Best in the World!

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45 NRSV).

If it seems like we've heard this before, we have. Just a few short chapters before, Jesus tells his disciples, as they discussed who among them was the greatest, that the greatest is the one who serves. Here, we have the sons of Zebedee, James and John making a request of Jesus. They want to be the greatest and they want to sit at the right and left hands, respectively, of Jesus in his glory. It is an admirable request and we cannot really fault them for wanting to be the best disciples in the world. Their request though will cost them something.

Jesus tells him that while he cannot say who gets to sit at his right or his left, he asks them if they are able to drink from the cup he drinks and baptized how he is baptized. He asks them if they are willing to emulate him. The price of being the greatest is heavy and it requires a change in understanding of the term greatest. Being the greatest in the kingdom of God means that you are going to be the last, you will be the servant to all.

One of my weaknesses is that I think I'm the best in the world at everything I do. I would be lying if I told you that my goal was not to be the greatest pastor you have ever had. I'd be lying if I said that my desire when my tenure as your pastor comes to an end wasn't to have you look back and say, “Best in the world!.” I have this inner desire to be the best in the world and I will do anything to accomplish that. I have been like that since I was a kid in grade school. I wanted to be the best at football so I would go to football camps. I wanted to be the best miler in Longview, TX, I would devote myself to becoming the best. I am the best son, father, husband, friend, pastor, preacher, writer, or whatever else I choose to do. Don't believe me? Ask my mom. And if I want to be the best then you can bet that I'm going to put in the effort to be the best in the world.

My family is very competitive, especially on my father's side. My cousins are some of the most competitive people I know. They have to, like me, be the best at everything they do and they compete with one another to be the best. Whether it is who can stomach the hottest hot wings or who is the best golfer or best bowler or best at laser tag, they will compete with one another to find out.

The week of my cousin's wedding, we all gathered in Georgia and spent a week together before the wedding. It was the first time the entire family had been together since my wedding two years before. During the week, my cousins were in heavy competition with one another. My brother and I sort of jump in and out of it depending on what the competition is. One day we all went to an indoor arcade place with miniature golf, laser tag, and an assortment of video games. We all decided to play a game of laser tag and afterward we all compared our scores. Each cousin ended up besting the other and David and I walked over and asked who won. Before they looked at their score sheets we said, “Oh that's right, we did.” David and I ended up tied for 1^st place. How you ask? Well we went over to a corner and just shot each other for the entire 10 minutes. Best in the world!

The best in the world.

It's a sham, you know. It's not real. It's a false sense of bravado to believe we can be the absolute best in the world. It's a lie to believe that we can be the greatest in the world. Why? Because we judge greatness on which tax bracket we fall under. We judge greatness by who is able to afford the nicest things or give the most. We look at the wealthy man giving out of his wealth to the church budget and say, “That man is great. God has blessed him because he is able to give so much.” We look at the poor widow who gives out of her poverty and say, “Poor thing. God has not blessed her like the wealthy man. She must not try very hard. She must be lazy. She could get a good paying job and be just like him but she just doesn't try.” We buy into the lie that being great means having the most stuff or receiving the most recognition. And here's the kicker, the church is one of the biggest proponents of this lie.

We preach from our pulpits that our sole concern is your soul. We get you to come down that aisle and accept Jesus as your savior and get soaking wet through baptism and then we send you on your way saying, “Now, remember, if you are a good Christian and you are following God's commands, God will bless you. And you will know God's blessings because your mortgage will be paid off. You will get a pay raise at your job. Your barren wife will give birth to a child. You will drive the newest Lexus and own the newest iPhone. Everyone will know you are obeying God because you will be able to flash your Good Christian Award every time you go to Disney World.” We tell you that greatness is exactly what the world defines it as. We even manipulate Christ's definition of greatness and give awards to those who are the best servants in the world. We make it a contest and promote the best church member who serves the best. And the next year, everyone is serving because they want that good old church award. We encourage you, even though we do not want to admit it, to compete for the world's imaginary brass rings just for someone to say, “Great job. God must really love you.”

We want to sit at the right and left hands of Jesus. We all do. It's a part of our human nature and desire to be out in the front, to be recognized for being the best in the world. The problem is though we have it all wrong. We have it backwards. If we want to be the greatest then being in the front of the bus is not where we belong because the great sit in the back.

I am amazed at Jesus. I marvel at his responses to tough questions and how he handles conflict. When James and John make their request of him, he doesn't condemn them. He does not say, “You are out of place. You are being selfish. Do not ever ask such a thing again!” Instead he does something different altogether. He says, “Oh, you want to be the greatest. You want to be the best in the world. You want to be significant and you want to matter. Good. But I do not want you to be first in wealth or fame. Instead be the first to give up your life for a friend. Be the first to love the unloved. Be the first to go the extra mile and give your cloak to the cold and naked. Be the first to care and serve. If you want to be the greatest of them all then you must be the slave to them all. That's what it means to be great.”

