Greatness

Several years ago, I was traveling through Kansas City to a doctor’s office on the other side of the city. I was making good time until I got about one mile in. Suddenly, the traffic that was moving along so nicely came to a complete halt. For the next 30 minutes, I moved exactly 3 tenths of a mile. But in that half hour, I got to watch hundreds of people in cars and trucks exhibit either grace or lack of grace, deference or deprivation, selflessness or selfishness.

The thing is, most avenues of our modern lives are just as crowded and just as interesting regarding the question of “Who is first and who is last?” On our highways, in our schools, and in our workplaces, everyone seems to be striving to be considered at least IMPORTANT if not GREAT.

Our Lord brought His disciples together for a lesson about what it even means to be great. The Master Teacher helps us to comprehend the nature of true greatness, and Jesus explains that a Christian gets ahead, not by getting ahead of others, but by serving others.

So this is good news, right? Few of us aspire to be celebrities. That status is out of reach for most. Fame is not for us. We are common folk. We just want to be left alone. We are quite comfortable not striving for a greatness that makes us the center of attention.

However, even people like us do not escape Jesus’ words, “If anyone would be first” (v. 35). The fact is, whether deserved or undeserved, we like to receive preferential treatment. The little kick of getting even a slight advantage over others is for many of us a kind of subconscious quest for greatness.

Jesus’ disciples were coming off a letdown. In a village a few miles back, they had not been able to cast out a demon possessing a young boy. They were frustrated because our Lord had commissioned them to heal the sick and to cast out demons (Mark 6:7–13). But for a much-afflicted boy, they were helpless. They could not get it done. They were not so great. Jesus salvaged the situation. By His great power, He rebuffed and drove away the demon. The Lord rescued the boy and restored him to his parents. We heard the story in last Sunday’s Gospel.

After that incident, Jesus went on with His disciples through the territory of Galilee. They were on foot. Small talk was common. These disciples could not easily move beyond their frustration and embarrassment in that recent village. Egos bruised and hurting, they could not cope with that letdown. It was more soothing to think about something else, about the powers they had been given and had used in a few instances. It was great, and they began to discuss who among them was the greatest.

Their conversation was taking a wrong turn. Some distance into their journey, our Lord reminded them He was on another journey of servanthood supreme. It was for real. Not many days ahead, the Son of Man would be delivered into the hands of men. He would not resist, and they would kill Him. And when He was killed, after three days He would rise again (v. 31). The disciples did not understand, and they were hesitant, fearful to inquire further with Jesus about the meaning of His “death talk and walk”—the cross, suffering, and dying (cf. v. 32).

Such a prediction of servanthood and trauma for Jesus should have toned down the disciples’ bickering about their own greatness. And we should be a little sheepish ourselves. Baptized into Christ, we are linked by that Baptism to this very trauma—His serving us by suffering, death, and His rising again (cf. Romans 6:1–11). But servanthood may be the farthest activity from our minds even as it was from the minds of the disciples.

Arriving at Capernaum, settling probably at Peter’s home, Jesus inquired, “What were you discussing on the way?” (v. 33). They were put on the spot. Their misguided arguing about greatness came up. And, even if we don’t think that we aspire to BE GREAT, we understand their discussion.

We know how aggravating it is to get number 39 in the lobby of the post office when the person being served at the counter holds number 26. We are agitated when people get ahead based on their personalities, good looks, or fame while we work and hone skills only to be passed over. “Nice guys finish last,” we grumble and complain, because we want to finish first, get the promotion, and be recognized for how special we are.

And now that we accept that we all still strive to be at least important if not great, Jesus has a teachable moment for us this morning. He says: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (9:35). Such an idea—taking last place, serving others—is contrary to everything our selfish world is about. It is a total reversal of dominant ideas of rank and what we usually think being “great” is all about. How are we to get ahead, how can we progress, how can we win this way, serving all, settling for last place in order to help others be first? How are we going to get to work on time pushing through crowded roads and streets, giving place to others? We shall be late, and we shall be last.

The disciples needed a lesson, and so do we about what it means to be great in God’s understanding. Jesus provides us with an object lesson. There is a toddler running through the room. Jesus grabs the little fellow, sets Him in the middle of the disciples, puts His arm around the child, and says to His misguided disciples, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me” (v. 37).

The bloated and aggressive adult egos of the disciples deflate. Jesus says, “Whoever receives, listens, and fulfills the need and serves a little child serves me, and the heavenly Father who sent me.” The child is unassuming. He has needs and wants. One cannot ignore his cries. And the little child, once you do for him what needs to be done, once you serve him, will he ever repay or return the favor? No! So soon the little one forgets your loving service and carelessly goes his way. And there you are—having worked, provided, and given of yourself, but you get no thanks because you dared to place yourself last and the child first. And Jesus says that the person who does just this for a child honors our Lord and our heavenly Father who sent Him (v. 37).

We learn that the only proper way to be first is to step back and be last, and from that lowly posture, we are to serve others in everything we do. Becoming first by serving from a position of being last is the very fabric of the new world our Lord brought to pass when he descended so very low, even to death on the cross, shedding the brilliance of the light of the glory of heaven, setting aside all of his power, to assume the form of a servant, and transforming our lives from focusing on selfish ambition to selfless serving and giving.

In all of life’s traffic jams, some drivers take unfair advantage of the situation and push others around. Some are taken by “road rage” or become embittered against God. But many, by grace, slow down, pause to let others have a place, and are last in order to help others be first and get on their way. In our communities, at the workplace, at our churches, in our homes, there is opportunity to gather before Jesus and hear his words, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (v. 35). It is the way to live, the way to win, and the way to be great in the kingdom of heaven that has no end. Amen.