Some time ago, I came across this piece written by a child. He imagines what it would be like if he were in charge of the world. If I were in charge of the world, he writes, “I’d cancel oatmeal, Monday mornings, allergy shots. If I were in charge of the world, there’d be brighter night lights, healthier hamsters, and basketball baskets 48 inches lower. If I were in charge of the world, you wouldn’t have lonely. You wouldn’t have clean. You wouldn’t have bedtimes. Or “Don’t punch your sister.” You wouldn’t even have sisters. If I were in charge of the world, a chocolate sundae with whipped cream and nuts would be a vegetable. All 007 movies would be G. And a person who sometimes forgot to brush, and sometimes forgot to flush, would still be allowed to be in charge of the world.
What would you do if you were in charge of the world? It’s fun trying to imagine it, but most of us know that there is only one Person in charge, and that’s God. Even so, we like to think we have some influence for good over some people in our lives. We want to be “great” in the best sense of the word. We want to make a difference for good in our world.
But the question is: How? How can we become truly great in our world? How can we be a positive influence on those around us? How can we be an important person in people’s lives, or at least one they look up to and want to emulate? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Mark 9, Mark 9, where Jesus shows us how.
Mark 9:30-31a They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples.
Jesus is leaving Caesarea Philippi, where He has just told his disciples He’s on his way to Jerusalem to suffer and die. Even so, along the way, He wants to make sure His disciples learn some important lessons. This last trip to Jerusalem is primarily their time to spend with Jesus learning as much as they can before He leaves them. And He begins by reminding them about what’s going to happen to Him.
Mark 9:31b-32 He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. (NIV)
Now I find this very funny. Normally, the disciples asked Jesus about a lot of things. In Mark 7:17, they asked Him about a parable. In Mark 9:11, they asked Him about Elijah. In Mark 9:28, they asked Him about a demon. In the next chapter, in Mark 10:10, they will ask Him about divorce. But here in Mark 9:32, they’re afraid to ask Him about His death. They just don’t want to face it. They just don’t want to deal with the idea of their great Messiah being betrayed and killed, even if He will rise again.
The thought is inconceivable to them; and yet, that’s why Jesus came. Jesus came to die. Jesus came to give His life for us. That word for “betrayed” in verse 31 of course speaks of Judas who betrayed our Lord with a kiss (Mark 3:19; 14:10,11,18). The word literally means “to give or to hand someone over,” and that’s what Judas did. He “gave Jesus over” to the authorities.
But did you know that same word is used of God Himself! In Acts 2:23, the Bible says, “[Jesus] was handed over (same word) by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge.” And in Romans 8:32, the Bible says, “[God] did not spare his own Son, but gave him up (or handed Him over) for us all.” You see, even though Judas had perpetrated the greatest act of treachery in all of human history, it was no surprise to God, because it was all a part of His plan from eternity past. Jesus came to die! That was His purpose in coming. He came to die so we could live.
William Faulkner tells the story of a mother sheep who had warned her little ones, “Do not go near the river, for a bad tiger lives there, and he will kill and eat you.” One lamb kept toying with the thought that the grass near the river seemed to be greener than anywhere else and that his mother must be mistaken about a tiger being there.
Finally, his curiosity and the desire for greener grass led him near the river bank. After grazing for some time on the luscious grass, he scampered down to the water for a drink.
Suddenly, he heard a gruff voice saying, “What are you doing, drinking from my river and muddying my water?” The disobedient lamb began excusing himself, but the tiger came closer saying, “I’m going to kill and eat you.”
As the tiger sprang toward the helpless lamb, the mother sheep ran between them, taking the death dealing blows of claws and fangs in her own body. Thus, one disobedient lamb was spared and scampered up the river bank to safety.
Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him (i.e., on Christ) the iniquity of us all.”
Jesus got between us and our sin and took its death-dealing blows upon Himself. That’s what the cross was all about. Jesus came to die the most shameful death imaginable so we could live in honor as children of God and joint heirs with Him forever.
