We all want to be first, be the best, be the star of the show, and be chose to lead the group.  Being first means we can do what we want and not be told what to do by anyone else. Being first is what we seek above all else because we think that is the most honored place to be.  And isn’t that what we are seeking most—respect and honor as well as one who is important?  It’s so elementary.

I have spoken about this flaw in our being often in this blog.  As a first grade teacher, I groaned and signed as first graders fought wildly to be the first in line to go anywhere!  What a display of basic human nature!  Do we teach our children that or do they come by it naturally?  Either way, it’s not pretty or pleasing to God.

We see it even in Jesus’ disciples, those who walk with Him each day.  His followers who left home to follow Jesus watch Him pray to God, work tirelessly to serve others while relating to people with a tender love they have never encountered.  They watch Jesus as He consistently looks up as if getting a nod from God before doing anything significant as He listens for His Father’s response with direction. Yes, these disciples, who are human, but are learning and transforming, as they watch the Son of Man/Son of God be guided by God, who is greater still and Who gives His Son the power to heal the numbers of people who will stand in line for hours just for His touch of love that heals all wounds and disabilities.  Their minds are blown by Jesus who serves.

However, while Jesus displays the ultimate way to be a Servant, what do they do?  They argue about who will be first, who will lead the group, and who desires the honor of being the greatest disciple ever!  They even complain to Jesus about another group who are doing good but not in their group. Wait, what?!  Yes, and I am sorry to say, we still do this regularly in God’s church today—subtly and arrogantly at times.  Sigh.

Mark 9, The Message

³³ They came to Capernaum. When he was safe at home, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?”

³⁴ The silence was deafening—they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest.

³⁵ He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.”

^36-37 He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me—God who sent me.”

* * *

³⁸ John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

^39-41 Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath slam me. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

⁴² “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

^43-48 “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

^49-50 “Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Romans 3:23 NIV

This is a familiar verse, but let’s back it up and read what comes before and after this verse—

“Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:

There’s nobody living right, not even one,
    nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They’ve all taken the wrong turn;
    they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.
No one’s living right;
    I can’t find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
    their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
    They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
    litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don’t know the first thing about living with others.
    They never give God the time of day.

This makes it clear, doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.” Romans 3:9-20, MSG

And then Paul explains further that Jews and Gentiles (everyone else not born a Jew), who are in the same boat, have a Way out—Jesus!  Only Jesus can save us!

“The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.”  Romans 3:21-26, MSG

Believe and be saved!  We cannot save ourselves even though we think we can if we are arrogant and push others out of our way, work hard enough to earn it or are boastful enough, thinking God owes us.  Yikes!  Don’t play that game!  No, instead we lay down this “wanting to be first and best” in our human nature and put on the new nature of Jesus—who served.  (See Philippians 2) We are only redeemed by the One who died in our place for our sins. What Jesus did set us free and made us right with God.  Only Jesus.

“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Matthew 20:26-28, NLT

Our response?

• Be different.
• Be like Jesus.
• Be a servant who loves Jesus and others.
• Believe, then be last in line and first to serve so others may know Him, too.

Lord,

Thank you for your supreme example of how to serve, not seeking to be served.  Thank you for teaching us how to run from the temptation to seek first place as we become servants guided by you. Thank you for saving our souls and making us right with you.  Continue to daily cleanse our hearts, remove all that offends and saddens you, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within us to make us more like you.  I love you, Lord.  I’m yours.  All of me.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

And we’re singing…Old hymn (1898) with timeless truth…We can only live for Jesus by His power living in us…we have nothing to boast about but Christ in us!

Would you live for Jesus, and be always pure and good?
Would you walk with Him within the narrow road?
Would you have Him bear your burden, carry all your load?
Let Him have His way with thee.

His power can make you what you ought to be;
His blood can cleanse your heart and make you free;
His love can fill your soul, and you will see
’Twas best for Him to have His way with thee.