God Blesses the Little Guy!
"No one ever looks out for the little guy!!" Ever hear that before? It usually comes after looking at a tax bill or listening to a politician, but the attitude affects a lot of areas. It is obvious that the big guy or the guy with the looks, talent, money or power gets all the attention. Many studies have shown that men six feet tall or better automatically get better jobs. The dress for success philosophy was designed around mankind’s obsession with appearance or maybe better said form instead of substance. An attractive woman many times gets promoted even if she lacks the skills. Indeed, money and power can be had if you look like you should have money and power. While from a human standpoint it appears that no one looks out for the little guy, there is Someone who is looking out for him and the little gal. In fact, in the Kingdom economy the one who is little or least is the most honored of all.
Luke 9:46-48
46 Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.
47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,
48 And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. (KJV)
The disciples were no different than we are. Get a group of people together in any organization and there is a power struggle. Someone wants to be the big shot or the one most honored and respected or just the one who gets to tell everyone else what to do. There is the organizational appointed leader and then there is a leader unofficially chosen by the group that is to be led.
Sometimes these two leaders are on the same sheet of music and cooperate well and other times it is an adversarial relationship. The group leader always instigates the old "us versus them" controversy. You know, labor versus management, deacons versus pastor or whatever the division is in the particular group. Sometimes the adversity is hot and livid and other times it is more of a passive aggressive situation. You always get a "Yes, Sir or Yes Ma’am", but there is always a problem getting a project accomplished on time or correctly. We have all worked in shops or served in churches like that.
So here we have the disciples debating which one is the second in command since Jesus was the Master. Peter was vocal and the first to declare Jesus as the Christ. John was closest to Him and was known by them as the one that Jesus loved. The others gave forth all their strengths and reasons why they should be the elder or leader among them. They may have gotten into a heated discussion over this. Peter was a firebrand so I am sure he lit a few fires in the discussions.
As in all our disputes and reasonings, Jesus saw the core problem and used a child to illustrate the true way to greatness in the Kingdom. The way up is down. Jesus came here for the little guy. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Son of God, the Mighty Counselor and the Prince of Peace who left glory to die for creatures that in comparison to Him were bacteria and bad bacteria at best. He came into the world as the son of a poor carpenter and was laid in a manger or cow trough. He was living as a poor, itinerant preacher and even had a fish provide tax money for Him and His followers. Yet, His followers were arguing about how great that they were when in their countrymen’s eyes they were only poor, illiterate fishermen. The sheer gall of it all is mind boggling until you realize that we do the same thing.
This is why Jesus said they had to receive or accept this child in His name to welcome or accept Him and by doing so they also accepted the Father. They had to accept people that had no apparent worth or use if they were to understand Him and His mission. David asked, "what is man that Thou art mindful of him?" Indeed, sinful man seems so little to mess with and certainly has no worth to the Holy One. Of what possible use could man be to the Omnipotent One? Looking through the eyes of man and with man’s values sinful man is of no use to God except as briquettes on the grates of Hell.
Ah, but through the eyes of God sinful men were of great worth to the One who created them and loved them. They were worth reaching down and offering the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son to bring them back into a loving relationship with the Father. God could have just toasted the whole race and started over after Adam fell. He could have done it again and not bothered with Noah and his family. He could do it today. As Creator, He has the right to do whatever He wants to do with His creation. His love for man is what keeps Him seeking to bring man back into relationship with Him. He is not willing or desirous that any should perish, but He allows them to have the free will to do so if they so choose. He wants loving sons and daughters not robots.
By arguing who was of preeminence amongst them the disciples missed the whole spirit of Christ and the love of God. Christ tried to tell them this when James and John asked to be on the right and left hand of Jesus when He came into His kingdom. He told them then that whosoever of them would be chief would have to become the servant of all. (Mark 10:44) He had to repeat Himself when they got into this dispute by saying that to be first you had to become last. (Mark 9:35) I would venture to say it was not the first time they had this dispute and it may not have been the last. It is the only one recorded, but they missed the message of so many of Christ’s messages that I doubt this was the last discussion they had. They were no better at comprehension and application then we are.
