Mark 9:30-37

"We're #1! We're #1! We're #1! We're #1!" Everyone wants to be number one: to be on top, the king of the hill, to win it all. We want our teams to win; it is the American way. We even take pride that our county is the strongest, the last remaining superpower.

I guess it is part of being human. We just naturally want to be better and bigger and stronger and faster than the others. It's a source of pride.

But that is what being #1 all boils down to: pride - the root of all sin. Now don't get me wrong striving for self-improvement is not bad in and of itself. But often times our striving to be better is driven by sinful pride pure and simple. Instead of looking to see if we have improved we look only to see if we have surpassed others. Then we can say, "We're #1!"

The disciples were human and had this same bent toward pride. Jesus had explained to them over and over. The Messiah will be handed over and killed and rise again. But they failed to understand. They couldn't accept that Jesus would be beaten and killed that evil powers would physically subdue the Son of God. It didn't fit their plans of conquest and glory. So they refused to hear it.

Instead they dreamed of being number one. They dreamed of the day when the Messiah would overcome the Romans, a day when Caesar, and Pilate, and Herod would be handed over to be killed. In that day when Jesus was crowned as the King of Israel there would be victory shouts.

And because they knew Jesus back before he had conquered, they would be given special places in the new Kingdom. They discussed whether Peter or Matthew would be the Chief of State in this Kingdom of God that Jesus said was coming. Judas would be Secretary of the Treasury they decided. James would handle the Department of the Interior and John would head the Foreign Affairs division. And so on...

At the end of the day's journey Jesus asked, "What were you talking about on the road?" They didn't answer, but Jesus knew. So he sat them down and said, "If any would be number one in my kingdom you must be last and servant to all." And he took and child and hugged it and said, "If you will but embrace one such child, you embrace me and not only that but you embrace the one who sent me as well."

The disciples still didn't understand despite Jesus' inventive teaching techniques. Later near the end of his ministry Jesus tried to teach them again what it meant to be number one in God's kingdom. He did so by knelling on the floor and washed his disciples' feet. Then, the next day he taught them by carrying a cross of sin and shame. And to embrace not just a child but the whole world he spread his arms wide and was nailed to the cross.

That was his coronation as the King of kings - a crown of thorns. And when it was over, where was Peter the Chief of State, or James and John the Secretaries of the Interior or Foreign Affairs? Where were those twelve disciples who wanted to bask in the glory of God's number one? They were gone. Only the women remained. Yes, the women who had traveled with the disciples attending to their needs stooping to care for them and never demanding a post or position or recognition. At that moment of Christ's victory over sin it was the servants who were at his feet. It was not the ones who sought to be number one but the ones who only sought to serve who were blessed to embrace the holy lamb of God at that moment of his sacrifice.

All this reminds me of a story.

Once upon a time there was a Squire who longed to be a knight. He wanted to serve his king and be the most honorable and noble knight who ever lived. At his knighting he was so overcome by dedication that he made a special oath. He vowed to bow his knees and lift his arms in homage to his king and him alone. This knight was given the task of guarding a city on the frontier of the kingdom. Every day he stood at attention by the gate of the city in full armor.

Years passed. One day as he was standing at attention guarding his post a peasant woman passed by with goods for the market. Her cart turned over spilling potatoes and carrots and onions everywhere. The woman hurried to get them all back in her cart. But the knight wouldn't help the poor woman. He just stood at attention lest he break his vow by bending his knees to help pick up the woman's goods. Time passed and one day a man with one leg was passing by and his crutch broke. "Good knight, sir, reach down and help me up." But the knight would not stoop or lift a hand to help lest he break his vow. Years and decades passed, the knight was getting old. One day his grandson came by and said, "Grandpa pick me up and take me to the fair." But he would not stoop lest he break his vow to the king

Finally after years the king came to visit and inspect the knight. As the king approached the knight just stood there at attention. The king inspected him as he stood there, but then he noticed that the knight was crying. You are one of the noblest knights I have ever seen why do you cry? Your majesty, I took a vow that I would bow and lift my arms in homage to you but I am unable to keep my vow. These years have done their work and the joints of my armor are rusted. I cannot lift my arms or bend my knees. With the loving voice of a parent the King replied, "Perhaps if you had knelt to help all those who passed by, and lifted your arms to embrace all those who came to you, you would have been able to keep your vow to pay me homage today."

Do you want to be God's number one? Do you want to embrace the Messiah the Lamb of God? Then practice stooping. Practice the art of humility. Reach down to give a hand to someone in need. Sacrifice your wants for the needs of another.

