Good Conversations

It seems both fitting and odd that we have back to back weeks of Jesus predicting his passion, that is, his betrayal, death, and resurrection. It is odd, especially for a preacher because what more am I supposed to say about a topic that we talked about last week? I could make this one of my shortest sermons ever and invite you all to remember what I said last week and just sit down and move on to the next part of the worship service. Some of you might cheer and applaud me for my brevity, while others might feel a little gypped. Also a complete side note... until I wrote my sermon I don’t think I ever knew how to spell the word gypped. And I completely misspelled it when I tried. Anyway. that is the odd part of having back to back passion predictions. It seems redundant. Yes they are obviously paired with a different story around it, but still…odd.

It also seems fitting because it really drives home the idea that Jesus needs to keep bringing this topic up again and again so that the disciples might one day eventually get it. So by us hearing it two weeks in a row it shows the importance of what Jesus is going to go through when he enters Jerusalem and that the disciples need to know that this is going to happen. It reminds me of a recommendation that someone once told me... that in order for someone to remember say an announcement in church or an event advertised at school or on tv etc. that you need to do it five times in five different ways. Jesus clearly understood this concept because he’s going to do it three times and we see in other scriptures that he talks about other aspects of what is going to happen without bringing all of it up. He’s trying to help prepare them for life during and after his death and resurrection.

I also think it’s good to hear them back to back because it helps us to remember and relate the story last week where Peter was scolded publicly for rebuking Jesus to the story this week where they were afraid to ask him what he meant about his passion. I doubt that any of them would want to be the focal point of a rebuke by Jesus for saying the wrong thing about his prediction.

It is also good for us to remember last week and how the disciples don’t understand fully who Jesus is and what his real purpose is here on earth, becuase not only do they still not get what his predicting his suffering, death and resurrection, they also clearly still do not understand what it means to be Messiah. If they did, they would not have spent at least a portion of their time on the road from Caesarea Philippi to Capernaum arguing about who was be the greatest. We get a sense they at least knew it was a conversation they should not be having because they immediately fell silent when they were asked by Jesus.

Let’s be honest. If you are having a conversation and someone else walks into the room and you immediately stop talking then it’s probably a conversation that you shouldn’t be having. Now I’m sure there are a few exceptions, but for the most part if someone is having a hushed conversation that they don’t want heard by anyone else that could walk by then there’s probably a reason why they don’t want other people to hear it and it’s probably not good. It’s probably not a conversation that should be had at all or it’s a conversation for a different time or place. I’m sure we have all done it and we have all walked in on people having one of those conversations and it’s not a good thing to walk in on.

Jesus uses this moment to teach the disciples a bunch of different things. He attempts to teach them even more about what Messiah really means. He teaches them about the way of God vs. the way of the world. He does this all with a child that he brings in their midst. I really feel bad for the child by the way. Sure the child doesn’t have to say anything or do anything but sit there with Jesus, but he is the object of the lesson he is trying to teach and that can’t feel very good. I wonder who is more embarrassed at the moment. The disciples for being called out for acting like children, or the child being called out as the one who they should welcome unconditionally.

What I mean by Jesus is still trying to teach them about what the Messiah really means is that why else would they be talking about who is the greatest unless they were trying to secure positions of power in the new reign of Jesus? In Roman and Israelite society it was a top down society. If you were at the top you had connections and people below you that wanted to be associated with you so they could climb the socio-political ladder. It was good to have people above you so you could rise higher and it was good to have associates below you to need you and owe you favors. The disciples are arguing about the greatest i.e. they want to know that when Jesus comes into power who is going to be at the top and below that person etc. Not all 12 of them can be his right hand man or the man just below Jesus. So they are arguing about pecking order.

Jesus attempts to correct and change that thought by telling them that the first must actually be at the bottom and must be the ones who serve. They aren’t the ones who are being treated like royalty and given favors becuase of who they are. That is what part of what Messiah means and what it means to be a follower of the Messiah. Again trying to shape that idea that a follower of Jesus must give up their life and follow Jesus like we heard about last week.

He drives it further home and also brings in the idea of what the new kingdom, the Kingdom of God (not man) will look like. This is when he uses the child. He basically says everything is upside down. The first are last and servants and that servanthood means serving the least of these like a child. You see a child couldn’t produce or contribute anything. So welcoming someone, loving someone, serving someone who can’t return the favor. Caring for someone who is ‘worthless’ to a ‘what can you do for me’ society is exactly who Jesus says we need to serve, welcome, and love. The Kingdom of God isn’t about pecking order. It isn’t about wheeling and dealing in hushed conversations to get ahead of life at the expense of others.

The Messiah is here to welcome to least of these. The child, the lame, the outcast, the poor, the widow, the alien, and the orphan. When we do that too, we welcome Jesus and we welcome the one who sent Jesus. When we do that we usher in the real kingdom. The Kingdom of God that says all are welcome. Friend and stranger, old and young, healthy and unhealthy. Those who can pay you back 10 or 100 fold and those who can never pay you back. It is for everyone who wants to follow Jesus and it’s not about what you or I get, but about offering this incredible gift of a life with our creator to someone who has nothing else in their life. To say that nothing else matters except that you matter. Not because of your wealth, or connections. Not becuase of your infinite knowledge or charm. But because plain and simply…you are a child of God and God loves and cares for everyone.

That includes you and me. Whether we are the disciples arguing about the dumbest things, the child in the center of the room, or the person on the corner who has nothing to offer this world. We are all loved, we are all called into this incredible kingdom. That is the power of God that is the gift of our Messiah Jesus and that is why it is so important to understand why Jesus had to be betrayed, die, and after three days rise again. It is the reversal of the ways of the world so that the world can know what true love, unconditional love looks like. Amen.