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Pastor Mathew Magera – 9/20/15 – Sermon 119
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
When he was in
the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they
kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first
must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
This is the second time
Jesus announced his upcoming suffering and death to his disciples. The first
time was the passage we read last week in Mark 8. Now, only a few verses later
in chapter 9 do we hear this same story again coming from Jesus. Hearing it twice
now, the disciples do not understand what Jesus meant. I mean, why would they?
It hadn't happened yet. They would not begin to understand Jesus' death until
they witness it themselves. Nevertheless, the disciples do their best to
understand it and they take matters into their own hands. If Jesus was going to
die, someone would have to be left in charge. Someone would have to take over
the group. But who? Which one would take over and fill those sandals that Jesus
wore? It probably didn't take long before that argument began. An argument that
would cause Jesus to make another clarification about the purpose of his
journey to the cross.
We don't want to be on the
bottom. We want to be on the top. We don't want to scrub toilets, we don't want
to get messy. We want to be promoted in our jobs. If a higher position opens
up, we want it. We have MVPs, All-stars, hall of famers, chairmen, presidents,
generals, admirals, deans, bishops, popes, managers and CEO's who represent the
top of their respective fields. We look up to these positions as a climb to
power and prestige and honor. It pays to be at the top. From the top you can be
seen by everyone. You have the best vantage point. It's great to be at the top.
This is what Jesus' disciples are arguing about. Jesus is going to die.
According to the disciples, there is now a position posting for leader among
the group. Who is it going to be? Surely each one of them knows why they have
what it takes to make it to the top. Who will be the greatest? What an
argument, right?
Jesus asks his disciples
what they were arguing about on the road. Like he doesn't know. Do you think
Jesus would be walking with these men and not overhear what they were saying?
Jesus knew exactly what they were arguing about. But, in his asking, they felt
guilty. You know how you know you were doing something wrong as a child, and
your parents, knowing full well what you did, would still ask you what
happened. Instead of disciplining you immediately, they questioned you, causing
you to admit what you did wrong. Jesus is questioning his disciples, causing
them to admit what they did wrong. But, they kept their mouths closed. Uh oh,
Jesus knows. You tell him. No you tell him. They're silent. I imagine they were
feeling very guilty for what they did. Then Jesus leads them to this amazing
reversal that has been made one of Jesus' most famous messages. He says to
them, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant
of all." Jesus has the last word. The disciples can't say anything in
return to that. We who strive for power, prestige and merit in this world are
hearers of these very words Jesus speaks and we can picture him giving us the
look when he speaks those words to us.
Allow me to share with you a
true story. The year 2006 was when it happened. It was the year Lane and I were
married and had moved into our own townhome in the town of Selinsgrove, PA
where I was attending my junior year of college. Those of you who are married
know that in a marriage you share certain aspects of your life together. There
are also some tasks each of you does in your home that the other wouldn't touch
with a ten foot pole. Go ahead and give each other the look, you know it's
true. Within the first few weeks of my marriage, one of these areas became
apparent. In the short amount of time we had lived together after getting
married, I was now elected to what Lane and I refer to as the Bodily Fluids
Committee. The Bodily Fluids Committee, the BFC, is in charge of exactly what
you might think of, cleaning up anything that seeps, creeps, leaks, or forces its
way out of a living creature, human or animal, that does not make it into safe
disposal areas such as a garbage can or toilet or diaper,or back yard or litter
box. The work of a member of a bodily fluids committee never ends. They are
always on call 24 hours a day. In our household, I was on the bodily fluids
committee. Not only was I an elected member of this committee, I was quickly
made president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer as I was the only
person on this committee, nominated enthusiastically by my ever-loving spouse.
Not only was I elected a member and president of this committee, I soon learned
the length of my term was unlimited only to be replaced by another nominated
party. Thinking on my feet, I then nominated my loving spouse who quickly said
I could not do that. Well, why not? I asked. Because nominations are closed
indefinitely, she said. Quickly I motioned to change the rules of the committee
only to find out any changes needed a 2/3 majority vote from the members of the
household. Needless to say, my motion failed with a vote of 1 to 1. Since then
I have cleaned floors, scrubbed carpets, sanitized bathrooms, wiped tears,
changed diapers, disinfected wounds, and applied Mickey Mouse Band-Aids. The
list goes on. The work of a member of the bodily fluids committee is strenuous
and dirty work at times, but sometimes these tasks can be how love speaks its
loudest. Performing the lowest of tasks is a humbling endeavor often met with
apprehension, refusal, and disgust. I'm not going to do that! Find someone
else! I'm better than that! And so appears the point of Jesus' message in
chapter 9 of Mark's Gospel.
The point is to be the
least, to be the servant of all. The first will be last in the kingdom of God.