This has been a problem through the ages. Even in Heaven, lucifer could not be satisfied with being the preeminent angel, he wanted to be above God and in exalting himself he lost everything. Saul as long as he was little in his own eyes did a fine job as king. God had exalted him but when he forgot that and started believing he was the great one he was abased and died in shame. Peter did great when he declared Jesus to be the Christ, but the revelation and compliment went to his head. He did then tried to tell Jesus that he should forget this crucifixion stuff. He immediately went from blessed exaltation to humbled abasement by being called satan. He blew it again when he puffed himself up and said that he would die for Christ and never deny Him. Maybe the old saying should be eating rooster instead of crow unless the crow meant was the rooster’s voice and not a black bird. In the end he got it together in John 21 and humbled himself. Then Jesus exalted him on Pentecost to announce the Church’s birth and to bring in all the various groups to the One Body.
James rose to leadership in Jerusalem and Paul was the chief apostle to the Gentiles. We hear of no dissension in this. After Pentecost, they finally seemed to have gotten the point that only Christ is to have preeminence and their position in the kingdom was up to Him. Peter even accepted rebuke from Paul when he was in error over eating with the Gentiles only when the Jews were not present. He did not tell Paul to back off because he was only a Johnny-come-lately whereas Peter had been with Christ from the beginning. Peter even had to admit that Paul preached some things that were hard to understand humbly indicating that even he had some trouble understanding.
How do you stand? Are you the big shot or a big shot wannabe? You are missing the point of Christ’s coming and His sacrifice. Are you a deacon trying to be the pastor or giving the pastor a hard time? Back off Buckaroo. Submit yourself to God and serve in the position given to you. Preacher, have you become God’s anointed that no man may touch or oppose? Don’t forget God can touch you. He turned Nebuchadnezzar into a beast for seven years and He can put you on the shelf as well. God did not call for dictators. He calls undershepherds, who are supposed to have a pastor’s heart for the flock. If you need a bodyguard it may not be because of the truth. It may be you are just uncouth and need a good whuppin’ to ’umble you. And don’t get snotty, I share that out of love for God’s people and for you. I am not exalting myself. I have made my mistakes and He knows me well enough that if I continue to breathe I will make some more. It takes a preacher to know a preacher and I know some of you abuse your position and your people and one day it is going to blow up in your face. Get on your face and ask God to give you back the simple pastor’s heart you had in the early days or to just give you one if you never had it.
Now, last and certainly not least, I come to the little guys and gals. Do you feel like a no talent, useless person? Well, I have news fer ya. It t’ain’t true. If you are saved, you are a child of God and He loves you beyond measure. The world may see you like it sees me, old, fat and ugly but God sees you in a different light and that Light is pure and perfect. He sees a child that He gave a gift to at salvation. He wants to encourage you to use that gift to bring you joy and to be a participant in what He is doing in this world. You may be very young or very old, but you are at the right age to use that gift. You may be well educated or not, but He has all the wisdom you need to exercise that gift and He will freely give it to you when you ask! You may feel like the most powerless person on the face of the earth, but you have the entire power of the Godhead within you!! In the world you may be nobody, but you are in the Body of Christ and you are needed as much as anyone else is. Jesus’ precious blood flowed for you and that makes you special.
Now, don’t get the big head! Stay small in your own eyes, but remember whose eyes are on you and lift up your feeble hands to Him. He will make you into someone the world would never expect and you could never comprehend. You may be last, but you are in position to be first if you just let the Holy Spirit fill you. The Son of God will intercede for you and bring you into the presence of the Father who will put you in the place He has prepared for you to work from the foundation of the world! He will use you my weak friend to confound the mighty. They will think you foolish but He will use you to confound the wise. You may be despised by this world but He will use you as His chosen. You do not exist to the world, but He will use you to bring this world to an end when you return with Him. So feeling like a little guy? Look up because Someone is certainly looking out for you! Lift up your arms to receive all He has for you because God blesses the little guy!!!
