Who was the Greatest

This passage from Mark’s Gospel echoes in ways, the proverb from last week (Do Not Boast) concerning letting someone else tell about your achievements.

Do you follow sports? I have to admit that I really don’t but considering that I had five children and three of them were sports buffs, I needed to keep up in order to be able to talk with them. What I noticed over the years is that those teams that played as teams won more often and achieved more trophies that those that did not. The saying, “There’s no ‘I’ in team,” sums this up. It also works in other areas of life as well. Offices can’t operate when one person thinks that he or she has to supervise every move. Can you imagine calling the fire department and having the firefighters arguing over who goes up the ladder first!

Jesus is telling us how foolish it is to be worried about being the greatest.

What is success? Is it how we look in the eyes of the world, or how we look in the eyes of God? Jesus tells us over and over again in the Gospels just as the prophets did in the Old Testament, what is important – serving others. He especially wants us to serve the least, the most vulnerable in our society and the poor. God does not judge us by the same standards as the world. The world looks at outer beauty, while God looks at beauty of the heart. The world sees physical strength and financial or political power, while God looks at strength of purpose and commitment and the power to do the right thing in the face of ridicule.

May we each find our purpose in living as Jesus wants us to!

Great and glorious God, you have shown your greatness in the glory of creation, You have asked us to care for all of creation and most important of all, to care for each other. Give us the humility to follow your will without seeking the approval of others. Amen.