9/23/18 “What Is Greatness?” by Nancy Petty
Text: Mark 9:30-37
Born January 18, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. grew up in the American South in a time of segregated public facilities. His father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., supported a wife and two sons by painting billboards and signs. His mother, Odessa Grady Clay, worked as a household domestic. When Clay was 12 years old, he took up boxing under the tutelage of Louisville policeman Joe Martin. Advancing through the amateur ranks, he won a gold medal in the 175-pound division at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He boasted he was “The Greatest,” and in the prime of his charismatic career, many agreed. He is the “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” boxer. He is Muhammad Ali. The greatest boxer, some would say, to ever live.
Like Ali, many of today’s sports celebrities advocate this notion of greatness. Take, for example, LeBron James. With well over 70 million social media followers, his influence on our culture is immense. And fascinatingly, most of his social media posts end with the hashtag: #Striveforgreatness. Now I’m not dissing on LeBron James or Muhammad Ali this morning. I admire both men. And to be brutally honest, I would much rather have LeBron James’ influence on our culture than the person who made popular #MakeAmericaGreatAgain.
The Greatest, #Striveforgreatness, #MakeAmericaGreatAgain: all beg the question: What is greatness? It seems this question has been around for quite some time, at least since the time of the first disciples. And it was resurrected in a HUGE way in 2016 continuing the discussion and debate as to what constitutes greatness. It is this question that is at the heart of the reading from Mark’s gospel today. In fact, the writer of the gospel of Mark tells us a story about a time when Jesus’ disciples were having a conversation/dialogue/holy argument about this topic of greatness.
The scene is a bit familiar. It is the second time in Mark’s gospel that Jesus talks with his disciples about his death. You will remember that in the first account, the lectionary text from last week, Peter (the outspoken disciple) strongly rebuked Jesus when the topic of his death came up. After which Jesus rebukes him and begins teaching things like taking up one’s cross and losing life to save life. Now, as they are passing through Galilee, Jesus tells his disciples once again that he will be betrayed, killed, and raised on the third day. And, like the last time, they don’t get it—which seems to be a common theme with those first twelve (and the second twelve and the third twelve and the millionth twelve—us). Maybe, like us, they didn’t get it because they had something else on their mind. They, too, were busy hashtagging. #PetertheGreat. #JamestheGreat. #I’mJesus’favorite. #Jesussaysi’mthegreatest. And as they were doing their version of hashtagging about greatness, Jesus notices something going on. He inquires: What are you arguing about? And then comes what comes when all siblings are arguing about something silly and a parent asks what the argument is about. SILENCE! Out of sheer embarrassment, no one says a word.
We often think of Jesus and the disciples as good, even close friends, traveling together, eating together, and for the most part getting along rather well together. But for whatever reason, this scene in Mark’s gospel does not feel like best buds on a road trip but rather a tension-filled teacher/student moment.
Before I move on, I want to look closely at this text for just a moment. There seems to be some translation issues with the verb “arguing” in Jesus’ question to the disciples. It is unclear if the best reading/interpretation of the Greek word used is arguing or dialogue or discussion or argument. Nor is the content of the argument clear. It could be, “Who is the greatest” or it could be translated, “What is greatness.” Most translations go with “who is the greatest” because the next verse begins, “Whoever would be great among you…” However, one theologian writes:
“I’ve always assumed that the disciples were arguing over which one of them was greater than the others of them as a sign that, once again, Jesus has disclosed his death and they have not understood at all. But, perhaps the teaching that the Son of Man must suffer and die has provoked them to ask about greatness itself. Is a suffering Son of Man greater than a conquering Messiah? If so, what is the nature of “greatness”? Since the disciples are scared to disclose their conversation to Jesus, maybe they were taking issue with his insistence that the Son of Man must suffer, calling it nonsense or even preferring the biblical image of the Son of Man coming in the clouds from Daniel to the Suffering Servant from Isaiah…just because they do not want to respond to his question does not mean they were simply engaged in a petty conversation. They may have been asking the right questions, raising the right objections, but leaning away from Jesus’ own paradoxical understanding of greatness. Certainly, most of the world feels that way.”
Like this theologian, I want to give the disciples some props for raising the question whatever their intent—the question of “what is greatness”; for there may not be a more relevant question for us modern-day disciples of Jesus. Regardless of your political persuasion or your theological principles or your sports heroes, this question of “what is greatness” is shaping our culture in a new and defining moment way right now. And where we as a society land on this question will define us for generations to come, because our view of greatness is our common aspiration, our shared longing, our hope.
