Sermon on Mark 9:30-37, 17th Sunday after Pentecost, "From childish to childlike"
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today in our Gospel reading from Mark chapter 9, there is a strong contrast set up between Jesus teaching His disciples about His coming death on the cross, and His resurrection—and a petty argument the disciples fall into on their journey along the road. The contrast is between the way of humility that Jesus Himself lived, and the way of selfish ambition or self-promotion and rivalry, that the disciples were acting out in their little argument. Like children “caught in the act” of doing something they know is wrong, Jesus called out the disciples, who were arguing with each other about who was the greatest. We don’t know quite how it went down. But we do know from other arguments, that they wanted to gain the highest authority and respect in Jesus’ kingdom. We know how it goes—we’re familiar with how people compete for position, for advantage, for recognition, or for power. In a way, it’s very childish and...