Who is the greatest?

WHO IS THE GREATEST?

Mk. 9:30-37

How would most people picture a successful person?  I dare say they would think of a person who started with little or nothing, worked hard and became wealthy. That is the image that would immediately come to most minds, because for many people financial prosperity is the primary meaning of success.

We might expect that kind of thinking from the world, but in today's Gospel, Jesus shows us a different set of values.  No one wants to fail in life.  We would all like to make a success of it.  If we were investing in the stock market, most of us would consult a stock broker.  If we wanted to make singing our career, we would seek the help of a voice instructor.  If we were trying to grow roses, we would talk with a gardener who had successfully grown roses year after year.  Why don't we apply that same common sense to the art of living?  Most of us would agree that the expert on life is Jesus.  He knew how to live.  In a few short years, He built a life that has made a lasting impact upon the world.  How did He view being successful?

Our Gospel reading tells about a day when He talked to His disciples on this all-important subject.  Their goal in life was to gain prominence and prestige.  A debate had broken out among them as to which of them was the greatest.  Perhaps every one of them aspired to that position.  Jesus overheard their argument and told them how to settle it.  He said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all". That was His formula for being the greatest and being a success.

It was a startling statement, first, for what it does not say.  Notice that Jesus made no mention of money.  He just did not consider it relevant.  Being great had nothing to do with money, and yet the world makes it the primary factor.  That means that our society has completely missed the point.  We have elevated money to a place of importance far beyond anything it deserves.

The same can be said about prestige and prominence.  They have nothing whatever to do with Jesus' idea of greatness.  The boss who sits behind the mahogany desk, may be a financial wizard and looked up to by everyone in the firm.  Within his own empire he is great, but outside that circle he could be a miserable failure at living.  On the other hand, the man who sweeps the factory floors, after everyone else has gone home, may be of no account in that company, but in his home, he is great because he is loved and respected by every member of his family.  This is telling us that station and rank are immaterial. They are mere window dressing.  They have nothing to do with greatness as Jesus saw it.

According to Jesus, the only thing that counts is service.  'If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.'  That is probably the most revolutionary thing that Jesus ever said.  It seems to contradict common sense.  How can anyone believe that a mere servant is the greatest person in the world?  That is hard to believe, but we must accept it because Jesus said it.  And He is right!

Take a long look back and name for yourself the great people of history.  Whom would you put on that list?  I don't think we would put dictators who rule with an iron fist.  Nor would we name industrial tycoons, who became wealthy by robbing the masses, and then spent all that wealth on themselves.  All of us would make a list of those people who willingly served the human race, or some small part of it.  From the vantage point of history, we know that only those who served the world, whom we can call 'the servants' are the ones who deserve to be called great.

Or again, who have been the most important people in your life?  They were probably neither rich nor famous.  Even if they were both, those were not the things that mattered.  I cannot tell you their names, but I can tell you what they did.  They took care of you, when you could not take care of yourself.  They taught you to read and write.  They spent time with you when you were lonely.  They corrected you when you went astray.  They encouraged you in the right path.  The most important people in your life have been those who helped you.  In a word, they were your servants.

Lord Jesus, You are so right because the ones who serve are the ones who are the greatest.  You didn't just say this, You demonstrated it in Your life.  Your whole life was one of service and You died in order to save us all.  You truly were the servant of all.  You summed up Your own greatness in the words, 'The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.'  If we want to be great, we must model our life on You.  Are we prepared to serve others like You did?

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