Scripture: Mark 9:30-37
In Round 1 of this year’s World Cup, Spain and Portugal played to a 3-3 draw. The game was one of the most entertaining of the whole tournament. One highlight was Portugal’s superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring all three of his team’s goals.
His third goal was the most impressive, tying the game in the final few minutes by just clearing the wall of Spanish defenders before tucking under the crossbar out of reach of the Spanish keeper. But it was the celebration after his first goal that stirred the most controversy. After scoring on a penalty kick, Ronaldo ran to a corner of the field and stroked an imaginary goatee under his chin.
Many saw it as Ronaldo claiming that he is the goat.
Now, if you do not follow sports, that may seem very strange. But in the sports world, the acronym GOAT means the Greatest Of All Time. The chin-stroking celebration was seen as Ronaldo claiming that he is better than his rivals Lionel Messi of Argentina, and Neymar of Brazil. Claiming, indeed, to be better than the greats of the past, such as Pele or Diego Maradona.
In the sports world, debates over who is the greatest are as endless as the drinks in a sports bar. Fans debate who is greatest on a team, in a season, or of all-time. Who was greatest at their position? Who had the greatest moves? And on and on.
I bet the Disciples had more facial hair to stroke than Ronaldo does. But in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is unimpressed with their debates over who was the GOAT – or who was the greatest. Jesus and his followers had spent several hours walking between towns. It’s natural during such a hike for the group to spread out a bit. One group had had a little debate.
The story does not elaborate on how the debate went. Was it, like Ronaldo, some disciples claiming the title of greatest for themselves? Or was it more like a political convention, with groups lobbying for their preferred greatest candidate?
“I say it’s Peter!”
“No, it’s obviously John!”
“Don’t forget the dark-horse candidate Thaddeus!”
Whether the claim of greatness was for oneself or for a favourite disciple, the lesson Jesus teaches them applies either way. Jesus teaches them that when your heart and mind are in tune with the Kingdom of God, Greatness is not important.
Now, the disciples kind of knew this already. After all, they were too embarrassed to answer when Jesus asked what they were discussing. They did not want to admit to either their ambition or their focus on ranking against one another. They already sensed that Jesus would not approve.
That can be hard for a high-achiever like me to hear. I have always excelled at school, and the school system has a built-in greatness-meter. Tests come back graded, and an A is better than a B. Both are better than an F. I know that the purpose of grades is evaluation, but they easily turn into comparison against others. Who did better?
But wait: isn’t there a place for such comparisons? When my company hires a new employee, we interview candidates and make an offer to the one that we deem to be the best of the bunch. Is that wrong? Isn’t that a good thing? Stick with me; before we answer questions like that, let’s look at Jesus’ reply.
The NIV, which is my usual go-to Bible translation, says “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” This phrase reminds us of some similar ones, like “many who are first will be last and the last, first.” Jesus says that in Mark 10:31, and the words sound similar. But the context is completely different; Jesus is addressing a different issue altogether when he says that. Let’s set that similar saying aside, and not let it colour our examination of what Jesus says about this issue of ambition and greatness.
“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
I can think of three different ways to understand and interpret what Jesus means when he says this. I compared these verses in nine different translations, hoping to get some clarity between these three possible interpretations. But all of the translations had the same ambiguity.
One possibility is that this could be describing a punishment. In this interpretation, Jesus is saying that the ambition of wanting to be the first or the greatest is bad. It must be punished. Whoever wants to get ahead should be sent to the back of the line. In this reading, the result of their striving for greatness is to be humbled and made to serve others. I do not think this is the correct interpretation; I think such a reading does not fit with the child in later verses, and is inconsistent with the character and other teachings of Jesus.
“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
A second possible understanding is that Jesus is describing the way the Kingdom-of-God system works. In this reading, the way to get ahead in God’s Kingdom is by putting others ahead of yourself. There is a lot of support for this interpretation. It is consistent with the idea of so-called Servant Leadership. I first heard the term “Servant Leader” in seminary, and it has good Biblical foundation. After all, Jesus, our Lord, came “not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45).
The idea of Servant Leadership has hit the business world, too. One resource for tech-company managers like me says “a Servant Leader manages a team not by telling them what to do, but by removing impediments that get in their way.” Another business resource describes it like this: “Servant Leadership is the idea that you should be willing to support the greater good even if it means temporarily sacrificing yourself or your ideas.”
