FIRST READING Jeremiah 11:18-20
18 It was the LORD who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds. 19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!” 20 But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
PSALM Psalm 54
1 Save me, O God, by your name; in your might, defend my cause. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers have risen up against me, and the ruthless have sought my life, those who have no regard for God. 4 Behold, God is my helper; it is the Lord who sustains my life. 5 Render evil to those who spy on me; in your faithfulness, destroy them. 6 I will offer you a freewill sacrifice and praise your name, O LORD, for it is good. 7 For you have rescued me from every trouble, and my eye looks down on my enemies.
SECOND READING James 3:13–4:10
Chapter 3 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Chapter 4 1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 4Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says,
“God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
6 But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
GOSPEL Mark 9:30-37
30[Jesus and the disciples went on] and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. 33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
LAST, YET FIRST
As many of you know, anytime you have young children around, you’re bound to watch the same show or movie over and over again. For Brett, one of those favorites to watch is Cars. And truth be told, I don’t mind: I’ve always liked the movie! In one of the scenes in Cars, Lightning McQueen is talking with Doc Hudson and Doc is trying to explain how racing on dirt is different than racing on asphalt. Doc tells Lightning that if you turn hard enough right you’ll go left. To this Lightning responds, sure in a backward world. For lightning McQueen, Doc’s explanation is an obscured statement.
In our gospel lesson for this morning Jesus seems to make a similarly absurd statement: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” What Jesus is saying is that in order to be last, thus first, we must give others a place in front of us. Maybe that’s where the old racing joke came from: I was so far behind, I thought I was in first place. Being last therefore means putting all others first.
And putting others first also means that, given the kind of world we live in, the people whom we must permit to go before us will be a mixed bag. We can’t pick and choose. We can’t favor those who dress nicely or who are polite. We must have an attitude of servanthood to all, if we don’t, that means those we rejected would then be behind us. They would become last. They would really be taking the place we should want, because, since we want to be first, we must be last and servant of all. Therefore, anytime we put people back, behind us, it might seem that we’re getting close to being first, but actually we would have fallen back, we would no longer be close to being first. And as absurd as this might sound, that’s what Jesus said.
Jesus said this to those closest to Him after the disciples failed to grasp that that was exactly what Jesus was about to do Himself. He was about to permit a disciple to betray Him, about to be abandoned by all, denied, mocked, beaten and about to consent to being put to death, all this to make it possible for all people to be first with God. The easy way out of this dilemma might seem to be to stop wanting to be first. Would that we could. By ourselves we can’t.
But God has already changed us and our wants, so that what we really want is it be first with God. But that doesn’t mean we can simply sit tight and let it happen. God supplies our “wants” and now expects us to exercise them. Something we do is required. We are to welcome the child, welcome the least of the Lord’s siblings, say to those around us, “Come up higher, higher than you are, higher, perhaps, than you think you deserve to be, higher than me.” It’s not easy being last. The sin of self-centeredness makes it difficult to stand aside for others, to place them before us, and to welcome those whose servants you are to be.
Think of a long line at the checkout counter at the grocery store. As you stand, last in line, you see a frail grandmother type carrying a basket with only two items, ready to take her place in line behind you, your cart filled with a dozen or more items. This decision is easy; no problem. “Please go ahead.” She’ll be checked through before I’ve even placed all my purchases on the belt. But, even before you place your first item on the belt, along comes another, this time it’s a pushy type, breezily saying, “Mind if I go ahead? I’m in sort of a hurry.” Again our natural response is, well — don’t we all? Our reaction is perhaps less generous. We want nothing better than to let that shopper earn the title of “greatest” by being stuck at the back of the line. This, of course, isn’t a completely fair example.
There is such a thing as fairness and taking turns, equal opportunity, democracy, and all that. But think of the greatest of all greatness, what God has done for us. Here, in our gospel reading, Jesus spells out again for His disciples what He’s about to undertake in order to let us go first. All of us pushy types … Some of us putting on meek masks of grand-parentness … All of us wearing out our welcome day after day … And yet, always being welcomed again.
Only the mind and the mercy of God can compute how it works — the Son of Man is betrayed into human hands — inhuman hands, we would like to say. He’s killed on a cross. Three days after He’s killed, He rises again; He is alive. The result of His passionate service is that every one of us prodigals is welcomed home again, is met by God the Father even while we are a great way off, a God and Father who calls us daughter and son and urges all the heavenly host to rejoice with Him “for these my sons and daughters who were lost, but now they are found, they were dead in trespasses and sins, but now they are alive in Christ Jesus and by the Holy Spirit.”
In one of Ngaio Marsh’s novels of New Zealand, a tiki, a Maori religious symbol, has been given as a birthday gift to the leading lady of a group of actors from England. It’s being passed from hand to hand through the company. They all find the figure grotesque and its fertility symbolism embarrassing. There’s mocking laughter and muttered comments as the actors point out its strange features to one another. Inspector Roderick Alleyn is a bit ashamed for them and apologizes to a Maori doctor who is dining with them and has explained the figure’s significance. “Oh,” the doctor replies, pleasantly, “so my great-grandparents have laughed over the first crucifix they saw.” Surely we don’t give our Lord cause to be ashamed of us?
