25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 9:30-37
I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A FAN OF WINSTON CHURCHILL, AT LEAST HIS WAY WITH WORDS. ONCE AT A PARTY SOMEONE COMMENTED THAT COMPARED TO GOD HUMAN BEINGS WERE WORMS. HE REPLIED, “THAT MAY BE TRUE, BUT I THINK OF MYSELF AS A GLOW-WORM.” IT SAYS IN THE SCRIPTURE TODAY THAT THE APOSTLES WERE ARGUING AMONG THEMSELVES WHO WAS THE GREATEST. ANY TIME YOU GET SEVERAL MEN TOGETHER IN CASUAL CONVERSATION, YOU ARE LIKELY TO HEAR A VARIATION ON THIS THEME. WHICH ONE HAS CAUGHT THE BIGGEST FISH; WHO HAS SEEN THE MOST AMAZING FOOTBALL PLAY; WHO HAS MET THE GREATEST CELEBRITY; IT IS EVEN INSTITUTIONALIZED IN MY FIELD OF MEDICINE, WHERE WE HAVE CASE DISCUSSIONS; EACH OF US TRIES TO OUTDO THE OTHER AS WE TELL HOW WE FIGURED OUT THE DISEASE OF A PARTICULARLY CONFUSING PATIENT.
I SUSPECT THE DISCIPLES, WHO FULLY EXPECTED THAT THIS JESUS WHOM THEY WERE FOLLOWING, THIS MAN WHO ADMITTED HE WAS THE MESSIAH AND PROVED IT BY SOME PRETTY IMPRESSIVE MIRACLES, WOULD SOON TAKE HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE AS THE GREAT PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING OF ISRAEL, AND HE WOULD NEED ASSISTANTS. AND PETER POINTED OUT THAT HE WAS A SHOE IN FOR CHIEF OF STAFF, BECAUSE HE HAD RUN A FISHING COMPANY; AND MATTHEW KNEW HE WOULD BE A GREAT SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN A TAX COLLECTOR; PHILIP COULD SPEAK GREEK, SO HE WOULD BE THE SECRETARY OF STATE; AND JAMES INSISTED HE WOULD HAVE A VERY HIGH PLACE BECAUSE AFTER ALL, HE AND JESUS WERE RELATED.
I THINK THIS BEHAVIOR IS NATURAL FOR MEN. I DON'T KNOW IF IT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN GET TOGETHER BY THEMSELVES. BUT I THINK WHETHER YOU ARE A MAN OR A WOMAN, SOMETHING IN EVERY HUMAN BEING LIKES TO THINK OF HIMSELF OR HERSELF AS A GLOW-WORM, A WORM, SURE, BUT SPECIAL.
AND THE WAY WE SEE OURSELVES NECESSARILY REFLECTS ON THE WAY WE SEE GOD; IF WE ARE THE CENTER, GOD IS THERE FOR US, GOD'S ROLE IS TO TAKE CARE OF OUR NEEDS, TO PROTECT US, TO BE ON HAND TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS.
LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE A PRIVILEGED ROLE IN OUR SOCIETY. WE VIEW THEM AS INNOCENT, DESERVING OF PROTECTION; WE TAX OURSELVES TO PROVIDE THEM WITH THE BEST EDUCATION WE CAN AFFORD; WE SEE CHILDHOOD AS A SPECIAL TIME AND ARE SHOCKED WHEN A CHILD SUFFERS OR IS ABUSED.
IN JESUS' TIME CHILDREN WERE LOVED AS THEY ARE TODAY; BUT EVERYONE KNEW THAT 50% OF NORMAL CHILDREN WOULD NEVER MAKE IT TO ADULTHOOD. A CASE OF PNEUMONIA, FOOD POISONING, A SNAKE BITE, AND DEATH WAS THE USUAL RESULT. WHEN FAMINE HAPPENED, CHILDREN DIED FIRST; IF YOU CUT YOUR BARE FOOT ON A STONE IN THE STREET, YOU MIGHT DIE OF TETANUS. AND IF YOU WERE BORN WITH A PROBLEM LIKE DIABETES, THERE WAS NO HOPE FOR YOU.
