Proverbs 31:10-31                   Psalm 1                        James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a                Mark 9:30-37

Jesus travels through Galilee then on to Capernaum.  As they travel he is aware that his apostles are arguing, they are arguing about who is the best – the 8:00 or the 10:30 crowd – just kidding.  They are arguing about which apostle is the greatest.  Jesus waits until the end of their journey before he asks what it was about.  They are silent.  You and I know that silence referred to here in the gospel – it is the silent response a parent gets when asking, who ate the cookies?  It is the silent response a teacher gets when asking, who was talking?  Everyone sits still and looks away from the person asking the question. 

            In the book, The People of the Lie, Scott Peak says that evil avoids the light.  He suggests that fighting evil requires us to live in the light.  When our sinful actions and words are exposed to light for all to see and hear, we become embarrassed and ashamed.  Rumors divide people because they are said when the person is not around.  The “news” about another’s mistake is not said in front of the person.  In fact, if the person walks into the room, a hush falls over the room and people look away.

            So it is in this story.  Jesus shines a light on the sinful pride and competitiveness of his disciples simply by asking the question, “What were you arguing about on the way?”  He knew, just as the parent knows who ate the cookies – just as the teacher knows who was talking.  The apostles are silent, ashamed.  All it takes is for the teacher’s attention to turn to the students for them to know they are not being the people they are meant to be.  Jesus lets his disciples sit in silence and then settles their argument; he tells them who is the greatest.  The first among them is the last, he says. 

Being first and greatest is not about recognition or authority.  James, in his letter, also speaks to this; “Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.  Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.”  It is the rare person, I believe that can read James honestly and not become uncomfortable. 

I have been tempted to think that I have achieved great things – James reminds us that what we achieve comes from above – not within.  What we do achieve we achieve by God’s grace.  By God’s grace we have received the talents, abilities, and opportunities we have.  Even the few who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps have done so with God’s help.  They have the talent and ability they need and the right opportunities at the right time. 

As an executive of a successful hospital once told me, “our greatest challenge is not to get in the way of the hospital’s success by doing something stupid.”  That hospital was situated in the middle of a growing community – growing in prosperity as well as population.  They were supported by the community financially and recognized as the leading medical center in the area.  It would be easy in his position to take credit and boast that the hospital was successful because of its excellent management and leadership – but instead he acknowledged and gave thanks for their good fortune. 

He knew what the disciples forgot – we are successful when we don’t get in God’s way.  We are successful when we are servants of God.  Success is not measured; however, by material goods.  The first among us is the last; the first and greatest among us is the one who puts others first and is “the servant of all.” 

Then Jesus “took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’"  Children were not considered important in Jesus’ day. So here Jesus is challenging his disciples further by saying that when they welcome a child, they are welcoming him. 

A child is a person without influence, only need.  To welcome a child, then, is to serve the poor, to do for others without any expectation of personal gain.  Jesus is driving home the point that God’s desire for us is not to achieve power and recognition; God’s desire for us is to care for each other.  

At some level we all understand this.  We want to live in a community where we are loved and appreciated and where we love and appreciate others.  Yet, when a person enters into our circle we may let them in – but only partially.  We have our close knit group of friends and we have our “other friends” – the people we get along with in the community, at work, at church – just not the type we’d invite into our homes.   We’re okay with this until we read passages like these from James and Mark, that shine light on what we fail to do.  We know God is calling us to welcome the children, people without influence, people whose needs are greater than their ability to give – but we’re really not comfortable doing that, so we sit quietly. 

We shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves though – we’re in good company with the apostles.  We are all tested again and again, just as the apostles were tested.  And, just as they failed on the way to Capernaum, we fail.  We follow Christ, but we often get lost along the way and Jesus – the Good Shepherd, offers us a light in the darkness to help us find our way back to him.  Christianity is to strive to do better – every day.  It is to gather here, affirm our faith – then confess our sins.  We make peace with one another, and then we gather together before the table and receive God’s grace back into our lives in order that Christ might live through us.  That we might welcome the child, the disadvantaged, and by so doing, welcome Christ.