Grace, mercy and peace are yours through Jesus Christ who came not to serve but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many. Amen.

Mark 9:30-37 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, ³¹ because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." ³² But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. ³³ They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" ³⁴ But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. ³⁵ Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." ³⁶ He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

When the United States began the Apollo project to put a man on the moon, our motivations were not entirely scientific. In fact, the so-called space race was driven largely by the ego of the American public. The Soviet Union was the first to launch a satellite into space. They were the first to put a living creature, a monkey, into space. And Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, was the first man in space. So our bid to put a man on the moon was nothing more than a response to a string of humiliating second place finishes to the Soviet space program.

So it was with great pride that the American people watched and listened on July 20, 1969 as Neil Armstrong stepped out of the Lunar module with Buzz Aldrin and spoke those famous words, "That’s one small step for man … one giant leap for mankind." We were first!

There must be something in our human nature that we crave being first. There is no glory in being 2nd or 3rd. Following Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s historic Apollo 11 mission, ten other astronauts walked the surface of the moon. Do you know any of their names? Greatness is in being first … or is it?

Jesus surprised his disciples with his definition of greatness: "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last." Jesus shocked the world when he described his greatness: "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." Jesus amazed his disciples who were arguing about greatness when he said that to be great among his followers they needed to be a "servant of all."

Our sermon text is part of Jesus’ "withdrawal" from the public spotlight. For the most part, he had taught the people what needed to be taught. He had healed many of the people whom he had the opportunity to heal. These days, he was spending more and more time alone with his disciples, preparing them for the rough days to come.

"They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples." For Jesus, one aspect of true greatness in God’s Kingdom was to be a teacher. But I’m not sure that the way Jesus went about it would be seen as "greatness" in the eyes of very many people. A lot of people might say it was more of a demotion. Why would Jesus desire to teach a class of twelve, when he had been teaching thousands?

If you really think about it, though, you can see the wisdom in what Jesus was doing. He wasn’t just teaching people the truth so that they would know it. He’d done that for more than two and a half years now. He was teaching these men to be teachers of the truth themselves. And a good teacher will always look for opportunities to review with the students. "Repetition is the mother of all learning." Before Jesus left his disciples, he needed to make sure they knew exactly what was going on.

The essence of his teaching was his suffering and death, so Jesus said to them: "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." The "Son of Man," God in human flesh was going to be killed. The One who had performed so many powerful miracles was going to "be betrayed into the hands of men." Did Judas catch the implied warning?

Jesus understood true and surprising greatness. God had called him to do the dirtiest job of all. He had come to be a servant to humanity. He came to lower himself to sin and death. "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."

Nobody praised Jesus for going to the cross that day. Women were mourning over him. His disciples were deserting him. The soldiers were mocking him. He allowed himself to be handled by filthy sinners and to suffer the most humiliating and excruciating death used at the time – the cross. On the cross, Jesus became the worst of sinners. Yet after all was said and done, Jesus rose from the dead and God made him FIRST.

With that death and resurrection, Jesus earned the reward that he came for – the sins of the world had been paid for. With that death and resurrection, those who now believe in Christ are now holy in God’s sight and will rise from the dead. It wasn’t a glamorous job that Jesus was called to do – but it gave eternal rewards to all who believe in him! In becoming last, Jesus became first, and so did we! No matter who you are – young or old, rich or poor, famous or infamous, you are all number one on God’s list through faith in Christ.

Jesus’ demonstration of greatness is surprising and shocking in our world. This is our worldly way of thinking: We want to be "the MAN" or "the WOMAN," whatever the case may be. We look out for number one. We earn college degrees, attain titles and positions in the company, gain net worth and material possessions, achieve social standing, rub shoulders with local celebrities, join community organizations, and even hold positions of authority in church. We struggle, climb social ladders, cultivate the right kind of friends. All for what? To achieve greatness in the eyes of the world … and so we become a nobody in the eyes of God.

Jesus must have shocked the disciples when he spoke the words of our text. As the greatest man who ever lived, he described his mission in life: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45) He washed the disciples’ feet and "humbled himself … to death, even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:8) Surprising greatness is found in humble service.

Jolted by Jesus’ words, we must confess our fond ambitions and manipulative struggles to achieve greatness have left us big, fat losers. If we truly want to achieve greatness, we must accept Jesus’ service to us. Redeemed, restored, forgiven, we then give ourselves over to our Savior in service to him. We reach out to others and help them in his name. That is where we find surprising greatness.