Some, like #MakeAmericaGreatAgain, seem to define greatness by power and wealth and fame. “It seems popular to define greatness as perceived success. If you have power, money, and status, then the world calls you great. Sometimes it’s chance; sometimes it’s not. ‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,’ says William Shakespeare. Greatness, in the world’s eyes, is about material possessions and accomplishments.” As C.J. Mahaney writes “culturally defined, pursuing greatness looks like this: individuals motivated by self-interest, self-indulgence, and a false sense of self-sufficiency to pursue selfish ambition for the purpose of self-glorification.” Harsh but true I’m afraid.
And it will come as no surprise that such definitions of greatness stand in direct contrast to the one Jesus gives us. Jesus calls us to imagine that true greatness lies in how much we share with others, how much we take care of others, how much we love others (including our enemies), how much we serve others. One writer suggested: “Can you imagine if people were regularly trying to out-do each other in their deeds of kindness and service? If there were nationally broadcast competitions to see who was willing to be last so that others could go first? If there were reality TV shows that followed people around as they tried to help as many people as possible.”
It’s not every day that I recognize greatness even when I see it, and that’s because I have become so accustomed to greatness as the world defines it and not as my own faith defines it. But yesterday I saw and recognized greatness—thanks to a week-long study of and living with Mark 9. It was right outside these church doors, in the Cox Ave parking lot. I had come by the church mid-morning to pick up a book from my study. As I left our parking lot through the Cox Ave lot I saw parked to the side of the building a box truck with the back open and people going in and out of the back of the truck. I drove away and then realized what I had seen. I circled back around, parked my car and got out so I could read the sign on the side of the truck. It read:
Extended Grace NC, Inc
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” 2 Corinthians 9:8-9
Free Hot Showers 4 the Homeless
www.showers4thehomelessnc.com
Donations and Volunteers are Needed
I then walked over to the woman who owned the truck and asked her about her ministry. Here’s her story. She told me that she was watching the news after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas. A news crew was interviewing some people who were sleeping under a bridge in the Houston area. The people being interviewed were discussing how a city truck had passed underneath the bridge the day before spraying chemicals along the road in the same places where people were sleeping. One man being interviewed said, “We’ve never been homeless until now but they treat us like we are not even human.” She went on to say to me, “You know how some people will say they are one paycheck away from being homeless? Well, some people are one hurricane away from being homeless.” It was then that I knew I had to do something. So, she said, I researched what others were doing. I found this story of a woman in California who converted two school buses into showers for homeless people. It cost her $75,000. She goes on, “I knew I didn’t have $75,000 but I had $7,000 in my savings and some money in my 401K. So I found this box truck for $6,000. With the other thousand and some of my 401K, I bought two port-a-showers and paid a plumber to outfit the truck with plumbing and a hot water tank. And now I go around town making sure people who are homeless have an opportunity for a hot shower. I had to do something to help others.” I ask: “Does the Women’s Center pay you for your services?” “Oh no,” she replied, “they just give me access to their water.”
What is greatness? I don’t have a well-articulated definition that I can eloquently quote for you this morning, but I saw greatness yesterday. It was a woman who converted a $6,000 box truck into a mobile shower for those living homeless. I must be honest with you this morning. I walked back to my car in silence, humbled by what I had seen, and with a lump in my throat (just like those first twelve did when Jesus asked them about what they were arguing about and they didn’t want to tell him). As silence settled over me and I felt that sense of humility, and struggled to swallow the lump in my throat I couldn’t help but think of the four showers we have downstairs in our church. As wonderful as the mobile shower is, I wondered to myself why do our neighbors need to shower in a makeshift shower in the back of a box truck when we have four inside our building? And that’s when I realized, greatness is not what you have or own or any significant accomplishment, it is how you use and share with others what you have.
What is greatness? Jesus says the first shall be last and the last shall be first. And a little later in Mark chapter 10, talking with James and John, he fleshes that out. He says: “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be servant of all. For I came not to be served but to serve…” Greatness lies in service by taking care of those who are most vulnerable—those with little influence or power, those our culture is most likely to ignore.
Perhaps Cassius Clay’s true greatness was exposed not when he called himself “The Greatest” or said, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” But rather when he said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” Greatness is not a TKO in the boxing ring or a high-flying dunk on the basketball court that wins the game. Greatness is building a public school for at-risk kids in your hometown where students get free meals and college tuition. Greatness is taking an old box truck and turning it into a mobile shower for people living outside.
What is greatness? Jesus says greatness is measured by how much we share with others, how much we take care of others, how much we love others (including our enemies), how much we are willing to risk serving others. And so my word to us today is this: let’s be great. Let us share what we have with others. Let us take care of those who are most vulnerable in our community. Let us love without judgment. And let us serve others with a radical love and a radical hospitality. The gospel is calling us to greatness so let’s be great!!!
