Greatness

September 22, 2024

Rev. Mary Erickson

Hope Lutheran Church

Mark 9:30-37

Greatness

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Soon it will be October. That means one thing: baseball playoffs! As the weeks of October progress, the field of victors narrows down until it’s time for the World Series. The best team from the National League goes head to head against the best team from the American League. The series will determine the year’s WORLD BASEBALL CHAMPIONS!

Our own Milwaukee Brewers have clinched their seat to the playoffs. It will be exciting to watch them.

Who is the greatest? There’s something in the human spirit that is inherently competitive. Maybe it stems from our Darwinian roots, where the strongest and most capable survived. Since ancient times, we’ve held contests and games.

Whenever I think of the greatest, my mind always roams to Muhammad Ali. Before a match, Ali would boast about how great he was. It was a way to psych out his opponent. “I am the greatest!” he would shout.

Ali also made humorous statements about his greatness. With a twinkle in his eye he would say, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am,” When asked if he had any faults, Ali answered, “My only fault is that I don’t realize how really great I am.”

Jesus’ disciples had a debate going among themselves. Which one of them was the greatest? The conversation took place while they were journeying along. When they get to where they’re going, Jesus coyly asks them. “Say, you seemed to be engrossed in conversation as we were coming here. What were you all talking about?”

Well, there must have been a lot of foot shuffling and head hanging. Nobody wanted to fess up. They were a pretty embarrassed lot! Finally, the truth came out. “Well, you see, we were discussing which of us is … is the greatest.”

How embarrassing! Like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar! Something tells them that discussions about greatness don’t jive with the mission Jesus is establishing.

He had tried to tell them along the way. He told them quite plainly about his own fate. “I’m going to be betrayed and killed,” he said, “And then, three days later, I will be raised from the dead.” Mark tells us the disciples just didn’t understand this. And they were afraid to ask Jesus about it.

Afraid. Why were they afraid to ask? Maybe they just didn’t want to know! If they ask, he might tell them what they feared the most. This remarkable ride they’re on is going to come to a terrible end. The disciples don’t want to know what Jesus means. They’re afraid his answer will confirm their worst fears. They would much rather talk about greatness.

When Jesus finds out what they’ve been discussing, you’d think maybe he’d excuse himself and start banging his head against a wall. Or maybe he’d blow his cork and reprimand them. But Jesus uses it as a teaching moment. “Whoever wants to be Number One needs to be last of all and servant of all.”

And then, to really make his point, Jesus picks up a little child who is in the house. He holds the little child in his arms. The Greek says he hugs the child. “If you welcome a little child in my name, you welcome me.”

Wow. In those days children were on one of THE lowest rungs of the totem pole. It was a different era. Children don’t contribute to society. They’re vulnerable; they lack wisdom and ability. They need constant protection and supervision. They’re dependent on others.

The Roman Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas lived in the 1200’s. He taught about what a man should do if his house was engulfed in fire. The first person he should save is his father. After his father, he should save his mother. Next, he should save his wife. Only then should he save his children.

That order seems very odd to us. I think we would look first to the youngest and most vulnerable. We would first assist those who couldn’t flee the flames without help. But that’s a modern construct. In Aquinas’ time and in Jesus’ time, priorities were very different. Children came last.

Jesus instructed his disciples to welcome and embrace the lowliest and most insignificant. The logic of God’s kingdom is contrary to our earthly wisdom. We strive after greatness.

A journalist once asked Leonard Bernstein what he thought was the most difficult instrument to play. Bernstein responded “The second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violins, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm – that's a problem; and if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.”