Be Great, Beloved

A church is great not simply because of what it has done, but chiefly because God loves it and God loves us. (Photo credit: Ann Stewart)

This sermon was preached on the 18^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20B) at St. John’s Church. The readings for this Sunday were the following: 

Proverbs 31:10-31

Psalm 1

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Mark 9:30-37

What a night we had on Wednesday! It was great! Wasn’t it? Our new Parish Hall was adorned in splendor—elegant table clothes, splendid flower arrangements, beautiful place settings! Our newly expanded space was nearly filled to capacity. We shared in a fantastic meal and watched a slideshow of the construction’s progress. Then, our church’s leaders including our bishop commended us on a job well done! Finally, we walked around as Bishop Kee spritzed our spaces with holy water using a sprig of asparagus fern to douse and bless the renovations and us too. Wednesday’s celebration was great! But, that’s not all that was/is great.

We too are great! Actually that doesn’t take it far enough. St. John’s is so great it might just be the greatest church in this diocese. Yeah, that’s not far enough either. This may be the best church in the entire Episcopal Church. Hold on that isn’t taking it far enough! Even among other denominations I would argue we are the paramount... the greatest church! Yes, I will gladly argue with others that we are the best!

Jesus said, “What’re you arguing about on the way?” Uh oh. I feel a little embarrassed, Jesus. I feel a sheepish silence coming over me. Yep, I just fell into the same trap that ensnared the disciples. Do not get me wrong, the faithfulness, the discipleship, and the generosity of this church is overwhelming, inspiring, and to be commended; however, arguing over who is the greatest—even when it’s regarding a church, especially when it’s regarding a church—arguing over who is the greatest does not lead us any closer to God. But why is that?

Christ Jesus never said, “Seek greatness!” He implored us to love God and to love our neighbors. He urged us to take up our cross and follow him. And, today he lets us know that if we want to be first we must be last and if we want to be great we must serve. But, he never said, “Be great by trying to prove it to others!” So why is it that we do this? Why do we keep reverting back to this argumentative behavior? How come we are striving for greatness instead of striving to follow Jesus? The answer lies in a powerful disconnect that we struggle with as individuals and as an entire species.

Somewhere along the way we have mixed up being great with being loved. Somewhere lodged deep within the entire human population lies a profound brokenness. This wrecked nature leads us to having a blurred vision of who God is and what our relationship with the Divine looks like. This misconception exists right alongside a desire to return to our original state of blessedness. We yearn to remember that we are made in God’s image. And, Christ Jesus came so that we would know the way back into that state; however, we continue to mix up God’s message to us. We continually seek to be great instead of to be loved. 

As individuals, this striving towards greatness comes in many shapes. It will not necessarily look like proving that we are better than others. Rather, each of us in our own way seeks to earn God’s love. All of us struggle to prove that we are worthy of God’s affection. This is not unlike our trying to please a reluctant parent or a reclusive spouse. We may strive for God’s love by trying to be right, to be kind, or to be victorious. We might seek God’s love by being unique, being smart, or being part of a group. We may attempt to achieve God’s love through being the funniest, the strongest, or the most enlightened. Still all of these attempts are for naught. This is not because these strivings are without value, but rather because the thing for which we strive—God’s love—cannot ever be earned. There’s no way to achieve it and no way to lose it.

So that’s it, right? We just sit back and let God’s love roll over us. Well, yes! So why do we continue to revert back into the same brokenness? How is it that we keep falling back into proving our greatness, our worthiness, and our deservedness? What’s our solution?

When the disciples were arguing over their own greatness along the way Jesus called them out. We do not hear the exact words Peter used to say how much more wonderful he was than John, nor do we hear John claim his superiority over his brother James in such plain terms, but make no mistake the disciples were just like us. One might have subtly made innuendos to how much better his kids were. Another could have used the fullness of his calendar to prove his greatness. And, still another may have stated that Jesus like him the best because he was the funniest. As the disciples fought over who was the greatest Jesus laid out a different path.

In a moment of stress and transition the disciples argued over greatness. When Jesus told of his betrayal, death, and resurrection the bickering arose. Jesus though gave another way. Jesus’ alternative path may simply look like servant leadership. However, if we are not careful out-serving one another can lead to just another way for us to prove how great we are. Jesus was not trying to provide another way of competing. Rather, he was laying out a completely different way of living—simply, living by following him.

When we live this way we live in the assurance that God loves us unconditionally, limitlessly, and eternally. So, what changes? If our starting point is not in deficiency, but in total fulfillment through Christ how is our life different? Jesus’ way of servanthood was not so much a leadership tactic as it was a way of completely changing the world. If each and every one of us is living as a servant, then we are not worrying about who is better than the other. If you and I are not trying to prove our greatness, but rather seek to honor and attend to one another’s needs doesn’t that change things? But what does this look like? Jesus pointed to caring for a child as the answer.

Have you ever held a newborn in your arms? When you cared for that baby did you ever think, “This brat is trying to get one over on me!”? Of course not! This is why Jesus pulled that child into their midst. We project all sorts of evil intentions upon one another, which prevents us from really helping each another. Instead of assuming that someone has ulterior motives what if you went above and beyond to care for her needs knowing full well that what matters is that God already loves you both more fully than you’ll ever know? What if you look at all people—even those ones whom you have always tried to best—what if you looked at everyone like you looked at a little child? This is the way of love that Jesus gives us to walk.

This church is great not simply because of what it has done, but chiefly because God loves it and God loves us. God loves you! As you grow in grace may you realize that nothing you do earns you any more love from God. You are already so, so loved. Christ came to show you and us this way. When we realize that we are already loved completely we no longer have to worry about proving our greatness. Instead we realize that we are only great by being loved and sharing that love. So be great, beloved.