Matthew 18:1…….Ready

Matthew 18:1…….Ready

18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest (Notice they didn’t say great but “greatest'”, they all assumed the were great in one way or another). Like who’s the greatest among the great)  in the kingdom of heaven?” (For Complete Expository See Book)

Extended Sermon 

“Warns how we can get our priorities mixed up in thinking that it’s all about power & status rather than sacrifice & service.” ⇒ Look how out of sync the disciples are. Jesus just told them that He’s going to the Cross to serve mankind by dying for our sins. Jesus is focusing and sacrifice & service, and they’re focusing on power & status. Ministry should always be about Jesus not us. We need to be careful against being enamored with the need for attention…..(To Be Continued)

“Warns against a prideful heart that has to elevate ourselves above everybody else in order to be great..” ⇒ Let your success be measured not by triumphs over others, but by the positive changes you inspire in the lives of those around you. Notice how the disciples ask not who’s great, but who’s the greatest. It’s word that requires comparison. In order to be the greatest, you have to make others look less great.  C.S Lewis calls this the “Great sin” in Mere Christianity. The one vice he writes of which no person in the world is free, which everyone in the world loathes when you see it someone else, and which we are most unconscious of in ourselves. And the vice is “Pride”. C.S Lewis argues that pride is essentially competitive by its very nature. He writes pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only having more of than the next person. We say people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking. There would be nothing to be proud about. It’s the comparison that makes you proud. The pleasure of being above the rest. You make think your proud because you talented. But when you meet someone who is more talented than you. You’re not really proud anymore. Suddenly you don’t find the pleasure you once had in your talents, because your pleasure was not in your talents. It was having more Talent than the next person and being above the Rest. And the opposite direction Pride also reveals itself in the despair that come when you feel your below the rest. Despair that creeps in when you think I’m not as good as them, How easy is it for us to look at others lives whether in person or on social media and think they have what I want. I wish I was ______(fill in the blank) as them. They’re a better person than me, parent than me, student than me. A better athlete than me, They’re smarter, better looking, more put together, and it goes on and on. This constant comparison of ourselves with others. Not only do we compare ourselves with others, But we also grave approval from others. We need to be careful here, because seeking approval of others is not all bad. For an example it’s good for a child wanting to please their parents or a student wanting to please a teacher. Or a wife to desire affirmation from her husband. And vice versa. Not only is not enough to be great, we want to be known as great. It’s O.K. to be great at doing things. But we must resist the temptation of wanting other people to know how great we are at those things.

“Teaches who lands where is God’s job, our job is to be faithful right where God has planted us. (“Who lands where is God’s job, our job is to be faithful right where God plants us.)”  ⇒  We often fight with what we want to be, verses who God has called us to be. Or where we thought we would be at this time, verses where we are. Sometimes we get mad because were serving in children’s ministry, or were out in the sweeping the parking lot, or were an usher, or were working in the kitchen. That we should be doing something more important by now. Or were wondering when are we going to get the recognition we deserve.

“Warns how we can fall into world’s definition of greatness as status, power, fame, achievements,  popularity, etc.” ⇒ The world will have us believe that the one who does whatever it takes to get to the top, the one puts in all the effort, the one who pulls themselves up from the bootstraps and gets it done is the greatest. The world says greatness are the Steve Jobs who revolutionized technology. Who built Apple into the first trillion-dollar company  Who changed the world with products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Or Thomas Edison who changed the world with the light bulb. Which is considered one of the most significant contributions to modern life. Or Albert Einstein who changed the world with his “Theory of Relativity”, which revolutionized physics. Einstein’s work helped explain how gravity and motion affect time and space. Some define greatness by power. The President of the United States is considered to be in the most powerful position in the world. Some define greatness by how much money you have, the car you drive, the house you own. Some define greatness by how quickly you climb the ladder of a large corporation, becoming CEO and president. Some see greatness based on how well you dominate a sport. Michael Jordan and LeBron James are considered the greatest basketball players ever. Others see greatness by how you leave your mark on the world, push through obstacles, and break down barriers. Some see greatness as being on top of the charts, trophies, awards, magazines covers, etc. We live in a world that has a me-mentality. That it’s all about success, achievement, and popularity. We also see it in the Church. Who has the largest congregation, who sells the most books, who has the best music program. The Apostle Paul confronted the same issue in the Corinthian church when he wrote; “My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.  What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”-(1-Corn. 1:11-12) The Bible tells us that true greatness is being a servant, and the greatest person of all time is Jesus Christ. Being a servant is having an attitude exemplified by Christ, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

“Even today, we often come with a competitive spirit in comparing ourselves to others. We brag about how much we go to church. How much we read the bile. How much money we put in the offering plate. How many followers we have on on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. How many books we sold. How big our church is. How many people we brought to the Lord, etc.” → The problem with being competitive is that it always leads to division. If we’re going to do the ministry of Jesus Christ. We have to be solid with one another. We got to support one another. We have to encourage one another. But if were always bickering and arguing about who’s the greatest. It’s eventually going to lead to resentment and bitterness. People are going to feel hurt and slighted. Not only that it’s going to lead to benching yourself from the rest of the team because it’s telling everybody else you need to recognize by how great you are .

