The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
St. Mark 9:30-37
True Greatness
Proper 20B, 23 September 2012
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
[A man] (named Horville Sash) had a humble job for a large
corporation. He worked in the basement as a gofer doing whatever others wanted
him to do to help them—mostly what other people didn’t want to do.
He often thought about the people on the floors above him
and the nice jobs they had. One day as he worked in the mailroom he saw a bug
scurry across the floor. He raised his foot to smash it, but then heard the bug
say, “Spare me.” Horville did, and as a reward the bug offered him a wish.
“I wish to be promoted to a higher floor,” he said. The very
next day he was moved to the second floor, and he marched up like MacArthur and
Patton rolled into one. As he worked on the second floor he listened to
footsteps on the floor above him and wished to move up. So he called his bug
for a wish. He received higher wages and more power when he moved to the third
floor as sales coordinator. But he wasn’t satisfied because there were other
floors above him.
He wished and wished and gradually moved up to the 20th
floor, to the 50th floor, to the 70th floor. He was on
the very top floor, sitting by the indoor pool, when he discovered a stairway
leading still higher. He scrambled up and found himself on the roof. Now he
felt he was as high as anyone could go.
Just as he turned to go back to his plush office, he noticed
an office boy off to the side with his eyes closed. “What are you doing?” he
asked. “Praying.” “To whom?” The boy pointed to the sky and said, “To the Lord
in Heaven.” Horville panicked. There was a floor above him. He could see only
clouds and could hear no shuffling of feet. So he summoned his bug and said,
“Give me a position God would want if he were on earth.” The next day [he] (Horville)
began work as a gofer in the basement.
What exactly is true greatness in the kingdom of God? The
Gospel is our focus.
[The First &
Greatest]
In Mark Chapter 8, Jesus predicted His death and
Resurrection for the first time and called on His disciples to take up their
crosses and follow Him. Next, Mark records the Transfiguration and then shows
Jesus healing a boy with an evil spirit. They
left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know
where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The
Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him,
and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant
and were afraid to ask him about it.
Jesus again predicts His Passion, death, and Resurrection.
This is the second time in the Markan account. But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him
about it. Apparently, the disciples went on to discussing other matters,
things more important to them.
They came to
Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing
about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued
about who was the greatest.
Amazing. [T]hey had
argued about who was the greatest. Earlier in this same chapter, Mark 9,
Jesus had been transfigured up on the mountain and appeared to Peter, James and
John with Moses and Elijah, and they, the disciples, were arguing about who
among them was the greatest. Jesus had just cast out a demon and they were
arguing about which of them was the greatest!
How much like us are these disciples? We sit here on Sunday,
hear the message that The Son of Man is
going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three
days he will rise. Then, many times we leave this place and go out into the
world and argue about who is the greatest. How much time have you wasted,
turning an honorable pursuit like sports in to an obsession, and argue about
who has the best baseball or football team? Or taking your work too seriously
just to get the promotion up the corporate ladder? Or delving into discussions
about what teen heartthrob is the coolest. We easily get distracted from that
which is truly great, truly First.
What does Jesus say about being the greatest? About being
First?
[The Last &
Servant of All]
(35 Sitting down,
Jesus called the Twelve and said,) “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the
very last, and the servant of all.” 36
He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he
said to them, 37 “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.”
Jesus turns contemporary logic about success on its head. In
the kingdom of God, one’s resume does not include the prestigious things, but
what our society considers menial: service, humility, taking a low profile,
even caring for children.
The greatest service, purest humility, the ultimate low
profile for One who was the Son of God, and one who cares for children is seen
in Jesus. He is the ideal, the greatest, the first, even the Alpha and Omega,
First and Last we hear about in the book of Revelation. But His greatness comes
in this: “The Son of Man is going to be
betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he
will rise.”
For our Lord is not just our example of how to serve. In His
service to us, we have been freed from bondage. We are no longer in bondage to
our own egos, to the lies about success we hear from the evil one, we are freed
from endless discussions about worldly greatness. We are freed to be the very
last and the servant of all.
“I serve,” is the proud motto of [a particular prince,] (the
Prince of Wales). We read and ponder and are startled. How these words clash
with the attitude that people commonly take toward life! Out in the world we
see how people make every effort to thrust themselves into positions where they
are able to command and force others to serve them. They are willing to serve,
but only themselves. Selfishness is the plague sin of our age. What a contrast
is, “I serve.” The person whose heart speaks these words rises to heights of
true nobility, true greatness.
In Christ, each Christian is a free lord and master, subject
to none. (Luther) Forgiven, we are freed from living under the law. Yet, at the
same time, the Christian is a slave and a servant of all. As you live out your
vocations, your roles in life as father, mother, child, student, supervisor,
worker, neighbor, friend, we serve God as we serve those around us. We are
freed so that we can serve our neighbor and help and befriend him in every
bodily need.
Here then is true
greatness: “The Son of Man is going to be
betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he
will rise.” Christ served us, became the very last, the servant of all by
being killed and by rising from the dead. And by being last, the servant of
all, freeing us all from sin, so that we may serve.
Jesus embodies true Greatness. He who made Himself last, has
been made First. He is what the book of Revelation calls the first and last,
beginning and end, Alpha and Omega, Jesus.
Rejoice with me that our sins have been forgiven for Jesus
sake! And even though we may be looked down upon in the eyes of the world and
considered as last, as our Lord has said, the first shall be last and the last
shall be first. He who has begun this good work in you will bring it to
completion in the Day our Lord Jesus Comes. He will make us truly great with
Him. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
