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. There was even a song about him. 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.
It is easy to fall back into the life of
inward focus; the devil and our sinful nature encourage it. Yet we find this life to be hollow and
lacking any sort of true satisfaction.
The life of inward focus leaves us only wanting more, more attention,
more greed and more self-centered desires.
It is never quenched; we never have peace or contentment.
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,
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