Mark 9:33-37
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33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.” 36 He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”
I. Our ego is the idol we stroke.
I. Our ego is the idol we stroke.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.
Pride or vanity is not just thinking you are more important, it is often seen in false humility
Pride or vanity is not just thinking you are more important, it is often seen in false humility
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.
A. We all have a picture of the prideful person being the one who says “look at me I’m better than you.”
Pride doesn’t always come in that form.
We are living in possible the single most prideful (egotistical) time in the history of the world.
That said pride is not always bragging about how good things are, sometimes it comes in the form of describing how messy your life is as a way of trying to get attention.
We crave attention, whether through bragging about our greatness, or seeking sympathy through our our mess.
The problem with both is that we show that God is not enough for us, and we look for other people to fill the vacancy that only God can fulfill.
When you live craving attention from your mess, you are not seeking it from God, nor displaying the peace that God gives.
14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world,
If we are always complaining or griping, are we shining like stars to a broken world?
We need to admit that we are an egotistical people.
We need to admit that we are an egotistical people.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.
Illus: Can we be truthful… we all have a for someone in our live. We want to make them so happy, want everyone to notice them, and desire for all their wants and needs to met. In fact our infatuation with them borders on worship.
You know who it is… it is yourself.
In one way or another we are worshipers of ourselves.
Where scripture calls us to deny ourselves, we have accepted a culture of indulgence.
Where scripture calls us to serve the needs of others, we serve ourselves and find disappointment when others don’t serve us.
Even in church, where we are called to sacrifice, seek God, and serve our brothers, church has become the most consumeristic experience imaginable.
For us to walk rightly with God our egos need to be crucified.
5 Everyone with a proud heart is detestable to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.
II. Abandon the vanity, choose servanthood.
II. Abandon the vanity, choose servanthood.
35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”
Don’t be a selfie server.
Don’t be a selfie server.
35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”
Illus: What is a selfie server, it is a person who goes and serves, and then makes sure everyone knows that they served.
Perhaps it is taking a selfie… Hey look, I’m volunteering (secretly thinking like this and stoke my ego)
Perhaps it is dropping your service into a conversation, “Oh that reminds me of when I was...”
Perhaps it is expecting recognition for what you do.
The question when you serve is whether the eyes of God in your service are enough. Do you serve to please the Lord, or do you serve to be seen/honored/recognized.
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 2 So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Servanthood is both what you do, and how you do it.
Servanthood is both what you do, and how you do it.
35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”
Illus: When you become a Christian, you should serve. God’s change in your life will be to build in you a desire and heart to serve in the church, and serve others.
That said, as people we have a fallen and broken nature in us.
As God changes us we will fight the temptation to first not serve, but instead get our own, and second the temptation to see service as a means of self promotion.
Just think about this in the context of the church. Can you imagine how powerful this body would be if every person served in some way shape or form. What happens is that we give in to our selfish desire, and let a few do the work, while the many see the church business who serves them.
Think about this in the context of your family, you decide to serve, perhaps vacuuming the floor, doing the dishes, then your spouse comes in and says nothing. You get offended because at the end of things you served for the recognition, and out of a humble heart.
Our goal in service is to magnify Christ through our sacrifice, not magnify ourselves.
5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. 6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
III. It is time to reorder your priorities.
III. It is time to reorder your priorities.
36 He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”
Jesus Christ is our example.
Jesus Christ is our example.
Illus: Whether in the mess or highs of your life, are you serving your ego?
Is it time to crucify your flesh and become a servant?
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Is it time to crucify your flesh and become a servant?