Mark 9 30-37 notes
The Measure Of Greatness
Sermon by Brett Blair and Staff
Mark 9 : 30-37
Pentecost 18
Some years ago St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City was seeking a new president. Over one hundred candidates applied for the position. The search committee narrowed the list to five eminently qualified persons. Then somebody came up with a brilliant idea: let's send a person to the institutions where each of the five finalists is currently employed, and let's interview the janitor at each place, asking him what he thinks of the man seeking to be our president. This was done and a janitor gave such a glowing appraisal of William MacElvaney that he was selected President of St. Paul's School of Theology.
Somebody on that search committee understood, in a flash of genius, that those who live close to Christ become so secure in his love that they no longer relate to other people according to rank or power or money or prestige. They treat janitors and governors with equal dignity. They regard everybody as a VIP. Children seem to do this intuitively; adult Christians have to relearn it.
In verse 32 we read a not so complimentary report on the disciples: "But they did not understand." That's a picture that can be hung in the halls of the museum of mankind. When confronted by true greatness, we simply do not see it. Here is what happened with the disciples. One day Jesus is passing through Galilee. We are told that he did not want anyone in the area to know where they were? Why is that? Because, he had something important to tell the 12. It was a strategic part of his plan. "The Son of Man" he explains, "is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him," now listen to what he says next, "and after three days he will rise." There it was. The whole plan lay before them. The crucifixion and the resurrection. They should have been curious. They should have asked questions. They could have seen the significance. But the best they could muster up at this crucial moment was a blank stare and confused silence. They could not understand it because it did not meet what they felt was the measure of greatness.
How do we grow to the point that we stop measuring people by their successes and start regarding people for their service, for their sacrifices? How do we move from a world’s model which measures value in terms of wealth, fame, and power to a model which measures value in based on Jesus’ teachings? What is greatness in the kingdom of God?
I
First, let’s notice that true greatness is hardly ever recognized. How can we know greatness when we see it? J. C. Penny had a way of recognizing it. He said, “Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I'll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I'll give you a stock clerk.” We all understand Penny’s point: A dream though hidden in the most common of men can bring about greatness but a common man with no dream is just that, a common man.
There are many ways to measure greatness. Some might say that what makes for greatness is intellect and they would hold up the example of Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein developed his theory of relativity when he was twenty-six years old, and therefore, some say, by any measure he is great.
Others would say that what makes for greatness is courage, and therefore Clara Barton should be held up as the standard. During the Civil War, Clara Barton earned the honor of “Angel of the Battlefield.” Her work with wounded ultimately led her to found the world-wide organization known as the Red Cross. Therefore, some would argue, she is great.
Still others would say that what makes for greatness is spirit. They would point to Jackie Robinson. The story of Jackie Robinson, the first professional black baseball player is a story of triumph and perseverance over adversity. If you’ve heard his story you know the insults that were hurled at him. His story is the triumph of the human spirit.
Perhaps some would say that ones contribution to humanity is what makes for greatness. If that were the case, then few would argue against calling Jonas Salk great. It is difficult for us to imagine today the terror that the word polio struck in the hearts of parents. I well remember when I was a child and the vaccine was used on a mass scale in schools for the first time. Of course, in those days it was not a sugar cube but an arm pricking. But few can deny that Jonas Salk gave us a great deal.
But perhaps it is those who work for peace in the councils of nations or those who fight for justice as did Martin Luther King. We all have deep within us a desire to be great. We have a desire to be the best at what we do. To excel. No one wants to be no one. But what is it, that measure of greatness that will get us there? And how can we recognize it when we see it? Let’s leave this question for a few moments and look at or second point.
II
Greatness is never about self-promotion. One day Jesus is walking with his disciples and as they walk they talk among themselves. At the time they did not realize that he overheard them, but he clearly did for when they later arrive at their destination he questions them about it. The topic was who was the greatest among them. Exactly what they said we don’t know, but I imagine that the conversation went something like this
Simon Peter said: “Well, I am his right hand man. I am a part of the inner circle. I am the spokesman of the group. Therefore, I am the greatest.”
Whereupon Andrew might have spoken up and said: “Well, dear big brother, let me remind you of something which you have conveniently forgotten. I was called into discipleship first. Indeed, I was the one who invited you to come to Jesus. I got you here. Therefore, I am the greatest.”
The brothers James and John at this point speak up: “You both miss the point. Greatness is measured by the amount that you have sacrificed. We stood to inherit our father Zebedee’s lucrative fishing business. We gave all of that up.”
At this point Matthew chimes in: “Well if you want to talk about giving up money, I can play that game. I was a tax collector. None of you had as much money as I did. There fir I am the greatest.”
