Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday Evening gathering. The food was once again very sumptuous, and the Study of the Word of the Lord was a great blessing. It was a great time of sharing and learning. The fellowship was sweet as always. The Lord blessed us with a very brilliant day yesterday. It was warm. My wife wanted to open the doors of the house. We have several flower patches around the Church grounds, which are adorned by a carpet of beautiful, luxuriant crocuses. I was delighted to see the bees that were swarming over the beautiful crocuses. Because I used to raise bees, it is a beautiful and very pleasant sight to see every spring, when the bees come out of their hibernation to welcome the Spring.
I am reading from Mark 9 once again. Jesus and his disciples were on a journey taking them through Galilee. As they walked along the way, Jesus became aware that some of his disciples were arguing among themselves.
When they reach their destination, he asked them about why they were arguing, and the disciples kept quiet. Of course they kept quiet because they possesses just enough spiritual maturity to know that what they had been talking about was inappropriate and that Jesus would not approve.
They had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. They were vying for top spot among Jesus' followers, but Jesus was not impressed. He turned their world upside down by saying, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He turns our world upside down in the same way even today. He used the moment as the opportunity to impart a most valuable principle of Christianity, that is, TO BE THE GREATEST MEANS TO BECOME A SERVANT. If we want to have real greatness – not the kind the world gives, but the kind God recognizes -- we need to learn to serve.
To the disciples this was an entirely new way of thinking. Even today it goes against the grain of what our society teaches. We always have the desire to be first. We want to have it all our way, all the time, with our will pre-eminent and our needs most important! Jesus, in stark contrast with the "me first" principle, said that he who seeks to be the greatest needs to become the last and must be the servant of all.
Most of us do not want to serve other people. We prefer to be served. We think very highly of ourselves. April 15, 1912, marks the 100 th year anniversary of the Sinking of the Titanic. When the Titanic embarked on her maiden voyage the world was filled with hope and awe. In just a few short days those emotions turned to horror and grief. We can read about the various stories that emerged from the sinking of the Titanic. I read about the stories about the engineers, who knew that their ship was sinking. Those men knew they were going to die. They could have deserted their posts and tried to find room on a life boat, but they stayed below keeping the engines working so that the ship would have electrical power. They knew that the longer the ship had electrical power the better the chances were that another ship would find them and come to the rescue. They knew that as long as the electrical power was working and the lights were on, there would be less panic among the passengers. Some of us would probably die for our husband or wife, our parent, or child. These people died for strangers. That is a sense of service your rarely find in this world today.
A story is told about Mother Teresa. A visitor to her hospital in Calcutta saw her tending to the cuts and bruises of a frail and impoverished AIDS patient. The visitor admitted to her, "I’d never do that for a million dollars!" Mother Teresa answered, "Neither would I. But I do it for Jesus for nothing."
To become great in the eyes of the world you must be successful in business, become rich, and own the best house and the best car. God's economy is different from our own. In the eyes of God, greatness comes to us when we put our own needs aside and become a servant, serving the King and ministering to those around us.
When they reach their destination, he asked them about why they were arguing, and the disciples kept quiet. Of course they kept quiet because they possesses just enough spiritual maturity to know that what they had been talking about was inappropriate and that Jesus would not approve.
They had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. They were vying for top spot among Jesus' followers, but Jesus was not impressed. He turned their world upside down by saying, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He turns our world upside down in the same way even today. He used the moment as the opportunity to impart a most valuable principle of Christianity, that is, TO BE THE GREATEST MEANS TO BECOME A SERVANT. If we want to have real greatness – not the kind the world gives, but the kind God recognizes -- we need to learn to serve.
To the disciples this was an entirely new way of thinking. Even today it goes against the grain of what our society teaches. We always have the desire to be first. We want to have it all our way, all the time, with our will pre-eminent and our needs most important! Jesus, in stark contrast with the "me first" principle, said that he who seeks to be the greatest needs to become the last and must be the servant of all.
Most of us do not want to serve other people. We prefer to be served. We think very highly of ourselves. April 15, 1912, marks the 100 th year anniversary of the Sinking of the Titanic. When the Titanic embarked on her maiden voyage the world was filled with hope and awe. In just a few short days those emotions turned to horror and grief. We can read about the various stories that emerged from the sinking of the Titanic. I read about the stories about the engineers, who knew that their ship was sinking. Those men knew they were going to die. They could have deserted their posts and tried to find room on a life boat, but they stayed below keeping the engines working so that the ship would have electrical power. They knew that the longer the ship had electrical power the better the chances were that another ship would find them and come to the rescue. They knew that as long as the electrical power was working and the lights were on, there would be less panic among the passengers. Some of us would probably die for our husband or wife, our parent, or child. These people died for strangers. That is a sense of service your rarely find in this world today.
A story is told about Mother Teresa. A visitor to her hospital in Calcutta saw her tending to the cuts and bruises of a frail and impoverished AIDS patient. The visitor admitted to her, "I’d never do that for a million dollars!" Mother Teresa answered, "Neither would I. But I do it for Jesus for nothing."
To become great in the eyes of the world you must be successful in business, become rich, and own the best house and the best car. God's economy is different from our own. In the eyes of God, greatness comes to us when we put our own needs aside and become a servant, serving the King and ministering to those around us.
In Christ,
Friday March 9, 2012
Television Outreach
Time Warner Cable Channel 4
Time 7:00 PM
Saturday Evening Worship Service:
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott, NY
Sponsored by: Union Center United Methodist Church
Time: 6:00 PM gathering for Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Date: Saturday, March 10, 2012
Speaker: Dave Hettinger
Special Music by Jane Hettinger. For information, call 607-748-6329
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