Scripture: Mark 9: 30 - 37
Theme: Pathway to Excellence
Title: I want to Be #1
This message is about how Jesus handled the conversation about greatness. Jesus challenges His Disciples - 1. Focus on Others 2. Focus on Service 3. Focus on Acceptance
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Savior and LORD!
Think back for a moment to your school days. You are there sitting in a class room and the teacher has assigned the class some reading or you are suppose to be doing some of your homework.
Did you ever get caught passing a note in class? How about talking in class when you were not suppose to? How about talking about something that you shouldn't have been talking about in the first place and the person you were talking about overheard you?
Remember how it made you feel? Nervous? Embarrassed? Shameful? Guilty? Angry?
That is where we find Jesus' disciples when we come to our passage this morning. The last few weeks had been busy for Jesus and his team. They had traveled through the region of Decapolis, faced the Gates of Hell, enjoyed the wonder of the Transfiguration and witnessed Jesus heal a boy that had been oppressed by an unclean spirit.
Now, Jesus was leading them back home to debrief, rest and to receive some much needed spiritual coaching. Jesus' disciples were learning and growing but they were still were having some difficulties in the areas of prayer, fasting, trusting and believing. It was hard for them to get their heads around the way that Jesus did things. He spoke like no one they had ever head but some of his ideas seemed upside down to say the least. He looked at things so differently than they were normally use to looking at them.
Our passage this morning deals with one of those areas. Bible scholars tell us that there is a very good chance that the home they were staying was the home of the Apostle Peter. We know that Jesus and his team stayed there on many different occasions.
Jesus seizes this rest time as an opportunity to make some needed corrections. One of the first things that he wants to clear up is what they had been talking about among themselves as they had been coming along the road to Capernaum.
They thought they had been keeping it quiet and on the down low. They didn't think that Jesus had over heard them talking. They thought they had been cautious and discreet.
But like the teacher that found our notes or over heard our conversations, Jesus had heard them talk. We can imagine that as soon as Jesus started asking his question heads began to bow and faces started turning read.
" Hey, guys what was it you were arguing about among yourselves as we came down the road?"
Almost immediately you anticipate that Peter is going to say something but he strangely quiet. This is one time that we find him as quiet as the proverbial mouse. He doesn't want Jesus to know what they had been arguing about. In fact, none of them want Jesus to know what they had been arguing about. None of them wanted Jesus to know that they had been arguing about who should be considered the greatest of the group. None of them wanted Jesus to know that they were arguing about who is the best and who one day may in fact be the next leader of the group.
It appears that they were jockeying for power and control. They were doing their best to size up one another. They were trying to maneuver their way to the top. If Jesus was the Messiah then He would need some top brass and each one of them wanted to be in on the action. The ambition bug had bit them. They all wanted to be in control and have some power.
We all know that ambition, power, control, the need to be # 1 if not handled correctly can be a killer. They can whet an appetite that can never be satisfied. All you have to do is to watch modern day politicians, actors and business people and you will see individuals doing all they can to get to the top of their professions. Many of them have no qualms about lying, cheating, stealing, bribing or almost doing anything if it enables them to grab the prize.
I think we are to understand that what these disciples wanted was not so much power and control as it was leadership and position. They wanted to be Jesus #1 disciple. I don't really believe that they wanted to wear some golden crown and sit around all day in garments of purple. I don't believe that they only wanted to be able to tell the others what to do or where to go.
I do believe that what they really wanted was to be Jesus #1 disciple. I believe that they wanted to be next in line for leadership. In that case, what they wanted would have been very much like what the Old Testament Prophet Elisha desired way back in 1 Kings chapter one. Elisha wanted to be next in line after Elijah. He wanted to be the next Prophet in charge. I think that these disciples wanted the same thing. They wanted to be able to have the power and authority to lead people like Jesus had led them.
I believe that is why we don't see Jesus saying anything like - GET BACK SATAN! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ASKING or anything like that in this passage. I believe Jesus takes this time to do exactly what they were asking in a roundabout way.
+What would a person have to do to be Jesus #1 disciple?
+What kind of person could become Jesus #1 disciple?
+What would a person have to do to be the greatest disciple of Jesus on the face of the earth.
Let's take a few moments this morning and see what Jesus tells us - what Jesus tells us in regards to how we can be one of his #1 disciples:
I. Jesus teaches us that we have to Develop A Proper Focus
A great deal of people who seek greatness regrettably suffer a serious focus problem. Our modern world as a whole has developed a serious focus problem. A lot of people who want to get on the top of the mountain shift all their focus on themselves. They seek to mainly draw attention towards themselves. They tend to focus on their own needs, their own desires and their own goals.