When the twelve arrived at their destination, Jesus asked them what they had been talking about back on the road. It was a question meant for their introspection. Jesus knew what they had been talking about. And with that question the disciples are strangely quiet. They are embarrassed. It was at this point that Jesus told them, and vicariously us, what it is that makes for true greatness in the eyes of God. “If you would be great,” he said, “be a servant.”
Someone once asked Dr. Albert Sweitzer who was the greatest person in the world. He answered: “Some unknown person, who is doing the work of love.” When Mike Peters won the Pulitzer Prize for political cartoons (1981), he wasn't expecting the honor. He described his response by saying, "It is like you are asleep and it is 2 in the morning and you are hugging your pillow and you are in your funny pajamas and somebody bursts through the door and they come over and start shaking you and they say, 'Wake up, wake up!' And you say, 'What is it?' And they say, 'You have just won the Boston Marathon!' And you say, 'But I'm not running in the Boston Marathon.' And they say, 'Doesn't make any difference, you won.'"
Jesus taught that heaven will hold some surprises. Honor and glory will be granted for behavior that was so natural, so undistinguished, and so noncompetitive. Take the simple illustration that Jesus gives of receiving a child. From somewhere Jesus finds a small child who he stands in front of them. It is interesting that Mark tells us that Jesus stands the child in front of them and then takes the child in his arms. Perhas he was highlighting how low the child was by comparison. But as he raises the child in his arms he says to them, "Whoever welcomes on of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Now, what does he mean? He is talking about having a humble servant attitude, being willing to reach out and help the lowliest of people so that we might show them the love of Christ. Such simple acts will be greatly rewarded.
Yes, many of God's children will be surprised to find that their faithful simple service has brought them top honors. The servant will be honored; the last shall be first. And if there is one thing in this world that short circuits such simple acts it is self-promotion. You cannot both serve and conquer.
III
This leads us into our final point: Greatness is found in service to all. After a presidential debate a reporter for a news magazine asked a young woman, "What do you think of the candidates?" She didn't say a word about their positions on the issues or their skill at debate. She simply remarked, "None of them seems to have any humility."
Benjamin Franklin, the early American statesman, made a list of character qualities that he wanted to develop in his own life. When he mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty well, he said, until he got to humility. Every time he thought he was making significant progress, he would be so pleased with himself that he became proud.
Humility is an elusive virtue. Even Jesus' disciples struggled with it. Ironically, it is immediately after moments alone with his disciples that they discuss who among themselves was greatest. Perhaps they took Jesus’ talk about dying to be the language of war and not a prediction of death. Either way they missed the measure of greatness. Jesus was about to serve in the most radical of ways, by sacrificing himself on the cross. In doing so, he was sacrificing himself for their sins and the sins of the world. But the disciples are not listening and they miss the crucial moment. In addition to this be the act which creates Christianity and shapes world history there is a lesson, a virtue, a model offered for his followers: You will recognize greatness when you look for it in the humble acts of love shown every day by people who are not interested in self-promotion.
And when we fail to recognize this as the measure for greatness we will find our selves in last place. What happened to Richard Petty is a stark reminder. Several years ago (1979), as a hundred thousand fans watched, Richard Petty ended his 45-race losing streak and picked up stockcar racing's biggest purse-$73,900. It all happened at the Daytona 500. Petty's win, however, was a complete surprise. Going into the last lap, he was running 30 seconds behind the two leaders. All at once the car in second place tried to pass the No. 1 man on the final stretch. This caused the first car to drift inside and force the challenger onto the infield grass, and slightly out of control. What happened next was incredible. The offended driver pulled his car back onto the track, caught up with the leader, and forced him into the outside wall. Both vehicles came to a screeching halt. The two drivers jumped out and quickly got into an old-fashioned slugging match. In the meantime, third-place Petty cruised by for the win.
And Jesus said, "The first shall be last." Amen.
eSermons Resources, Brett Blair and Staff, ChristianGlobe Network, 2003, 0-0000-0000-01
Illustration: O. Henry’s short stories in college that addresses this issue. In the story he told of a little girl whose mother died. When the father would come home from work, he would fix their meal, then he’d sit down with his paper and pipe, put his feet on the hearth and read. The little girl would come and say, "Father, would you play with me?" And he would say, "No, I’m too tired, I’m too busy. Go out in the street and play." This went on for so long that the little girl, literally grew up on the streets and eventually became a prostitute. When she died, in the story, she appeared at the gates of heaven, and Peter said to Jesus, "Here’s a prostitute. Shall we send her to hell?" And Jesus said, "No-let her in. But go find the man who refused to play with her when she was a little girl, and send him to hell."
To have a life that is significant and makes a lasting impact, you will be involved in helping the less mature become more mature in their faith in God.
