Greatness

Intro:

Who is the G.O.A.T.? (greatest of all time)

- Greatness — it is something we all strive for and sometimes even fight for … correct? Who wouldn’t want to be the GOAT!

All throughout life we have had this thing called the pecking order.

Life is literally filled with pecking orders and all we want to have happen is end up at the top of the line (or close to it).

We do this in our families, society, sports, etc… animals have this as well — it comes from chickens — from the hen house.

Something I’ve learned about chickens is that there is a definite "pecking order" to the flock. Within the flock of hens, one of them always becomes dominant. She will peck away at any hen that makes her angry or gets in her way. At first, the other hens that get pecked don’t like it and try to retaliate. But when they see they can’t win, they begin to turn on each other.

Each chicken that isn’t the dominant one begins to take our her frustrations on the others. And soon there’s a pecking order. The next strongest would pick on the next weakest, and so on and so on. Until one hen is left who is the lowliest and weakest in the pecking order. And she has no one to peck at, so she’ll just run away from all the conflict.

T: Well, that’s something like the situation we have here in the beginning of our passage this morning. As they are walking along the road, the disciples are trying to establish a pecking order among themselves. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that three of them were chosen to join Jesus on the mountain for His Transfiguration. Maybe it had something to do with the other nine disciples inability to cast a demon out of a local child, while Jesus was on the mountain.

But regardless of the reason, something spurred an argument about who of them was going to be the greatest in this new Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus was constantly talking about. Their question really had to do with significance. Not only who would be top dog after Jesus, but how would a significant human being be recognized in this new paradigm? What was the pecking order going to be?

Mark 9:33–34 ESV

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

Now, the interesting thing in this opening incident is that when Jesus asked them what they were talking about, all of them clammed up; no one would say a word. They all kept quiet. They obviously were embarrassed about their conversation.

But Jesus knew exactly what they were talking about. He knew that it was inconsistent with the way His disciples should be acting. So, when they got to the house in Capernaum, Jesus decided to make this a teachable moment about what greatness and significance was all about in the context of the Kingdom of God.

Main Body of Sermon:

Mark 9:35 ESV

35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Here’s God’s definition of being great… …You don’t achieve greatness by seeking to be first. You achieve it by a willingness to be last. …You don’t achieve significance by getting people to serve you. You achieve it by becoming a servant of all.

You see Jesus isn’t about to go along with how the world operates. He has come to flip it on its head and reverse the pecking order… actually Jesus came to destroy it because it destroys us. It ruins relationships, it ruins joy and happiness. SO Jesus is teaching the 12 and us that the Kingdom of Heaven is different… it is better than what we live in right now… it says more about you than you thought possible. And it starts by a reversal of the pecking order… it is a perspective shift which in turn lifts all of us up!

The significance comes from a person named Jesus not by how high pecking order you get.

Jesus says, serve all, seek to be about others and you will receive something so special it will cause nothing but Joy!

You don’t have to look very far to find the GOAT demonstrating this for us. Jesus literally lived out that which He is teaching here.

Read the Gospels and see for yourself — the life of Christ literally was being willing to take the least, be servant of all… and the benefit of that for us is NEW LIFE, MEANING, PURPOSE, RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ETERNAL!

We read in Philippians 2:6-11

Philippians 2:6–11 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The absolute GOAT!!!!! Thank you Jesus!

T: now, Jesus has taught first to be last, last to be first… servant of all… but now He really wants to drive this home with an object lesson… something that they all would agree upon (instead of argue).

The Lessons of the Child:

There’s a little child who happened to be in the house where they were having this conversation. And he uses this child to drive home His point about God’s idea of greatness and significance.

Mark 9:36–37 ESV

36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

What a beautiful scene. Jesus wraps His big carpenter arms around this little one, and says, "True greatness has a lot to do with our relationship with a child."

Now the significance here is that all the disciples would agree that a child is not significant (IN THIS CULTURE). Today, we actually elevate children pretty high, but back then the children were often ones that would get out of the way, stay hidden, because they were no asset to society.

The point Jesus is making is: in the Kingdom of God [ALL] people are precious to Him — all people are worthy of care, love, and to receive God’s grace.

Look at verse 37 again:

Mark 9:37 ESV

37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

The key to understanding this verse is found in the phrase "in my name".

You don’t welcome a child into your arms because of how that child can help your career advance. You don’t take a child up in your arms because that will give you status or recognition in the community. You welcome a child out of love. Now, love is one of the ways we define who God is. God is love. So, receiving a child in His name is accepting that child in the love of God.

William Barclay, makes a great statement about this idea.

"Now, a child has no influence at all. A child cannot advance a man’s career, nor enhance a man’s prestige. A child cannot give us things; it’s the other way around. A child needs things. A child must have things done for him. And so Jesus is saying, ’If a person welcomes the poor, ordinary people, the people who have no influence, and no wealth, and no power, the people who need things done for them, the people that are searching for help, then that person is welcoming me. And more than that, he’s welcoming God.’"

So, what Jesus is really saying to the disciples and to us this morning is that to achieve greatness or significance in the Kingdom of God, you must be welcoming and love people. And we must do it with no consideration of what someone can do for us. You see, the world tells you to use people for personal gain. We see it done time and time again,… But God says love people and serve them because they are precious to Him in every way and deserve it! Just like you do.

Conclusion:

I want you to get very honest with yourself and God. I challenge you to examine your life according to Jesus’ perspective of greatness and significance. Don’t look at your past. Look at your present. Are you following the path of Christ, or are you following the path of you?

Jesus’ gestures were puzzling and his words were a mystery until that day when he radically identified with that which is the least in this world, becoming the crucified one, rejected by the world, rejected by religious leaders, rejected by his own heavenly Father, and yet fiercely and faithfully holding on to every last sinner, holding on to you so that his death might be the way that the least of all can enter into the kingdom of God as the greatest.

Today, Jesus silences all argument and reveals the radical, beautiful, mercy of God, the greatness that lies hidden in his suffering, death, and resurrection and in the sacrificial service of all who follow Him.

Amen?

Amen.