The Least Is The Greatest

Lk:22:24. And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.

Mk:9:34. But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.

The disciples were always arguing over who should be called the greatest among them, but God sees things from a different perspective. Not necessarily the way we see ourselves.

My question is what does God call great?

I would like to start off by examining the parable of the talents.

Matthew 25:14-30. For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them. His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.He also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them. His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours. But his lord answered and said to him, You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. Therefore you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We have each talents and abilities given by God. Yet it is up to us to do something with those talents and abilities. You will notice in this parable that the lord did not tell the servants what to do with the talents that he gave them, but he gave them according to their own ability. They were equipped to deal with what they had been given. He did not give them more than what the were equipped to handle, so it is the same with our Heavenly Father. He’s not asking us to do more than we have been given the grace or calling to handle. You will also notice that the servants were held accountable with what they had been given. This is a lesson to us. God has given us each abilities, so that we can be a blessing to others. The more we do with what we have, the more responsibility we will be given. The servants who did something productive with what they had been given were given more, and the servant who did nothing with what he had been given, had what he had been given taken away. Jesus called the productive servants good and faithful. He called the unprofitable servant, you wicked and lazy servant. That hardly sounds like a compliment. The unprofitable, wicked and lazy servant was cast into the outer darkness. I am not trying to create fear, or bring condemnation on anybody, but I want to encourage people to find their God given purpose here on this earth and begin to be profitable with what they have been given. We have been called to do good works before the foundation of the world, God equipped us and preordained for us to walk in these works and to bear fruit.

Ephesians 2:10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.