Welcoming Jesus
Sermon by David E. Leininger
Mark 9 : 30-37
Pentecost 18
Children. Several years ago a couple of books were published entitled Children's Letters to God and More Children's Letters to God(1) which collected some rather clever (and occasionally insightful) letters from youngsters to the Almighty. Listen to a few of them:
• Dear GOD, In school they told us what You do. Who does it when You are on vacation? * Jane
• Dear GOD, Is it true my father won't get in Heaven if he uses his bowling words in the house? * Anita
• Dear GOD, Did you mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? * Norma
• Dear GOD, Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't You just keep the ones You have now? * Jane
• Dear GOD, Did you really mean "do unto others as they do unto you"? Because if you did, then I'm going to fix my brother! * Darla
• Dear GOD, Thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy. * Joyce
• Dear GOD, My brother is a rat. You should give him a tail. Ha ha. * Danny
• Dear GOD, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother. * Larry
• Dear GOD, I bet it is very hard for You to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it. * Nan
Kids. Munchkins. Rug Rats. Ragamuffins. Ya gotta love 'em. Jesus obviously did. Youngsters appear regularly in the gospel narratives. There must have been something not only winsome but downright FUN about Jesus for kids to want to be around him. And Jesus obviously appreciated the perspective of children - he went so far as to make that startling statement that unless we have the kind of faith that children have, we will miss out on the Kingdom.(2) What is that perspective? Trust? Some. Dependence? A bit. Humility? A little, maybe. All of those are true to an extent (albeit, in my humble opinion as a father, only a SMALL extent). Actually, I think the childlike quality Jesus means most is the sense of wonder about life, the curiosity that is evident in those letters to God, the obvious joy in being alive, happily ready for whatever new adventure might come along.
But for all the warm, fuzzy things we say about children, the other side of that coin is that children are often a big nuisance. They start out by causing incredible pain to Mom in child birth (not to mention the equally incredible pain to the bank account). They interrupt sleep schedules. They offer strange-smelling discharges from various bodily orifices, and often all over YOU. They cost thousands of dollars to feed and clothe and repay your generosity with a thumb of the nose. They aggravate, irritate, infuriate. Finally, as something in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago suggests, they get married and want a huge reception replete with ice sculptures for $22,000+. Trouble.
Behavior? Much as we find in each of our lessons this morning. Child...ISH! The Epistle of James: "bitter envy and selfish ambition...disorder and every evil practice." The gospel of Mark: Jesus asks the Twelve, "What were you arguing about on the road?" Silence. EMBARRASSED silence. Because "they had argued about who was the greatest." A bit like the old Smothers Brothers routine: "Mom always liked you best!" Laughable. And, of course, childish.
Actually, there is only one we know as "the greatest." Muhammad Ali. (And you thought I was going to say Jesus.) Ali is a fascinating character (despite his current battle with Parkinson's), and has been since his brash days in Louisville when we knew him as Cassius Clay and heard his boastful claim, made over and again through the years, that, "I AM THE GREATEST."
A sportswriter once asked him, "When you say, 'I am the greatest,' do you mean the greatest fighter or the greatest human being?"
Ali replied quickly, "I mean that I am the greatest boxer. I will go down as the greatest boxer of all time."
The writer pressed him further. "But do you think that 50 years from now people will say that you were the greatest?"
Ali responded, "Fifty years from now everybody in this room will be dead. Nobody will remember what a great boxer I was. The only way I will not be forgotten is if I can do something to help and aid my people."(3) Smart man.
I wish, after almost 2,000 years of hearing the gospel story we just read, the world (not to mention the church) was that smart. Jesus says, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." We get an inkling of that truth occasionally in special lives such as the late Mother Teresa, but we notice them precisely because they are so rare. Then after Jesus picks up a little one who happens to be handy (and this child probably more resembles one of those filthy ragamuffins in a "Save the Children" commercial than one of those in our nursery), he says, "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."
The implications of that are more than a bit unsettling. Jesus does not say TOLERATE the child or even PROVIDE FOR the child. The Greek word literally means ACCEPT, but the translation WELCOME is appropriate. To WELCOME someone implies that we gladly extend our hospitality, and, in this case, the implication is that we are greeting an ambassador, an official representative. Who is this we welcome? Those who have no status (children in that day were not thought of as much more than property), those who may well be dirty, even filthy, possibly diseased, and most assuredly those at the bottom of the social ladder.
I would love to be able to report that the condition of children in this world is significantly improved since Jesus' time. After all, one of the few things that churches do NOT debate is that "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world." Then why do we have estimates that thirty-five thousand children under the age of five die daily around the globe, most from preventable poverty conditions? The financial cost to end most of these child deaths, it has been proposed, is about $2.5 billion a year, which is the amount Americans spend on chewing gum.(4) Could we manage that? After all, Jesus himself says that these are the emissaries of the Almighty, "the least of these..."
