Humility

Mark 9:30-37
Length: 20:23

This is a message given on September 20, 2009 at the Bowdertown United Methodist Church.

At the beginning of Mark chapter 9 we read about the transfiguration of Christ. We studied this a few months ago on transfiguration Sunday, so we can skip over it this morning. When Peter, James, John, and Jesus return from that mountaintop experience, they see a large crowd arguing with the other 9 disciples.

Jesus asks what the argument is about. A man speaks up and says, “Teacher I brought my son to your disciples to be healed from his demon possession, but they could not do it.” The father admitted his lack of faith and asked Jesus to increase his faith. Jesus did and commanded the demon to leave the boy alone and it does. The boy is healed.

The crowd starts to grow large, again, not because they want to follow Jesus to eternal life, but because they wanted their physical needs met. Jesus was still following His heavenly timetable. He knew he needed to continue privately preparing the disciples for what was about to come.

So He took the disciples and starting heading through Galilee to Capernaum. The cross is now only a few months away. On the way to Capernaum, Jesus again gives a clear prediction of His death and resurrection.

Even though Jesus clearly stated this prediction, the disciples still did not fully understand and they were afraid to ask Him for further clarification. It wasn’t all their fault though. The parallel account in the Gospel of Luke says that the full meaning was hidden from them. So there is some divine concealment here.

As they continue their journey some discussions arise among the 12 disciples. The discussion or more likely a debate was about which one of them would be the greatest in heaven. Can you believe that?

Here are the future leaders of the Christian church talking themselves up, all while Christ is talking about His impending death. In fact, this was the first of three times that the disciples have this discussion, this debate, this argument if you will about being the greatest.

Quite possibly this discussion broke out because of the privilege that Peter, James, and John had in witnessing the transfiguration of Christ. This discussion also shows the difficulty with which even the disciples had in understanding and practicing the teachings of Christ.

Jesus, knowing their thoughts, asks them what they were discussing. The disciples were of course a little embarrassed to admit their topic of conversation, so they remain silent. Finally, according to the parallel account in the Gospel of Matthew, one of the disciples asks Jesus the question: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

This question would become more important to them. As I mentioned this is the first time of three that they discuss this question. This was also a common discussion among the religious teachers of the day.

The attitude behind this question is the same attitude that many people still experience today: egoism. It is natural to most people. Most people want to be first in line, they want to have the best seats in the theater, they want the biggest piece of pie.

Egoism is nothing new or unique to us, nor to the people of Jesus’ day. Think back to the beginning, the very beginning with Eve. Why did she eat the fruit? She was deceived into believing she could be like God. She though she would be in charge and she could determine her destiny.

Egoism causes arrogance, selfishness, war, greed, jealousy, and many other evils. Our culture today pretty much accepts it as normal human behavior. It is very widespread and ingrained throughout our lives.

But here, almost 2000 years ago, we see the 12 disciples arguing about which will be the greatest. Who is the best, who is first? Who will get to sit on Jesus’ right and left hand side? No doubt, each disciple could make his case for being the greatest, although each had their weaknesses and failures as well.

So Jesus introduces them to something called humility. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” It is through humility that Jesus sees our value, our worth. No doubt, all people are precious to Jesus, but the greatest among us will be the servant of all. As we humble ourselves before God, he will exalt us.

The idea of humility is very easy for us to understand, but it is extremely difficult to put into practice consistently. Most of us have no problem believing that Jesus loves us. The problem we have is believing that Jesus loves our neighbor as well.

To help further clarify His point, Jesus embraces a child and probably sits the child on His lap. Jesus tells the disciples they need to be like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is warning the 12 and us as well, unless you change your attitude, you will not make it into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Notice, Jesus doesn’t say childish, but rather He says childlike. Children are totally dependant upon their parents to provide for them. That is the way we need to be with God. Sure God expects us to do stuff for ourselves. But He is the one who ultimately provides and cares for us.

Children are trusting by nature. They trust adults, and through that trust their capacity to trust God grows. God holds parents and other adults who influence young children accountable for how they affect these children’s lives.

How about you? Are you humble? God humbled the disciples many times and He gave Paul a thorn in his side to keep him humble.

Do you serve God or do the things you do, so you can be lifted up and praised and honored? Or do you do the things you do for God. To lift Him up, to honor Him, to give Him the glory.

Do you love your neighbor? Jesus does. What about children? Do you influence children in godly ways?

These are some things to think about as you go about your business this week.

Closing Prayer

Lord, help us to be humble people. Help us to serve others out of love and compassion. Help us to lift you up and give you the glory. Strengthen us so that we may do your will. Watch over our children and enable us to teach them and raise them according to your standards. AMEN