There is a park near my house that I like to visit. One of my favorite parts about the park is that it’s filled with birds; gulls, geese, ducks, swan, crows, and many more. I was walking the other day and thinking about how impressive it is that all of these different types of birds co-exist together pretty peacefully, but then someone came and started throwing out bread and that harmony was instantly disrupted. Naturally they all went crazy, squawking and flapping their wings and fighting to get as much of the bread as possible. I’d seen this happen numerous times before, but for some reason I decided to stay and watch for a while. I was surprised that long after all the bread was gone and the lady feeding them had moved on, the birds were still fighting amongst themselves. I realized that this was more than competition for food; it was a battle to claim that piece of land as their territory and to come out as the bird in charge. The birds were in fact showing their natural desire for power and greatness.

We see the disciples are struggling with that desire in our Gospel text this morning. They are in the middle of another lesson with Jesus; like last week Jesus is trying to teach them about his impeding suffering and death that are a coming part of his ministry, and like last week they aren’t getting it. The disciples aren’t able to grasp what Jesus is telling them, but instead get distracted in a petty argument about which one of them is the greatest. They seem to at least be somewhat aware of their falling short, because they try and hide their confusion and disagreement from Jesus, but he sees through them and recognizes what’s going on. Instead of getting angry like we might have expected based on his reaction to Peter in our previous Gospel, Jesus uses it as a moment to teach his disciples about his way and what it looks like to be his follower.

Perhaps Jesus has compassion on his disciples because based on the culture of the times it was pretty understandable that they would be concerned with this question of greatness. In those days, the dominant mode of operation for society was one of honor and shame. Your status of honor or shame determined not only how you and your family were viewed and treated by the rest of the community, but whether you got to participate in the community and be a part of it at all. For instance, if one had brought shame upon oneself or one’s family, you would not be allowed to worship or interact with other people in the synagogue, the ultimate form of disgrace at that time. A person could go from being someone of the highest stature to being vapor in the eyes of the community in an instant, based completely on the judgment of those around them. In the time of our Gospel, one’s entire identity and sense of worth was determined by their community, so it’s not surprising that the disciples want to know where they stand and try and come out on top.

The society we live in today is sadly not all that different; in fact it might even be worse. The desire for greatness is present in virtually every aspect of our society. We are bombarded with a constant barrage from the media, the government, and the world around us telling us that we need to do everything possible to become the biggest and the best. We strive almost constantly to get more stuff, to gain more power, to grab all the greatness we can and to show it off because that is what we are supposed to do. Like the disciples, we can be afraid to show our weakness because it seems unacceptable. We push ourselves to be great at everything; to be successful at our job, to be a perfect spouse or parent, etc. etc. etc., because we think that if we do those things those around us will respect us and will realize what good, important people we are. At times this can even infect our life as the body of Christ, when we try and do everything and be the best servant so that we can be a valued part of the community. Like the birds in the park and the disciples in our Gospel we have a natural pull to want to achieve greatness, and when that combines with our culture’s promotion of becoming the best at all costs it can distract us from the true work to which God has called us and leave us feeling worthless when we can’t measure up.

Thankfully Jesus turns this all around, for his disciples and for us. He tells them that following him isn’t about achieving power or status, in fact far from it. The disciples learn that if they truly want to be top dog that means letting go of all their preconceived notions of what it means to be great. Jesus calls them to a life of service, something which would have been viewed as lowly or demeaning at the time, but which Jesus places in highest esteem. He heightens his lesson by enlisting the help of a child. Children would have been basically a non-entity, not worthy of any honor or regard, but Jesus tells the disciples that if they want to find him this is where to do it. In his simple statements, so well known and beloved to us, Jesus calls his disciples to radically change the way they view themselves and live in the world.

We are called to reverse the way we and our society think and live as well. This is not an easy change, but it is definitely a gift rather than a burden. By identifying with the forgotten or those without value, Jesus gives us permission to do so as well. We don’t have to be one of the elite, but we can be the lowly servants we are. Jesus proclaims his love for all of us, even amidst our weakness. He allows us all to be exactly who we are and tells us no matter what our success or failure, no matter how worthless we may feel at times, we are precious and valued in his sight. We don’t need any extraordinary abilities to live as Christ calls us; all we need to do to welcome and glorify him is to love those whom he loves. In his message to his disciples Jesus frees us from our constant fighting to achieve greatness and grab our piece of the bread, frees us to simply live and serve as God’s beloved children.

Return to Sermons