The Greatest Among Us

Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all." Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them, "Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who             sent me."   

    

Let us Pray -                    O God, light of the minds that know you, life of the

                                     souls that love you, and strength of the hearts that seek you - bless

                                    the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts.  We ask it in

                                                                    Jesus' name.  Amen

 

             I spent considerable time this week pondering the meaning of the gospel that we just heard.  I was more concerned about the second half of the reading - the portion that deals with the disciples rather heated discussion about who among them was greatest and with Jesus' response to their bickering and arguing:  "Whoever wants to first must be last of all and servant of all."

             I found myself making a common mistake because it is a comfortable mistake, the kind of mistake that in the long run lets us off God's hook. The text seemed to say to me, as it as to millions before me, that I should be beware of personal ambition, that I should not seek to put myself first, that true greatness lies not in self promotion, but in self-denial.

             It said to me that greatness is not measured by the power and influence we obtain over other people, but by how we serve others. In fact the meaning of the passage was so clear that I planned on sharing with you all this morning. That we should all strive for greatness in our own lives by striving to love and serve others to the very best of our ability.

             September 2002- June 2003 I took a pastoral counselling course, an adult education at the Montreal Pastoral Institute. There were five students ….. Rev. captain of the Salvation Army, very learned Jewish Rabbi, educated, and well read an Anglican, ex-catholic now an atheist, and myself a Lutheran pastor. The “Perking order” begun as we got acquainted and comfortable with one another.

                          Christ's greatness, and glory came to him not by his seeking to be first among all people, but by his self-giving upon the cross. I think you will all agree that this is a good understanding of Jesus' words about what we should do if we want to be "the greatest among us"  

             Recall with me what happened next.  It goes like this: "And then Jesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 'Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me, but the one who sent me."

             Why, I wondered, did Jesus associate the act of receiving a little child in his name with being first in God's eyes?  With being greatest? After all - children are wonderful are they not? We love them and care for them.  Politicians win votes by hugging and kissing babies at various public events.

             The more I thought about - the more I wondered - just what was going on that day in Palestine when Jesus spoke to his disciples about greatness and then used a child as an example of what it means to be great in the kingdom of God - as an example of what it means to welcome him.

             We all know that Jesus normally turns things upside down when he speaks to people.  He returns questions instead of answers to other people's inquires.  He tells stories instead of giving the straight goods to people who try to pin him down.  And above all - he defies conventional wisdom about how the world operates and suggests that we need to do things that are the exact opposite.

             "They would save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their live for the sake of the gospel will save it."  "They would be first, must be last of all and servant of all."     "Whoever receive a little child like this, receives me."  Where is the upside down effort that Jesus normally demands of his disciples? 

             Where is the going of the second mile when someone forces you to walk one?  The giving of the shirt when someone takes your jacket? The turning of the other cheek? The act of giving so that you might receive?  And of dying so that you might live?

             To me the passage only makes sense if children are somehow less important to us.  It makes sense only if to receive a child is to somehow lower oneself in the world's eyes and to be considered foolish because of it. In Palestine, during the time of Jesus. Children were loved as they are now – but they were not as important as they are today. 

             More than half of them did not live to be adults.  Many children were died at birth.  Others were simply put out in the field to starve to death.  In times of shortages of food, children were fed last. Moreover children had no rights.  Parents could do to them whatever they thought necessary to make the children obedient or to force them to work for the family. 

             Children, along with tax collectors and sinners were considered to be second-class citizens.  They ranked last in the consideration accorded to persons - even lower than women.  Children were chattel, and as nice as they are - as unproductive, as burdensome, as simply another mouth to be fed.

             In some ways that attitude persists to our day - in some nations. Think about our own society - and about how children are most unwelcome in certain circles - how the unborn are often aborted because they are regarded as a hindrance, as a drain upon the emotional, psychological and economic health of upwardly mobile couples.

             "They would be first, must be last of all and servant of all." "Whoever receive a little child like this, receives me." In this light - Jesus' words about greatness and about welcoming a little child begin to make sense. They make sense because, as usual, Jesus was calling his disciples to a radical new vision of what the Kingdom of God is all about -- a radical new vision of how life can actually be.

