The Greatest Things

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27, NIV)

This morning I wanted to talk about the greatest things. In our world there is a strong desire to be the greatest at things, to know the greatest things, and to have the greatest things. 

What are the greatest things? Some would say valuable treasures. Here are two amazing stories about people who discovered valuable treasures.

A couple in Sierra Nevada were walking their dog on their property one day in 2013 when they saw the top of a rusty canister poking out of the ground. The canister contained a bunch of gold discs and they took it home, brushed the dirt off of the discs, and discovered that they were almost perfectly preserved $20 gold coins dating from the 1890s.

They hurried back to the location of their find and discovered a total of eight cans containing 1,427 coins with a face value of $27,980. 1,373 were $20 coins, 50 were $10 coins and four were $5 coins. The coins were minted from 1847 to 1894. About a third of the coins were in pristine condition and never circulated in the general public. 

It is believed this is the biggest hoard of gold coins ever unearthed in the United States and is valued at $10 million. 

Here is another amazing story.

12 years ago, a Filipino fisherman made an amazing discovery in the sea off the coast of the Palawan Island, Philippines. He discovered a massive pearl inside a giant clam. He took it home and hid it under his bed – keeping it as a good luck charm: unfortunately, his tiny home burned down, but giant pearl survived. The pearl has been verified at 26 inches in length, 12 inches in width and weighing nearly 75 pounds. It is valued at $100 Million.

How amazing would it be to discover the greatest treasure ever? Pretty awesome, I would think!

If we were together today, I would ask you: “Have you ever wanted to be the greatest?” and then I would follow that question with: “Why?”

Although I am not really a fan of the sport (momma told us not to hit each other) Muhammad Ali, the famous and talented boxer referred to himself as the greatest. In fact, he is quoted to have said:

“I am the greatest. I said that before I even knew I was.”

He was persistent, tough, had great endurance and won many fights. But like all contenders, he wasn’t the greatest forever.

The Olympics are another series of events that are designed to discover who is the greatest – who is the best in their sport and the greatest are awarded fame and medals. But that fame and status sometimes only lasts until the next Olympics.

Another person we might think of when we hear the term “the greatest” was The Greatest American Hero – a funny tv show about a school teacher who was given a powerful suit by aliens so that he could help others. He could fly with this suit, but landing was something that he seldom got right. I loved this show and we bought the series when we saw it on sale a few years ago so that we could watch it with our kids and have a laugh together. His heart was in the right place, but he was not your typical superhero type.

I think that the desire to be the greatest is something that many of us have wrestled with in our lifetime. I wanted to be a rock singer when I was a teenager, and the illusion of fame, adoring fans and personal staff to look after my every need sounded pretty good. I think that many people in this world seek to be the greatest for many of the same benefits – whether they are rock stars, politicians or athletes.  

In Mark 9:33-35, we read that Jesus was out walking one day with his disciples and when they reached a house in Capernaum, he turned and asked them what they were talking about.  Mark wrote:

…they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. (Mark 9:34, NIV)

I can almost imagine them all looking down at their feet, at the ceiling, around the room – anywhere but at Jesus. They had been arguing about who was the greatest, and now they were embarrassed to admit that this was what they had been arguing about.

But what’s wrong with wanting to be the greatest? Is there anything wrong with wanting to be the greatest? Well that depends on who your focus is on. What is your reason for wanting to be the greatest? Is your desire to be the greatest so that everyone will admire you? Do you want everyone to look at you and say:

“Wow, I wish I could be like them!”

If you are caught up in a desire for greatness just so that others will also call you the greatest, then that’s a big problem, but this is the illusion that beckons to us from the “rich and famous.” We see their success and it can become a temptation to chase after dream in hopes that others will end up looking after our every wish and serve our every need. This self-centeredness sadly only leads to rivalry, greed and covetousness and as many have found out after becoming the “greatest” in their field, and winds up as an empty lie rooted in pride and arrogance. Being the greatest is ultimately meaningless if you are the focal point.

Thomas Merton, a monk who is a favourite author of mine said:

“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.”

The reality is that our own desire for greatness can deceive us – even if we start out doing it for what might seem like the right reasons. If in the end the focus is on yourself, then your focus is misplaced and true greatness will never be achieved.

