“Being a Grate or Being Great”  Joshua 1:1-9; Mark 9:33-37; Mt 18:1-4 5-2-2010

                At least three times Jesus told his disciples he was going to die.   And at least three times the disciples responded to this by asking themselves who would be the greatest.  My father used to tell someone when they were bragging too much about themselves and their capabilities- you are great- G-R-A-T-E (and he would then refer the person to the expression “You’re grating on my nerves.”).  Jesus was never so harsh.  He mildly told them it wasn’t the time or place to talk about such things, and that his definition of greatness is different from theirs. 
                Why did the disciples talk about their greatness in response to Jesus’ talking about his death?  Maybe the disciples were looking for a succession plan.   You know, if the president was going to head out of town,  the question is “who is vice president.”   But here, it appeared to be a pure occupation with power.  John and James approached Jesus about sitting on his right or left.  Jesus basically asked them- “Why do you change the subject- can you undergo the suffering I’m going to undergo?   If I’m going to suffer, and you follow me, then you’ll suffer too.”  It is interesting how human beings want control, honor and power.  That is really what this whole passage is about. 
                Alexander Haig was a great statesman among two administrations, a leader of NATO forces, and secretary of state.  But he will be remembered forever as the guy who presumed too much when President Ronald Reagan was shot.  He held a press conference and basically said, "I'm in control" (until the vice president gets back) when in fact the speaker of the house and the president pro-tempore of the senate were ahead of him in the pecking order.  Haig was supposedly concerned that our enemies not think we were weak, but not following protocol added to confusion instead of taking away from it.  Jesus said, “I’m going to Jerusalem to die”- and those closest to him responded by arguing with each other about who was the greatest. To me, it is a sad commentary to our greed. 

I. OBTAINING HONOR WITH GOD- Means seeking His Honor above all else.
     The shorter catechism says we are created to glorify and enjoy God.   That is our purpose- as surely as the moon reflects the sun’s light, so our lives are to reflect God’s light, hope, and love. 
A. WE HONOR GOD BY RESPECTING HIM- If He tells us something- we ought to listen.  It is a sign of disrespect- it is dissing God- to not listen to Him.  If He tells us to do something- If He has spoken- as millions of Christians have testified and experienced for hundreds- thousands of years- then we should be more concerned about listening than making up excuses of why we shouldn’t listen.  We do not stop our busy lives to listen to God.  We do not read the Bible as much as previous generations, and one real ingredient missing in the western Christian church is prayer.  I believe that is one of the key reasons our churches are failing.  In 1989 I took a trip to South Korea sent by my presbytery to find out the secret of the explosive growth of the Christian church there.  When I asked them they astonished me – not by talking about small groups, or evangelism, or their bold witness- but about prayer.  They have an hour prayer meeting every day before work, and as many come to that as come to their Sunday morning services- the standard hour for that is 5 A.M. before their day gets going.  And for those who cannot make the 5 A.M. service, the bigger churches have 4 A.M. services.  Then on Friday the Korean Presbyterian church has all night prayer meetings for the sick.  We do not stop to listen to God and talk to God in prayer.  In most of the  places I have visited where the church is growing- there is a tremendous amount of emphasis and time given to prayer.  Here we pray briefly like we check it off our to do list- if we pray at all.   A church  without prayer is a church that is dust.  A Christian without prayer is a Christian running on batteries with no way to recharge them.  This Thursday in National Day of Prayer- and we have the opportunity to host it right here for the Chapin Community.  I hope you will come. 

