Mark 9:33-42

This past Maundy Thursday we looked at the amazing humility of Jesus as He knelt before the disciples and washed their very worst, dirtiest parts, their feet. It was one of his last acts, one of the last lessons He wanted His disciples to imitate. In that act He fully embodied what it means to be a servant. Even more, it demonstrated and was a precursor to His serving, saving actions on the cross. Our God is a powerful, mighty God, the Creator, but He is also a servant, serving his people through the cross, saving His people through the cross.

The image of a servant isn’t one that is popular in America. To me, and perhaps you, it evokes an image of a dour faced, but well dressed man in a large British house bringing the master of the house his cheese, or mail or whatever the master wants. It is the image of the butler in the Batman movies that comes to mind most quickly. I think we have a negative image of servants. They are weak, to be commanded, they serve at the whim of the master, which can be ever-changing. They are not their own people, but serve others, and Americans tend to not like that.

But in fact, that is who we are called to be. We were not called by Christ to be His boss; we are called to be His friend, and His servant. Our friendship with God is measured by our obedience, not in how well we tell God what to do. Because we are human, we continually get that wrong. We demand answers of the God who made Heaven and earth. We demand our way be the course of action be the one God takes, and we conveniently forget that we are the servants, He is the master and that will never change. Our lives are subject to His will, as Christians. Let’s take a look at Mark 9:33ff. Please stand.

They came to Capernaum. 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, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”

Let’s pray.

We have entered another section in Mark with today’s passage. The section will last for about a chapter, more or less. From Mark 9:30 to Mark 10:45 Jesus begins to teach about servanthood; what it looks like, why it should be done, and the section will conclude with Jesus as the suffering servant Isaiah described many centuries earlier. As we work through Mark I’ve learned so much about the gospel I overlooked so easily. The first gospel written, the quickest read, and yet has a depth that can be too easily missed, and I’m glad for this chance to take a long, slow look at Mark.

In our journey through Mark we are following Jesus as He journeys toward the cross. Jesus has just come down from the transfiguration and walked into a chaotic situation with a young boy who needed healing. Jesus, who had been speaking with Moses and Elijah, is reduced to answering more questions from the disciples. I imagine them whining in my mind, why couldn’t we do this? Why wasn’t our power enough…when the real question is why they hadn’t depended on God for the power. I’m glad Jesus didn’t get overly frustrated with the disciples because it gives me hope that He won’t get overly frustrated with this disciple. In any situation, the disciples start to argue about something so silly I imagine Jesus must had the imprint of His hand on His forehead after a while. You know, as He slaps His forehead in frustration as the disciples do something else dumb. So here we have the disciples not really getting the larger picture again. Listen,

They came to Capernaum. 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, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

One of the solutions to our own self focus is to focus on other people. When we start to care for others, we begin to serve Jesus. The world focuses on itself; self preservation is the point of existence for most of the non-Christian world. The disciples demonstrate this in spades, and it means they still don’t understand. They had been arguing about, of all things, who is the greatest. They were such great people that Jesus chose them to be His disciples. How great they must have imagined themselves to be! And they seemed to all have this affliction. They were arguing about who was the best disciple, who was number one, who was the most humble, all that nonsense.

I have seen in some churches that people measure their importance by their proximity to the pastor. I think that’s what the disciples are doing. In chapter 10 in Mark the disciples prove they haven’t understood the message when James and John come to Jesus and ask that they be allowed to sit on the seats of power, Jesus right hand and His left hand, when He comes in His glory. You’d think they would have gotten it by then. But they hadn’t. The message Jesus gives them today bounced right off of them. How many times the message has bounced right off of me; I don’t need to repent, I’m not that bad, I spend plenty of time in prayer and I read my Bible more than most people. I don’t shine like some Christians, but I’m ok most of the time. I’m cool, and God’s cool with me. Please don’t let today’s lesson bounce off you. We are all in need to hear the message of servanthood.

The way we serve God is though serving others. This is not a polite request by Jesus. This is a way of life we are called to. This is the upside down world that we are called to in Christ; where the greatest serve the most, where the worst sinners are offered forgiveness and grace, where the power of the secular world holds no sway. The kingdom of Christ is where we are called to live our lives as a living sacrifice; that every moment is lived to God’s glory, and not our own. But Jesus says, all that stuff in the world is less than important. What is important is our place before God’s throne, our attitude of dependence on God’s grace rather than our good works, whatever they are. What is important is serving God, reflecting His goodness and grace in our lives as we live lives of purity, lives lifted up to Him as a joyous response to what He has done for us on the cross, what He did for us in the resurrection, and the hope of what He will do for us as we approach the grave ourselves.

Jesus uses a living example of this life of serving.