"But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it." The saying goes; "To be great is to be misunderstood." Certainly these words would apply to Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. The saying also describes Jesus of Nazareth, who confounded not only the crowds but also his disciples.

What was the reason for their misunderstanding? Not because Jesus spoke unclearly. He spoke with simple words and repeated his message. Why then the misunderstanding? When they reached Capernaum, Jesus asked what they had been arguing about on the road. They kept quiet because they were embarrassed that they had been arguing about who was the greatest. They wanted Jesus to be the ruler of an earthly kingdom. That meant great things for them.

In short, the disciples misunderstood because they were selfish. They wanted success and fame. They wanted positions of power and authority in Jesus’ kingdom. They couldn’t understand Jesus’ talk about suffering, service, and a cross. This didn’t fit into their thinking about the kind of Savior Jesus was supposed to be.

Why do we fail to understand Jesus? Because so often we are in effect arguing about who is the greatest. Forgetting about our suffering Savior, we tend to push for success and recognition. When Jesus talks about suffering, service, and a cross, we screen out his words with our selective filters.

If you think that greatness comes from telling others about how you work twelve-hour days, make good of money, found a great deal at Kohl’s or shot a big buck, you’re wrong. Greatness in the kingdom of God has nothing to do with how many people can see what you’re doing. Jesus had a different concept of greatness: "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Children can be the most ungrateful critters on the face of this earth. You can spend a whole afternoon playing ball with them or changing their diapers, and they’ll just go on to the next activity without even offering you a "thanks!" Parenting is one of the most unrecognized jobs in the world. Nobody sees you feed your children. Nobody sees you clothe them. The very ones you are trying to help often times whine to you and talk back to you. It is a seemingly insignificant and thankless job – to welcome a child. Yet Jesus says, "this is what service is all about."

In foreign countries people will build and paint their gods out of wood. They’ll build houses for their gods, shine them, carry them into safety from the rain, and think that by taking care of this block of wood they are earning their god’s favors. In that way they think they are serving their god. Others will climb mountains and wear hardly any clothing to try and get some sort of contact with their god of nature. But do you see how our God does it differently? Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Instead of having us make our god, our God gives himself a runny nose and puts on a dirty stinking diaper. With tears in his eyes he cries out to you, "Hold me! Change me! Rock me! Feed me!" He comes in the form of the most ungrateful critter on earth and says, "If you want to serve ME, then serve this CHILD that I have put on this earth for you to take care of!"

True service to our God does not come from blowing yourself up in your god’s name or marching in picket lines. True service to our God doesn’t even come from bringing about political or social reform or making this world a better place in which to live. True service to our God comes from wiping rear ends and runny noses, putting on clothes and feeding supper. In other words, in doing the seemingly LITTLE things of life that God puts in front of you, that is how you serve your God.

True service may come in the form of cleaning the church, teaching Sunday School, volunteering to help in our grade school, or serving on the church council. True service may also be found in cutting your elderly neighbor’s lawn, sitting in the hospital room with someone, taking meals to other people’s homes, praying for others, helping someone out at work, or raising money for Pastor Hintz’s family or for Ben Roekle.

That’s what service is all about. But we can’t forget the condition Jesus put on TRUE service. Jesus said, "I want you do these things in my name." Whatever we do is done through faith in Jesus Christ – to add to his reputation, to glorify his name. We aren’t doing it for our recognition. We are doing it for HIS. We do what we do because we have a Savior who died for us and GAVE us salvation.

True greatness lies in being a servant. A servant doesn’t spend time worrying about how great he or she is, but is more concerned with making others great. Those who struggle to be at the head of the line or at the place of honor at the banquet will find themselves humbled. Those who are humble and serve others in Jesus’ name will be honored – honored by Jesus in heaven. Even leading a little child to Christ is a greater accomplishment than achieving so-called success in the eyes of the world.

It is good to be a faithful member who uses your God-given gifts. It is good to be a Sunday School teacher. It is good to serve on the Church Council or sing in the choir or Home Guild. It is good to aspire to become a pastor or teacher. But it is great simply to help others, even help your little child learn about Jesus, who showed us the surprising greatness in service – even the service of the cross. Amen.