B. SEEK NOT GREAT THINGS FOR YOURSELVES-  William Carey said it another way- “expect great things for God, attempt great things for God.”  Too many are expecting great things for themselves, and want God to attempt great things for them.   It is not that God is our servant.  The world does not revolve around us- or our little world.  This includes that the world does not revolve around our children, or our grandchildren or our pets, or our jobs.  We do not worship God in order to make our world, our lives better alone.  We worship God because He is worthy of worship. 
The greatest saints are those who may not be honored by the world, recognized by the world, or even recognized by the church- but those who are quietly, consistently, faithfully loving and honoring God.
I can remember the story of Eric Liddle who told the Prince of Wales- heir to the throne in England, that he would not run on a Sunday and miss church.   This meant he would miss his number one event in the Olympics.  But he asked for a chance to run in a much longer race.  He was given that chance.  Right before the race an American handed him a piece of paper that quoted 1 Samuel 2:30- “He who honors me, I will honor.” 
     One of my heroes is a person who grew up in a small town in South Carolina, and helped make this nation and change the world.  There are people who say, “What can I do- I grew up in a small town in South Carolina?”  Here is an example.  Today there are seventeen counties named after him, a forest, a town, a city park and streets.  I am talking, of course about Francis Marion.  Marion was forced to leave Charleston because he had broken his ankle.  He did not want to go and was a little discouraged about it, but after he left Charleston was captured and all the soldiers forced to surrender.  Marion and a handful of men met Horatio Gates, the hero of Saratoga, who was marching to Camden with a new army to save the state.  Gates didn’t like Marion and assigned him a menial job destroying boats rather than have him join the regular army.  Gates was routed, and for months the only American fighters left in the state were Marion’s band of about 30 men.  He could have been discouraged, but Marion went on the offensive, winning four battles in two weeks.  He could have been discouraged about lack of food or lack of ammunition or men, but Marion persevered.  I think he inherited some of that perseverance from his French Calvinst (Hugenot) grandparents who moved to America to escape persecution.  Of course you know the rest of the story.  The movie “The Patriot” was based mostly on his character.  We too need to persevere in the face of the gigantic problems of life. Joshua’s words are for us, “Be strong and courageous.”  Joshua could have been easily discouraged- he was going up against walled cities with no experience.  He didn’t have the best weapons of his day- the Canaanites did. It was a bit like the Avatar movie- there was little hope w/o God’s help.  That really is all of us. Greatness, in the long run does not depend on what we have, or our abilities.  We seek to be great in God’s eyes- to please Him- and rely on Him.

III.  OBTAINING HONOR OF GOD LIKE A CHILD- Jesus set before us the greatness of a child.  He said if you want to honor Him you must become like one.

Have you ever seen the movie- “What Women Want” with Mel Gibson.  It could be titled “What Women Think.”  It is about a male chauvenist advertising executive who tries to think like a woman- he gets his wish when he is struck by lightning.  Jesus wants us to be able to think like a child.  It is not that children are all perfect.  But there are some things children are forced to do.

A. NOT AMBITIOUS OR WORRYING- We teach kids to focus to get ahead to survive.  There is a huge difference between Chapin High or DFHS baseball and a tball team.  Have you ever watched a t-ball team at the beginning of the season?  It is like watching the keystone cops.  I can remember the first t-ball game I ever watched- the ball was hit into the outfield and everyone runs to get it.  Someone fights the other team mates off- gets the ball- and there’s no one to throw it to.  That is a common t-ball occurrence.  You look out there and some kids are picking flowers, playing with aunts, looking at birds- they are not worried- they are not embarrassed, they are not out for the big leagues.  Jesus would have us worry less, and not be so worldly ambitious.
A.  LISTENING AND TRUSTING- Children know they cannot take care of themselves.  Babies cry because they know this too.  They know they must trust.

The greatness of the kingdom comes not from self-sufficiency and ability, but the ability to simply enjoy life- to trust, to fall back into the arms of Jesus and believe He will catch you every time.  Most of us don’t think He will.  It was one of my privileges to be with Herman Madden’s family some before he died.  His grandchildren were not worried about his future- they were concerned about his not feeling well now.  But they would love him, Pray for him, help him with their simple care- it was better than any medicine.
     Jesus turned the world upside down. It is a radical way to think- if you want to be great- be a servant; If you want to be big- be a child; If you want to be appreciated be anonymous.  Temporary greatness comes to many- but eternal greatness comes by being a true servant of God- whatever you do.