Well, we try. After all, don't we get down to the Sharing Place to feed the hungry? Don't we support efforts like Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together to provide decent homes for those who would never have them without our help? Don't we blister our feet marching in the Relay for Life every year for the sole purpose of helping find a cure for a horrible disease? Don't we contribute our money to all sorts of worthy causes, both in the church and out? Absolutely! And we do not do badly, if we do say so ourselves.
But before we say anything more, consider this true story:(5) recently a church youth group was on a wilderness back-packing expedition and got lost. It was supposed to be a half-day trip, so they soon ran out of water in the Texas heat. One boy especially became dehydrated and seriously ill. Another hiked miles to get help, then hiked back with rescue team to show them the location. A helicopter came and took him and this now seriously ill friend to a hospital over 100 miles away. The other hikers were provided supplies and were eventually trucked out. Fortunately, the rescue was in time - the young man's life was saved.
Nice story, so far. Right? Here is where it gets dicey. Our young hero is now in the hospital waiting room. He calls home to bring mom and dad up to date. So far, so good. The boy continues his vigil, but soon realizes a predicament - he has no money, the rest of the group is still hours away, he needs food and a place to stay. The hospital staff suggest the local shelter for the night. He calls home again.
Dad goes ballistic. He calls the hospital, gives his credit card number and insists that his son be taken care of. Put him in nearby hotel till the parents can get there in the morning. Forget this Homeless Shelter stuff. Both father and son (who happened to be 17 years old and over 6'4") are convinced that such a suggestion is insane. Why? The lad responds, "Hey, I don't have anything against homeless people. I've done my service projects for church at the shelter at home, but I don't need to stay with them or have them sleeping near me. Yuck!"
What do you think? I do not mean to pick on someone who is certainly a brave and courageous young man. But I will pick on an attitude that says it is all right, even GOOD, to HELP the "riff-raff" but that to actually stay overnight with them, receive the same help as them, be on the same level as they are, is dangerous and disgusting. Somewhere along the line, people hear the message that we are called to help, but then miss the part about Jesus identifying HIMSELF with those in need of that help. Remember Matthew 25? "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to ME!"
Someone has suggested that there are more than enough spare bedrooms in our houses to easily solve the homeless problem. Right! That solution would be as well received as the suggestion that our young friend spend the night in the shelter.
A young rabbinical student asked the rabbi, "Rabbi, why don't people see God today as they did in the olden days?" The wise old man put his hands on the student's shoulders and said, "The answer, my son, is because no one is willing to stoop so low."(6)
An interesting thought: what would our answer be if Jesus came to us and asked, "What were you arguing about on the road?" Well, Lord, we were arguing about whether women should be equal to men in performing church functions. We were arguing about language for God - should we use masculine, feminine, both, neither? We were arguing about sexuality - if folks are homosexual, should they be included in the church? We were arguing about whether to support the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches. We were arguing about buying a new hymnal. We were arguing about how much money to pay to support the mission of the church around the world when we have so many needs here at home. Or, with the disciples, we might just admit that our arguments are over who is going to be top dog around here, the decision-maker, the one to whom everyone else will have to listen.
The one thing I want you to notice is Jesus' response. He does not put that ambition down, does not say how awful it is to want to be great...or even THE GREATEST. Instead, he says here is the way to do it. Be a servant. Be a servant.
Then there is that reference about the first being last. We find that several places in the gospels - this utter reversal of the world's norms, this new way of keeping score. It is mind boggling...until we realize that for the first to be last AND the last to be first means that everyone has to cross the finish line together. Possible? Sure. IF...and this is a big IF...IF we decide that is the way we will play life's game.
Sometime back, there was a story that came out of the Special Olympics. It seems that a contestant tripped and fell while running a race. Instead of just charging down the track oblivious to another competitor's distress, the other contestants stopped, went back, picked up their fallen comrade, then all ran together to the finish. First. Last. Who cared? Everyone made it across. That was all that mattered.
That is gospel, my friend. What matters is that we all make it across, even the least among us. That was Jesus' message that day in Capernaum. That is Jesus' message today. And remember, "Whoever welcomes one such...in my name welcomes me..."
Amen!
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1. Eric Marshall & Stuart Hample, comp., (New York: Pocket Books, 1966) and (New York: Essandess Special Editions, 1967)
2. Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:15, Luke 18:17
3. William Schwein, "Preaching on the Lessons," Clergy Journal, July 1997, p. 43
4. John and Sylvia Ronsvalle, Behind the Stained Glass Windows: Money Dynamics in the Church, (Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Books, 1996), p. 218
5. Christine Iverson, via Ecunet, "Gospel Notes for Next Sunday," #524
6. Brian Stoffregen, via Ecunet, "Gospel Notes for Next Sunday," #8593, 9/14/03
Collected Sermons, David E. Leininger, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., 2005, 0-000-0000-16