Sunday's Message - Measuring Greatness

As disciples of Jesus, we've been called to follow him by claiming his example and learning from his teachings. From June to October, we're going to focus on the Gospel of Mark so that we might better understand how we might follow our Savior and live as his community. 

During the following twenty Sundays, the message will apply following passages:

June 6, 2021 - Mark 3:20-35

June 13, 2021 - Mark 4:26-34

June 20, 2021 - Mark 4:35-41

June 27, 2021 - Mark 5:21-43

July 4, 2021 - Mark 6:1-13

July 11, 2021 - Mark 6:14-29

July 18, 2021 - Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

July 25, 2021 - Mark 7:14-23

August 1, 2021 - Mark 7:24-37

August 8, 2021 - Mark 8:27-38

August 15, 2021 - Mark 9:30-37

August 22, 2021 - Mark 9:38-50

August 29, 2021 - Mark 10:2-16

September 5, 2021 - Mark 10:17-31

September 12, 2021 - Mark 10:35-45

September 19, 2021 - Mark 10:46-52

September 26, 2021 - Mark 12:28-34

October 3, 2021 - Mark 12:38-44

October 10, 2021 - Mark 13:1-8

October 17, 2021 - Mark 13:24-26, 32-36

On Sunday, August 15, 2021, we looked at Mark 9:30-37. The passage, the message and the podcast is below:

Mark 9:30-37 [Contemporary English Version]

Jesus left with his disciples and started through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know about it, because he was teaching the disciples that the Son of Man would be handed over to people who would kill him. But three days later he would rise to life. The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant, and they were afraid to ask.

Jesus and his disciples went to his home in Capernaum. After they were inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about along the way?” They had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest, and so they did not answer.

After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, “If you want the place of honor, you must become a slave and serve others!”

Then Jesus had a child stand near him. He put his arm around the child and said, “When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me.”

Measuring Greatness

Now I don’t know if y’all realized it, but tomorrow we’ll be passing the mid-point in the month of August. And y’all know what that means, right? Fall will be here before you know it. And although y’all may not know this about me, but right now we’re moving into my all time favorite season. I mean, how can you not like Fall? The leaves change color. And we move from high humidity to jacket weather. And we can look forward to that holiday hat trick which every kid looks forwards to, and I’m talking about Halloween and Thanksgiving, all leading up to the granddaddy of them all, Christmas. Now all of this is tied up with the Fall.

But, in my opinion, the very best thing of all is centered on one, single word: football. Now for me, that’s really what puts Fall over the top. And I’ll tell you, it doesn’t matter whether you’re focused on high school or college or the pros, it’s just something about watching a game in late September or early October; man, I can hardly wait. 

But if you’re talking about the NFL, well, pre-season has already started. And as I assume most of y’all know, right now, there’s only one team that’s undefeated after playing two games, and it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of course, it’s way too early to say that they’re a great team. My gosh, a lot of the guys who’ll start on September 12th haven’t even played. Good night nurse, I think it takes an entire season to be considered great, and for most fans, a team’s greatest is measured by the quality of it’s players and coaches but also by some cold, hard statistics, you know, like the number of yards gained by the offense and given up by the defense, by rushing attempts and pass completions and defensive efficiency. And of course, great teams should have a high winning percentage, maybe even going undefeated. When you’re talking about football, that’s really how we measure greatness, isn’t it? But of course, we do the same sort of thing in all sports. As a matter of fact, we tend to do it with most aspects of life, and I’m talking about both with individuals and with communities. 

And you know that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning, you know how we measure greatness. And I’ll tell you why. Although it may alright to use the standards we’ve been talking about in most situations, you know, like sports and business and school, it may not always be appropriate, especially when you’re dealing with churches and even individual Christians who are trying to do the best they can with what they’ve got. And so, with that in mind, in the next tens minutes or so, we’re going to discuss two things. First, we’re going talk about what happens when we accept the standards of greatness used by the world and apply them to the church and to ourselves. And then second, we’ll take the passage we just read from Mark and consider another way we might want to measure greatness around here, one that’s reflected in the words of Jesus and that just might help us become more satisfied and effective as his followers. Now that’s our game plan this morning. 

Of course, I don’t think you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why we tend to take the same standards we use when looking at records or balance sheets or report cards and apply them to our churches and to ourselves. You see, according to popular opinion, I think there are only two things that really matter, at least, when we’re discussing greatness, and I’m talking about status and statistics. Let me show you what I mean. Think about it; great people and great organizations are respected and admired, right? They have a reputation of being successful and stable and secure. They’re the winners, the ones who seem to be a cut above, the cream that rises to the top. Now that’s what I mean by status. But the truly great also have solid statistics, and now I’m talking about numbers. For example, their winning percentage and their profit margin and their test scores are way above the rest. And that’s why they’re great, right? Now I think that’s what we tend to believe.