My favorite episode of M*A*S*H is “Blood Brothers.” I like it for many reasons: 1) Patrick Swayze guest stars as a wounded soldier who learns that is in the early stages of Leukemia. 2) The episode deals with the honest struggle of Father Mulcahy with his desire to be recognized by the visiting Cardinal. The good Father is informed by Col. Potter that a very prestigious Cardinal is coming to visit the 4077^th. Father Mulcahy begins to stress out of the impending visit and while attempting to work on an inspirational sermon, one that will truly receive the recognition of this Cardinal, he is called away to talk with the patient who learned of his recent illness. After staying up all night talking with the young man, Father Mulcahy makes his way to the church service in his bathrobe and tells this story:

“I want to tell you about two men. Each facing his own crisis. The first man you know rather well. The second is a patient here. Well, the first man thought he was facing a crisis. But what he was really doing was trying to impress someone. He was looking for recognition, encouragement, a pat on the back. And whenever that recognition seemed threatened he reacted rather childishly. Blamed everyone for his problems but himself because he was thinking only of himself. But the second man was confronted with the greatest crisis mortal man can face, the loss of his life. I think you will agree that the second man had every right to be selfish. But instead he chose to think not of himself, but of a brother. A brother! When the first man saw the dignity and the selflessness of the second man, he realized how petty and selfish he had... I... I... I had been. It made me see something more clearly than I've ever seen it before. God didn't put us here for that pat on the back. He created us so he could be here himself. So he could exist in the lives of those he created, in his image.” (M*A*S*H Episode: Blood Brothers, 1981).

Last week I said the center of life for the church in America, for Christians in America is not Christ but stuff. We base each others' worth, value, and greatness on the amount of stuff we can afford or own. The more stuff we have, the more we own the more recognition we receive and the more recognition we receive the greater we feel. The issue is that the gospel message gets lost. Salvation becomes a means to an end and not a way of life. Servant-hood is a photo-op session to give the impression that we care about others when in truth we do not. We only care about ourselves and that is the message of our world and we have bought into it.

We have bought into a lie and soon we will realize that our earthly greatness barely measures the greatness of the meek, the pure in heart, the poor, the weak, the sick, the lame, and the lost in the kingdom of heaven. If you want to be great then drink from the cup which Christ drank. If you want to be great sell your stuff and give the money to the poor. If you want to be great roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, visiting the sick and home-bound. If you want to be great then be the least and that is one of our greatest struggles.

There once was a man born many years ago to a poor carpenter and his wife. He grew up and followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a carpenter himself. One day, when he was about 30, he left home to follow his calling. He preached wonderful messages and performed miraculous healings. He preached that the kingdom of heaven was like a small mustard seed. He preached that the blessed are the poor, the pure in heart, the righteous, the least, the lame, the meek, the peacekeepers. He preached that the kingdom of heave was a like a banquet filled with the lost, the sick, the lame, and the poor; the least of these in his society. He wore plain clothes and lived off the generosity of others. One day he was betrayed by a close friend and he was crucified by a the powerful and the great. He never resisted and on the third day, he should what true greatness was and he became the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. He is the one we are to set as our example and run this race as his did.

If there seems to be a bit of frustration in my voice, it's because I am frustrated. In a few weeks we will all go to the polls and do our American duty and vote for the next President and each one promises to make us great. Each one promises that if you vote for them they will work to make you just like them. They'll get you a job with a big salary and help you move up into their tax bracket. The problem is, I do not care to be like Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. I do not care to subscribe to their understanding of greatness. I do not want, when my time comes, God to say to me, “Wow. You sure did have a lot of stuff. Lots of awards, money and I see you drove a nice car. Oh and look you had your house paid off. Good for you. Looks like you left a lot behind.” Instead I want God to say, “Job will done my good and faithful servant. Now let's step back and welcome in the least of these.” I want to be great as the kingdom of God defines greatness, not as the empire of American capitalism defines it. I want the church to be the definition of greatness in the terms and deeds of the kingdom of heaven, not as the world defines it.

It is hard to give up what we have. It is hard to fully change and allow the grace of God to transform us and drink from the cup of Christ. But that is my greatest desire and I hope that it will your greatest desire too. I hope, we as the church, can change our way of life, our way of understanding greatness and live as people who belong to the kingdom of God.

In his sermon on this very gospel story and speaking about the idea of the Drum Major Instinct in which we all have the natural desire to lead and be out front and get the recognition. Dr. King said this, “If you get someone to deliver my eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. Tell them not to mention that I have Nobel Peace Prize-that isn't important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards-that's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I'd like somebody to mention on that day that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day that I in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was drum major, say that I was drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” (Martin Luther King, “Drum Major Instinct” 1968).

Yes. I want the church to be on the right and left side of Jesus but we won't get there by who we vote for or how much stuff we own or have. We won't get there by how many awards we've been given. We won't get there for Sunday school perfect attendance. Jesus is saying, “You want to be great? Then be the servant to all.” May we have the courage to do so.