1.
Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation
of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our
Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word today comes from
Mark 9:30-37. Here we see our Lord Jesus
teach us about, “True Greatness in the
Kingdom of God.” First, Jesus
teaches us what this meant for Him (vs. 30-32) and second, He teaches us what
this means for us His followers (vs. 33-37).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
The
TV series Downton
Abbey portrays a great household, clearly divided between
nobility and servants. There’s little doubt about who is greatest here: Lord
Grantham, with his family arrayed underneath him. The servants are beneath the
members of the family. They slave away to provide the family with a life of
comfort, ease, and luxury. The lowest in the house, at least as the series
begins, is the kitchen maid Daisy. Her duties include kneeling down to dirty
her hands cleaning the fireplaces. She’s last of all and servant of all. Here
are the world’s standards of greatness and service.
3.
Jesus’
words turn this well-ordered world upside down. The greatest in the Son of
Man’s kingdom is the lowest of all, the servant of all (Mk 9:35). True
greatness doesn’t come from having servants arrayed underneath one, but from
serving others. Jesus’ words would declare Daisy the greatest in the household,
above any member of the family. When Jesus came to this world, he came as a
servant, working like the servants in Downton Abbey to serve us. He
dirtied his hands, stained with his own blood, to cleanse us from sin. Jesus’
Church rejoices in the Son of Man who comes to serve us, freeing us from sin.
4. What does the
world view as greatness? We have many
examples of this in our world today. A
radio commentator not long ago revealed the disturbing results of a poll taken
among U.S. high school students on the subject of cheating. About half admitted
freely they’d be glad to cheat if they could get away with it, to get ahead of
the next guy. That’s not just a youth problem, either. In business, on the road
in rush hour, in sports, and in school, the main thing is to get ahead, to come
out on top, to avoid holding the short end of the stick. Because Jesus knows
that all of us have this “me first”
attitude, he makes a special point to tell us that true greatness in the
kingdom of God is living a life of service to our neighbor, just as Jesus the
Son of Man didn’t come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom
for many.
5. It’s God’s power that changes us from being
self-centered and selfish to living a life of service to our neighbor. It was God who humbled David after he had
been trying to serve himself and his own sinful desires after having adultery
with Bathsheba. God reminded Jeremiah
that as His prophet he was to continue to serve Him and proclaim the Word of
God in all of its fullness no matter the cost.
And, it’s God who changed you too in your Baptism, with power based on
Jesus’ saving acts (v 31; cf. Rom 6:1–4). We begin each new day with Baptismal
repentance of our sins. God changes us
through His Son Jesus Christ from being centered on ourselves to instead
looking to the needs of others.
6. Jesus reminds us that we should care for the
poor and the least of these among us, the people who are unable to care for
themselves, who need our help. At home
parents care for their children: they take time, slow down, and make sacrifices
for them. We care for children at risk
in our society due to child abuse, kidnapping, child pornography, and academic decline
in schools.
7. Take for instance, moms and dads who work
hard to raise their children. They may
sacrifice careers, hobbies, and other pleasures. Often they feel they’re
getting nowhere. But a parent’s humble service frequently pays off much later,
when children may care for their parents in old age, or when the children are
able to endure crises, even long after the parents are around to see it. After
he made it to the presidency, Abraham Lincoln said, “God bless my mother. All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to her.”
In a much deeper way, the Lord will bless the efforts of those who put
themselves out for the lowly, even if they don’t always see the results this
side of heaven.
8. Jesus calls us to serve our neighbor. Turn to welcome Christ in your neighbor (v
37). Mark 9:37 says, 37“Whoever receives one such
child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him
who sent me.” It’s time to deny
ourselves, all for the love of Jesus, who long ago turned away from the world’s
comforts to embrace the cross. This is
true greatness in the Kingdom of God.
9. For you Jesus walked willingly to the horrors
awaiting him in Jerusalem. Even his own
disciples didn’t understand why he wanted to do it. Jesus says in our text from Mark 9:31, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered
into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after
three days he will rise.” 32But they did not understand the saying,
and were afraid to ask him.” Jesus
acted out God’s gracious love and treasured us undeserving sinners. And, He opened the door to true greatness. Jesus became great in his Father’s sight by
becoming obedient to death on the cross.
Jesus is great to us who treasure him as the only Savior and Redeemer.
10. Now as followers of Jesus, through our
baptisms and the hearing of His Holy Word, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit
to imitate Jesus’ style. We seek to
honor Jesus and what he values, whether we “get
ahead” or not. Jesus will use you to
bless others.
11. But, remember you’ll be tempted not to serve
in Christ’s lowly way because you think nobody sees, or it makes no difference.
When Noah and his loved ones were floating around during the great flood, where
was their comfort? Scripture says, “But
God remembered Noah and all the animals with him in the ark” (Gen 8:1). God
used Noah to save his family, and the whole human race. There’s your comfort!
God sees you. He knows what you’re doing. He remembers you, even when nobody
else notices. So pay less attention to what the world says, and a lot more to
him who remembers you. On the last day, your service of Christ will be
remembered. This is what true greatness
in the Kingdom of God is all about.
12. Life can get so busy, so stressful, and so
competitive that it has us going around in circles. Jesus calls us to deny our
sinful desires, turn away from the world’s mindset that eventually leads to
self-destruction, and to turn toward him. Jesus calls us to value each and
every person, not for what they can do for us, but for what God, working
through us, can do for them. He promises to meet us in each person we serve in
his name. He came among us to serve and lay down his life for us for the
forgiveness of our sins. He has taken up his life again, to be with us always.
May we serve our neighbor in Christian love, just as our Lord Jesus came to
serve us! Amen.
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