Pentecost 18
– Series B – Proper 20 (September 23, 2018)
“The
Greatest Is the Lowliest” (Mark 9:30-37)
INI
People argue all the time about “Who is the
greatest?” Who is the greatest president? Usually Washington or Lincoln are near the
top of that list. Who is the greatest
rock and roll band of all time? The
Beatles or Led Zeppelin are often included in that conversation. Maybe even The Rolling Stones. I know some of you would put Metallica or
AC/DC on that list. And then let’s talk
sports. Who is the greatest player of
all time in any given sport? Babe Ruth
or Willie Mays? Wayne Gretzky or Gordy
Howe? Tom Brady or Joe Montana? Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus? Everyone has an opinion. Sometimes the debates may get a little heated,
depending on how loyal you are to your favorites.
But to gather with your friends and argue
about who is the greatest among you … have you ever done that? “I’m the greatest … the rest of you guys are okay
… and some of you might actually be losers.”
You probably wouldn’t have those friends for long, would you?
Yet that is exactly what the
disciples were doing as they traveled to Capernaum in today’s Gospel reading. How
preposterous and how presumptuous of them.
To make matters worse, this is not long after they had come from the
Mount of Transfiguration. You’d think
that Peter, James, and John – who were with him on the mountain and saw him
shining in glory with two of the greatest prophets, Moses and Elijah, appearing
from heaven with Jesus – you’d think they would have said to the others, “Hey,
cool it guys. This whole discussion is out of line.” But maybe they were the ones who started it,
since they were given the privilege in the first place to go up the mountain by
themselves with Jesus while the others were left at the base of the peak to
wait and wonder what was going on up there.
Maybe they thought they deserved special treatment by the others … and
by Jesus.
Plus, there was another event recorded
right before this that should have tempered their pride. They encountered a man whose son was
possessed by a demon. He came to Jesus
to ask for help, because, as he said to Jesus, “I asked your disciples to cast
it out, and they were not able.” And
Jesus responds, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” It’s unclear who Jesus is speaking to
there. If it’s the disciples, then this
is a bitter criticism.
And then, to top it all off, our reading today begins
with Jesus foretelling his death and resurrection … and the disciples have the
gall to argue about which of them is the greatest. When Jesus asks them what they were talking
about, they clammed up. They knew they
were in trouble.
So, Jesus sits down to teach, as was customary for
teachers in those days. He probably had
the disciples sit down, too, since it was customary for learners to sit at the
feet of their teacher. At home, you know
you might be in trouble when mom and dad say to you, “Sit down. We need to talk.” The disciples probably thought they were in
for it, too. “He’s sitting down. We better sit down, too. I think we’re busted.”
Jesus says to them, “If anyone would be first, he
must be last of all and servant of all.”
And then, he illustrates this by taking a child into his arms and says, “Whoever
receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me,
receives not me but him who sent me.”
Why did Jesus use a child here? Our culture glorifies youth, but not back
then. Although children were seen as
gifts from God in ancient Israel, ancient cultures often marginalized children and
disregarded them for their low status and dependency. In the predominant Greco-Roman culture in
those days, girls were valued less than boys. Infants born with disabilities or
unwanted female babies were commonly left exposed to the elements to die. It wasn’t until Christianity grew more influential
in the Roman Empire that the sacredness of all life was upheld and infant exposure
was finally outlawed in AD 374.
And so, Jesus says if you receive such a child in his
name, you receive Jesus, the Son of God.
If you receive Jesus, you receive the one who sent him, God the Father. In other words, your attitude toward not just
little children, but toward all who are lowly, dependent, marginalized, or insignificant
is an indication of your relationship with God.
If you think you are above anyone for whatever reason, that you are
better than someone, then we have a big problem.
And I’m afraid we are guilty of overlooking those
with low status in the circles we find ourselves, even within our own
congregation. Those who aren’t as vocal,
those who are quiet, those who don’t dress as nice as you, those who may slip
in and out among us without being noticed.
We prefer to hang out with those we know, those who are easy to talk to,
or those with influence. We forget that in
our sin and brokenness, we are all those of lowly estate.
Even though Jesus is the greatest, he came into
this world to be the lowliest. Jesus was
marginalized. John 1:11 says, “He came
to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Even when he was a little child like the one
in his arms, he was not received. The
Virgin Mary received him, as did the shepherds and the Magi. Still, there was no room for him in the inn. Herod wanted to kill him, and so his family fled
to Egypt. Throughout his three-year
ministry, he was opposed by those were most influential. In the end, he was sent outside the city
gates … outside the Holy City, Jerusalem, the place of the temple, the place of
God’s presence, like Adam and Eve being sent out of the Garden of Eden. How ironic, though, that the very presence of
God was found in Jesus, and the very people he came to save kicked him out of
the city where they thought God’s presence resided. Outside the city wall, Jesus was crucified
and cursed, as Scripture says, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Gal.
3:13). Jesus was cursed because the sins
of the world were laid to his account.
Jesus became the last of all and servant of all,
as he said, “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give
his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
He reached out to all those who were looked down upon … tax collectors,
prostitutes, sinners; the lame, the deaf, the mute, the demon possessed, all
those who everyone else thought must be cursed by God because of their
condition. Now, all who repent of the
ways in which they think they are better than others and trust in the Christ
who became the last of all and servant of all, are lifted up from their lowly
condition as cursed and condemned sinners. No longer marginalized. No longer on the outside looking in. You are in God’s kingdom. God’s family. In the inner circle. Baptized. Forgiven.
Welcomed to his dining table where he feeds you with your Savior’s
precious, priceless body and blood.
Now, you can sing with the Virgin Mary her song of
praise, the Magnificat, and realize that her words can be your song of praise,
too:
My soul magnifies the
Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate
of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me … he has brought down the
mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.
Nailed to the cross and sealed behind the stone at
the entrance to the tomb, Jesus was humbled.
Raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father, Jesus
is exalted. Forgiven and baptized, Jesus
now exalts you. He lifts you up. He makes you into a king and a priest. He receives you as his precious child and
takes you into his arms. And he gives
you his Spirit so that you can serve others like him … selflessly,
sacrificially, and humbly … and lift others up with the love of God that has
been shown to you in Christ Jesus.
INI
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