Children were not real people back then. Today we have so much stuff for kids, our lives seem to revolve around them. My mom says that when I was little she kissed the top of my head so much I went bald. I go to my sister’s house in California, and it looks like her kids own a toy shop or two. They have every conceivable toy and then a couple more. But in ancient Israel things were not like that. Children when they were able to help around the house, started doing those things that would help keep the family going. The girls would help with cooking or making clothes. Little girl’s would go get water for the family. Little boys, when they were able to walk and talk, would start to help herding goats or sheep. Jesus takes a little child, and says, this one is valuable. Not because of what he can do, but because of Who made him. This child is loved, this child is worthy of being welcomed. That’s how you serve God, that’s how you become great, you serve these little ones.

As you can plainly see, this would have puzzled the disciples. How is it possible that this worthless kid is the person we should be serving? If I want to be great I have to serve these? This doesn’t make sense. Why would God care about the “least of these”? Yet, it is Jesus Himself who comes to earth to serve the “least of these”, the most rebellious of His creation, the most lost, the most heading in the other direction. Jesus came for us, and the little children. He came to serve, and not to be served. We served a God who would have us serve, not because it makes Him feel better about Himself, but because it reflects who He is. We serve because it conforms our character into His, we serve these little ones, these helpless ones because they are loved by God. The more we remember that, and live into the truth of serving others is the way God calls us to serve Him, the closer we are to understanding the admonition to take up our cross and follow Him.

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

I want you to notice how many times the phrase “In my name” occurs here. “Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me…” Teacher, we saw a man driving out demons in your name…” …for no one who does a miracle in my name”; “any one who gives you a cup of water in my name…” and lastly “if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me…” When we do something, anything, in effect we are doing it in Jesus name. If we are Jesus’ disciples, then what we do should reflect whose we are. We do everything in Jesus name. If Jesus is our Lord and Savior, then we can’t step out of that position before His throne to curse someone, and then step back into a righteous position before Christ.

I was talking about this the other day with some pastors and I came up with the phrase that what so many people think about church is this: whatever happens on Sunday stays on Sunday. But that’s not reality. We cannot claim to be a follower of Jesus and do some of the things we are doing. It doesn’t make sense. Our deeds confirm what is in our hearts or make liars out of us. This isn’t to say we don’t occasionally mess up. We do. I do. All the time and if any of you think that I am somehow a specially blessed person who never does or says anything wrong, I am sorry to have mislead you. I am in need of God’s grace every day. I strive to reflect God’s love and grace in my life every day. Sometimes I’m decent at it, other times I struggle. But the thing that helps me most of all is to put all that stuff on a backburner and serve others. In some ways I’m lucky because my job lets me do that all the time. In other ways its harder, because there is never a break.

But I deeply sense that this is what we are called to. We are called to live out our commitment to our God who personifies service. The disciples were way off track. Their power, their proximity to Jesus led them to a place where they thought they could and should command people, where they could ignore the little children and argue about who the greatest of them was. Instead, the answer is to serve God. If we serve others in God’s name, even something an miniscule but life-giving as a cup of water, God sees that action as a gift offering to Him. God see that as service to Him, the way that reflects God’s nature to humanity. But woe be to someone who does the opposite. Woe be to someone who instead of serving others, teaches them to sin, teaches them to run away from God. That person will not do well on judgment day. The opposite of serving someone is causing them to sin, leading them away from God, serving not God but the devil.

In the gospel of John who describes Jesus getting down on His knees to wash the feet of the disciples, John uses some interesting words to indicate that he had finally understood what Jesus was about. John says Jesus showed the disciples the “full extent of His love”. The full extent of Jesus love wasn’t shown in healing people, even though they always needed it and it brought relief and new life. The full extent of Jesus love wasn’t shown in the transfiguration, or in the casting out of demons. The full extent of Jesus love is instead shown in His serving; both of the disciples and their dirty feet, and in His serving all who would call upon His name in the blood He shed on the cross. That is the full extent of Jesus love; to serve. To serve you, to serve me, to serve all who would humble themselves before the Servant and begin to serve too. When we serve others we are reflecting the full extent of Jesus love.

It often doesn’t seem like it, though. Often it seems an imposition on our time to get ready to teach a class, it seems an imposition to try to help someone who seems to never get better and is always in need of our help. It seems an imposition on our money to help people who have wasted their money and their talents. They are getting what they deserve for a life lived seeking pleasure, we think to ourselves. But for the grace of God, there go we. Is it too little a thing to serve God by serving others? Is that too little, too insignificant? I remember my first grade teachers, Mr and Mrs Lau. They loved us little people. They taught us little lessons, and they were a part of my life ever since. Their love on me and my family changed our family. They would have told you what they did was no big deal. They were just serving these little kids, but when I go back to Thousand Oaks, I always would see the Lau’s and they were always glad to see me. The little things they did changed my life. They set an example of faithful living, and example of willingness to serve. And I will always be grateful.

There are a number of little ones in our society now. It isn’t just kids, but families that are struggling. It is people who are struggling with loneliness. It is people who speak our language haltingly, and heavily accented. Is it too little to serve Christ by serving these people? Or can you step out in faith to serve the least of these to the full extent? Can you do that? Can you search for places to serve, can you ask God to show you how to serve better, use your talents better? The full extent of His love was the foot washing and the cross. Can we reflect a little piece of that?

Let’s pray.