Your Lenten Miracle: Mark 9:30-37 - Ash Wednesday

Jesus performed many miracles during his short three years of ministry.

One of the miracles which no one ever gives him credit for, however, is that he puts up with his disciples’ nonsense to the very end.

Only God could endure the bickering, their slowness to learn, their lack of faith, and most especially, their denials and betrayals.

To say that Jesus’s disciples act like children in today’s Gospel would be an insult to children.

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Jesus just taught his disciples for the second time that he will soon be handed over to the authorities who will kill him, and that he will rise again after three days. But they did not understand what he was saying, and they were afraid to question him about it. Instead, they began to argue with each other as to which one of them was the greatest. As if being a disciple was a competition.

It is as if everything Jesus taught them went in one ear and out the other. Unfortunately, human nature will does not submit so easily to the righteousness of Christ.

How many of the world’s problems do you think stem from the human desire for greatness, which we always define in terms of wealth, power, success, and fame? Is that not the essence of sin, to put ourselves in the place of god, above everything and everyone?

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That’s what materialism is all about. Having the best stuff means living the best life, and only the best people have the means to acquire it. Social media is less of a way of forging meaningful human connections and more of a way to show off. Most TV programs are competitions of some sort, with someone getting voted off the island at the end of each episode, with the best one claiming the ultimate prize.

Our insecurities are rooted in all the ways we compare ourselves with other people. We are culturally conditioned not to feel good about ourselves unless we have conspicuous proof of our superiority.

But Jesus says, “whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

What’s so great about that?

Who’s going to envy you for volunteering or giving away money you could’ve spent on yourself? I suppose you could boast about what a charitable person you are, but people won’t envy you for that. They’ll just think you’re annoying.

Bottom line, the world defines greatness as having all people serve you, whereas Jesus defines greatness as you serving all people.

Should it surprise us that a good life is a life of service?

Think of the most charitable people you know. Consider what a difference volunteers are making in our community.

Without servants, we’d have no fire department or EMS; no food bank, no clothing closet, no activities for children at church, at school, or anywhere else.

What about service jobs that aren’t rewarded with high pay, like janitors, food servers, store clerks, healthcare aides, or school bus drivers?

Simply put, civilization would not exist without servants. They are the unsung heroes of humanity. From Christ we learn that servanthood is life-giving. You can feel the goodness in the air at the clothing closet, at the food bank, on mission trips, and at soup kitchens. Perhaps, that’s why servants and volunteers are the most joyful people you know, and the most beloved. What greater proof is there that Jesus is in the world than people serving people?

The only way our world is going to change is if people stop competing and stop fighting and start serving. Only love and charity can extinguish the fires of hate and war.

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I’m reminded of my sister’s two dogs, and how the younger dog would always fight the older over chew toys. The older dog would usually let him have it. But as soon as he picked up another, the younger dog would immediately abandon the first chew toy and fight him for the second. That’s how irrational we are in pursuing our own greatness.

What things do you have, or what things do you want, because everyone else has them? Because you’ve been told that without them, you’re not truly living? Do you believe that your self-worth depends on the car you drive, the coffee you drink, the clothes you wear, or the pictures you share on social media?

What if you were to take the time, energy, and resources you spend on those things and devote them to building up others? What if your Lenten discipline was giving up trying to be what the world says you should be, so that you can be the person you were created to be?

These are sacrifices which will demand great effort and discipline. But the prize is resurrection and a better life for the neighbor. Faith is all about letting go, trusting that Jesus always has better things in store, and that by taking up your cross and following him, you will discover them. Let this be your Lenten miracle, that in giving up and letting go you receive from Christ a new sense of purpose and a new vision of the future. Every act of service, every sacrifice, every gift given away is a seed planted in the soil of God’s love which will bear fruit in due time. Trust that resurrection dawns just beyond the horizon.