“There’s nothing sinful in being ambitious. There’s nothing wrong in wanting to be a leader or a person of influence. But pursuing it for all the wrong reasons of status, fame, and recognition is.” ⇒ There’s nothing wrong in wanting to be a leader. If fact God gives gifts to be leaders, God empowers leaders, God calls people to leadership roles,; Church Pastor, Teacher, Evangelist, etc. There’s nothing wrong in working hard and working diligently to better oneself. There’s nothing wrong with a entry-level employee working hard to be a manager and eventually an executive position . There’s nothing wrong with a teacher working hard to become a principal or a superintendent. There’s nothing wrong in being ambitious and working hard towards a certain goal. But here’s where it can go wrong. Ambition can be a problem when it’s all about status. Ambition can be a sin when it’s all about self-entitlement, self-glorification, or distinguishing oneself as better than others. The trap of attaining status is that it can cause to think that the world now revolves around us. It can cause us to have a me first mentality. It’s all about me, look what I can do, look what I have accomplished. Look at what I have achieved.  When we find ourselves with ambitious desire we need to ask where is that coming from? Our these desire to be a great preacher, teacher, evangelist coming from the Spirit of God or coming from the flesh? The great things you do for God will follow the life of the believer, not the other way around. A good rule of thumb to remember is when we find ourselves with ambitious desires we need to ask where is that coming from? Are these desire to do great things for the Kingdom coming from the Spirit of God or coming from the flesh? The great things you do for God will follow the life of the believer, not the other way around.

Additional Notes & Applications

Warns how by wanting to be great is saying that God’s grace hasn’t reached deep down in the heart, That we still need to do something to be special and great in the eyes of God.

Warns against a competitive spirit in thinking we always have to be better than other people.

Teaches it’s not about being greater than other people, it’s about being great in the eyes of God.

Warns how when we look to our own personal interests we become oblivious to the needs of those around us.

Teaches if the disciples who walked face to face with Jesus still can’t get it right. We know that we don’t get it right.

Warns have pride and ambition can get in the way of seeing the truth and what God wants to do in our life’s.

Greatness is often defined as the distance you place between yourself and your peers. Or how much your outpacing everyone around you.

Warns how seeking greatness only causes division. We are only most effective when were united together. Therefore unity has to valued and unity has to be safeguarded at all costs.

Notice the insensitivity, arrogance, and selfish ambition of the disciples who were worrying about rank and position in the Kingdom after Jesus just told them He’s going to die on the cross. (Mark 9:30-32).

You can imagine each disciples pleading their case as to why their greater than the other, hoping it would qualify them. You can imagine Peter bragging “If anyone’s the greatest it’s me. I’m the spokesmen for the group. I was the one only one who got out of the boat and walked on water.-(Matt. 14:22-23) I was the one who paid the Temple tax,-(17:27) I was the one given the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. I’m the Rock the church will be built on.-(Matt’ 16:18-19) ” You can imagine his brother Andrew chiming in “Ya, Well I was the first one to follow Jesus.-(John 1:40) In fact I brought more people to Jesus, including you Peter.-(John 1:41-42)  You can hear Philip interrupting them and saying “Don’t you guys remember when we had to feed the multitude, Jesus came and asked me first”.-(John 6:5) Clearly I’m greater than you guys. I don’t see Him turning to you guys when He needs something important. James and John (Sons of Thunder) could have argued they we’re closest to Jesus being His cousins, their mothers being sisters. That they knew Jesus longer than any of them. John could have added In fact I’m the one Jesus loved.-(John 13:23) Matthew could have argued “I abandoned my lucrative tax collecting business to follow Jesus.-(Matt. 9:9-13) Not only that but  I have a background in organization and management skills. Judas Iscariot could have argued “I am the one in charge of the finances-(John. 12:6, 13:29) Obviously I was being groomed for a top management position. I think that makes me the greatest. On and on they would go.

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