Community Church Sermons
October 22, 2006
Isaiah 53:4-12
Mark 10:35-45
I’m pretty, I’m a bad man, I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, I’m the greatest of all times. These presumptuous and braggadocios statements were the constant proclamations of former world boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who began his career as Cassius Clay.
What a career it was. Three time undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Ali held a 56-5 record. His professional career was preceded by an Olympic run that resulted in a gold medal. Impressive! But can we really affirm with Ali that he was the greatest of all times? I suppose we will have to leave that decision to the passage of time, and sports historians opinions, but we know from Ali’s present life situation, that whatever his level of greatness may have been, it was fleeting.
It was this kind of fleeting greatness that James and John, the sons of thunder, sought in their request to Jesus for seats of honor, and incensed the others in the inner circle of the twelve, that they might achieve such ahead of them. From this cauldron of conflict in his inner circle, Jesus spoke to the nature of true greatness. As Jesus is want to do, he rejects the pursuit of fleeting greatness as defined by the world, and encourages instead that his followers choose greatness according to God’s standard. A greatness which Jesus describes by drawing on the suffering servant imagery of the prophet Isaiah, insisting that greatness comes through the service of others.
In launching our Trails Through Tellico stewardship emphasis, Marty has talked with you about the stewardship of your financial and material resources, a subject that can be touchy. Never fear, today I am going to change the subject to something that may be even touchier. The stewardship of your time and actions, something over which you may have even more control than your finances. Jesus taught that the path to greatness would hinge on how we invested the time and actions of our lives in service to others.
In response to James and John’s request he spoke with piercing honesty about the weight of greatness. Jesus insisted that the path to greatness involved a significant price that many would be unable or unwilling to pay. Today, we have only to look at the lives of those who successfully aspire to be President of these United States to see some of the effects of the weight of greatness. During their terms of service they all seem to age beyond their chronological years, and their faces vividly display the weight of greatness.
In his warning to James and John Jesus assures them that the weight of greatness will fall on him before it reaches any of the disciples. Theologians have puzzled for years over what exactly is meant by the statement in our text which reflects this by saying that Jesus life was given as a ransom for many. In a culture not comfortable with ransom or the practice of sacrifice for the benefit of others, we shudder at the thought of Jesus’ declaration. I think part of the problem is that we place the emphasis solely on Jesus’ death as the source of the so called ransom, and miss the fact that Jesus said he gave his LIFE, meaning all of his existence as the means by which we are reconciled to God. If this is true, Jesus is telling James and John that true greatness is only achieved by the complete investment of one’s life in the lives of others. Will we accept this challenge as the goal of the stewardship of our time and actions? If so, we will grasp what Jesus taught about the weight of greatness.
Moving beyond his discussion with James and John, Jesus seeks to deal with the displeasure of the remainder of the inner circle of disciples toward James and John by reminding them that the way to greatness in the kingdom of God is through service to others. Jesus rejects the models of power with which they were most acquainted, and points them to the lowly servant as the model of greatness. The disciples’ image of great service was ruling with political power over people who needed direction. Jesus’ image was a basin and a towel used to cleanse dirty feet that needed washing after a long journey.
We have only to look at modern servants like Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and former president, Jimmy Carter, to see examples of those who understand that service is the path to greatness. If we accept the model proposed by Jesus and lived out by these and others, we have only to ask; “What service shall we do with our time and actions, that demonstrates the greatness of which Jesus speaks”?
Whether Ali was the greatest of all times or not will always be a matter of subjective interpretation, but in the Kingdom of God, you and I can be. The basin and the towel await our willingness to assume their weight, and follow their way to greatness. The journey may at times be difficult, but I’m in for it, ARE YOU?