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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is “The Greatest”? The boxer born “Cassius Clay”, who later changed his name to “Muhammad Ali”, is nicknamed “The Greatest”, and, when it comes to boxing, most experts agree, ranking him first across all eras, or at least second, behind either Sugar Ray Robinson or Joe Louis (Wikipedia). Such rankings are common for athletes, perhaps all the more in today’s era of fantasy sports teams, where participants assemble their own imaginary teams of the greatest current players, and compete in their imaginary leagues, based on their players’ real‑game statistics (Wikipedia). But, such rankings should not be common for disciples, as we heard in today’s Gospel Reading. “The Greatest” is our theme this morning as we reflect on that Reading.
Characteristic of St. Mark’s Divinely-inspired account, and with unique details perhaps based on St. Peter’s recollection (Taylor, 403), today’s Gospel Reading picks up right where last week’s Gospel Reading left off. Right after having been transfigured before three of His disciples and then rebuking an unclean spirit that the other nine could not cast out (Mark 9:14-29), Jesus went on from Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27) and passed through Galilee, repeatedly teaching His disciples about His delivery into the hands of men, His death, and His resurrection. As with Jesus’s other Passion predictions in St. Mark’s account, His disciples then showed their concern for glory, and Jesus then called for self-denial and service (Mark 8:31-38; 10:32-45; Moldenhauer, 21). In this case, Jesus even illustrated His points by embracing a little child and showing that the greatest disciples serve people such as children, who can only trust and receive.
The Gospel Reading tells us that Jesus did not want anyone to know that He was passing through Galilee, because He was teaching His disciples about His delivery into the hands of men, His death, and His resurrection, but Jesus ends up with His disciples not knowing what He was saying. So little did they understand about Jesus’s greatness through service to the point of death that, on the way to Capernaum for the last time (Lenski, 389), they were at length discussing—more than that, disputing, perhaps with an evil overtone—which of them had the greater prominence and worth, maybe even working out a ranking from top to bottom (Moldenhauer, 21). They might have been trying to find their wisdom through argument, but Jesus, knowing what had happened on the way, once in the house with His words shamed them into silence.
As we heard in today’s Epistle Reading from St. James (3:13-4:10), such selfish ambition and jealousy are not the wisdom that comes down from above but are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic, leading to disorder and every vile practice. Such is the nature of our sinful hearts and all our sins, for which we deserve death and destruction! Like the disciples, you and I might pridefully debate, even if only with ourselves, how we are, if not the greatest, then at least better than others (Moldenhauer, 22). Maybe we think we are better because we think we are more attractive, smarter, or harder working than others. Maybe we think we are better because we have been a member of the Church longer, attend Bible Study and Divine Service more regularly, give more to the congregation, or serve more. Maybe we think we are better than others because we think we are more obedient, sin less, or have stronger faith. Whatever our source of sinful pride, St. James tells us that God opposes the proud (citing Proverbs 3:34) but gives grace to the humble (cited from Isaiah 54:7, 8). Therefore, we submit ourselves to God and draw near to Him, and He draws near to us. We cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. We mourn and weep. We humble ourselves before the Lord, repenting of our sin, and He exalts us, forgiving our sin, for Jesus’s sake.
