic, sometimes painful, steps to avoid sin.

To live a life that reflects God's character, we must be willing to remove anything that hinders our relationship with Him.

Do you grasp for power and prominence in your worldly positions at any expense?

Do you rush to others in order to make yourself feel better?

Do you easily lose your temper?

Do you overstuff your stomach?

Do you gossip? Do you hoard money?

Cut it off and cut it out.

Cut off pride. Cut off lust. Cut off sloth. Cut off anger. Cut off greed. Cut off envy. Cut off gluttony. Cut off those seven deadly sins and seventy more because they will kill you—

“It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire”

This is serious stuff. So take it seriously. Attitude

Remember jesus's word in John 10:10, he is not trying to destroy your life, but to give you life, abundant life in Him.

Matthew 18:10–14 CSB

10 “See to it that you don’t despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven. 12 What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

3) Greatness is expressed in GENEROUS COMPASSION.

You can be great without compassion.

Compassion for those far from Jesus

Compassion for the hurting, lost, lonely, addicted, angry, hopeless.

He wants to stoke the hearts of His disciples with the same compassion that He has toward them, and toward us.

Luke 15 shares the same parable that Matthew shares here, but Luke shares 2 other parables along with it.

The parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.

Jesus is obviously teaching the disciples about how they are to love, serve, and pursue those that don’t yet know Him or have gotten off track in following Him (the little ones).

But there is something deeper here as well that is reflected in the Luke passage maybe more clearly.

Jesus is showing the disciples the beauty of God’s pursuing love.

God lovingly pursues the wayward and the lost.

Some of you really need to hear that, maybe for the very first time.

God loves you, He is pursuing you, and He will welcome you in if you will receive Him.

Some of you need to hear that He has not given up on you.

He come for the wayward and the lost.

Some of you are full of pride, thinking that admitting your broken, lost, wayward, distracted, sinful, needy, or dependent makes you look weak…WELL IT DOES!!!

and that is the key to greatness as Jesus defines it.

Coming to the place where you accept that you can’t fix yourself.

You won’t ever be successful enough, wealthy enough, strong enough, smart enough, or secure enough.

But He is there, inviting you to come to Him in your weariness and receive Him and the joy and peace He brings.

3 Responses

Some of you today need to respond by getting humbly on your knees and confessing your need for a savior.

Admitting that you've tried too long to do this by yourself and that Jesus is your only hope.

Some of you today need to get on your knees and bring your sins before the Savior, who not only forgives you of your sin

But can also bring victory over it.

You've tried your own methods and today it's time to ask him for his power and his help.

And all of us have an opportunity to get on their knees and pray for the people that we work with, that we love, our friends, no people God has placed in our lives and in this community to meet him and meet his church.

We want to pray for East Hartford Baptist Church to be a great church.

Not because we have a big building. Not because we have a big budget. Not because we have great programs

But because, through Jesus, we are making an impact on this community for his glory and it's good.