Christ crucified — “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,” but surely not to us, “those who are the called.” To us the crucified One is “Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-25). The wisdom of God — even though the disciples “did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him,” surely we understand what He was talking about.
“Odd of God” indeed, to humble Himself in Jesus, the Son, so as to be last and the servant of all, in order that He might be both under the law and nailed on the cross for us, and so that we might be welcomed by Him into the family. Oh what blessed oddness! What prodigals would reject the Father’s welcome, the rings on their fingers, the festive robes on their shoulders; would complain about the way the Father formulated the welcome? And if we gladly accept this wisdom of God, by which we are saved, will we not also agree to and understand this wise counsel to make ourselves last and make others welcome?
Now, of course, the issue is about passing that welcome along. Welcomed in that uninhibited, unlimited, unreserved, incomprehensible way, we are to welcome everyone whom God welcomes. Any friend of God’s is to be a friend of ours. We are to choose to be the last of all and the servant of all. “Jesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, He said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Moreover, there should be no stupid excuses that sound like Pilate as he washed his hands of Jesus.
“Father, I am one who has sinned against heaven and against you, and am not therefore able to welcome just anyone. I will, therefore, ignore some and let them alone. I will welcome whom I like, only the ones I like, and let the rest go.” Would we want God to hear further echoes of Pilate’s speech: “I find no fault in those others. It’s not that. I just don’t like them. They’re not my type. I will therefore chastise them and let them go.” What is our unwelcoming problem?
In the Second Lesson, James makes our weakness very clear. “Where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.” James asks, “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?” And James says about us, “From your cravings, your wanting, your coveting, your wrong asking, your friendship with the world, your pride.”
It’s fitting that Jesus gives His second summary of His sacrifice just before pointing out this sin of wanting to be the greatest. He came to change us, to alter our constant craving for greatness. And His method was to welcome us, no matter what we were like, to make Himself the servant of all, to be last and least, so that we could be forgiven and made first. It’s easy, of course, to say that Jesus made the easy choice. He took a little child … everyone can love a baby.
But what if I told you how that child grew up, if I told you that he was neglected at home, abused by companions, that he fell into bad company and became a brigand and was himself crucified, and if I told you that there on the cross this Jesus took him again — not into His arms, for they were nailed to his own cross — but took him into His forgiving embrace and promised him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” — if I told you that, would you still excuse yourself from not welcoming all those whom the Lord welcomes? This is an example of course, but what if it were true?
We don’t now how that child turned out. However, we do know this, that Jesus never turned away any. Jesus, the Son of the most high God welcomed all. And yet, this same Jesus was the servant of all. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father and is the greatest. And this Jesus has made each one of us great.
This Jesus has welcomed us. The Father who sent Him has welcomed us. And each one of us can become greater than we are, than we have been. All that God has done in Christ Jesus’ agony and resurrection has worked together for good for us. For we love God. We are called according to His purpose. Day by day we are being more and more conformed to the image of Christ’s greatness. We know more and more that we are within a large family of the welcomed. The Holy Trinity has taken us up in the arms of Holy Baptism and has placed us among the family of the Church. And because we are welcome, God says, “You too can welcome.”
“Lord, I would be selfless. Help Thou my selfishness!” We are able. We’re big children now. We’ve been given the wisdom. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” We are called to place others before ourselves even when doing so is hard because the other is different, is even unlikeable or from another land.
As many of you are aware, there is a refugee crisis in Europe. Almost nightly, on the news, we see countless people fleeing from the Middle East, from war torn regions trying to find a better, safer place for themselves and their families. News crews have documented the tragedy of the situation: many left with little more than the clothes on their backs, they reach the borders with little to no money. They are hungry, tired, scared and sometimes greeted with little to no hospitality. Many are placed in holding areas with poor sanitation, little food and inadequate accommodations, forced to sleep wherever they can find a spot. The countries of Europe are trying, but they have limitations and they have to be cautious.
There are rumors that members of ISIL can be found among those fleeing. There seems to be evidence that these are more than rumors, since some of the pictures released show people waving the ISIL flag as they clash with authorities. It makes a difficult situation even more challenging. Do the affected countries simply block all those fleeing from entering because of a few who would try to spread their hate? The security of their country and their citizens is a real concern. It’s a real issue that has to be considered. But there is still an immediate problem and I’ll ask you the same question I have asked all the pastors I have met with this week; both NALC and LCMC pastors. What is the proper Christian response? In light of our epistle and gospel readings, how are we to place others before ourselves and become servants of all. How are we to show our good life and works born of gentleness and wisdom?
Are we to sit and do nothing because that’s someone else’s problem? Are we to condemn the refugees and reject helping them because ISIL members have come among them to spread their violence and hatred? What is the proper Christian response? That’s for each of us to decide.
As Christians we can’t sit idly by and watch suffering people suffer further. We need to support the efforts of the agencies that are trying to provide food and basic hygiene supplies to those traveling and in holding areas. We need to set aside our worldly, naturally, self-focused reactions and put others ahead of ourselves. With an attitude of servanthood, we need to respond in a Christ-like way. We need to bear in mind that Jesus set before us the example. Than no matter how tired He was, He always responded and met the requests of those in need.
Amen