AND CHILDREN HAD NO REAL RIGHTS. A WIDOW OR A SINGLE WOMAN, EVEN A SLAVE, COULD OWN PROPERTY UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES; A CHILD COULD NOT. EDUCATION WAS ENTIRELY ARBITRARY, AND A CHILD HAD TO BECOME USEFUL TO HIS FAMILY AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. CHILD LABOR WAS THE RULE, NOT THE EXCEPTION. TODAY WE VIEW CHILDHOOD WITH NOSTALGIA; IN THOSE DAYS, WHAT ANY PARENT WANTED FOR HIS CHILD WAS THAT HE MAKE IT TO ADULTHOOD AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. BEING A CHILD WAS AS LOW AND HELPLESS AND POWERLESS AS YOU COULD GET.
AND SO JESUS ILLUSTRATES HIS STATEMENT “IF ANYONE WISHES TO BE FIRST, HE SHALL BE LAST OF ALL AND SERVANT OF ALL.” BY GETTING DOWN ON HIS KNEES AND HOLDING HIS ARMS OUT TO A TODDLER, WHO SQUEALED AND RAN INTO HIS ARMS. THAT PICTURE, BY THE WAY, IS BASED ON THE GREEK WORD WHICH WE TRANSLATE AS “RECEIVE”. IT IS THE WORD THAT DESCRIBES HOW A PARENT OR GRANDPARENT TAKES A CHILD IN HIS ARMS.
THE CHILD IS THE LAST OF ALL, AND JESUS RECEIVES THE CHILD, JESUS GIVES US THE EXAMPLE OF HOW WE ARE TO TREAT THOSE WHO ARE LOWLY, WHO ARE AT THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY – WE ARE TO GET DOWN ON OUR KNEES AND HOLD OUT OUR ARMS TO THEM.
JESUS IS ALWAYS MAKING IT HARD. WE ALL LIKE TO THINK OF OURSELVES AS THE CENTER AND GOD AND OTHER PEOPLE AS ORBITING AROUND US. BUT THE REALITY IS THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY THAT WE CAN REALLY BE THE CENTER; GOD IS ALWAYS THAT. BUT WE CAN STILL BE GREAT, WE CAN STILL BE GLOW-WORMS, BECAUSE IN JESUS' WORLD, THE CONTEST IS NOT TO SEE WHO HAS THE BEST JOB, WHO CAUGHT THE BIGGEST FISH; THE REAL CONTEST IS TO OUTDO EACH OTHER IN SERVICE, ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE SO EASILY OVERLOOKED, LIKE THE LITTLE CHILDREN WERE IN JESUS' DAY.
BUT THERE IS ONE MORE THING. GOD IS AT THE CENTER. BUT THE ONE WHO IS FIRST, THE ONE WHO IS SERVANT OF ALL, IS JESUS HIMSELF. AND THAT IS WHY WE ARE TO RECEIVE THE LOWEST OF THE LOW IN JESUS' NAME. BECAUSE THE THING THAT MAKES CHRISTIANITY DIFFERENT FROM EVERY OTHER RELIGION IS THAT WE BELIEVE THAT GOD BECAME A HUMAN BEING. SINCE JESUS IS TRULY A HUMAN BEING AND TRULY GOD, IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO DO THINGS IN HIS NAME, TO PRAY IN HIS NAME, AND TO COME INTO GOD'S PRESENCE IN HIS NAME. SO BY BECOMING THE SERVANT OF ALL, AND SERVING OTHERS IN JESUS' NAME, WE BECOME IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS; AND MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, THE ONE WE RECEIVE IN JESUS' NAME IS JESUS FOR US, AND WHEN WE RECEIVE JESUS, WE RECEIVE GOD ALMIGHTY.
THAT IS TODAY'S GOSPEL. IT IS DEEP THEOLOGY, AND YET IT IS SO SIMPLE, SO PRACTICAL. AND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO BECOME ONE WITH GOD, NO OTHER WAY TO BE THE GREATEST. IN HUMAN SITUATIONS, THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WHO IS THE GREATEST – THE GREATEST FOOTBALL PLAYER, THE GREATEST LEADER, THE GREATEST PIANIST; BUT IN GOD'S WORLD, EVERYONE CAN BE THE GREATEST, BECAUSE EVERYONE CAN SERVE OTHERS IN JESUS' NAME, ON BEHALF OF JESUS.
TODAY IS THE DAY EACH OF US CAN BEGIN THE PROCESS OF BECOMING THE GREATEST OF ALL.