And so naturally we apply those same standards of greatness to our churches and to ourselves as we’re living out the kind of lives Jesus called us to live. In other words, we assume that to be great Christian communities and individuals, we need high status and solid statistics. For example, on one hand, we should have our acts together, and we should be the kind of people that others admire and respect, maybe even idolize. On the other hand, we should also have good numbers. For churches, it’s about attendance and membership and giving. And for individuals, it could be the number prayers we offer or the number of verses we read or the number of times we work the name “Jesus” into conversations. And if the status is high and the statistics are solid, congregational and personal greatness, well, they’re distinct possibilities.

Of course, if this is what we assume and do, let’s get real, life may not always be frozen peaches and cream. In other words, we might run into few problems, all of which may become genuine distractions. You see, without saying that either having a high status or solid statistics are, by their nature, bad or that they show something really negative about our motives or approach, which might not be the case at all, applying these popular standards to how we live the Christian faith may distract us from what may be most important. You see, when we reduce everything in the faith to status and statistics, to being admired and attracting numbers, two things often happen. I mean, when things are really cooking and all the figures look really good, man, it’s easy to get a little arrogant and judgmental along with a little self-satisfied and complacent. My goodness, clearly we’re doing it right, that’s why we’re great. And we’ll stay great if we keep doing what we’ve always done, right? At least, that what we assume when things are great. But happens when they’re not? I mean, what happens, when things aren’t cooking, you know, when, in spite of fact that we’re working really hard, our reputation is stuck in neutral and the numbers just aren’t there? You tell me, what happens when, according to the standards of the world, the present looks much worst than the past? How are we going to feel about the future? Now I think that’s a real problem, one that can soak up a lot of time and drain our emotions. You see, whether we feel full of ourselves or like a deflated balloon, I think both are problems, because both can distract us from being what God has called us to be and to become. But sadly, that’s often what happens when we use status and statistics to measure congregational and personal greatness.

But thank heaven, it’s not our only choice, because right here and now, we have a second option, one that’s very different from the standards we’ve just been discussing. And I’ll tell you, I believe we can see this new way to measure greatness right here in the passage we read a little while ago. I mean, just think about what happened. After Jesus predicted for a second time that the son of man was going to face some really hard times in Jerusalem, according to Mark, this was going on: Jesus and his disciples went to his home in Capernaum. After they were inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about along the way?” [Mark 9:33, CEV] Of course, Mark was clear about the nature of the argument, wasn’t he? “They had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest, and so they did not answer.” [Mark 9:34, CEV] You see, their kerfuffle was all about greatness. And I’ll tell you, when Jesus responded, I think he gave his disciples two very clear and applicable standards that they could use to settle their argument. Remember, “after Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, ‘If you want the place of honor, you must become a slave and serve others!’ Then Jesus had a child stand near him. He put his arm around the child and said, ‘When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me.’” [Mark 9:35-37, CEV] Now that’s what Jesus said. In other words, as it related to his disciples, I think Jesus believed true greatness wasn’t about status and statistics. Instead, it should be measured by humility, the willingness to be a slave, and by compassion, the willingness to reach out to others, especially to those who lacked the power to do anything in return. Now that’s what I believe Jesus taught them.

And I’ll tell you, I think that’s exactly what he’s teaching us. You see, as we try to be the kind of people and to live the kind of lives Jesus wants us to be and to live, it’s really not about us being respected and admired. And it’s really not about us piling up big numbers and amounts. As a matter of fact, when it comes to being a disciple of the Son of Man, it’s really not about us at all. You see, it’s about him. And it’s about recognizing that we’re slaves of the one who taught, “The most important [commandment] says: ‘People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.” [Mark 12:29-31, CEV] Man, we’re slaves of Christ, whether we want to be or not. But more than that, we’re also servants of the very people Jesus came to serve, and I’m talking about those who were deaf and lame, those who were demon possessed and the spiritual unclean, in other words, those who carry heavy burdens and desperately need some rest. You see, unlike almost everywhere else, right here, greatness is measured by humility as we look in and compassion as we reach out.

And I’ll tell you, if this is something we choose to accept, because remember, whether or not we accept it is really up to us, if this is something we’re willing to accept, well, I don’t think we’ll have much time to feel arrogant and complacent, much less discouraged and deflated. You see, we’ll be too busy honestly looking within ourselves, claiming our talents and strengthening our weaknesses. And we’ll be listening for needs that we might be able to address, motivated not by what we hope to receive but rather by what we’ve been called to give. And then we’ll be rolling up our sleeves, ready to accept what our master wants and to do what those whom we serve need. I’m telling you, if we leave status and statistics to sports and businesses and schools and focus on humility and compassion, not only will our actions change; so will our attitude.

Now do you remember how we started all this by talking about the coming of both Fall and football? Well, even though they’re the only team that’s 2 and 0, there’s a lot of football to be played before we can say that this Steeler team is great, you know, that their play has elevated them to a higher level and that their numbers justify that great label. But as leave this place today and consider what it means to be a great Christian or a great church, let’s change things up a little bit. I mean, instead of using status and statistics, let’s decide to focus on humility and compassion. In others world, as we reenter our world, let’s listen to these words of Jesus and claim the standards he offered to measure greatness.