I was talking to a home-schooling mom last week and I learned that she and her children recently had a “Backwards Day.” They got up and put their pajamas on, had cake and then lasagna for breakfast. They went outside for recess, then they had their class work. They had a supper of orange juice and pancakes. And as they got ready for bed, they put on their clothes. Backwards... everything backwards.
And that’s how we live as disciples and followers of Jesus. Backwards and upside down.
There are three things I want you to take away from this sermon – first, God’s idea of greatness is very different from ours. Second, whoever is to be first in the Kingdom of God must be the servant of all. Third, we are called to welcome, embrace, and place the marginalized, the invisible and over-looked, into the center of our gathering.
First "greatness" – As Americans, we think of ourselves as living in a society where there are no social classes, right? Where "all men are created equal." But the fact of the matter is that we have a definite pecking order; we tend to think about greatness in terms of who has the most possesions or power – who has the most STUFF. We rank people according to the size of a their home, and how fancy the neighborhood, and whether a person owns their home or rents it. Ownership is better than renting; larger is better than smaller; the right side of town is better than the “other” side of the tracks. And if we live in a "gated community" – now that's pretty spiffy!
We rank people according to the number of cars that they own and how big and fancy the cars are. I remember discovering a few years ago that our car that had seat warmers in the driver’s seat. Greatness is having a cozy tush!
We rank people according to the level of their education. The more education, the better; the more elite the school, the better. Certain degrees are better than others in the greatness scale. The purpose of education after all was not education but getting a “good job.”
And we certainly rank ourselves according to the work that we do. White collar is better than blue. Salaried work is better than wage. Being a manager is better than being worker. We always strive to be among the “best.”
We read last week that Jesus rebuked Peter because Peter’s focus was not on divine things but on human things. Peter was focused on himself – on what his life would be like if Jesus turned out to be some kind of loser, instead of a powerful Messiah. But that is the essence of sin – when we are turned in on ourselves, instead of turned outward to God. But, God sees greatness very differently than society does. God looks beyond where we live, what we drive, how we dress, the job we have, the number of degrees we hold. God is concerned about at the relationship that he created with us, the covenantal promises we made when we were baptized. Our baptisms are the great equalizer. No one greater or lesser among the baptized.
Second, Jesus teaches us that whoever is to be first in the Kingdom of God will be the servant of all. Let’s think about servanthood. As a servant, I am at someone else’s beck and call. As a servant, I don’t get to pick my tasks.
How many of you here have an older brother or sister? Do you remember what you used to say to them? "YOU can’t tell ME what to do!" There's something in our human nature that chafes against taking direction from anyone else. Everybody wants to be their own boss! When we're kids, we can't wait to be an adult, so we can do what we want! That's the meaning of being an adult, isn't it?
But Jesus teaches us a different way; he teaches us that we are all servants to one another. Now there are two words in Greek that can be translated “servant.” One is doulos. This means more like a slave – it refers to one who is under the total control of someone else. The other is diakonos, which means doing something that someone else tells us to do and that is of assistance to someone else. This word is the source of our English word deacon or deaconess. This type of servant may perhaps be better understood as a minister.
Now, who knows who the ministers of the Church are? According to the catechism in your Book of Common Prayer, the ministers of the Church are the lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons. In other words, we are ALL ministers of the Church. We ALL care for and minister to each other. And we ALL tend to God’s work in the world around us – where we work, our families, the clubs we belong to, the communities where we live, the grocery stores we shop at. We are the Body of Christ in the world – or as a Lutheran friend of my says it, "It's God’s work. Our hands."
And we are not just servants of those who are most like us, or those whom we like. Jesus said that we are servants of ALL. And this is the third point. Jesus took a little child in his arms and placed it in the midst of this gathering of the disciples and said, "Whoever welcomes one like this child in my name welcomes me and welcomes the one who sent me."
Now, we need to ask what Jesus meant when he referred to a little child. Most little children are a joy to welcome and embrace. They are cute, and cuddly, and helpless all at the same time. They are vulnerable and need our help and protection. All that is true. But I think Jesus was saying something even more. Because, in Jesus' day, childhood was a time of great fear. They were most invisible and least important members of society. First of all, the infant mortality rate could be as high as 30%. Then of live births, 30% were dead by age six, and 60% were gone by age 16. Children were most vulnerable to disease and famine. And few of them would reach adulthood with both parents still alive.
We are called to serve the most vulnerable in our society. We are called to serve those who are invisible to those in power with authority. We are called to serve the ones who are orphans, those who have no one to stand up for them, and advocate on their behalf. Some of those people are somewhere "out there", and we have to go find them. But some may be sitting next to you, people who are struggling to make ends meet, or who don't have anyone to talk to at home.
We are called to minister to each other in the name of Jesus, to welcome the other and bring them in to live among God’s people. Our baptism is a covenant with God, a sacred relationship with God and with each another, a holy trust to love God and our neighbor. And the shape of that relationship is servanthood.
The Kingdom of God is backwards – God’s definition of greatness is backwards from society’s definition of greatness.
The Kingdom of God is filled with servants – we are to be servants of all, and ministers to all.
The Kingdom of God has no orphans – we are to serve even those most vulnerable, and the weakest among us.
The Kingdom of God is right here, and right now.
Thanks be to God.
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