Pentecost 18 Mark 9:30-37 Alone with Jesus

Jeremiah 11:18-20 James 3:16-4:6 Mark 9:30-37

There is a well-known poem written by Terry Kettering called:

    "There's an elephant in the room."

In our Gospel lesson we find the disciples walking along with Jesus. At this point in time, teaching His disciples had become a priority. And whenever Jesus was apart from the crowds, He devoted Himself to intensely training the Twelve.  Time was growing short for Jesus and they had so much to learn. He told them once again that He was going to be betrayed into the hands of men.  They will kill Him and after three days He will rise. But they did not understand what He meant and were afraid to ask Him about it. No one would talk about His death.  It was as if their great teacher had never mentioned it. They were, as the poem says, “Alone in a room with an elephant.”

So here we have the Twelve acting like strong, silent types. Standing before their great teacher, they found it humiliating to reveal their lack of understanding. As individuals, however they realized just how weak and afraid they were, but they held the truth about themselves inside, like a guilty secret, afraid that if the truth ever slipped out they would be berated by the other eleven. So they remained strong and silent because silence was needed to maintain the illusion of strength. And to further carry on their charade, they argued among themselves as to who was the greatest among them. 

As they got caught up in their fears and insecurities, they had disregarded what Jesus had told them.  Jesus was going to be killed and rise again after three days.  Regrettably however, their thoughts seemed to have balked at the words “be killed.” This kind of talk did not fit at all into their ideas of who the Messiah would be.  Their macho idea of a conquering Savior did not include someone who would be led like a ‘gentle Lamb to the slaughter.’

Jesus had to remind the Twelve over and over again that His death was necessary for His mission to be accomplished. Still, they were filled with false hopes concerning the Messiah and His coming kingdom.

Even for the Twelve it was a hard teaching that Jesus had to die on the cross. Saint Paul reminds us that the preaching of the cross is a  ‘stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.’ (1 Corinthians 1:23)  Even today many choose to ignore the Gospel of a crucified Savior and concentrate on trying to be the greatest as far as good works are concerned. There is still an attitude that if one is better then the next guy, then he can be assured that he will get into heaven or at least he will be further ahead in line.  After all, the theory goes, if one is good enough in action and deeds, he does not need concern himself with a Savior who had to die for his sins.

With that kind of attitude, Christianity becomes a challenge to be the best at social programs, political reform and becoming an outstandingly positive force in the world for good. The central thought of the Bible becomes human greatness rather than Jesus Christ’s bloody sacrifice to pay for the sins of all mankind. This idea of salvation by good works integrates all world religions into one. Jesus becomes an afterthought or just someone who gave us a benchmark by which we should measure ourselves.

His death becomes meaningless and His resurrection is only an example of what a perfect man can accomplish.  But who among us is perfect? And trying to do enough leave us with fears and insecurities because just like the Twelve, when we take an honest look at our lives we too are afraid that if the truth about us ever came out, we would surely be found lacking.

The great teacher still had more to teach the Twelve about the virtues of honesty, humility and God’s kingdom.  And we as His disciples still have much to learn.  So Jesus said to the Twelve and to us, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” 

True greatness according to Jesus is determined not by deeds that receive the greatest outward attention, but by humble service that often goes unnoticed. True spiritual greatness is determined by the amount of selfless service, which a person gives on behalf of others, not for any kind of personal gain, but simply out of love and thankfulness for the grace that God has already given them.

Jesus illustrated that by taking a little child in His arms and teaching, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Whenever we welcome anyone in Jesus’ Name we welcome Jesus Himself. This kind of welcome goes beyond tender-loving physical care.  To receive a child in His name involves spiritual care.  Jesus teaches us that caring for the spiritual needs of others is the highest work of God’s kingdom. And yet the world scarcely even notices or acknowledges this as being the path to true greatness. And what Jesus call greatness in His Kingdom is also greatness in the eyes of the Father who sent Him.

Jesus encouraged His disciples to put away envy and selfish ambition. James learned this from His teacher and passed those teachings on. James continues to tell you and me, “The wisdom that comes down from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” Oh, if only we could live up to those virtues! 

Thanks be to God that He sent His Son into this world who had all of these virtues. Jesus lived a life of perfection, free of sin and abounding in love for all mankind. But most of all we give thanks to God in Christ’s Name who died on the cross to pay for all of our sins. 

Baptized into Christ’s death, we die with him to the world and are raised in Him to eternal life. Here especially in the Church, Jesus gathers His disciples together so we can talk about the elephant in the room.  Here, we learn about Jesus in a sincere and intimate way, set apart from the world.  We speak about His death on the cross as well as our own mortality.  And we talk about His life and work here on earth, which led to His rising to an eternal, heavenly life.  And as we learn and grow in our confidence, we talk about our life in Christ and our resurrection promised by Jesus Christ Himself. 

We are His disciples who gather ‘alone’ together aside from the crowds to learn from Jesus.  We hear His words and search our individual hearts and confess our individual sins to God.  We talk to Jesus in prayer.  Prayer is to be a heart to heart talk with God, in which we reveal our innermost thoughts, worries fears and desires. We pray always with the underlying thought, “Thy will be done.”

And we receive His blessings of forgiveness as a group of faithful followers. We receive His very body and blood in the Lord’s Supper together as we proclaim His death and profess our faith in His life.  Then we serve Him as a congregation. Humbly in His name and confidently for the sake of His kingdom we go out into the world to welcome those who do not yet know Him.

But we do not go out alone.  As Moses taught God’s people many years ago, he also teaches you, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)  In Jesus Name, Amen.