Sermons for the Month
Listen! It's a Mission!
DATE: September 24th, 2006
SERVICE: 16th Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Mark 9:30-37“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
In today's Gospel lesson Jesus gave the first children's sermon. Actually, though, it was not for children, it was about children. I decided if it's good enough for our Lord, then it's OK for me as well. So, I'd like to invite ___________ to stand with me and I'll give Jesus' sermon. "Whoever welcomes one such child (like ____________) in Jesus' name welcomes Jesus, and whoever welcomes Jesus welcomes not only Jesus but the one who sent Jesus." Are you in shock? Of course that's not the case. In our culture we have not problem welcoming ______________, especially since he/she is wearing this ____________ that looks so nice and is polite, respectful and knows how to take turns. And, even if ______________ was still learning these behaviors, we would welcome him/her because children are important to us. Now that's a relief, isn't it, to finally hear something from Jesus that is not all that difficult to do? Wait a minute…it just may be that there is more of a message here than is immediately apparent. You may recall that last week the theme word was WALK and the phrase of the day was, "Jesus is your boss, so walk the way of the cross." We talked about the fact that Peter, who had been walking behind Jesus since he had been called to follow, stepped out of line when he rebuked Jesus for talking about his impending suffering and death. Peter was chastised to return to following and to focus on God's will rather than his own. Jesus is your boss, Peter, so walk the way of the cross. Well, the other disciples learned something from that incident although I'm not sure it was what Jesus wanted them to learn. They continued to follow Jesus, but while they heard his voice, they did not really listen to what he had to say, especially concerning his own betrayal and death. And, given what happened to Peter, they decided to keep their questions to themselves, and discussed their vision for the future in whispers. They believed that Jesus, the Messiah, was going to overthrow the Romans and usher in the Golden Age for the Jews in their restored homeland. Of course, Jesus cannot manage such an enterprise on his own, he'll need vice-presidents. So, who among them will be in the top positions? Who would be working for whom? Who would be the greatest in this great and glorious kingdom? It must have been quite a shock when Jesus confronted them and made this amazing statement, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." What??? Can you imagine the blank looks they must have given him? So, Jesus provides an illustration to make the point. Do you want to know who is great? Let me show you. It's the one who welcomes a child. What? There must have been more blank looks. That's because taking a child into his arms was a disturbing thing for Jesus to do. After all, children had no value, they ranked somewhere between a woman and a slave on the social scale. For a rabbi to even notice a child was remarkable. But add to that the fact that Jesus was saying that the person who welcomes the child gets credit for welcoming Jesus, and the person who welcomes Jesus gets credit for welcoming God. Jesus is telling his followers that they must treat a child - who is a representative of anyone who is in need, helpless or of lowly status - as they would treat the Creator of the Universe. To serve the lowly in this way constitutes greatness. In other words, "LISTEN, it's a mission!" Our theme word for today is LISTEN, and the message is that Jesus calls us to be a part of his mission, which challenges us to live in a way that is counter to what we expect. Jesus was telling his disciples, "Guess what, it's not about you." That's difficult for us to hear because, as was true of those first followers, we want to make the mission about us. Let me talk about this on a really basic level, with which we all will identify, but may make us uncomfortable. Often when we support the mission we place the focus on ourselves. It's tempting, as we fill out the Estimate of Giving card next week, to give $75 a week because of what we get in return. Perhaps it's a worship service that is comfortable, or the knowledge that the pastor will visit in times of illness, or a setting for baptisms, weddings and funerals, or a place that provides Christian education for our children. Now, all of those things are important, but if we see them as "products" for which we have "paid", then we are in danger of doing what Peter and the disciples did, which is focusing on self rather than on serving. To be "servant of all" means that we give that $75 a week for two reasons: First, it's a reflection of our gratitude for the gifts of God in our lives, and of our desire to grow spiritually as we commit all that we are and have to God. As today's insert indicated, growth in giving goes hand in hand with growth in faith. Jesus said it, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." How we use our money is an indication of what's important to us. And, second, we give that $75 a week for the sake of ministry, to extend the ministry of Jesus Christ through this setting, even if the specific ways that is happening has nothing to do with me personally. Listen, it's a mission! If we are to "succeed", we must serve. If we are to be great, we must give. When we welcome those who are in need, it's the same as receiving God into our midst. It's a bit overwhelming, isn't it? Then again, for those who wish to succeed and to be great in God's eyes, it's a clear message. Listen, do not just hear the voice of Jesus, but listen. It's a mission, and we are privileged to be a part of it.
AMEN