The First came to be the Last. The Greatest came to be the Least of all. Indeed, it seems foolhardy from the human perspective, but it was God’s plan to rescue us from the shame and guilt of our own sin.
The First came to be the Last. The Greatest came to be the Least, and He invites us to follow him. Do you remember what Jesus said to his disciples the first time He told them He was headed to Jerusalem to die? He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). If we want to be truly great, then we must follow the one who came to be the least and last among us. If we want to have the kind of influence He had, then we must be like Him. We must…
FOLLOW THE LEAST.
And…
BE THE LEAST.
If we want to be first, then we must be last. I we want to be leaders, then we must be servants. This is the lesson Jesus wanted his first disciples to learn, but they’re too busy arguing over who’s the greatest.
Mark 9:33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” (NIV)
They got to Peter’s house there in Capernaum (Mark 1:29), and Jesus wants to know what they were arguing about.
Mark 9:34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. (NIV)
They were embarrassed to say, because while Jesus was talking about His own death and sacrifice, they were arguing over who was going to get the top positions in His Kingdom.
You see, matters of rank were very important to Jewish people in Bible days. Whenever there was a dinner party, all the guests would sit at the table according to their status and rank in society. Those with the highest rank – the lawyers, priests and officials – would sit closest to the host. And those with a lesser rank would sit farther away (Luke 14:7-11).
Once there was a rich man who had invited many high ranking officials to his home for a dinner party. His own chair, richly decorated, was placed at one end of a long table, but he was not there to seat his guests. When they arrived, they each fought for a seat closest to the host’s chair. Finally, when all were seated, the host arrived and moved his chair to the other end of the table. (Paul Lee Tan, 7700 Illustrations, #4823)
Well, that’s what’s happening here. Jesus’ disciples are fighting for the best seats in the house, but Jesus has a surprise for them.
Mark 9:35 Sitting down… That’s the recognized position of a Jewish teacher. When a teacher sat down in Bible days, you knew you were about to get an important lesson.
Mark 9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (NIV)
Do you know what Jesus did here? He moved His chair to the other side of the table (so to speak). He told His disciples, “If you want the #1 seat, then sit at the end of the table and be the table-waiter.”
That’s literally what the word “servant” means here – table waiter. In the context of a dinner party, it’s the one who brings in the food, pours the drinks, and waits on everybody. In other contexts, it’s the one who attends to the needs of others freely.
Jesus makes it very clear here: the top seats are the bottom seats; the first seats are the last seats. If we want to have the most influence, then we must serve the most. It’s the lesson Jesus wanted His disciples to learn, and it’s the lesson Jesus wants us to learn, as well.
Today, tens of thousands of people worldwide are coming to know and grow in Jesus Christ through the various ministries of The Navigators. Internationally, more than 4,000 Navigator staff of 64 nationalities serve in more than 100 countries.
It’s a wonderful ministry, but it all began with a simple blue collar worker in California. His name was Dawson Trotman, and he caught a vision to teach discipleship principles he found fruitful in his own life. He began to teach high school students. Then in 1933, he and his friends extended their work among sailors in the U.S. Navy.
Dawson taught sailor Les Spencer the principles of Christian growth. They spent many hours together praying, studying the Bible, and memorizing Scripture. When one of Spencer's shipmates asked him the secret of his changed life, Spencer brought the man to Trotman. “Teach him what you taught me,” Spencer said.
“You teach him!” Trotman responded, and that was the beginning of The Navigators. (www.Navigators.org)
Nearly 50 years later, a Navigator missionary in Taiwan recalled meeting Dawson Trotman years before. He said, “I will never forget Dawson Trotman. He was one of the most outstanding men I ever met.”
When asked what Daws had said that impressed him so much, the missionary replied, “Oh, I don't remember anything he said.”
“Well, what was so outstanding about him?” his enquirer asked.
“I'll never forget it,” the missionary said. “He shined my shoes.”
Dawson Trotman was that kind of person. He loved doing things for people. He found enjoyment in discovering little needs they had and then making it his objective to meet those needs. (Doug Sparks, “Going Beyond Good Management,” Discipleship Journal, Jan/Feb 1982; www.PreachingToday.com)
My friends, that’s what made him great. It was not the fact that he led a multi-national organization. It was the fact that he loved to serve, but that’s exactly what gave him a world-wide influence. For, you see, greatness is NOT determined by one’s status; it is determined by one’s service.
