Pentecost 17

October 1, 2015 in Sermon by Scott Landrum

Mark 9:30-37
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. 33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all,” Jesus said. By now I’m certain you have heard this before. It is a major part of orthodox Christian teaching. I say Orthodox teaching because Christianity has been hijacked by some who make it all about themselves. The creation of their best life now, their blessing, their prosperity, their . . . whatever, is what Christianity is about for them. Of course it’s not true but people would rather believe a lie than the truth any day it seems. But being last rather than first, serving rather than being served, giving all away to others rather than keeping it for ourselves are all descriptions of Christian living. Now we know this but I suspect it goes in one ear and right out the other. I mean when you were in junior high or high school, was this how leaders were measured, by the fact that they were last of all; the last to be noticed, the last to be picked, the last in line? Did the popular kids get popular by always being last? And think about politics. We’re heading into an election year—do candidates get ahead by being last? Last in the polls, last in advertising, last in debates? And then there’s always football. I’m trying to get used to the Saints being last again as I cling to that one Super Bowl victory. I tell myself they are Saints after all and they are simply behaving properly! About Jesus’ words we say, “you know, that’s not how it is in the real world. This is not reality.” We say “well, that’s nice—but if I don’t look out for myself and my own, we’ll get trampled and we’ll never get ahead.” And others might even say, “Yes in an ideal world that’s all fine—but we have to play by the world’s rules at least sometimes, because we live in the world. You see I don’t want to be the greatest—I just want to be comfortable, reasonably respected, have my kids have the same or better opportunities than I did, and have a good life.” I suspect that is what the disciples wanted too and that is why they behaved like children arguing.
When you were a child did you ever get into those shouting matches with other kids about who was the best? That’s what the disciples were doing and just like kids they stood in embarrassed silence when called on the carpet by Jesus. Then in a masterful display of sarcasm Jesus uses a little child to point out to the disciples how blind they were in their understanding of the truth and more importantly how far their hearts were from the gospel. It is not the strongest and the greatest that enter the kingdom of God but the weakest and the least Jesus was telling them. People like little children who in that day, and, with the release of those videos from Planned Parenthood our day, were and are the weakest and most fragile of all. That child Jesus placed before the disciples became the law for them because with that little one Jesus demanded that the disciples lose their life. He demanded that they place no confidence in their flesh and their ability. He set before them the impossible task of being something they were not or else. And so it is for you and me. Why would Jesus do such a thing? Why must Jesus just suck the life out of us? Well to shut our mouths, to reduce us to silence, frankly, to kill us because our death is the only way to stop us from trying to be the greatest. When we are dead we can finally hear what Jesus had been saying all along. “The Son of Man was betrayed into human hands, and was killed, and three days after being killed rose again” for you because you cannot do it yourself even though you think you can and that right there is the problem. So listen up. As an ambassador of Christ and by his authority I forgive you the entirety of your sin. Jesus Christ alone is your salvation. He alone is your righteousness. He alone is your only hope of glory. He alone is your savior and that is why he has made you last behind him. And when Jesus is in front it doesn’t seem like such a big deal to not be first in the eyes of others. We can be content with where God has placed us, serving him in the most ordinary of ways. We can be nice to the kid at school that no one likes and everyone makes fun of—because that’s what Christians do. We can go out of our way to pay attention to the needs of others, and not just ourselves all the time. We can be patient—again—with the family member who annoys us the most. We can find ways to welcome the least among us, worrying not so much about the big givers or the important people in the church, or the ones who will make a stink if they don’t get their way or have a say–but the children, and those whose faith is weak, and the people on the margins of our towns and our congregation. The little ones that Jesus sought out in his ministry—that’s who we’re to be concerned with. When you follow Jesus, you serve without thought of what you get out of it.
You don’t worry about status and power and people noticing your good deeds—you just do them, because it’s the right thing, and it needs to be done. Luther once said that all bishops and pastors should scrub the toilets—just to remind them who is really Lord. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, touched lepers, ate with sinners, received foreigners, included outcasts, talked theology with women, welcomed children, and in the ultimate act of counter-cultural service, gave up his life. Jesus Christ is the greatest, he shares this glory with no other, he sits at the right hand of the Father and he’s for you so get used to being last but being last behind Jesus Christ is a great place to be. Amen.