In many cases the only time they focus on others is how they can persuade them to offer their assistance. Their primary focus is on how they can get other people to look up to them, how they can get people to donate to their cause and how they can get other people to help them get the things that they want in life.
They live a life based on some very simple principles like:
+ "Who do you know who might help me"
+"What can you do for me?"
+"How Can I help you actually help me."
We see this in the business world, in the world of politics and sadly in the world of religion. It no longer surprises us to see people in the Church promoting their own ministries, hawking their own products and setting their own image as the face of the Church. We are no longer surprised that the sins of greed, materialism, ambition and power are alive and well in the Church and especially at times in the leadership of the Church.
The conversation that the disciples were having along the road side can be heard in the hallways of denominational headquarters, the passage ways of annual assemblies and conferences and in the foyers of churches all over our land. It no longer surprises us to see people attempt to stair step with the goal of always getting a bigger church, a larger paycheck and a bigger platform.
It's this kind of thinking that Jesus breaks Jesus' heart.
Jesus told his disciples that the way to be #1 in His Kingdom was to have your focus put on the needs of others rather than on your own selfish needs.
Jesus words in verse 35 are some tough words are they not? Especially today. It's counter cultural to change our perspective from being me focused to being other focused. For the last 40 years we have been bombarded a million times by ads, commercials, T-shirts, slogans and songs that tell us to focus on ourselves and our own needs:
+ "Have It Your Way" - Burger King
+ "Because You Are Worth It" - L’Oréal Paris
+"Don't Stop Me Now" - Toyota
+"You Deserve a Break Today" - McDonald's
+"Just do it" - Nike
+" Why wait?" - Snickers
+ The Song - "Answer: Love Myself" - BTS
+"Sometimes it's Ok to Be Selfish" T-shirts
Focusing on the needs of others for others sake only becoming a totally foreign concept to our "selfie culture".
No one who wants to be in #1 Hollywood or on the steps of the Capitol would endorse such an idea of focusing on others. Well, let me back up. They would say that they would endorse such an idea (focusing on the needs of others) but as we look at what really happens in the real world the opposite is true. They may take a day to work in a soup kitchen or they may appear with some addicts, small children or with some poor people but in no way are they trading places with them or inviting them to come and live in their homes on a full time basis. They are also making sure that their photos of doing charitable deeds somehow findsv their way on TV screens, instagram or other social media outlets. The motto is "never let a good deed" go unpublished.
What Jesus wants His Disciples back then to do and wants us to do today is to focus our attention outward instead of inward. To focus our ministries more outward than we do inward. To focus on meeting other people's needs rather than the needs of ourselves. To see what we can do for those outside the doors of the church and not just take care of the needs of those inside the doors.
Hundreds/thousands of churches all over the country are already doing this - they do good deeds without posting pictures. They do good deeds without making sure that they get all the attention. That is the best way for us to be Jesus people.
Is it wrong to post, to promote or to advertise. Of course not. But if we are not careful we discover that we are putting ourselves in the middle of the pictures and that we are promoting ourselves more than we are Jesus. It is good at times for the left hand not to know what right hand is doing. It is good for us to focus our attention on the needs of others without making sure that the focus is on us.
II. Jesus Wants us to Focus Our Attention on Acts of Service
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit created all of us. They created us in their own image. They created us to be partners with them in creating, sustaining and promoting life on this wonderful planet. They gave all of us certain gifts, talents and resources. They gave them to us for some specifics reasons.
One of those reasons is of course to enable us to enjoy life here on this earth. Our talents allow us the joy of experiencing life in amazing ways. Just watch someone compete in a sport, play an instrument, paint a picture, create a masterpiece and you will quickly see what I mean.
+When an artist is painting, drawing or doing whatever art God put in them it seems sacred and holy.
+When a person farms who has the gift of husbandry you can see the joy on their face and watch as the earth rewards them with a bountiful harvest.
+When a person picks up a piece of wood ( violin) and begins to play the most wonderful sounds on it you are find yourself listening to the sounds of heaven.
+When you visit a person who creates things, carves things and puts things together you can feel the holiness, the sacredness of their talent
Our loving and gracious God gave all of us certain talents and gifts so that we might be able to enjoy life here and that we might be able to use them to both make a living and as a means of serving one another.
He gave us bodies so that we could work. Think about it for a second. God could have made us pure spirit. Spirit that did not need to work, that did not need to eat or sleep. But that is not the way God designed us. He made us to be physical and spiritual. He put our spirits within these temples of flesh. He gave us the ability to walk, to run, to use our hands, our mouths and our the rest of our bodies. God gave us all of these things for a reason. He wanted us to experience a full life that included being physical and spiritual.
