Mark 9:30-37 (Pentecost 18B)                                                   
St. John, Galveston 9/22/24
Rev. Alan Taylor
 
+ In the Name of Jesus +
 
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.


“On the way (Jesus’ disciples) had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 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.” And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

I assume you have all heard the story about the young boy who grew up wanting to be last in everything he did in life? As I look around I’m seeing some quizzical looks on quite a few faces. Have you not heard that story?  Well, OF COURSE YOU haven’t, because it never happened. I mean, who does that? Who aspires to come in last in EVERYTHING they do? For that matter, who aspires to come in last in ANYTHING they do? When there is an exam to be taken, no one takes it with the hope of making the lowest grade in the class. No one competes in a race with the intent of crossing the finish line last.
 
To compete and to strive to win is part of our DNA. And there is nothing particularly wrong with a spirit of competition, or with a desire to finish first either. In fact, the drive to finish first inspires us to work harder and to excel at whatever we do. In many ways, our problem today isn’t dealing with the competitive spirit. Rather, it’s dealing with our shameful disdain for the spirit of competition that has left us with an uninspiring contentment with mediocrity. 
 
NFL player James Harrison took his son’s football participation trophies away from them because, in his view, they didn’t mean anything since they hadn’t earned them.  They did participate in the program, but basically the trophies were given out for just showing up.  Some people thought Harrison was a bit harsh with his sons.  By and large though people supported his tactic, perhaps recognizing that we have indeed begun to produce a generation of people who are content with just showing up.
 
As we turn to the Gospel reading for this morning, which has something to say about finishing first and finishing last, it’s important for us to note that there is a completely different standard for greatness in the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God.  Both, mind you, are God’s kingdoms, which is to say, God rules over both of them. He is, after all, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. 
 
But these two kingdoms don’t operate in the same way. The kingdom of the world, what is called the kingdom of the left in Lutheran circles, is rightly driven by power and, in the context of this morning’s message, it’s also driven by superlative effort and accomplishment. Even for a Christian, who knows that God is the source of every blessing in his or her life, work and effort are necessary because the blessings of the kingdom of the left are not handed out on a silver spoon. In fact, St. Paul, in writing to the Christians in Thessolonica, warned them about the human tendency to set back and let others do for them. He wrote, “Let he who will not work, let him not eat.”   
 
Jesus was most definitely talking to His disciples about the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of grace, when He said, “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.” Jesus was talking to the disciples about the atonement, about His dying to win for them a gift that they could never achieve on their own. It was His death and resurrection that would open the door to the Kingdom of God to all who would believe.
 
Having received that news from Jesus about His impending death, whether because of shock, or because of something else, the disciples began to discuss among themselves who was the greatest in Jesus’ kingdom. Of course, it doesn’t say in the text what sort of criteria they were using to settle the argument, but you imagine. No doubt, it was the same sort of criteria any one of us would have used, I’m the most faithful, the most loyal, I’ve been with Jesus the longest, He likes me the most. 
To all of our self-righteousness inclinations, Jesus says, repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Greatness in the Kingdom of God is not found in self-proclaimed superiority, nor is it found in personal achievement. Rather, it is found in serving others and in putting oneself last for the sake of others.“I didn’t come to be served (Jesus said), but to serve and give My life as a ransom for many.” It sounds a bit like a riddle, doesn’t it? “John is the greatest in the Kingdom of God, but he who is least is greater than he.”

I said earlier, that no one ever came into the world and aspired to be last. Absolutes always have their exception in Jesus though, don’t they? At another time in the Scriptures, Jesus said that John the Baptist was greatest of all of those born of women. He then went on to say, “but He who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”  Though Jesus was and is the greatest in the Kingdom, He made Himself last in order to make you first. “Though He was rich, yet, for your sakes He was made poor that you, through His poverty, might be made rich.”

It’s not a riddle though. Remember, in the Kingdom of God, things are turned upside down. Jesus is, in fact, the least in the Kingdom of God. Why? Well, because He made Himself so in order to save you and me from sin and death. “He was rich (the Bible says) and yet, for your sake, He became poor, that you, through His poverty might be made rich.” On that fateful day, when Jesus died on the cross for you and me, He embodied in Himself all wickedness and sin, including your’s and mine. Indeed, “He became sin, that you and I might become the very righteousness of God in Him”

And so, it is through humility, through finishing last, if you will, that Jesus has been exalted. As such, is truly the greatest in the Kingdom of God. As He talked with His disciples about the discussion they were having on the road, Jesus demonstrated that Kingdom virtue of humility and servant-hood.  He took a little child in His arms and said, “whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
 
Our Lord lifts up children as models of faith. “Whoever doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a little child, will never enter into it.” He does so, however, not because children are sinless. Rather, their faith, their trust in Christ, is simple and it’s unassuming. It hasn’t yet been threatened by the burdens of life and by the, so-called, reasonable arguments against it.
 
But, children are also held up in the scriptures as those most in need of protection. And the one who nurtures them must have a servant’s heart. I’m not quite sure how to say this without being misunderstood, but though they give us a great deal of love and happiness, children mostly receive and, in order for them to survive and thrive, they must be served.     
 
With that in mind, we come to the essence of the Gospel reading for this morning. In the Kingdom of God, we become great when we are the least, serving those who have little to no ability to repay our kindness. 
 
And, that’s really the essence of our Lord’s sacrifice for us. He came to us, to you and me, in weakness and in humility, that, like Him, we too might ultimately serve others in weakness and in humility. But, He was also exalted to Father’s hand, that, we too might sit at God’s hand in eternity. “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Therein is greatness in the Kingdom of God. 
 
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.
 
+ To God Alone the Glory +