Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 23, 2018
When Jesus asks his disciples what they were arguing about he already knows. That his way of bring about their conviction. They are silent—speechless. It is embarrassing. With a penetrating question, they realize their foolishness. The disciples were arguing about who was the greatest among them. Even their silence is self-serving. No one wants to be called out for their pride. None of us want to be outed as a self-promoting narcissist. So they don’t say anything at all. Jesus’ question, “What were you arguing about on the way?” teaches us something important. Pride is competition. It’s when we want to be first. It’s when we want to be greatest. If we go down this path of self-promotion, our lives become a turf war. It will become all about proving to others how indispensable we are. We will be a servant either way. We either are a servant to our pride or we are a servant to God and others. Jesus shows us that serving ourselves is actually not good for us. We are not serving or loving ourselves in a healthy way. James says in our Scripture reading, “For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.” In other words, our pride and self-service will only lead to greater chaos, confusion, evil, and harm to others. Jesus has a gentle way of confronting our pride. He does not call us to stop the nonsense. He gives us a higher call.
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” The first step toward greatness—in the Kingdom of God—is to get our eyes off of ourselves. Up until that point each of the disciples were focused on themselves. With a word, Jesus tells them to stop serving self and serve all. Jesus opens the prison doors—the prison of our self-centeredness—he opens the door to the vast world of people out there just waiting to be accepted, loved, and served. All this to say that the wrong kind of self-esteem can blind and paralyze us. It keeps us from answering God’s call to put ourselves last and others first—to become a servant of all. Jesus turns their world upside down when he takes a small child up into his arms. This is what greatness looks like—Jesus welcoming a child into his arms. The child is accepted just as he or she is. The greatness is not in the child. The greatness is in the radical acceptance and radical welcoming heart of Jesus. Jesus says that we are to become servants of all—all. That means God calls us to serve everyone—every human being that he brings across our paths.
Jesus is telling us that one of the greatest ways we can serve one another is to welcome others—to be hospitable to our neighbor all in the name of Jesus. This is what it means to welcome others in Jesus’ name. We do something in Jesus’ name when we do it out of Christ’s love, command, and authority. Our acceptance of others and service to others is not for us—or even for them. It is for the Kingdom of God. It is for the King—Jesus. And we love him and we love others because he first loved us. We know we are not worthy of such love. But he forgives us, accepts us, picks us up, and brings us into strength and protection of his arms. What greater calling can there be but to serve others as Christ has served us? We get to participate in Kingdom ministry. In the name of Jesus, we reach out to others. In the name of Jesus we lift them up. In the name of Jesus we find value in them. In the name of Jesus we embrace others.
Jesus’ profound words remind us that this is how we love God back...by our welcome to others. “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” The writer of Hebrews reminds us that when we welcome and show hospitality to strangers, we can entertain angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2). In this case, the angel is the Angel of the Lord—Jesus Christ himself. Ultimately we serve God our Creator and heavenly Father.
This world needs to be a kinder place. Jesus looks at the bickering, competition, and his self-serving disciples. And he gives them a new vision—of a world where we serve and treat one another with dignity, selflessness, and love. This is not just an empty call to be nicer. It is a transformation of our worldview and our mission as God’s people. It is a change of heart and of mind. That is what the Scriptures call true repentance. What freedom and joy there is to know how God looks at us and those around us. We are his precious children. He wants us to serve one another whether we are family or strangers...whether we are old or young...whether we are big or small. We are so bound up in him that to love one another is to love God himself.
Welcome to our world—a world that God created, where we are deeply loved and cherished, forgiven, and assured of eternal life in his Kingdom which has no end. Welcome to the world where Jesus puts himself last by surrendering his life on the cross. Welcome to the world where he rises from the dead in service and for the life of the world.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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