             Therefore there is no room for bickering about greatness, about status and prestige and power and knowledge?  Rather it is time to play pica-boo. It is time to forget about what might drain the pocket book or make it fat and full, and to listen to a child speak about how wonderful it would be to share supper with the poor people down the street or over in that country over there.

             The kingdom of a child has no real slaves or real princes - it has joy and delight and magic and power and everyone prospers - and all evil is vanquished.  To receive a child is to receive a vision - if we have but eyes to see.

All this reminds me of a story.

             Once upon a time these was a Squire who longed to be a knight. He wanted to serve his king and be the most noble knight who ever lived.  At his knighting he was so excited that he made a special oath.  He vowed to bow his knees and lift his arms in homage to his king and him alone. 

             This knight was given the task of guarding a city on the frontier of the kingdom.  Every day he stood at attention by the gate of the city in full armour. Years passed.  One day as he was standing at attention guarding his post a peasant woman passed by with goods for the market. 

             Her cart over turned spilling potatoes and carrots and onions all over the place.  The woman tried to get everything back in her cart. But the knight wouldn't help the poor woman.  He just stood at attention lest he break his vow by bending his knees to help pickup the woman's goods.

             Time passed and one day a man with one leg was passing by and his crutch broke.  "Good knight, sir, reach down and help me up." But the knight would not stoop or lift a hand to help lest he break his vow. Years and decades passed, the knight was getting old.  One day his grandson came by and said, "Grandpa pick me up and take me to the fair."  But he would not stoop lest he break his vow to the king.

             Finally after many, many, years the king came to visit and inspect the knight.  As the king approached the knight just stood there at attention.  The king inspected him as he stood there, but then he noticed that the knight was crying.  You are one of the noblest knights I have ever seen, why do you cry? 

             Your majesty, I took a vow that I would bow and lift my arms in homage to you but I am unable to keep my vow. These years have done their work and the joint of my armour are rusted.  I cannot lift my arms or bend my knees.

             With the loving voice of a parent the King replied, "Perhaps if you had knelt to help all those who passed by, and lifted your arms to embrace all those who came to you, you would have been able to keep your vow to pay me homage today."

             Jesus embraced a small child and said, "Whoever receives on such child

receives me and the one who sent me."  Most people would overlook a child, but not Jesus. If we want to receive the kingdom, we must receive the King.  This king is not received by pomp and circumstance.  He is received by humility and servitude - he is received by "self - forgetting.".

             Being number one in God's kingdom is not about conquering or overcoming

another.  It's about putting others first. It's about the love of God, an almighty God who stoops so low to a sinful world to be beaten, mocked and killed so that a lost one like me might be found - so that a broken one, like me might be made whole - so that a sinner like me might be forgiven, that a wanderer like me might have a home to go to.

             Greatness in the eyes of Jesus is found in willingness to receive, to accept, and indeed to really welcome those they would normally consider un-receivable, unacceptable, and unwelcome.  To welcome others as a child welcomes others before he or she is taught to discriminate between friend and foe.

             That is what Christ did when he lived and died for us and for the Creator

above.  He reversed the usual nature of things.  He made that which was unholy, holy, that which was sinful - clean.

             He welcomed us and he asks to welcome others – be a welcoming church, and that my friends is something far different than mere acts of sacrifice and of service, far different from acts of charity and being a person who is "civic minded".

v    What does Paul say about this?

"If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.  If I am last of all and serve all, but do not have love, my acts mean nothing."

             Who do we find to be less than ourselves today?  Who in our family do we feel superior to?  What brother or sister do we regard as somehow less acceptable than they ought to be?  What relative do we turn away at the door because of some real, or some imagined offence? 

             Who does our community scorn and reject?  Who is looked down upon for reasons of class, or colour, or religion, or economics, or culture? Who is greatest among us?  Who is the one who has the presence of Christ in them?  The one who bears God to our very doorstep and then knocks and asks if he or she can come in?

May those who have ears, hear. May those who have eyes, see.

Amen.