God gave us this wonderful ability to provide for ourselves as well as the ability to help others. We can wash feet. We can share the stuff we have accumulated. We can share our food and our resources. We can share our time. We can give words of encouragement and support. We can give people praise and adoration. We can sit with people. We can pray for people. We can even be the first to say "I am sorry". We can be the first to offer prayer for our enemies.
There are so many different ways that we can use our bodies and our spirits to serve one another. When we are younger, stronger and more physically able we can do all kinds of physical things. When we are older a little more frail but hopefully a whole lot wiser we can use our spirits. We can use both our bodies and our spirits in intercessory prayer and fasting. We do the same through the sharing of sound wisdom we invited. We can do the same through giving our time, our support and our compassion.
Remember the story that we find in 2 Kings chapter six? It's another story that focuses on the life of the Prophet Elisha. It's a story of how Elisha used his spiritual side to help his young servant find peace and comfort.
The story surrounds the king of Syria and his army. Recently, the king had discovered that Elisha had been responsible for the Syrian army lack of success against Israel. Every time Syria decided to lay an ambush for Israel's army, God had revealed to Elisha where it was to happen and Elisha in turn warned the king of Israel who then relocated his troops. The Syrian army stayed confused, the Syrian King became infuriated and the People of Israel were constantly being saved.
Full of rage, the King of Syria sends a host of horses, chariots and foot soldiers to find and capture Elisha. It's a rather amusing story if you stop to think about it. On one side here is this one solitary prophet who doesn't own a horse, a chariot, a shield or even a sword. All he can do is talk to God and God gives him the needed military intelligent reports. On the other side is the Syrian king with all his troops, superior weapons and military might.
The Bible tells us that the Syrian army finds Elisha in Dothan and surrounds the city. They are prepared to do whatever is necessary to capture the prophet. Their key objective is to capture Elisha and bring him back to their king.
While all of this is going on Elisha is going about his daily business. He doesn't have a care in the world. As far as he is concerned his is just doing his to best to live a life that daily pleases the LORD. He has no idea that he is now Syrian's #1 enemy.
However, one morning his young servant wakes up, looks out and sees that the city is surrounded by troops, horses and chariots. He knows that they are there for Elisha and perhaps also for him. He wakes up Elisha but Elisha doesn't seemed concerned at all.
Elisha allows his spiritual man to be in control. In his flesh Elisha should have known that he was in danger. But in his spirit, Elisha knows that he has been surrounded by what the Bible calls a "mountain full of horses and chariots of fire all around him." The only question was if his mentor the Prophet Elijah was the one who was leading all those horses and chariots.
Now, Elisha could have dismissed his young servant. He could have told him to not worry but to get busy with his chores. Instead, Elisha takes the time to serve his servant. He does what is necessary to bring this young man some peace, comfort and confidence. He intercedes for this young man so that he too can see all those fiery horses and chariots. Elisha serves this man in this unusual way to open up a whole new spiritual world for this young man.
Today, whether we are young or old we can serve one another and others. We can use our bodies when they are able and we can always use our minds, our voices and our spirits to serve one another.
For example, when we go out to eat. Don't just allow the waitress or the waiter to serve you - serve them as well. Let them know that your appreciate their service. Make sure that you leave behind a good tip. Take the time to tell the hostess that you had a great time. If possible make sure that those involved in cooking your food know that your appreciate their abilities as well. And if you can take the time to tell the manager what a great experience you had.
For example, when you have some work done for you at the garage take some time to encourage and tell the people that change your oil, fix your tires or work on your car that you appreciate them. I wonder how often that happens for them.
There are a million ways we can serve one another. For some they can do some physical labor and for others they can share some words of encouragement. All of us can take the time to look someone else in the eye and with a smile or with words let them know that we consider them worthy, sacred and holy. It is amazing how you can walk through a store and just take the time to send "sentence prayers" towards other people. It can change the way you shop and the way you look at the grocery store or the mall.
We all can't teach, fix cars, wash feet, change bed pans, take care of the dying or repair and fix refrigerators, washers or cars. We all can't put together a budget, paint walls or lay bricks. We all can't plant gardens, spray insecticides or fix a amazing meal. We all can't be healers or providers but we can do something be it great or small. We all can ask the LORD to help us focus on actions that we can do to serve one another and others.
III. Jesus Challenges Us to Focus on the Acceptance of Others
Jesus knew that the greatest service we can do for one another is to accept one another. To graciously give another person sacred space. To see another person as important and valuable. At first that may sound strange but the example Jesus uses helps us a great deal.
