While the culture of the world moves us to crave more, Jesus says “the first shall be last.” This word encourages us to go to the margins of society and live a life of service to others.

Vicar Natalie Wussler
The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 25 B
Texts: Jeremiah 11:18-20, Psalm 54; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37

Beloved in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

It’s the water we swim in, woven into the fabric of our society. More. This insatiable desire for more. We can see it everywhere we go. More money, more power, more status, more stuff. More. We’re caught by a selfish kind of ambition with never-ending cravings, forcing us into a rat race to the best places in society, not settling until we reach the top, and all the while looking over to see if what we have measures up to what our peers have. We have unlimited access to all the ways we can be more or become enough right at our fingertips! And it’s exhausting. Looking around, it seems like our culture is governed by the philosophy of “more”. James sensed this in his 1st century church. James observed his people ascribing to a self-centered earthly wisdom that fosters selfish ambition and envy. A quote, unquote “conventional” wisdom causing his people to look around at others and covet what they did not have.

And what was the fruit of this selfish ambition and envy? James says, disorder and wickedness of all kinds. Conflicts and disputes between people. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? What James talks about feels eerily similar to the conditions of our current society that run us all ragged in pursuit of more. Now this is not some tirade about ambition in our earthly existence. James makes an important distinction here. Selfish ambition that leads to envy is what we should flee from. An ambition that takes our eyes off of God and those around us and centers squarely on the self. This ambition hoards in pursuit of more, it does not share. This ambition envies the success of others. It’s a systemic, competitive struggle that leads to disputes that break down communities. It makes no space for those who can’t keep up in the race. This race to the top distracts people, leading some to say “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” to those who have no boots. Selfish ambition ultimately lets vulnerable people of all kinds fall through the cracks, leading some to feel like lambs led to the slaughter, like an uprooted tree cut off from the land of living, like someone who has been forgotten completely, Jeremiah says. This is what happens when the pressures of this cutthroat culture move us to crave more.

The disciples seem to get caught up in this same self-centered culture of “more”. While Jesus is trying to explain to women and men following him for the second time that he will be like a lamb to the slaughter, the disciples are confused and in fear, they don’t ask any clarifying questions. Maybe it’s because they don’t want to look stupid in front of each other and potentially lose their imagined superiority among the group. Or maybe it’s because the last time someone made a comment about Jesus’ death prediction, that person (Peter) was called Satan, and that would be super embarrassing, right? We’ll never know what caused their silence. But their fear to ask Jesus for whatever reason was greater than their desire to draw close to him. Their confusion soon turns into competition. 

They fall into selfish ambition and begin to dispute who among them is greatest. And in their squabbling, they once again miss the point and their hearts are hardened toward the reality of Jesus’ prediction. Their useless pursuit of more not only creates interpersonal strife, but it distorts their understanding of God’s mission on earth. This is what can happen to us when we follow the world’s conventional wisdom–we, like the disciples, can miss what is truly important about a life following Jesus. We can become too caught up in our own accolades instead of drawing closer to God and to each other.

And Jesus, knowing all along what the disciples are quarreling about responds: “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” This is a radical word, both in Jesus’ time and now. It’s hard to imagine a world where the first are last when the world we know is built on the power of a few so-called “firsts.” Jesus flips the world’s hierarchies around and prioritizes those considered “last.” And as an illustration, Jesus embraces a child and calls the disciples to do likewise. Welcoming children wholeheartedly, in this time, gained you nothing, as the Romans believed the only value children carried was that one day they would be adults.  This isn’t just a cute message about embracing children. Jesus is asking the disciples to welcome those who will gain you no earthly notoriety, no medals of honor, no promotions. But will mean everything in heaven. Jesus is directing his disciples to stoop to the lowest places and serve all. That’s our call today. 

It’s a path we do not take alone. Jesus, himself, took this path. We worship a God who was willing to be last of all and servant of all, a God who stoops down to us. Jesus spent his ministry in the low places with the sick, the grieving, the prostitutes, the tax collectors; those relegated to the low places in Roman society. Jesus stooped low to wash the disciples feet, a job typically only for the last, the forgotten people. And his message? “I have given you my example, do as I have done for you.” This is where God’s love is realized, serving in the low places.

And that’s our invitation. Jesus invites us to follow his example: get off of the earthly ladder to success and serve. To make ourselves low so that all be served and experience God’s love made manifest for them, whether they be poor, sick, houseless, grieving, abandoned, or forgotten. We can take our focus off of our endless pursuit of “more” and onto the needs of those who society puts down. In setting aside our earthly honors, we can dwell in a community where the lasts are firsts and the vulnerable are embraced. When you welcome these people wholeheartedly, Jesus says, you are welcoming the very presence of the Triune God. And as we bring ourselves low, God reminds us that we are beloved without anything we’ve gained in this life. That our value is not in our accomplishments, but instead in our identity as children of the Living God. As we are made last we gain everything. More community with less strife. More confidence in our enoughness in the face of God. More. This is the good fruit of the heavenly wisdom that James talks about. 

When we stoop to the places where our earthly titles and possessions carry little value, we can look at each other not as competitors, but as siblings in Christ, the greatest servant of all. We can set our selfish ambition and envy aside, quit the rat race, rest, and sit at a table where all are welcome, served, and loved.

In the name of the ☩ Father, Son and Holy Spirit.