Jesus embraced a small child and said, "Whoever receives one such child receives me and the one who sent me." Most people would overlook a child, but not Jesus. If we want to receive the kingdom, we must receive the King. This king is not received by pomp and circumstance. He is received by humility and servitude.

Being number one in God's kingdom is not about conquering or overcoming another. It's about putting others first. It's about the love of an Almighty God who stooped to a sinful word to be beaten, mocked and killed. And why did God to it? Jesus did it so that a sinful wretch like me might be saved.

Mark 9:30-37

Wisdom is power. The saying goes that "Knowledge is power." We live in the information age. Many practice the belief that knowledge is power. Corporations go to great lengths to crunch the numbers, and collate the data so that they can statistically summarize in a revealing way. To gain an understanding that their competitor doesn't have.

Yet all this information produces very little wisdom. That's because wisdom is of a different quality. Wisdom isn't the product of gathering a vast quantity of knowledge. It is something else. Comparing wisdom to raw knowledge is like comparing apples and oranges. More correctly, it's like comparing coal to diamonds. They are both mere carbon. Yet diamonds are in a form that makes them vastly more valuable. Wisdom is an ability to understand and comprehend life. An understanding which goes beyond theories, even the grand theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. Wisdom is a form of knowledge that goes beyond what is taught in most classrooms.

If mere information is power than how much more powerful is wisdom. The quality of wisdom allows it to take an uneducated woman and make her the one that everyone comes to for advice. It takes an uneducated man and makes him the one Kings listen to. Perhaps that is why some people seek it. Those who are wise posses a power that is greater than those who are merely intelligent.

Jesus' disciples knew that wisdom is power. They were also aware that true wisdom comes only from God. And they knew that in Jesus, they had a direct line to God. At times Jesus would take them aside and teach them privately. Jesus would tell them things that he wouldn't tell the crowds. They were gaining knowledge from him that others didn't have.

On one occasion Jesus and his disciples went into hiding for a while. They were traveling through Galilee but Jesus wouldn't let people know they were there. Jesus was secretly teaching the disciples again. He taught them, "The son of man will be delivered into the hands of human beings and will be killed, and having been killed he will rise again on the third day." This privileged knowledge made the disciples think they were great, even if they didn't understand it. They thought themselves wise because of what Jesus had told them. And so as the traveled along they began to discuss among themselves which of them was the greatest.

Jesus knew what was going on. So when they got to their destination Jesus asked them, "What were you talking about?" They didn't say a word. They were ashamed of their conduct. In that one question Jesus imparted some real wisdom and they realized their own pride.

But don't be too quick to judge the disciples. We do the same thing. Some Christians spend a lot of energy and time trying to gain a better understanding of the Bible than their peers. They go through all kinds of mental gymnastics trying to extract some privileged knowledge from the God's Word. The most ludicrous example are those try to calculate the date of Jesus' return. Let's see, if you take Revelation 24:1 in the original Greek, and add up the sum of the numerical value of each letter and that should produce the year that Jesus will return. There! Jesus will return in the year 1845. That can't be right. Oh yes we need to multiply that by the square root of three. That is three for the Trinity.

Don't laugh. Many Christians do the same thing. We are like the disciples. We are here in God's house and Jesus is with us. The crowds of this world are out there looking Lord only knows where for direction and wisdom. We have been listening to the Bible which tells us of God's plan for the world. What have they been listening to.

Like the disciples Jesus has whispered something in our ears that the world does not know. We know that we are lost without God. We know that salvation come only through Christ. We know that God's Holy Spirit is here with us. We know that Jesus will return and all evil will be wiped off the face of the earth.

We know these things and the world doesn't! We know them because God the source of wisdom has told us. They are all lost, but we are wise. That makes us greater then them! Doesn't it?

Wisdom is powerful so we desire it. But it is elusive. Like diamonds, wisdom is hard to find. It comes only from God.

So we come to church, to God's house, to ask God for wisdom. We read the Bible and listen intently. We pray for guidance.

And Jesus stops us and takes us to some children playing in the church yard. Jesus takes one of them and hugs them and says: "If you want to be great you must serve as I serve. If you want to be wise you must love my children. Because when you love my children you love me. This is wisdom: That you love and honor God. This is greatness that you stoop to hug a child." In God's Kingdom wisdom is to serve God and greatness is to embrace the lowly.

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James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

A husband and wife who had been married for 20 years were riding down the road. As they rode a young couple passed them. The young woman was snuggled up against the young man. His arm was around her shoulder. And her head was on his shoulder.

The wife turned to her husband and said, "We used to be like that." And then with an accusing tone she continued, "Why don't we snuggle up to each other in the car like that?" The husband smiled, gripped the wheel and said, "I never moved."

