A Lesson in Greatness
The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture
Semi-continuous: Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37
Complementary: Wisdom 1:16—2:1, 12-22 or Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 54; James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37
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Prayer
God of unsearchable mystery and light, your weakness is greater than our strength, your foolishness brings all our cleverness to naught, your gentleness confounds the power we would claim. You call first to be last and last to be first, servant to be leader and ruler to be underling of all. Pour into our hearts the wisdom of your Word and Spirit, that we may know your purpose and live to your glory. Amen. (Revised Common Lectionary)
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Reflection
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
Then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he 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” (Mark 9:30-37).
It may seem inappropriate in the 21st century for grown men to argue over who is the greatest as Jesus’ disciples are doing? When Jesus asks them what it is they are debating, they fall silent. They don’t want to tell Jesus because in his teachings and way of life he has exemplified that true greatness means humility and service.
In the world of Jesus’ day, greatness had everything to do with status, wealth, and being honored. The truth of the matter is while we live in a context today where we would not sit around the table and argue who is actually the greatest, we find ways to put forward to others that we are superior and that we are indeed worthy of distinction. We brag about our accomplishments, who we know, and who has recognized us.
So we really aren’t all that different from Jesus’ first disciples. We find ways to put our superiority forward without actually saying, “I am the greatest.” We still believe that status, wealth, and holding dignified offices are a measure of greatness. We still need to hear Jesus’ lesson on what true greatness is through sacrifice, service, and humility—and of identifying, not with the wealthy and powerful—but with the last, the least, and the lost.
The issue is not whether we should pursue greatness. The matter before us concerns what consists of true greatness. Jesus in his life, teaching, and death demonstrates what true greatness is all about; something that two thousand years later we must admit that we still struggle to embody. We continue to find ways to put our greatness forward in ways that will not honor our Lord and Savior, the greatest of them all.
PRAYER: O God, our teacher and guide, you draw us to yourself and welcome us a beloved children. Help us to lay aside our envy and selfish ambition, that we may walk in your ways of wisdom and understanding as servant of your peace. Amen. (Revised Common Lectionary)
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