What Greatness Is

The Wednesday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 20, 2024.  The Bible verses used are Mark 9:30-37.

            Jesus was called a lot of things while he was on this earth.  He was called Rabbi.  He was called Immanuel, God with us.  He often called Himself Son of Man.  But one of the things He was often called was “Teacher”.

            That is, of course, one of the reasons Jesus came to earth--to teach us.  It’s not the only reason, obviously.  Jesus came to save us from having to take the punishment for our sins.  But Jesus also came to teach us.  He taught us with words and He taught us by his example.  Jesus was the greatest teacher who ever walked on the earth.

            One of the things about being a teacher—and if you’ve ever tried to teach anyone anything you know this—one of the things about being a teacher is that a teacher has to have a ton of patience.  A teacher has to go over stuff, and then go over it again, and then go over it again.  A teacher has to present the same stuff in different ways, at different times, hoping desperately that one of these approaches will get through and the student will finally get it.  And then, just when the teacher thinks maybe the student really is starting to get it, the student does something or says something and the teacher’s heart just sinks, because the teacher knows the student still really does not have a clue.  It takes a ton of patience to be a teacher.

            I suspect that sort of thing happened to Jesus a lot.  He’d tell the disciples something, and then he’d tell them again, and then he’d show them, and then he’d go over it one more time just to make sure, and he’d think they were getting it, and then they’d do something or say something that showed that they were nowhere near getting it.  It had to be very frustrating for the divine Teacher to have to work with students as dull as the disciples.

            Our reading tonight described one of those times.  It starts with the disciples having an argument.  Now, that in and of itself is not so bad.  Even the best of friends will get into an argument once in a while.  But here, we’re told that the disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest.

            When Jesus found that out, he must have just shaken his head.  Of all the things for Jesus’ disciples to argue about.  He’d told them so many times about needing to be servants.  He’d told them so many times about how they needed to be humble and how they needed to put others ahead of themselves.  And there they are, arguing about which one of them is the greatest.

            But, Jesus was a teacher.  He had patience.  And so, Jesus tries to teach them again.  He tells them, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

            And then, the way this is written, you can just see Jesus thinking, “Telling these guys is not going to be enough.  I have to show them.  I have to give them an illustration, or an example, or something.”  So, he takes a little kid who’s there, he picks him up and he says to the disciples, “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.”

            We’re not told how the disciples reacted to that.  Mark leaves the story there and moves on to talk about something else.  Did they get it, do you think?  Do you think this time they really understood what Jesus was telling them?  For that matter, do we?

            We understand that Jesus tells us to be humble.  But there’s more to it than that.  Let’s think about this for a minute.

What are little children?  Little children, by definition, are people who can do nothing for you.  I mean, that’s not their fault.  They cannot help being little kids.  They’ll grow, and they’ll learn, and they’ll be able to do stuff.  But a little kid, one or two or three years old, cannot do anything for you.  I mean, yes, we can get love and affection from them, and that can make us feel good.  But from a practical, real-world standpoint, a little kid cannot do anything for you.  There’s no advantage to be gained by being kind to a little kid.  They cannot help you financially, they cannot help you socially, they cannot help you accomplish anything.  And this was especially true in the society in which Jesus lived, where little kids were not considered of any value at all until they got old enough to work.

            So, when we welcome a child, when we’re kind to a child, when we help a child, we’re doing something for someone who cannot return the favor.  We’re acting with no selfish motives whatsoever.  We’re acting simply and purely out of selflessness and love.

            That’s what Jesus was trying to tell his disciples to do.  It’s what he tells us to do, too.  To act with no selfish motives.  To do things for people with no thought about whether they can do anything for us.  To act simply and purely out of selflessness and love.

            But Jesus does not just leave it there.  He goes on to say, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.”

            When we see a little child, we are seeing Jesus.  When we look into the face of a little child, we’re looking into Jesus’ face.

            Now, if you have to deal with little kids every day, you may be a little skeptical of this.  Because we all know that little kids do not always appear to us to be like Jesus.  Little kids don’t always do what they’re told.  Little kids misbehave sometimes.  In fact, sometimes little kids can get into big trouble.

            But you know, that might not be so unlike Jesus after all.  You know, Jesus was a little kid once, too.  We’re not told much about what Jesus was like when he was a little kid, but I would not be surprised if, when he was two or three years old, Jesus did not always do what Joseph and Mary told him to.  I would not be surprised if Jesus misbehaved sometimes.  I’m not saying Jesus sinned, because he was the divine Son of God, but a two- or three-year-old kid misbehaving is not sinning.  They’re just doing what two- or three-year-old kids do.  

            Jesus said that when we do something for a little kid, we’re doing it for Him.  But that’s not all.  Jesus went on to say that we’re not just doing it for Him.  When we do something for a little kid, we’re also doing it for God the Father.

            That’s pretty awesome, because you know, it usually seems like there’s really nothing we can do for God.  I mean, God is all-powerful.  God is all-mighty.  God sees everything and knows everything and can do anything.  What can we do for God?

            Well, this is what we can do for God.  Love people.  Especially love people who cannot do anything for us in return.  That’s how we do something for God.  

Yes, God can love them, too, and God does, but God asks us to love them as well.  And when you think about it in this context, this is an honor from God.  We are given the honor of being allowed to do something for God.  God could do it without us, but God chooses to do it with us.  That’s a privilege!  That’s an honor!  The all-powerful, all-mighty God who sees everything and knows everything and can do anything allows us to do this for God.  That’s an awesome thing, when you think about it.  God does not need our help, but God allows us to help.  What an incredible honor that is.  

The disciples wanted to become great.  And Jesus said yes, you can become great.  Here’s how.  You can become great by taking advantage of the opportunity God gives you to serve God by loving the people God created.  And you can especially become great by loving the people God created who cannot do anything for you in return.  Those are the people God especially wants you to love and to help and to welcome among you.  Jesus said, whenever you do that, you’re doing it for me.  And when you do it for me, you’re doing it for God the Father, too.

We don’t know how the disciples reacted.  Maybe, this time, they finally got it.  More likely, they again did not understand.  Or, if they did understand, it was just for a little while, and then they went back to being who they were before.  Because that’s what usually happened with the disciples.  No matter how many times the Teacher tried to explain things to them, they never really seemed to understand.

And so often, we don’t understand, either.  But the Teacher keeps working with us, just like he worked with the disciples.  We’re allowed to read and re-read the Bible, so that eventually we can get the message.  And the Holy Spirit works on our hearts, too, so that we truly can understand and be changed people, God’s people, people who accept the honor of doing things for God the Son and for God the Father.

When we look into the face of someone who cannot do anything for us, we’re looking into the face of God.  When we do something for someone who cannot do anything for us, we’re doing something for God.  When we love someone who cannot do anything for us, we’re loving God.  And when we do that, then we truly become great in the eyes of God.