Of course the meaning of that cute little story is that if we feel distanced from God it is because we have moved and not God. God has been here all along. It is we who from time to time move away from God not God who moves away from us. It is also we who must seek to turn to God and move back. Or as James said, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." (4:8)

That is James' conclusion in the passage we read this morning. But that's not all he tells us. It is one thing to say "Draw near to God" and it is another to do it. I assume that at least some of you are here this morning because you want a closer walk with God. And James doesn't just tell us to have a closer walk he gives us warnings about the road of earthly wisdom that leads us away from God.

James starts his description of the road of earthly wisdom that leads away from God with a question. "Who is wise and understanding among you?" (3:13) Now, we are all intelligent people. Many of us have college educations. And those of you who don't were smart enough to come to this church! I have sat in on Bible Studies and Sunday School classes and even taught a fair number and I have heard a lot of profound insights from members of this congregation.

But, sometimes wisdom and intelligence as good as they are can get in the way of being close to God. Paul warned that knowledge puffs up a person.(1 Corinthians 8:1) Sometimes people who are smart look down on others. This is even true in the church. There are some Christians who think they are better or holier that others because they know the Bible or church tradition better. But this kind of pride is really an earthly form of wisdom that leads away from God.

This same kind of worldly wisdom often leads to envy and selfish ambition. The logic is that more is better. If you have more than me, then you must be better. It's all about keeping up with the Jonses. It's about having the newest car, the fastest computer, the biggest house or the greenest lawn. These kinds of desires are from below and do not draw us closer to God.

James then goes on to say that this kind of worldly wisdom leads to conflicts. People desire what they don't have and then the even go as far as to kill to get those things. The story seems to be right out of the morning papers. An inner city student kills another for a leather jacket or a pair of athletic shoes. A suburban mom plots the murder of one of her daughter's peers so her daughter can be captain of the cheerleading squad. One country invades another to get at the natural resources in that territory.

We can see the connection between the worldly wisdom of self-centeredness and envy. And it's not surprising when you look at the commercial culture of our nation. Everyone is living for the "good life." That is "good" being defined materialistically. Whether they admit it or not, and most won't, many today live by the motto "The one who dies with the most toys wins." But what good will all those toys be when you are dead. You can't take it with you. The way of earthly wisdom leads to death.

Even our spiritual lives are tainted by this worldly wisdom. James says that we ask and then do not receive because we ask wrongly. Most people pray for the things they want without regard for using those things to serve God. They pray for money and power and things, only so that they can indulge themselves; so they can keep up with the Jonses. They appear to be religious because they pray but even their prayers are based on the way of worldly wisdom that leads to death.

This way of worldly wisdom is so easy to fall into. Its ways seem so logical. It is like the leader of a revolution. After defeating the oppressive government, he needs to consolidate power. In the process he finds himself turning to the same repressive tactics of his defeated enemy. It seems the logical and reasonable thing to do but in the end he becomes the very thing he rebelled against.

In the same way Christians often adopt the ways of the world. It seems wise to protect yourself and look out for number one. It seems reasonable that good hard working people should have the best things. It makes sense that God would want to give his children only the best that his world has to offer.

In the end Christianity becomes a means to wealth and power. One prays to get things. One serves others to look good in their eyes. One prays or meditates to calm the spirit or placate a hurting conscience so that one can keep do the very self centered things that Christianity opposes.

So how do we avoid this wrong way that leads to death? First we choose the way of humility instead of the way of pride. James says, "Show your wisdom by works of gentleness born of wisdom. James here sounds his familiar theme or demonstrating our faith by our works. But there it is more than that. If we actively humble ourselves before God it will affect the way we think.

He also says "Submit yourselves to God." That is the crux of the matter. Who is calling the shots? Are we seeking what we want or are we surrendering ourselves to God and seeking His will?

There used to be a bumper sticker which read "God is my co-pilot." While I appreciate the sentiment in that, it isn't quite accurate. The co-pilot is there to help the pilot. But it is still the pilot that is in charge. The Pilot outranks the co-pilot and gives the copilot orders. Perhaps it would be better to say I am the co-pilot and God is my pilot. He is the one calling the shots and I am talking orders from him

Who is the pilot in your life? Are you trying to call all the shots? Are you led by the worldly wisdom of self satisfaction and gratification? Are you experiencing envy and jealousy? Do you find yourself striving for and coveting things you don't have? Are you on the road to anger and destruction?

Or are you led by wisdom from above? Is your wisdom demonstrated by a life of humility? Does your life show the kind of purity, gentleness, mercy and good fruits that James says come from above? If it does then you are on the right road.

If not, then heed James' warning. Submit to God. Resist the devil. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

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