Jesus’ disciples understood that he was their master – their Rabbi, their teacher. He was the greatest one at the table: and the table that they were at, was the table of the Last Supper. It’s pretty incredible – in a sad way – to realize that, as Jesus was about to go out and give up his life, others were focused on themselves, and busying jockeying for position. Their focus was on about how they could be the greatest – like many others, they were focused on themselves.

So how can we change our focus? How can we find a way to find true greatness in the eyes of Jesus? The good news, is that he doesn’t leave us to figure it out on our own.

Jesus pointed out to his disciples that those who are greatest from a political or worldly standard act like it: they treat others as lesser beings that they bless out of their goodness or as their whims dictate. These people would sit at a table and have others serve them. But Jesus told them:

“…I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:27, NIV)

He had washed their feet – the job of a servant – despite being their Rabbi, Master and Lord. He set an example that he wanted the disciples to follow.

In Matthew 18:1-4, the disciples asked Jesus to tell them who was greatest in the kingdom of heaven and he brought a child to stand amongst them, and told them that unless they changed and became like little children, they couldn’t even enter the kingdom of heaven!

But what does that mean?

Some people would romanticize this and say that it means that we must be innocent, but Jesus was instead calling them to humility. In Jesus’ day, children were amongst the least – they were dependant on others and knew it. They had no means of support and looked to others to care for them. Their lives were spent in service – working for others and trusting others to look after their food, clothing, and shelter. The child that Jesus brought before them may have been a servant that normally would have washed the dirty feet of visiting travellers, but Jesus taught his disciples in that moment that true greatness is found in serving.

The problem with our hearts, is that even in serving, our motives can be focused on ourselves. An easy way to examine our motives is to honestly ask ourselves: am I doing this for my own glory, or for God’s glory? One gauge we can use is how we receive praise. When others speak well of us, do we thank them for noticing, or do we genuinely redirect the praise back to God?

The sad thing is we can even act like we are redirecting the glory to God, but be privately basking in the glow of their praises for even that act. Like they say: “Look how godly (he\she) is!” and in your mind you’re thinking: “You’ve got that right!”

Even something that sounds good, like serving, can be self-centered. If we desire to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven so that we will get the best seat in the house, the nicest outfit, the biggest mansion and so on – if we are really doing it for our own personal glory, the attention of others, or for special treatment – then we still have the wrong motivations.

If you desire to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven because you want to be the best servant, there might be a danger still there of narcissism. Are you doing it because you want people to like you? Are you doing it to somehow gain the favour of God? Are you doing it to be the center of attention? If so, then no matter what service you are doing, your focus is still in the wrong place.

It is common for us to want to be praised for the good things we do, but when speaking about caring for others, Jesus said:

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others…” (Matthew 6:1-2, NIV)

Jesus taught the disciples not to seek praise from people, but to only seek to please God. Jesus never had his focus on himself, his focus was always on his heavenly Father.

To be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus did not simply give us his example to follow, he also gave us the two greatest commandments: to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31). In other words, God said, to be great in the kingdom of heaven, love towards him and our neighbours should be the music of our lives – the soundtrack, if you will.

The proper motivator for serving is love. If we are truly followers of Jesus then love should be what motivates us, love should be how we treat others and love should be what we try and spread in the world through our words and actions. This love shows itself in kindness, mercy and goodness in our lives and towards others.

The apostle Paul took things a step further in 1 Corinthians 13 and gave us some specifics of what this love should look like: patient, kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast, isn’t proud, rude, self-seeking or easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs, always trusts, hopes, perseveres – love never fails.

This type of selfless living is hard to do, because the sinful human nature – or the “flesh” as he referred to it – is completely the opposite – selfish to the core and sneaky about it as well.

Selfless, servant love is what the kingdom of heaven is all about. Jesus referred to the kingdom of heaven as the greatest treasure. Jesus said:

…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21, NIV)

In two back to back parables found in Matthew 13:44-46, Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven was like a treasure in a field, or an incredibly valuable pearl. In the stories I began with, we can likely imagine how finding one of those discoveries would change our life forever, but if the kingdom of God is our treasure – found in serving others out of love – for God’s glory and not our own – that will change our world for eternity. 

So may you seek to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven – not for your own glory and fame, but that:

…others …may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, NIV)

Amen.