But, the last will be first. What good news for all those servants out there.
What good news for all who pour themselves into the lowly work that many would
just disregard without consideration. What good news for those who are
considered last in this world, for they are first in the kingdom of God. In
God's eyes there is hope for the poor. There is hope for the hard working
servant-based workers. God is with those who are at the bottom. God is with
those who are weak. God is with those who are sick. God is with those who are
last.
Have you ever watched the
show Dirty Jobs on Discovery Channel? At the beginning of each episode, host
Mike Rowe introduces himself and tells viewers, "I explore the country
looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty - hard-working men and women
who earn an honest living doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life
possible for the rest of us." (Wikipedia, Dirty Jobs). We, the status-hungry
people in the world have very little idea what it means to do the work of those
dirty jobs. Making mistakes can cause them to lose their status. Getting dirty
can blemish their chances of moving further up. Yet, those who do the work of a
servant, who become the last in the world, preserving life for the rest of the
world, those are the ones who Jesus says are the first in the kingdom of God.
All of you Lutherans sitting
in the back row. God is with you. I imagine the worship space in heaven when we
all gather together, from various backgrounds in the brilliant presence of God.
Who is going to be seated near the front? Lutherans! The ones who are in the
back will be at the front! I hope you're ready! I say that very humorously, of
course, but the message Jesus is saying is that all who are in the back of the
world are in the front of Jesus' world. So, maybe Lutherans do know something
about sitting in the back row, it's because they know they will be in the front
in heaven. More seriously now, the reason we can have hope in the kingdom of
God is because we who serve one another have a place in the kingdom of God
whether or not we have a place in this world. The last will be first. There is
hope for the Detroit Tigers in the kingdom of God. That's all I'm going to say
about that.
Jesus just continues to turn
the world upside down for us, doesn't he? When we think we have put Jesus in a
box and finally understand him he goes off and does something else to confuse
us. This is because the kingdom of God is so great that it is impossible to
fully understand it. So we journey forward in faith. Jesus says if we want to
be first we must be the last, and servant of all. Okay Jesus, if you want me to
be on the bodily fluids committee, then I will do it and I will do it joyfully
because I care about those in my life who are closest to me. But it doesn't
stop there. We don't just serve because of those who are closest to us. We
serve those who we don't even know. We do so because of a man who went to the
cross for us, a man we never have had the opportunity to shake hands with let
alone see with our eyes, yet he has known us since before we were born and has
chosen to give up his life, to be the lowest of servants giving the very best
for us. This is what it looks like to be first in the kingdom of God, to
represent God's kingdom on earth.
I want to close by sharing
another story. I shared this on Wednesday at Bible study, something that
happened when Lane and I were in Tanzania six years ago. After only being in
the country for two days, we attended worship in a small village about 2 and a
half hours away from where we were staying. We spent most of the day in this
village before boarding our van to go home. On our way we passed through
another small village and our driver recognized someone he knew. This happens
frequently in Tanzania, you know many people. So, we stopped the van and they
talked for a minute and then they invited to their house for tea. Not fully
realizing what that meant, us Americans in the van said, yeah sure that would
be great. So, we park the van and head into this family's home and sit down
wherever we can find a spot and not to long after that the matriarch of the
family comes out with tea, but not only that she has cold drinks like Coke and
Fanta. So we sat their with our drinks and talked and we spent a good amount of
time doing this until one of our group asked one of our leaders if we were
going to be leaving soon. This is where our lack of understanding came in. When
we were invited for tea, we did not realize what we were getting. The family
was preparing a meal for us in the background. And not only were they preparing
a meal but they were making rice. Rice is only used for special occasions. They
did not know we were coming. They did not prepare something ahead of time, but
they went right to work as soon as we arrived and took the best of what they
had to serve us. It was so good that even the children in town would look in to
see what was going on. They could smell it. Somebody was honoring a guest
somewhere and they had to find out where, and they found us. We were honored
guests in that home in Africa and we could feel strongly what God was doing in
the lives of this family. They who did not have much, gave the very best of
what they had to a friend and a group of complete strangers. They represented
the kingdom of God for Lane and I that evening.
Jesus breaks into our
arguments on the road about who will be first in the world and he calls us to
live differently. He says to be first in the kingdom of God is to be last, the
servant of all. To reach out to your neighbor who you may or may not know and
to serve them. To give up the best of what you have to give it to those who do
not have it. Jesus represents the kingdom of God for us today by giving up his
life on the cross, giving up the best and giving it to us. We leave this place
today and this week we will also represent the kingdom of God for this town and
our world. Jesus silences our arguments and sends us on our way, free to serve,
free to love, free to be the last in this world for the sake of him who became
last for us. To God be the glory, now and always. Amen.