In Jesus' time one of the common words used for a servant was also the same word that many people used for children. Servants and children were viewed to be on the same level. They were suppose to keep quiet, do their jobs and realize that their mere existence was in the hands of someone else. For the child it was their parents who at any moment could throw them out or sell them into slavery. For the servant the master had control of pretty much all of their existence and could treat them as well as they did their own family or as worse as they would some poor animal of burden.
Notice what Jesus does in verses 36ff - He picks up a child - gives them a hug - and then talks about receiving and accepting them.
Jesus takes a little one and brings them close to his heart. He embraces them. He tells us that we are to do the same with all others - not just children - but all people. We are to receive them in our hearts. Receive them close to us. Embrace them. We are to treat all people with the same respect and love that we do your own family and/or ourselves.
Whew!
Again, easy to read but only through the love of Christ can we do such things.
Later on we read where the Apostle Paul put it this way -
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:28
Those are such easy words to read but to put into practice takes the spiritual transformation of our hearts, minds and souls. To put this into everyday practice means that we must open up our hearts and not see one another walking around in the simple physical bodies that God gave us but to see each other for the spiritual bodies that we truly are in the here and now.
We believe that inside all of us exists our true selves. That self that was made in the image of God Himself. That self that was given this particular body. We were all given a body that has certain genetic codes, has a certain flesh tone color, a certain hair color and that was born into a particular culture as well.
None of us got to pick out what body we were given. None of got to pick out what family we were born into. None of us got to pick out what culture we would find ourselves being raised.
But we can choose to reach out across color, gender, race and culture and accept one another. We can choose to see the "spiritual person" who lives inside all of these different bodies. We can choose to accept one another as being genuine human beings who have been made to reflect God's glory. We can choose to do our best to understand one another, live beside one another and reach out to one another.
When I read this passage I am reminded of the story of Ruth. The Bible tells us that she was a Moabite. An individual who to most Jews at the time would have considered a piece of filth. Her skin tones were the wrong shade, the culture she grew up in would have been seen as offensive and yet Boaz did not just she her physical form but her spiritual soul as well. His love for her went way beyond race or culture. It went way beyond her being a part of a people that were considered cursed.
I don't think it was by accident that the LORD granted Boaz and Ruth the opportunity to be a part of King David's lineage. I also don't think that it was by accident that the LORD JESUS choose for them to be a part of his earthly lineage. I think it was one way for the LORD to reward them both for accepting others regardless of skin tones, cultural differences and even faith differences.
It is easy today to become biased and subjective. It is easy today to dismiss people for all kinds of reasons - skin tones, cultural differences, language differences, educational differences, sexual orientation differences and belief differences. It's easy to dismiss people and blame it on them - they are not like us, they don't believe the way we do or they live a way that offends us.
However, you don't have to agree with someone 100% to accept them as human beings made in God's image. Jesus didn't 100% agree with the Woman at the Well, the Young Rich Ruler or Judas for that matter. He did accept everyone of them. He did his best to love them, reach out to them and include them into his arena of friends. When Jesus saw them their brokenness was obvious but then again whose is not?
Jesus accepted them in spite of their brokenness and flaws. Jesus accepted them but did not embrace their sins. He was willing to forgive them their sins and infill them with His Holy Spirit who would lead them away from sin and towards holiness.
Today, we can accept people and still not embrace their sins. We can love them in spite of their sins and brokenness. But how can we reach out to others unless we first accept them? How can we be Jesus to them if we push them away, tell them that they are not wanted or that the only place they are going is a Devil's Hell?
Jesus is challenging us to be people of acceptance. People who reach out to share love. People who reach out to create friendships. People who reach out so that they can see Jesus. People who reach out so that they can receive Jesus' forgiveness, grace and Holy Spirit. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will do the rest. All we need to do is be open and receptive.
Today, Jesus challenges us all to be one of His #1 Disciples. He has provided for us this morning the pathway. It is a pathway in which:
+He challenges us to put our Focus on Others
+He challenges us to put our Focus on Service - Putting Love into Action
+He challenges us to Accept Others - as Human Beings made in the Image of Him
This morning, do we want to accept His Challenge?
Do we want His Holy Spirit to help us transform our focus from being Me Centered to being Other Centered?
Do we want to ask Him to help us find ways we can be of service to others?
Do we want Jesus to show us the way to be more accepting of others so that we might share with them the love of Jesus?
Open Altar/Prayer/Blessing
Sending Hymn - Traditional - Make Me A Blessing
Contemporary - Matthew West - Do Something
