You're the Greatest. But Maybe Not.

2012-08-12 You're the Greatest. But Maybe Not.

James McTyre

Lake Hills Presbyterian Church (USA)

Luke 9:46-46

An argument arose among them (the apostles) as to which one of them was the greatest. 47 But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, 48 and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest."

Luke 22:24-27

24 A dispute also arose among them (the apostles, again) as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 But he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

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Good morning! It's not just a good morning. It's a great morning. It's great to be here. It's great to see you. You look great. Have you lost weight? It's a great morning. It's a great day. It's all so... great.

I guess I'm a little hung up on greatness today. We've been watching the Olympics for two weeks straight. And they've been great. And the greatest thing is so many Americans are the greatest. We've got the greatest all-around gymnast, Gabby Douglas. Her smile is so great. Her hair is great. We've got the greatest Women's Beach Volleyball Team. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings. It was so great watching them win. And win. And win again. Every single night. Beach volleyball is now America's greatest sport. Our Women's Soccer team? Greatest. Women's Basketball? C'mon. They're so great, they played just to be nice. Oh, and a few of our men were pretty great, too. Ryan Lochte: Great. Michael Phelps: All-time greatest, ever. Usain Bolt. OK, he's not technically American. But the first three letters in his name are USA. And, he's from Jamaica. Honeymooning Americans make up half the population.

Face it, world. We're great. It's not bragging if it's true. We have the medals to prove it.

And you. You're great. And it's great to see you.

I mean, here you are sitting in church. When you could be out on the lake. Or home in bed. With all the pagans. (Wait, that didn't come out right.)

In fact, you're all so great, we should have our own spiritual Olympics. Which among you is the greatest? Who's the greatest follower of Jesus here? Who of you is the greatest follower, the greatest disciple? Really. This is no time for modesty. Raise your hand. But we will need to do some substance-testing.

Most of us squirm when asked how great we are. We're more comfortable pointing to someone else and saying, "I'll never be as good as [insert name here]." It's funny. I guess church is more geared to telling you how much of a sinner you are. Or, maybe, it's that we know too much about ourselves. We know how often we fall short. We know how much we've left undone. We remember the times we've failed. We hear the words of the people who told us we're bad, over and over. Those are the parts we remember.

OK. So let's go that route. Who's the greatest sinner here today? Don't raise your hand. But it would be an entertaining contest. 

Isn't that weird, though? We have global contests to see who's the greatest. But we remember the stuff that's anti-great. That's the part we're taught - a lot of times by the church - that's the stuff we're taught to dwell on.

But what if I told you you can be greater, greater than you were at breakfast? If you had time for breakfast. What if I said you can be greater than you were when you came in here? Wouldn't that be great? Jesus knew a way to be great – and it's really simple. We already know what it is. The problem is, we're afraid to do it.

What does it take to be great? Practice, practice, practice. Training facilities in Colorado. Hard work.  Dedication. Obsessive drive. Parents willing to go into bankruptcy to support you. The right DNA. Some would say a divine calling. The blessing of God to have the right skills, the right opportunity, at the right time. 

Greatness is hard work, skill and a fair degree of luck. A ten-thousandth of a second between goodness and greatness. Some would call it providence. Blessing. Some are born to greatness. Some have it thrust upon them. To be great, all the cards have to stack up just right.

And to be great... even if all the cards are right, there's one more thing. Someone has to see it. Someone has to notice your greatness, don't they? You can't be great in this world if someone doesn't see it.

If a tree fell on Michael Phelps and no one was there to hear him, would he still get a medal? OK, that's not quite right, but you know what I mean. Contests require contestants. Contests require observers. 

Even if you're the world's greatest at whatever it is, it's really not that great - you're really not that great - until somebody cares. You may be the best teacher ever. You may be the best cook. You may be the best chain-saw juggling CPA. But to be great, someone has to care.

In order to be great in this world, someone has to care. You can work hard, eat right, exercise... you can be a giant, green superhero... but unless you've done something someone cares about, you're not that great. 

In order to be great in this world, someone has to care. 

And here's what Jesus said about that. Here's the secret. In order to be great in this world, someone has to care. And here's what Jesus said: That someone who has to care? It has to be... you.

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Luke 9:46 - An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest.

Luke 22:24 - A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 

The scriptures that we read today are about greatness.

They both come from the Gospel According to Luke. Apparently, the first time didn't sink in. So Luke told the story again, a slightly different way. "Greatness" was on Luke's mind a lot. Probably because "greatness" was on the early Christians' minds a lot. 

You see, the early Christians were people from a really poor country. Their country, their race, their lives were dominated and controlled by Rome, who was the undisputed #1 champion of the world. These early Christians knew about greatness. They knew they didn't have it. And they wanted it. They wanted it very, very badly.

I've heard some people say that obviously the disciples weren't all that bright. Because Jesus had to have this discussion with them twice. I'm not so sure about that. I mean, think about it. How many times do you have to hear the truth about yourself before it sinks in? How easy is it for you to change your mind, especially about yourself? It's not a question of being smart. It's a question of believing.

Jesus sounds a bit frustrated. So he picks up a baby and says, "Look, guys. We've been over this before. See this little child? 

"Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest."

And even then, the point didn't really sink in. We know this because we know the disciples were human. The early churches were human. Human beings have this predisposition to greatness. Everybody wants to be #1 at something. If not in the Olympics, then in your family. At your office. In school. It's just how we're made.

The second time Luke talks the great greatness contest, Jesus talks about the Lord's Supper. He says, 

"For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves."

Jesus takes conventional wisdom and flips it like a gymnast. He makes it sound simple. And it is simple. Just not easy. Because, we're people.

He says, 

"The kings of the Gentiles [that is, your Roman overlords] lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. [To which the early Christians must have said, "Riiiight. Thanks, Roman Government, for all your beneficence."] 

Jesus says, 

"But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves."

Jesus flips conventional wisdom. And it's still flipping us out.

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Instead of asking you, which of you is the greatest, or asking you, who's the greatest sinner, let me try a more meaningful question.

Who among you wants to live like Jesus did? Who among you wants to be - or wants to become - a better follower of Jesus? Who wants to care more? Who wants to be more compassionate? Who wants to be kinder? Who wants to be more loving? Who wants to sell everything you have and give it to the poor? (Gotcha.) 

Who wants to be great as Jesus was great? 

I think we'd all like to. And there's the simple, but not always easy answer. In order to be great like Jesus said to be great, someone has to care. 

And that someone, has to be you.

You have to care. You have to be compassionate. You have to be kind. You have to love. You have to give away some stuff. 

If you want to be great, as Jesus was great.

It's really very simple. But not that easy. They don't give gold medals for being like Jesus. In fact, Jesus says you really need to give away your gold, and your medals, and your prestige, if you want to be the greatest. Jesus says, you have to be as light as a little child, your heart has to be as light as a baby's, if you want to be really, truly, great.

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So, forget for a minute about what the world thinks. Forget for a minute even what you think. For a minute forget about what the people sitting around you think. Raise your hand if you want Jesus to think you're just great. 

(Wow. Look at all those hands. That's great.) 

Jesus' way to greatness may be simple: start by caring. Simple. But in a world where competition is the conventional path to greatness, that's not easy.

Might also be scary. Might also be a little weird. Who cares? You do. You care. Because you're a disciple of Jesus Christ. And he's the greatest. And that's what he says to do.