If you want to be truly great, if you want to be a positive influence on others, then learn this lesson from Jesus Himself. Follow Him who came to be least of all, and be the least yourself. Then…
SERVE THE LEAST among us.
Welcome those who have no status in society. Receive as honored guests those who have no power or position in our world. That’s the lesson Jesus wanted His first disciples to learn as He takes a little child in His arms.
Mark 9:36-37 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “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.” (NIV)
This little child, perhaps no more than 1 or 2 years of age, becomes an object lesson for true greatness. It may have been Peter’s own child, since they were in Peter’s house, and no doubt a real nuisance sometimes, as little children can be.
Somebody once described a baby as “a digestive apparatus with a loud noise at one end and no responsibility at the other.” But that was not Jesus’ view of little children. He valued them, and He went so far as to say that welcoming them was the same as welcoming Him.
In Jesus’ day, children were considered to be the least significant people in society, even less than slaves, because at least slaves were useful. In fact, in Bible days, if a baby was born and the parents didn’t want it, they would throw it in the river and nobody would care.
Do you know things really haven’t changed much today? We just kill the babies before they’re born to the tune of nearly 1.5 million abortions a year in this country. Our world places little value on children, but Jesus says they are the most important people of all.
Why? Because to be little is to be great in God’s eyes, and to receive a child is like receiving Christ. It’s a lesson Jesus wanted His disciples to learn, and it’s a lesson He wants us to learn, as well.
Henri Nouwen was a well-respected pastor, author and professor at places like Harvard and Yale. Even so, during the last ten years of his life he chose to live in a community of people with severe emotional, mental, and physical disabilities.
In one of his many books, Henri talks about Trevor, a man with severe mental and emotional challenges who was sent by Henri's community to a psychiatric facility for evaluation. Henri wanted to see him, so he called the hospital to arrange a visit. When those in charge learned that Henri Nouwen was coming, they asked if they could have lunch with him in the Golden Room – a special meeting room at the facility. They would also invite doctors, psychologists and other professionals to the special luncheon. Henri agreed.
When Henri arrived, they took him to the Golden Room, but Trevor was nowhere to be seen. Troubled, Henri asked about Trevor's whereabouts. “Trevor cannot come to lunch,” he was told. “Patients and staff are not allowed to have lunch together. Plus, no patient has ever had lunch in the Golden Room.”
By nature, Henri was not a confrontational person, but he thought, “Trevor ought to be here,” so Henri turned to the person in charge and said, “The whole purpose of my coming was to have lunch with Trevor. If Trevor is not allowed to attend the lunch, I will not attend either.”
Well, the thought of missing an opportunity for lunch with Henri Nouwen was too much, so they soon found a way for Trevor to attend. Then something unforgettable happened. When Henri was talking to the person on his right, he didn’t notice that Trevor on his left had stood up and lifted his glass of Coca-Cola.
“A toast. I will now offer a toast,” Trevor said to the group. Everybody in the room got nervous. What was he going to do? Then Trevor, this deeply challenged man in a room full of PhDs, started to sing, “If you're happy and you know it, raise your glass. If you're happy and you know it, raise your glass…”
Nobody was sure what to do. It was awkward. Here was this man with a level of challenge and brokenness they could not begin to understand, yet he was beaming. He was thrilled to be there. So they started to sing. Softly at first, and then louder and louder until doctors and professionals and Henri Nouwen were all practically shouting, “If you're happy and you know it, raise your glass.”
Henri went on to give a talk at the luncheon, but the moment everybody remembered – the moment God spoke most clearly – was through the person they all would have said was the least likely person to speak for God. (John Ortberg, in the sermon “Guide,” PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, true greatness comes from people where you least expect it. It comes from the least among us. So if you want to be truly great, if you want to make a difference for good in our world, then do what Jesus did. Be the least and serve the least among us.
