Greatness

[Note: this is the written version, when I preach it usually changes]

Once again, Jesus tells the disciples he will be handed over and killed; and once again the disciples don’t understand what Jesus is talking about.

Do any of you remember not understanding something, but being too afraid to ask? It happened at times when I was at University. There was lots in Physics I struggled with, I didn’t understand enough to even ask a question, and I didn’t want to look stupid, so I sat there hoping I could avoid the embarrassment, and hoping I didn’t get asked a question.

Sometimes when we don’t understand something, it is because we need more time, or more explanation,

But there is another kind if not understanding. I think that is what is happening here with the disciples. They had reckoned that Jesus was the Messiah, the one who would save the people of Israel, and to the people that meant overthrowing the Romans. Jesus being arrested and killed was not part of being a new leader in place of the Romans.

So what could Jesus possibly mean by all this talk of being arrested and killed, and not just arrested, but betrayed. That meant someone close to him was going to be part of his death.

It didn’t make sense.

It didn’t fit with the picture the disciples had of the place of the Messiah.

Instead of asking questions, they didn’t say anything.

Then on the road they talk about who is going to be the greatest in the new kingdom – the one where Jesus is boss – see, it isn’t just that the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus had said, they already had an image of how the future will be, and they couldn’t imagine anything different. When they arrive at Capernaum, and are in the house – code for take notice, here comes a Jesus teaching moment - Jesus asks them what they have been discussing as they walked along. From the disciples we hear … silence!

 

I do feel sorry for the disciples, they give up everything to travel with Jesus, to learn and follow, and yet so much of what Jesus is talking about they don’t understand, but they continue on the journey with Jesus, and they look like fools at times.  There is plenty about life and faith that I don’t understand, and times when I put my foot in it and say something stupid; but at least no one is writing it all down for people to read in 2,000 years’ time.

 

We will look at the rest of the Mark reading shortly, but from this section, I wonder what you notice?

What happens when we have a pre-set idea about a person, or the future?

What happens when we allow fear to control our thinking?

In Mark’s gospel, fear is the opposite of faith.

 

And what happens when we think we deserve to be more important than anyone else?

Who is the greatest?

Well here are some examples from how this question plays out in real life.

• The change in leadership of the Liberal Party this week – the members of the party room had to decide who would make a better leader; which brings to my mind the question of what makes a good leader?
• On TV there are lots of examples of where people need to compete against each other – the Bachelor; My Kitchen Rules, X factor…..
• And then there is the world situation – people fighting over religion, doctrine, culture; people who want to rule, to have their own way and make everyone else live with their choice.  This has been going on for centuries. Remember, many of the victims of ISIS are other Muslims who have a different understanding of that faith. Wars are fought over land, but also ideas.
• We also see this when new compete with another congregation or denomination, or faith group.
• And we see it in the sporting arena.
• Closer to home, what happens when we think we deserve cheaper food or clothing, when that means the farmer or person making the clothes doesn’t earn enough to live on?
• What happens when we think we deserve more space, more water, quicker service; who lives without or gets left behind?

 

Sometimes we struggle to comprehend what is happening in our lives, because our view of reality is set, and conflicts with what is happening in our lives.

Well, Jesus goes on to tell the disciples about greatness. Not the greatness the disciples had been thinking about. Not the typical greatness of wealth, power and status.

“Jesus overturns the prevailing assumptions about power and security by inviting the disciples to imagine that abundant life comes not through gathering power but through displaying vulnerability, not through accomplishments but through service, and not by collecting powerful friends but by welcoming children.

These are small things when you think about it. Serving others, opening yourself to another’s need, being honest about your own needs and fears, showing kindness to a child, welcoming a stranger. But they are available to each and all of us every single day. And each time we make even the smallest of these gestures in faith – that is, find the strength and courage to reach out to another in compassion even when we are afraid – we will find our fear lessened, replaced by an increasingly resolute confidence that fear and death do not have the last word.” [David Lose]