Luke 9:46 (NKJV); Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.

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1 Introduction Chuck Smith once said it was his goal, his desire, to have the best loved and best fed sheep. It was his recipe for greatness. Warren Wiersbe and David Wiersbe wrote; The foundation of ministry is character. The nature of ministry is service. The motive for ministry is love. The measure of ministry is sacrifice. The authority of ministry is submission. The purpose of ministry is the glory of God. The tools of ministry are the Word of God and prayer. The privilege of ministry is growth. The power of the ministry is the Holy Spirit, and the model for ministry is Jesus Christ. Jesus wants to teach us the way to greatness. The ministry in Galilee is about to come to a close. Jesus will go to Jerusalem and die (v.51). In this long chapter we have seen the compassion of Jesus and His need to prepare the disciples for ministry after His departure. The disciples have a long way to go before they can assume places of leadership and service, but Jesus is patient with them, just like Jesus is patient with us. In this chapter we are learning to serve Him (vv.1-17); learning to know Him (vv.18-36); learning to trust Him (vv.37-43); learning to love Him (vv.44-56). Our Desires for Greatness (v.46) Luke 9:46 (NKJV); Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. The disciples timing could not be worse. A dispute arises. They were arguing about who will be greatest. Jesus has delivered and healed a young boy (vv.37-43). Jesus has just said, Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men (v.44). The disciples are still thinking Jesus is on the fast track to becoming King of the Jews. Since Jesus is going to be King; Jesus is going to need a King s court. In their mind Jesus will need leaders to command the armies, and the treasuries, and of course a judicial branch of the government. Jesus will need ambassadors and dignitaries. Jesus must have been thinking about His trip to Jerusalem to suffer, die and come back to life. While Jesus thoughts were on His upcoming passion, the disciple s thoughts were on themselves. The first principle to godly greatness is to think about Jesus a lot more than you think about yourself. If you feel the need to think about someone other than Jesus than think about others. The disciples were full of themselves; like most of us, most of the time. One of the greatest difficulties we face is to own up to our own selfishness, pride, arrogance, conceit, ego-centric, self-admiring, self-esteeming, habitual, inflated, fat-headed, sense of self-importance. We think about ourselves more than anything else because the sad truth is we love ourselves more than we love anything or anyone. We desire greatness. We love great athletes, great performers, great art. We live in a culture intoxicated by celebrity. Muhamed Ali once said, I am the greatest. I am so great. I can t be beat. The only way I am going to be licked is if they put my pretty face on a postage stamp. 1

2 Mark 9:33-34 (NKJV); Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road? 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. Have you ever been involved in some petty affair and Jesus caught you red-handed? Face to face with Jesus they are too ashamed to talk. They are too ashamed to admit their petty jealousy, and posturing for power; their desire for worldly position, honor, authority, pleasure, wealth. We find pride in others disgusting. Yet in our own lives, we fail to see how sick and perverse we really are. Pride lures us into living a life independent of God. Psalm 10:11 The wicked say to themselves, God isn t watching! He will never notice. It is hard to live in blind sinful arrogance, and in humble dependence on God at the same time. Pride undermines our faith. The word great typically conjures images of wealth, power, influence or position. Greatness in the Kingdom is not power but love, not influence but service, not status or position but a person s ability to judge themselves in light of what God says about them. In the upside down world of the Kingdom of God, the first are last, the least are greatest, the rich are poor and the poor are rich. Christians in order to be fit for the Kingdom must learn the lessons of honesty, humility and forgiveness. In the verses that follow Jesus must deal with the problems of pride and pettiness. Who would Jesus pick? Why not pick Peter? He is after all the future infallible Pope! Or how about James? No he won t survive Herod s inquisition. He is a short timer. How about John? Too young. How about Thomas? Too uncertain. How about Judas? Christ s Demands for Humility (vv.47-48) Luke 9:47 (NKJV); And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, Imagine their shock and surprise when Jesus picks a little child. Jesus is using the child as a living, breathing, visual aide. Jesus spoke in the Aramaic language. In Aramaic the word child and servant are identical! I believe Jesus is using the child in two ways (1) as an example of humility and (2) as a picture of conversion or of being born again! Matthew 18:2-3 (NKJV); Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. The word converted in Matthew s gospel is more literally, unless you turn around. Jesus was in effect telling his disciples you are not headed for the Kingdom, but away from the Kingdom. Greatness, power, influence, prestige are not the way into the Kingdom. Pride and arrogance do not get you into the Kingdom. You must humble 2

