September 26th

Size Does NOT Matter

Mark 9:30-37



Some of you already know that I started substitute teaching this school year. And I have to say, it has been quite the experience! I have “subbed” for all grade levels—elementary through high school—and at various locations throughout the city.

But, while my experience has spanned the various grade levels, about 95% of my assignments to this point have been for middle school—grades 6-8. Oh, yeah! Grades 6-8, ages 11-13, where raging hormones, peer pressure, and attitude all combine to produce some very interesting situations.

One thing I have noticed, however, is that no matter where I sub, almost every middle school classroom I enter asks me three questions. First: “You talk funny, Mr. Spears. Where are you from?” Now, with this question, I have learned I can score some “cool points” if I tell the class I moved here from Atlanta. Why is that? Atlanta is home to a lot of hip hop and rap stars. So, being from the “ATL” gives me some “street cred.” And trust me, folks, in today’s classrooms, you need all the “street cred” you can get.

The second question is, “Mr. Spears, are you related to Brittney Spears?” I actually messed with one class and told them I was Brittney’s grandfather. One very bright young person immediately picked up on the fact that I was far too young to be the pop star’s grandfather—an uncle, perhaps—but not a grandfather. It’s nice to know that brown-nosing the teacher hasn’t gone out of style. Of course I had to confess to them that I was not related to Brittney, and the kids who did not buy my story had a great time teasing those who did.

The third question is, “Dang (or some other four letter word), how tall are you, Mr. Spears?” You see, for these young people, size—defined here as height—matters. For example, there have been a couple of instances where a student has stood up from his seat to challenge an instruction I have given, looked up and saw that I was not amused, and has immediately sat back down. Hey, whatever works!

Of course, middle school students are not the only people who put a premium on size. As we grow into adulthood, we tend to move toward a fascination with size measurements of different kinds—bank accounts, number of vehicles, square footage of homes, number of homes, titles, honors, and the list goes on.

Followers of Jesus Christ are not exempt from these fascinations, either. If you remember the reading from Mark last week, Peter and the rest of the disciples seemed to have their minds set on human ego, glory, and honor. Jesus set both them and the surrounding crowd straight on the meaning of discipleship when he basically said, “Look if you want to be my disciple, it isn’t always going to be easy, You’re going to have to learn how to deny yourself. You are going to have to learn to give your live away in service to others.

Picking up from last week, we know that the disciples now know that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and that Jesus has explained to them what being the Messiah and following the Messiah means. So, to review, their systematic theology of confessing Jesus as the Messiah is on track, and they have received their first lesson in practical theology—in other words, what their confession means in practical terms.

What’s next? Putting their practical theology to work in the community. Just before today’s reading the disciples are unable to cast a demon out of a young boy. Jesus saves the day, and later the disciples ask him in private why they could not cast out the demon. Jesus told them that the kind of demon the boy had could come out only through prayer.

Hmmm. It looks like the disciples forgot to pray. In other words, they were still relying on their own sense of perceived greatness and connections to Jesus rather than praying and relying on God to work through them in order for positive change to occur.

Sound familiar? Sure it does! All of us here have faced challenges in our lives that we thought we could handle on our own. Maybe the challenge was a rough relationship or an addiction. Whatever the challenge, folks, what this lesson means for us is that as much as God loves us, no matter how smart we are, no matter how talented we are, there are going to be certain “demons” that we can deal with only by prayer and reliance on the power of Almighty God.

So, still not quite getting the meaning of Jesus’ message, in today’s passage, Jesus takes the disciples away for a “retreat” of sorts to give them a little more in-depth training. Now, after what just happened, we might think the disciples would be pondering the meaning of Jesus’ last words to them about prayer. Oh, but no! They are having a “Muhammad Ali” moment. They are arguing about whom is the greatest. Can you imagine the conversation?

James and John, otherwise known in the Bible as “the Sons of Thunder” start the argument by making their claim to greatness because they think they deserve to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in heaven. But of course Peter will have none of it. “You might recall, that it was I who got out the boat and walked on the water during the storm. The rest of you were practically wetting your robes!”

Matthew shoots back, “Yeah, you got out of the boat, alright—and sank like a rock!”

While the other disciples laugh, Peter doesn’t miss a beat. “Go ahead, laugh all you want. But speaking of “rock,” I don’t remember Jesus calling any of YOU the rock upon which he would build his church!”

“True’, replies Andrew, ‘but he didn’t call any of us Satan, either!”

Always having to have the last word, Peter says, “Well, he may have called me Satan, but he was looking at all of you when he said it!”

Jesus apparently is walking ahead, and just like on a road trip with the kids, he is acting like he doesn’t hear a thing. But trust me, he knows every word that has been spoken. But Jesus doesn’t say anything—at least until they arrive at Capernaum. Jesus then asks, “OK, guys, what’s all the commotion about?” And in true middle school fashion, the disciples clam up because they know that they are so busted.

But of course Jesus knows what is going on. So, to make his point—again—Jesus tells them, “Look, if you are so hung up on being first, here’s the secret: you have to be last and you have to be everyone’s servant.” Then, to emphasize his point, Jesus takes a child from the family in whose household they are staying and says, “By welcoming a child like this, you are welcoming me, and really you aren’t welcoming me as much as you are welcoming the One who sent me.”

Now we may not think welcoming a child is such a big deal. After all, most people love children and would not think of abandoning them, or otherwise mistreating them. But to understand what Jesus was saying, we have to understand that in Jesus’ time, children were non-persons. Lower than women and just slightly above slaves, children had no rights. Now this does not mean that parents did not love their children. It just means that in the public arena children had no place, and therefore, no honor. But to tell the disciples of a great teacher like Jesus that they had to respect and welcome even non-persons like children was simply unheard of!

But Jesus was saying even more than that. Jesus was telling his disciples they were to welcome all the powerless, unclean, and lowly people of society. All those folks that “polite society” refused to touch! How scandalous! After all, these were the disciples of the promised Messiah! Weren’t they are above all that?

Apparently not. For you see, folks, when it comes to Jesus Christ, size really does not matter.

I am here to tell you today that from the least to the greatest, God loves us all! From the man who begs for money at the intersection of Crosstown and Morgan to the President of the United States, God loves us all! From the prostitute on Leopard to the Pope in Rome, God loves us all! And scripture tells us that if God is for us, who is against us? Sisters and brothers, as disciples of Jesus Christ, believe the good news! We are not powerless! Through Jesus Christ, we have the power to become agents of positive change in our world!

But how do we access that power? We access that power by welcoming Christ into our lives. And how do we welcome Christ into our lives? First, we welcome Christi into our lives by repenting of our sins, and asking Christ to fill us with the presence of the Holy Spirit. But then, we welcome Christ into our lives whenever we volunteer at places like CASA, an organization that advocates for children in the Coastal Bend. We welcome Christ into our lives whenever we help to feed the hungry, house the homeless, speak up for equality, visit the sick, and sometimes even by just being a positive presence in a hurting person’s life.

My prayer for all of us today is that we make the choice to welcome Christ into our lives. Let’s serve the poor, the weak, and the oppressed. Let us serve one another during life’s challenges. Let’s take the love, grace, peace, and power that Almighty God has so graciously given to us, and share it with others so that they, too, may taste and see how great God is! Amen?

God bless you and amen!