As a budding young seminarian, I learned that I will have greater success in my ministry by serving others. There’s the system again. Through your service, you will achieve greatness.
What troubles me about this interpretation is that the root ambition remains. It is tempered, and redirected into a path and a system where success is achieved by serving—rather than by trampling on—others. But the goal is still, at least partly, success, greatness, being first.
“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
I prefer a third way of reading and hearing these words of Jesus. I think Jesus is doing Discipleship, or what we often call Spiritual Formation. Rather than describing a punishment that deters ambition, or a system that redirects ambition, I think that Jesus is shaping the hearts and minds of his disciples. I think that Jesus is showing just how radically different the Kingdom of God is from society, with our debates about who is Greatest. It’s even different from a tendency to compare ourselves against others.
“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
I believe that these words are a prescription. Too much of anything, even a good thing, is bad for you. Our bodies need a certain amount of calories, fat, even sodium to be healthy. Too little sodium, for example, leads to weakness, fatigue, muscle cramps and more. But consuming too much sodium increases risk of hypertension, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.
Likewise, giving our ambition of being greatest, successful, first or even better than others too much focus is a spiritual sickness that undermines our faith and hurts our relationship with God. Partly because it hurts our relationship with our neighbours, those very people we strive to surpass. The treatment for this spiritual sickness of excessive ambition and self-importance is a diet of humble service. Of putting the interests of others ahead of ourselves.
ALL others. Jesus stresses this twice. You must be the VERY last. You must be servant of ALL. Not just our friends. Not just the people we like. Not just the people who are easy to serve. All others. Even the harder ones.
Jesus calls us to do so, not as punishment because ambition is bad, but rather for our formation. The goal is to redirect our focus away from MYSELF and onto OTHERS. To truly, even sacrificially love our neighbour. This prescription works over time to shape our hearts, our minds, our lives, our world-view, to begin to see the world through God’s eyes.
It is living the words of the hymn “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” Taking this prescription is saying “Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mould me and make me after thy will.”
So: is it bad to be a high-achiever? Is ambition and a striving for success wrong? Sinful, even? Is
Ronaldo better than Messi?
There is one more scene in our story. Jesus brings a child into the middle of the lesson he is teaching his greatness-focused disciples. Mark gives no details about the child. Boy or girl? How old? precocious or shy?
It doesn’t matter, because the child represents all children, even all powerless and marginalized people. After all, the child had no standing in society apart from its parents. Certainly no place in the business of grown-ups. Yes, children are precious and a blessing. But they get in the way of the business and busyness of our society. We shape our lives as parents around their needs, because on an individual level they are so important to us. But we can only bring them with us to work one day a year, right? Otherwise they would get in the way of society’s business.
Yet Jesus brings a child into the middle of his teaching session. Children don’t belong here, this is an adult Sunday School class! Children are way down the ladder of important people in society. Both theirs and ours.
Jesus calls their attention to the child, to someone they are used to dismissing in their rankings of self-importance. When we really humble ourselves and set aside our self-focus, we begin to see, among ALL people who we serve – behold! Jesus is there! In profound and surprising ways, we meet Jesus Christ, and ultimately God Almighty in the people through these acts of service.
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name,” Jesus says. The image is one, not of complete servitude, but of going about one’s business. Along the way, they are tuned-in to opportunities for this radical service Jesus asks of us, service shaped by a heart in tune with God’s kingdom of love and service.
This is the end result of the prescription, the spiritual formation: we are ready to welcome all people, no matter their place on society’s ladder. They are no longer stepping-stones to greatness but are people to love, welcome and serve.
And in doing so, we discover that Jesus is already there. In becoming a servant of all, we catch up to where Jesus is. Jesus has gone ahead of us. Setting aside our ambitions and plans, and being ready, willing and able to serve all, brings us into the heart, the life, the presence of Jesus.
There are some challenging social problems within the bounds of our parish, including right here on this block. I am pleased with the progress that we as a congregation have made in opening our lives to one another and to our neighbours, in all our diversity and challenges. Jesus calls us to continue, and even to stretch and truly serve all, welcome all.
As the disciples with the child, we discover we are not bringing Jesus with us to them; no, Jesus is already there. Waiting for us to catch up. May you, too, encounter Jesus in new and exciting ways as you serve those around you. Amen.