3 yourself. Admit you are impoverished, bankrupt, without resource! In order to enter the Kingdom of God you must turn away from pride, turn away from sin, and turn to God. Luke 9:48 (NKJV);48 and said to them, Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great. Though loved and cherished, a child was the smallest and most powerless individual in Hebrew culture. The Talmud regarded spending time with children to be a waste of time. One rabbi wrote: Morning sleep, mid-day wine, chattering with children and tarrying in places where men of the common people assemble, destroy a man (Ab.3,10:R. Dosa b. Archinos; quoted in R. Kent Hughes p.365). Whoever receives this little child receives means to welcome when they welcome the smallest and least powerful they can receive the greatest most powerful Jesus. We are to receive one another not reject one another. Someone well said God wants us to have the heart of a child and a mature mind. Jesus is speaking of the qualities of dependence, the sincere desire to make others happy, the absence of boasting or the selfish desire to be in charge, in command. I am amazed at some of the things children say. I once asked Anthony, what are you gonna do with my body when I die? Anthony said, burn it, take the ashes, put it in an etch-a-sketch and say to my children, here play with your grandpa! They want to know who is greatest in the kingdom and Jesus in effect is saying you are not even headed in the Kingdom s direction, you must turn from the direction you are going and head in the Kingdom s direction. Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. You must receive Jesus. You must receive the Father. Jesus is in effect saying, the recipe for greatness, the ingredients for greatness begin with turning away from your sin, and self and turning towards God. You must think differently, about yourself, about others Whoever receives this little child. Jesus elevates the child to the role of ambassador, and representative of Himself! In Matthew s gospel (18:3) Jesus says, unless you are converted and become as little children. Jesus does not mean, spoiled children, whiny children, disobedient children, but rather honest children, trusting, filled with simplicity and innocence; the things we admire and adore in children. I read recently a list called the Toddler Property Laws ; 1. If I like it, it s mine. 2. If it s in my hand, it s mine. 3. If I can take it from you, it s mine. 4. If I had it a little while ago, it s mine. 5. If it s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way. 3

4 6. If I m doing or building something, all of the pieces are mine. 7. If it looks like mine, its mine. 8. If I think it s mine, it s mine. 9. If it s broken, it s yours. Look again at the end of verse 48; For he who is least among you all will be great. The Greek word is mikros. Sound familiar? Our word microscopic comes from this world. Our pride flinches at this word. Mikros means small, invisible, minute, indiscernible, unseeable. Entrance into the Kingdom requires conversion, greatness in the Kingdom requires humility and service. I heard the story of man who was voted, Most Humble in his church. The church gave him a party and a pin that read, Most Humble Person In the Church. They eventually took the pin away from him because he wouldn t take it off. Humility has been called the grace or the virtue that once you know you have it, you ve lost it. Someone once defined humility as seeing your self the way God sees you! Warren Wiersbe wrote; True humility means knowing yourself, accepting yourself, and being yourself your best self to the glory of God. It means avoiding extremes: thinking less of yourself than you ought to (as did Moses when God called him; Ex.3:11ff), or thinking more of yourself than you ought (Rom.12:3). The truly humble person does not deny the gifts God has given him, but uses them to the glory of God (Wiersbe p.64). Humility is an imperceptible weight and pride is an awesome, heavy burden. For most people greatness is how high can I go? Humility is how low can I go? Jesus tried to explain to his own disciples you know how the Gentiles lord over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever wants to be first, let him be your slave! Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many (Matt.20:25-28). A servant has rights. But a slave has no rights. A slaves right is the Master s whim or expectations. The slaves rights is the Master s will. Jesus made it clear that service to God is service to one another. (v.48) Whoever receives this little child. This takes time, sacrifice, expense. I have met people who thought they were too good to serve in the children s ministry. God has called me too teach adults. Perhaps. But if you think you are too good to teach in the children s ministry you are not qualified to teach in the children s ministry. What do you want to do? Are you serving others? Do you serve in the nursery, in the parking lot, in the cleaning ministry? No I want to be Senior Pastor! I wouldn t lower myself to serve in the nursery! Oh really? Does the slave tell the master what he will or won t do? Is Jesus your master? Is Jesus asking you to use your time, your treasure, your talents and resources to serve? Jesus points out that humility and service go hand in hand. It is impossible to be a servant and not have humility and it is impossible to have humility and not look for creative avenues of 4

