Sunday 23rd September (25B)

MARK 9:30-37
The advertisement said
that I was the most important,
that I was Number 1
and to indulge myself:
“Reward yourself,
look after Number 1.”
Jesus’ disciples argued
about who was the greatest:
Am!
Are not!
Am so!
Are not….
Jesus’ life,
the life of one who serves fully
is the life of those who would follow him.
Arguments about greatness
become meaningless
like re-arranging deck chairs
on the Titanic.
Whoever wants to be first
must be last of all
and servant of all.
Odd
in a world where
the economy
the social structure
is based on being Number 1
where push and shove
often determine
who will be in charge
who will have the most influence.
We honour the Olympian who comes first –
and forget the rest…
Whoever wants to be first
must be last of all
and servant of all.
A word here for each of us
and the church.
Servant or child
neither is regarded by many
as counting:
to be seen and not heard.
This is no power struggle
where the church asserts an influence
from strength.
Rather,
it is for the church –
and each of us who are
the face of the church —
to re-present God to the world
vulnerable and powerless
as a child…
Trying to be God is our downfall
trying to be God-like is our calling –
it’s the way we were made…
(Adapted from a sermon from some years ago, which may have drawn on material from other, long-forgotten, sources.)
        © Jeff Shrowder, 2012.
  More for Sunday 25B…