Greatness Is Service!

18th Sunday after Pentecost, 10/4/09
Mark 9:30-37

Greatness Is Service!
I. The Greatest One served all
II. So that we can serve others

A local auto dealer wants you to know that it’s a service company that also sells the finest vehicles. Now why would they advertise themselves in such a way? Because they know that the people who can afford their luxury vehicles are most interested in stellar service. By selling service rather than vehicles, their profits will increase.

Have you ever noticed how often you’re asked if you’d like to purchase a service contract? Cell phone, refrigerators, computers—they all have optional service contracts available. Why? The seller will tell you it’s because they want you to be protected. A much bigger reason is that extended service contracts are money-makers.

Years ago the customer service counter was in the back of the store. Now, it’s right in front usually with a large banner above it. Why is that? Those counters aren’t for making sales; they’re for making returns. So why make them so prominent? Because the merchant knows that you’ll be more likely to spend money there if you get the impression that customer service is important at this store.

Did you catch one aspect that ran through every one of those service examples? Never was it really about sacrificing in order to serve you. The common thread was service only because it made the one serving more money. Pretty cold and uncaring, isn’t it?

So, where in this money hungry world of ours can we find genuine, true, loving service? Right here. Among your fellow Christians. In fact, it’s an integral part of your Christian faith. Jesus makes that very point in these words before us this morning from St. Mark. In fact, service is so important in Christianity that it’s the determining factor in greatness. In Christianity greatness is service. Our sinful nature and our unbelieving world would scream otherwise at us, but the truth is that greatness is service. Let’s see that service in action this morning and may it inspire us to serve others as well.

Part I.
I don’t know how many of you caught this, but more than a week ago the Great One retired. Unless you’re an avid pro hockey fan, you probably don’t know or care. I’m referring to Wayne Gretzky, known by hockey fans as the Great Gretzky, or just the Great One. No hockey fan would argue that he was a great hockey player, but they would argue if someone insisted he was the greatest hockey player ever.

Our text, however, speaks of the end of the work of the Greatest One ever, and there’s no arguing about it. Jesus told his disciples, "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 was about to put the finishing touches on the greatest project ever undertaken—the salvation of sinners from eternal death in hell. But that last chapter in his work didn’t sound all that appealing to his disciples. So why weren’t they thrilled over the news of that announcement? Because they were hoping for years that the end of Jesus’ work would mean earthly splendor for them. They were hoping Jesus would establish a glorious earthly kingdom and that they would be given positions of rule and authority in it.

Jesus knew their misguided thoughts and desires. So he led them on a little retreat. Mark tells us, "Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples." In a matter of months Jesus would not only die and rise again, he would ascend into heaven and leave his disciples to do the work of his kingdom. It was eternally critical that these disciples get with the program and learn where Jesus was headed and why.

So he laid it out for them with all the ugly details. There would be no earthly glory. Instead, there would be betrayal by one of the 12, he would be handed over to the very ones who hated him and they would put him to death. But that wouldn’t be the end. After three days he would rise again. There you have it. Those are the details of Christ’s work we know so well—his sufferings, death and resurrection.

Unfortunately, the disciples only recalled the detail about his death. That blew their concept of the Savior out of the water. Up until that point they had operated under the assumption that the Messiah would conquer Israel’s enemies and be victorious. But Jesus told them he would submit to his enemies and be killed. Why was there this huge misunderstanding? Because the disciples didn’t understand that the Greatest One of all, Jesus Christ, had come to serve all people by dying for the sins of all. Greatness in the eyes of Jesus doesn’t come by making others serve you; it comes by serving others.

Greatness is service. The Greatest One served all.

As I said a minute ago, we know all about that service that Jesus rendered for us. We joyfully confess every Sunday that he suffered, died and rose again. But deep down we don’t want to believe it. Let me explain. We look at the rest of the world and get disgusted over the moral filth and the extreme violence. And we pride ourselves over the fact that we’re not that way. And with that attitude about ourselves we’re that close to telling Jesus that we’re not so bad; we’re really rather good people, so of course Jesus would serve us. The truth about ourselves is that we’re rotten by nature. By nature nothing good lives in us. We deserve the same fate as every other sinner. But that’s what makes the Greatest One’s service to us so gracious! He emptied himself of his greatness and died for you and me and every sinner on Calvary’s cross. The Greatest One served all. And that’s what greatness in God’s kingdom is. It’s service.

Part II.
And solely because he served us in such a saving way can we now serve others.

When people talk about "the service" we know they mean the military service. The vast majority of citizens in our country consider that service to be an honor. Who isn’t impressed when they see the news reports of another service man or woman laid to rest after making the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty? We speak highly of that service.

But if the military recruiter called you today, would you say yes to joining the service? Most of us would say, "It won’t happen. I’m too old for that." But if age weren’t a factor, would you do it? Most of us wouldn’t. I probably wouldn’t either.

Neither did the disciples. And now we’re not talking about military service; we’re talking about service in God’s kingdom. Right after Jesus closed his private retreat with his disciples, the disciples went right back to their little game of jockeying for position in God’s kingdom. Mark tells us that "on the way they had argued about who was the greatest." Why was this such an issue with them? Because their culture viewed service as something only servants did. In their culture you had made it to the top when others served you.

What made that thought so appealing was that it played right into their sinful nature. It still plays right into ours. We want others to do what we tell them to do or at least what we want them to do for us. Controlling others is still a huge issue in our society.

But Christianity turns that upside down. Jesus shed his blood so that we can belong to him forever. We are his own by faith in him as our Savior. We have a loving relationship with him so that he can bless us not just now with our forgiveness, but for forever with life with him. We live in that loving relationship with Jesus every moment of every day.

And a large part of that relationship with Jesus is now serving others, not being served by others. In a rather gentle way, considering the hardness of their hearts, Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." That’s was his way of telling the disciples to bury their sinful pride and to come to the realization that greatness is service. The greatest way to serve another person is with the gospel—the saving news of Jesus. There is no higher, no more important, no more lasting thing you can do for someone else than to share with them the news of forgiveness and eternal life through the life and death of Jesus.
That’s our highest purpose as a congregation of Christians.

But that service isn’t limited to sharing the gospel. Repeatedly our Savior encourages us to serve our neighbor in whatever way we can. He even calls on us to serve our enemies. The world would call that crazy. And how can we find the power to serve even those who oppose us? In the love of Christ. He not only spoke forgiveness to the ones who nailed him to the cross, he died to forgive them.

Greatness isn’t being served; it’s serving. The Greatest One served us so that we can serve others.

Little children are notorious for asking the question, "Why?" And even though it might be slightly irritating at times, you have to admire their inquisitiveness. On the other hand, when a teenager asks their parent, "Why?" there’s usually at least a hint of defiance behind it.

When presented with the opportunity to serve someone else, our reaction, either immediately or later, is often "Why?" And while we may ask that question innocently, more often than not it springs from our sinful nature. In fact, at times it’s a defiant "Why?" We’ve served enough. We’ve done enough. That’s not my job.

In such cases, when we ask "Why?" our Savior could simply respond like an angry parent and say, "Because I said so." But he doesn’t. Instead he points out to us his loving service on our behalf. He reminds us that he didn’t come to this earth and ask us to serve him. Instead, he came to serve us all the way to sacrificing himself for us on Calvary’s cross. And there’s the reason why. It’s in the cross of Christ, the greatest act of love ever. And along with that, he reminds us that when we serve him by serving others, he pours his blessings on us.

Greatness is service! May your heart find comfort in knowing Jesus served you and may his love move you to serve others. Amen.