5 service. God humbles us in the revelation that He gives us our money, our gifts, our talents. God plans the events of our lives. God knows the trials, the problems and the goals we all have. Have you given God permission to interrupt your plans? Have you given God permission to use you? Well yes, if it doesn t conflict with baseball, soccer, work, skiing, etc. Does God really want me to sacrifice uh wrong word deny um put Him first I guess humility and service really aren t an option. A servant is always searching for his master s will. True greatness does not concern itself with being recognized. True greatness is measured by service, true greateness is characterized by profound humility. You will recall John the Baptist said he was not even worthy to be Christ s slave, to bend over and unfasten his sandals. If such a great person felt inadequate to be Christ s slave, how much more should we lay aside our pride to serve Christ. The Dangers of Elitism (vv.49-50) Luke 9:49-50 (NKJV);Now John answered and said, Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us. 50 But Jesus said to him, Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side. John is embarrassed; maybe he wants to change the subject. We saw someone casting out demons in Your name and we forbade him because he does not follow with us. Jesus said; do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side. He is doing the Master s will, in the Master s name, with the Master s power (see Wuest). We are to receive one another and not reject one another. In Numbers 11:26-30; Joshua received some upsetting news; Eldad and Medad were prophesying (preaching) in the camp of Israel. To Joshua this was an affront to Moses leadership. After all, Moses was God s man. Alarmed and jealous, Joshua said; make them stop! To Joshua s surprise Moses said Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit in them! (Numbers 11:28-29). Thank God Moses was there for Joshua. And thank God Jesus was there for John. Jesus is gracious and self-less. Loyalty is good but misguided loyalty can be tragic, petty, small, even vicious. When people in church jockey for position, and succumb to petty backbiting, accusations or insinuations, few things are worse! True humility, true servant leadership knows nothing of the self-promoting spirit. In the Church we still ask; who is the greatest? Only we say, which church or which Bible teacher is the most right- on ; great teachers, great ministries, great global outreaches. We still want greatness. We want to sit in the seat of honor, attend power luncheons and engage in global evangelism (not so much to reach the lost but to remind the world of my wonderful ministry). People still define the effectiveness of ministry in terms of greatest influence, power and control. We want the fastest growing church, 5

6 fastest growing radio or television ministry. The most significant ministries are still measured in sheer volume. Can we have love and doctrinal purity at the same time? I believe we can. Why then is there so much disunity, division, problems, sects and schisms? I believe part of the problem must be linked to pride! We think too highly of ourselves! We exaggerate and inflate who we are! It was pride that transformed Lucifer from a perfect angel into Satan! Pride caused Adam and Eve to taste forbidden fruit. Pride attempts to make one self-satisfied. I discovered a note, with a rather intriguing title: How to Be Perfectly Miserable. (1) Think about yourself. (2) Talk about yourself. (3) Use the personal pronoun I as often as possible in your normal conversation. (4) Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. (5) Listen greedily to what people say about you. (6) Insist on consideration and respect. (7) Demand agreement with your own views on everything. (8) Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them. (9) Never forget a service you may have rendered. Expect to be appreciated. (10) Be suspicious. (11) Be sensitive to slights. (12) Be jealous and envious. (13) Never forget a criticism. (14) Trust nobody but yourself. A Rabbi and a New England minister were getting to know one another. Proudly, the minister exclaimed, One of my ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence. I understand your pride, responded the Rabbi. One of my ancestors signed the Ten Commandments. Contrast that list with Philippians 2:1-2 (NKJV); Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Think about it. As Christians you were not saved to live for yourselves and think about yourselves. When Christians are living for themselves and not for others, there is bound to be conflict and division (see Wiersbe; TBEC Vol. 1; p.64). Conclusion Someone has well said, To live above with saints we love, will certainly be glory. To live below, with saints we know now that s a different story. Heaven is our future home. But right here and right now we must learn to live with each other and love each other. In order to love each other we must esteem others better than ourselves. We must love Jesus more than we love ourselves. We must think about Jesus and others more than we think about ourselves. 6