In today’s Gospel Reading Jesus refers to Himself as “the Son of Man” and says that He is being delivered into the hands of men, that they will kill Him, and that, when He is killed, after three days He will rise. “The Son of Man” is often thought of as a term of glory, for so it seems to appear in the book of Daniel (7:9-14), but at least one commentator also there sees the Son of Man’s suffering, suffering on account of His own obedience to God (Mann, 373), what might be called His own righteousness. For your and my righteousness, God delivered the Son of Man into the hands of men (Colpe, TDNT 8:444), namely the Jewish elders, chief priests, and scribes (Mark 8:31; 10:33). On the night Jesus was betrayed, their crowd, armed with swords and clubs, laid hands on Him and seized Him (Mark 14:43-46; Moldenhauer, 21). On the cross, they violently killed Jesus, and, when He was killed, after three days He rose, by His own power and might. In a way greater than Jeremiah in today’s Old Testament Reading (11:18-20), Jesus was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter, Who also committed His cause to the Lord of hosts, Who judges righteously. With Jesus’s resurrection from the dead, God the Father showed that He found Jesus’s cause just and vindicated Him (Scaer, CLD VI:92). On the cross, Jesus, the Son of Man, was last of all and servant of all (confer Luther, AE 58:436), including you and me, for He gave His life as a ransom for us (Mark 10:45). God opens our minds to understand these things from the Holy Scriptures (Luke 24:45; Scaer, CLD VI:67-68), and so we repent and believe and by grace through faith, receive forgiveness of our sinful pride and of all our sins, whatever our sins might be.
Yesterday was “SAFFE Day” in the City of Kilgore—a slightly “misspelled” acronym for “Special Abilities Family Fun Event”. At the fire chief’s personal request, I opened the day with prayer, echoing the chief’s emphasis for the day of greater acceptance of those who are differently-abled, especially children. Receiving children features prominently in today’s Gospel Reading and its seemingly “parallel” accounts (Matthew 18:1-6; Luke 9:46-48). In Holy Baptism, children of all ages, from newborn on up, are received in Jesus’s Name, shorthand for the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. At the Baptismal Font, Jesus takes people of all ages into His arms like little children, as He has taken most if not all of us, and we share in the glory of His cross and resurrection, namely the forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and the devil, and eternal salvation. All so baptized are members of the community of believers that is the Church (Scaer, CLD XI:139-140). There, at the Baptismal Font, He serves us, whom He there enables to trust and receive. We not only by faith receive Jesus—and so also the Father—and their gifts in Holy Baptism, but we also receive them as we receive the pastors that they send (Luke 10:16; John 13:20). To those pastors, we privately confess the sins that trouble us most, for the sake of receiving individual Holy Absolution, in the same Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, and He has also given that authority to other men (Mark 2:10; Moldenhauer, 22; Matthew 9:8). In the Sacrament of the Altar, those same pastors set apart bread and wine that are used to give us Jesus’s real, physical body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, and so also for life and salvation. Jesus’s Body and Blood strengthen us in faith towards Him and in love and service to Him and so also to one another (confer Beyer, TDNT 2:88).
God provided that today’s Gospel Reading coincide with our calling for nominations to the congregation’s various Boards and Committees. (The congregation’s various Offices, such as president and treasurer, were unintentionally omitted from that call from nominations!) As God, through His Word and Sacraments, forgives us our sins, we bring forth the fruits of faith, which include making ourselves last of all and servant of all. We not only have our name on the Offices, Boards, and Committees, but we actually fulfill the responsibilities of the positions, including meeting regularly. The way to the glorious Kingdom of God is through suffering and death, and the suffering includes sacrificial service (Beyer, TDNT 2:85-86). We may need to rest from such service for a time, perhaps to attend to other matters or to let others serve, but we do not stay “on the sidelines” forever. Even “on the sidelines”, we still attend Bible Study and Divine Service and support the work of God’s Kingdom with our offerings of His blessings to us, though we do not let any of those things become the basis for sinful pride. And, if those things do become the basis for sinful pride, then we include that sinful pride with the other things of which we daily repent and for which we receive forgiveness.
Our society may be nearly obsessed with rankings of the greatest, such as boxers and other athletes. Tonight’s 67th Primetime Emmy Awards give us some of the television industry’s greatest, as the Oscars give us the film industry’s greatest, the Tonys give us Broadway’s greatest, and the Grammys give us the music industry’s greatest. But, we in the Church have a different God-given understanding: Jesus’s way of becoming “The Greatest” took Him to the cross to be the last of all and servant of all. By His death and resurrection, our sins are forgiven, and we are led to similar service. As we prayed in the Collect, God will grant us humility and childlike faith, that we may please Him in both will and deed, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +