8-21-2016

Good Morning All!!          

      Mark 9:35;”And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 

    Do you remember Muhammad Ali?  Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, the Ali shuffle, the rope-a-dope; all these phrases were associated with him.  Yet the most famous was his claim that he “was the greatest boxer, the greatest fighter of all time; I am the greatest!”  This boast made him the most loved and most hated boxer of his era.  Most people who followed sports at all had an opinion on Muhammad Ali.  Was he the greatest, I don’t know; he was very good.

        We often hear debates about the greatest.  The interesting thing about these arguments is that we are somehow involved with the one we proclaim as the greatest.  What is the greatest combine?  Odds are it is what you own.  Who is the greatest team?  You probably cheer for them.  No matter how we look at it, we like to be the greatest, either personally or vicariously.  We like to be the important one.

     We may feign modesty and claim not to want to be in charge but when important decisions are made, we want our opinion heard and followed.  We like to be the greatest; we seek to be the greatest.  We want to be on top.

     This is really part of our sinful nature.  When God created man, man was to care for the creation and to live in God’s presence.  When sin entered the world, man went from a creature that loves, with all its focus outward, to a creature that lusts, with all its focus inward.  With our focus inward, we no longer feared or loved God; we became God’s enemy.  We sought out our own personal greatness by placing all our selfish goals and ambitions above everyone else.  We see this often as people, whom the world views as successful, have broken relationships left in the wake of their drive and desires.

    Yet God calls us back to our humanness.  God calls us back to the relationship with him that we were created for.  God calls us through his Son to return to the family and to live a life where we fear, love and trust in God above all things.  Our greatness is found in God’s love pouring out of us, going through us, to be a blessing to those around us.  Our greatness is not found with an inward focus but with an outward one.  We are to be creatures of love seeking to serve others with comfort and consolation, with a helping hand and a willing back, with a word of hope and a word of prayer. 

    God calls us back to the peace that he alone can give.  God brings to us the comfort and the reconciliation to make our lives whole.  This is part of our re-creation which continues until we return to live with him in heaven.    

Dear Father, our greatness is found in your undying love.  Give us that due sense of peace and contentment.  Guard us from the devil’s snares of selfishness and self-centeredness.  Move us to love as you have loved us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret