Let
me ask you a question: Do you want to change the world? That may seem a little
pretentious. Let me rephrase it. Do you
want to do something significant that will result in many – maybe even hundreds
or thousands of people coming to know Jesus as their Savior and living their
lives as true disciples of Christ? Still too much… How about… would you like to be above average? I have to confess I definitely want to be
above average. In fact I would like to
do something significant that impacts hundreds or thousands of lives. Well,
let’s be honest – I really would like to change the world. I’m what you call an ambitious idealist –
some might even say an above average ambitious idealist.
In
fact, I can relate to the question the disciples asked in Matthew 18:1, “who is
the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” Now we like to give the disciples a
hard time because this seemed to be a reoccurring issue for them. In fact, they
had down and out fights over this very question. But let’s give them a
break. I mean they were hanging around
with Jesus – not only watching him raise the dead, heal the sick and cast out
demons – but they had been sent out to do some of the very same stuff. It was obvious to all of them that this was
the day they had heard about from childhood.
The day when the Messiah would kick out the Romans, make Israel great
again and rule the earth from Jerusalem. Can you imagine what it felt like to
be on the ground floor of that? It would be like being on the board of
directors for Mac or a part of the president’s cabinet x1000. In the next
chapter (Matthew 19) Jesus even tells his disciples that they will sit on
twelve thrones judging the tribes of Israel.
So maybe they had a reason to think they would be great.
It
makes me wonder if I realize what I am a part of in the Kingdom of God and if God
can trust me with amazing opportunities without me getting prideful. However, there is another underlying question
here that we may not notice at first but that is more important and maybe less
idealistic and more realistic... It is, how
will I respond when I’m not “the” greatest – when I watch an amazing
opportunity get handed to someone else – someone younger, not as experienced,
not as wise...
What about you? What
about when you find out that the one thing you’re really good at (playing an
instrument, fixing computers, preaching a sermon)– that little Jimmy can run
circles around you? When a coworker gets put in charge of your team because
they’re charming but you know you would make the better leader? When the newbie
at church gets ask to share on Sunday morning instead of you?
You
see what was also becoming clear to the disciples by chapter 18 was that some
of them were starting to pull ahead of the pack. It had been revealed to Peter
that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of the living God and Peter had even
walked on water even if only for a moment.
In fact, in the previous chapter, Matthew 17, we see Jesus choosing
Peter, James and John to witness him in his glory, his face shining like the
sun and his clothes becoming white and then Moses and Elijah even show up.
So when the disciples asked
Jesus who would be the greatest in his kingdom at least 9 and maybe 11 of them
were asking – why not me? Have you ever asked that question? “Why little Jimmy
and not me? “ “Why hard-headed, big mouth Peter and not me?”
This is what Jesus tells them (Read
Passage: Matthew 18:1-6)
Wow. Jesus is a genius. He doesn’t just say… “you idiots, how many
times do I have to tell you… First of all
isn’t it obvious that I’m the greatest… I’m the Messiah here people…" No – he doesn’t rebuke them instead he
redirects them with illustrations so that they can not only
understand true greatness but understand how priceless true
greatness is. In this passage Jesus is acting out a parable. This passage is
not about children but about those who are great in the Kingdom who he calls
his little ones. He has a child come and
stand there because even though children are deeply loved by their parents –
and in the Biblical culture children were even considered a blessing from God –
yet they had no social status, no position, no power or authority. They were
just kids – dependent, hopefully obedient, children… The child was a metaphor for those who are a
part of God’s Kingdom.
You see, the Kingdom of heaven
isn’t about who is the top dog, the superman, the megastar, the miracle worker…
It’s not about title or position or accomplishment… Those who are great are
humble like children. In fact, the top
dogs may not even get in… only the
humble top dogs. Jesus was trying to
show his disciples that greatness is not about what you “do” but about who you
are.
Getting the promotion is not what
makes you great - treating the one who was promoted instead of you with
graciousness and authentically congratulating them is makes you great. Maybe even willingly giving up an opportunity
so that another can have it… looking for
ways to encourage and make room for others… that is what makes you great.
There isn’t a pyramid of greatness
in the Kingdom – the higher you are the greater you are, and the fewer there
are to compete with you. In the Kingdom anyone
who humbles themselves is great; anyone who serves and loves others is great. The
lower you are the greater you are. This should have been good news for the
disciples because it meant that each one of them were significant. They were
never in competition with each other – they never had to out-great the other
disciples. And if they weren’t in
competition maybe they could actually help each other, encourage each other
towards greatness, receive and make room
for each other. Jesus even goes so far as to say that receiving ‘one such
child’ is the same as receiving him – that means welcoming him and making room
for him to participate.
In fact, that is the way it is
suppose to be because greatness is not individualistic – we will be held
accountable for how we love and serve one another, or if we cause another to
sin. God’s little ones are so precious to him that Jesus said it would be
better to have a mill stone tied around your neck and drowned then to cause one
of his little ones to stumble. A millstone was used for grinding wheat and the
large millstone referred to in this passage would weigh around 130 pounds. This was an actual form of execution in
ancient times so today we might say it would better to be sentenced to the
electric chair then cause one of Jesus’ little ones to sin.
Jesus
is really serious… We are in this together… Your welfare should matter to
me. Our culture tells us to look out for
yourself cause no one else will – to take every opportunity you can even if it
means stepping over someone else… even if it creates an environment of competition
and dog eat dog… But what kind of person does that? Selfish? Arrogant?
Kingdom
culture is the exact opposite – in the kingdom culture every person is an
important part of the body and has something significant to contribute. In the
Kingdom culture we are to prefer one another above ourselves and serve, even
submit to one another. What kind of
person does that? The meek, the humble, the selfless, the poor in spirit.
This
is why who you are becoming is more important than what you are doing. Or maybe
I should say who we are becoming together.
We want our culture to look like the culture of heaven… just as Jesus
taught us to pray “Father… your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It’s a community of love that best represents
Christ and his Kingdom to the world. John
13:35 – “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have
love for one another.”
My pastor has a saying that when the waters
rise, all the boats are raised. This
means that instead of seeing myself as being passed over when someone gets the opportunity
I wanted, I should see myself as a part of a bigger picture where we all get to
be great.
