September 24 Sermon
Forget yourself to think about others
Today’s gospel recounts
another embarrassing moment in the life of the disciples. The day’s journey was over, and, “When they
were in the house, Jesus asked them: ‘What were you arguing about on the
way?”
But they were speechless - Jesus wasn’t supposed to hear
what they were talking about -
“For on the way, they had argued with one another who was the greatest.” - which one of them was the best disciple - who should get the top jobs in the kingdom. Mark 9:34,35
Just last week Jesus had
said: “If any one would follow me,
let them deny themselves, and take up the cross and follow me.”
Jesus taught them about self denial, but on the way “they had
argued about who’s first.”
The disciples were speechless
and embarrassed because they recognized the discrepancy between Jesus’
way of self denial and their concern about who is the greatest.
They had heard what he said, and understood, but didn’t put it into
practice.
Could that be true of us too?
Do we listen to Jesus teaching but fail to practice it?
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Wanting to be first is part of human nature. Here during the week at the Day Care,
when the teacher tells the 3 year olds to line up to go wash their hands before
lunch, they all rush to be first in line - a little clump of kids
pushing - and then the teacher reminds them:
“Whose the line leader today? She goes first.”
Being a first
is a coveted position among three year olds and maybe also for adults,
but God’s idea is different, as Jesus explained
So you want to be first - the greatest? Then take the last place and be servant of everyone else. Mark 9:35
Jesus wanted them to understand how God views greatness.
”Greatest” means “more”. By
human standards, a person is great because they excel in some way - exceed
others - are more than them.
By implication, there are others who are less than them - who don’t
measure up to that standard.
Jesus said the disciples were measuring in the wrong direction. By the way God measures, true greatness
doesn’t
have to do with being above others in some way - but rather in
how far we are willing to go for others -- including them,
helping them, caring and loving.
It’s an example of what Jesus said last week when he gave a different
perspective in life. Don’t look at it
from a merely human point of view, but instead try to see it from God’s
perspective.
If you insist on saving your life, you will lose
it. Only those who lose their lives for
my sake and
the sake of the gospel will ever know
what it really means to live.
This truth is so important that it is repeated five times in the
gospels.
God wants you to love and serve others unselfishly. As you express Christian love in service to
others - you do temporarily forget about yourself - and then you find meaning
and fulfillment - you find yourself.
It’s a recurrent theme in the New Testament. James writes
If you are wise and understand God’s ways, show it by
a good life of works done with gentleness born of wisdom. James 3:13
Paul expresses the same thought in this way:
Forget yourself long enough to lend a helping hand. Philippians
2:4
This is what it means to “lose your life” - forgetting your self so you
can think about others. When we forget
ourselves and stop focusing on our needs, we become aware of those around us
and their needs.
The quality of self forgetfulness doesn’t come naturally. It’s difficult because by nature, I am
selfish - I think mostly about me. To
think “me first” is in born. That’s the
way we begin life. The baby cries,
saying “Meet my need, NOW.”
So humility - forgetting about
me so I can think about others - is a daily struggle - a lesson I must learn
over and over.
*
Forgetting yourself to be of service to others does seem to come
naturally at one point in life – when you first become a parent. When that baby is born your whole life
changes – all your priorities are re-arranged.
Parents naturally put the needs of that little one above their own. They deny themselves and sacrifice for their
child.
Why?
Obviously because they love their child – perhaps love it more than
anything else in the world. And it is a
special kind of love. It is a love that
gives and gives – and asks nothing in return.
In that sense it is like the love of God for each one of us. God loves us because we are His children – he
created us. His love is a gift that does
not demand anything back.
Jesus says this is the kind of love that we are to show for others – Love
one another as I have loved you. A love that forgets self in order to put others first. A love that gives and
serves.
Thinking about the love of parents for a new born brings out one more
point. They sacrifice for the baby, who
really can not repay them or sacrifice in turn for them. Yet they find it rewarding and fulfilling. It’s not an obligation but a joy.
So in losing their life – forgetting about themselves – they find a
more meaningful life – they experience joy and fulfillment.
Because they are beginning to live their life in accordance with their
creator’s design. That harmony with
divine purpose brings joy and satisfaction.
*
A second example comes from a different stage in life – when an adult
child cares for an aging parent. It also
can be an expression of self-giving love which does not ask anything back.
And again, that loving care can be rewarding – bringing a sense of
satisfaction.
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These two examples of love and care illustrate what Jesus is talking
about. He says we find ourselves as we
forget about ourselves in serving others.
He urges us to follow him in sharing that kind of love with others. Practice self-giving love not just with
little children or aging parents, but to extend it to the rest of the family.
In any relationship, each
partner has to think, not just of their needs, but of those of their
partner. In a healthy relationship you
do forget about yourself to think of the other.. You can’t say it’s all about me and my needs.
Jesus tells us to extend that attitude of humility and service beyond
our families to our brothers and sisters in our church family – and to all
around us.
*
As an example, next Sunday we will collect food and money for Daily
Bread, our ministry that distributes food to those in need every Tuesday
morning.
Another church had a similar program, and a 10-year-old boy reminded
his mother on Saturday evening that tomorrow was the day to collect canned
goods for the needy. He wanted to know
if he could take some stuff from their kitchen.
His mother told him to help himself, so he started getting out cans of
beets, succotash and spinach – all the things he didn’t like.
When his Mother went over and added a can of Spaghetti-O’s and a box of
Fruit-Loops he objected. “No, I like
Spaghetti-O’s and Fruit Loops.” He
didn’t want to give foods he liked to someone else.
His mother patiently explained that, when helping others in Jesus’
name, we treat the needs of others as important as our own. We give them what we value – what we like –
to show Jesus’ love.
Jesus teaches that our behavior - in our families and in the
church - must be different from that of the world around us -
- If you want to be first, Jesus says, you must put yourself and your needs
last - forget self - and serve others.
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Long ago there was a tribe of Indians who lived near a swift and
dangerous river. The current was so
strong that if someone happened to fall or stumble into it they would be swept
away.
One day the tribe was attacked by a hostile war party. They had their backs against the river. They
were greatly outnumbered and their only chance for escape was to cross the
rushing river. They huddled together,
and those who were strong picked up the weak and put them on their shoulders -
the little children, the sick, the old were carried on the backs of the strongest.
They waded out into the river, and to their surprise discovered that
the weight on their shoulders - by carrying the least - helped them to keep
their footing and make it safely across the river.
“If you want to walk on secure ground in this life, it helps if you
carry someone with you.”
Jesus says by this – by your love for your brothers and sisters
- a love that forgets self to think of others.
– all will know that you are by
disciples.
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Where Charity and love abide,
there God is ever found -
- That we may love each other well
in Christian gentleness