TRUE GREATNESS:
OVERCOMING
ILLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR
What is the true measure of greatness? Who is qualified
to bestow greatness on anyone?
One of
the most well known boxers when I was growing up was Muhammad Ali. I don’t care
for boxing but everyone had heard of Ali, or Cassius Clay. Ali was known for
bragging, “I’m the greatest.” He often declared, “I float like a butterfly;
sting like a bee.”
On one
occasion, just before take-off on an airline flight, the stewardess reminded
Ali to fasten his seatbelt. “Superman don’t need no seatbelt,” Ali replied. The
stewardess retorted, “Superman don’t need no airplane, either.” Ali fastened
his seatbelt.[i]
Some of
us, like Ali, suffer from the illusion of grandeur. That is, we think more
highly of ourselves and our achievements than we ought to. This is a serious
medical disorder, but I think it is a spiritual disorder also. I have noticed
an odd paradox in the spiritual sense: many have a dual self evaluation where
they at once think they are not good enough and at the same time are quite
proud. In other words, their greatness is not being acknowledged and self-pity
sets in.
We all
suffer from the “Greatness” syndrome at one time or another. We all want to be
great at something: a great parent; a great employee; a great boss; a great
Christian. But achieving greatness in the Kingdom of God takes a different path
than the one the world suggests.
What we
learn from the life of Jesus, and specifically from Luke 22:24-30, is that if
you want to be great in God’s sight, you must learn to be a humble servant of
others.
This is
the lesson Jesus drives home in the Upper Room event, the last night of his life
before the crucifixion. It was a poignant lesson considering the argument the
disciples were having over which one of them was the greatest in their little
group. The absurdity of the argument sets the stage for a relevant teaching,
especially today.
1. Stop acting like the world
No one knows what started the argument. It might have
been that their master’s talk of leaving had spurred thoughts of succession.
Who will take over for Jesus while he’s gone? Perhaps the seating arrangement
was a hot topic, like kindergartners all wanting to sit next to teacher. If
Peter thought he deserved more respect because he was the eldest, John, the
youngest, got to lay his head on Jesus’ shoulder while they talked.
One
thing is certain: they all avoided the wash basin and towels for washing feet.
Getting a good seat at the supper was more important than washing feet. And
each one thought of themselves too highly to stoop to do this servant’s job.
So a
dispute broke out. The Greek word for dispute is “loving strife.” It sounds
like they enjoyed this argument. Jesus did not. He tells them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over
them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors,” (22:25).
In
short, Jesus tells them to stop acting like the world. “Gentile greatness,” he
said, is where Gentile kings use their greatness, letting others know they have
it, flaunt it and dominate with it. They don’t lead; they lord it over others.
What does a person of the world think?
a) “You are
beneath me.” This is the result of the dispute. If I am the greatest, then
you are beneath me. It is an inevitable result. In Olympic hockey the silver
medal is called the “loser medal” because it means you lost the gold. You are
not as good as me. Competition breeds this attitude. Not that competition is
always wrong, but it can inflate the ego or incite resentment. Is it really
that important to be first?
b) “You work for
me.” If I am greater than you, then you serve me. That’s the attitude of
“greatness.” Some celebrities give this impression: they expect to be catered
to. But it isn’t just celebrities. We are all capable of carrying this attitude
into a restaurant or any place of service and expecting top quality attention.
c) “You owe me.”
Those who exercise authority over them call themselves “Benefactors.” This is
the only place in the NT where this word occurs. It seems that it has a
negative face on it because, though a benefactor can be a great support, in
this context the Benefactor seems to expect recognition for the good they have
done. When a “benefactor” has this attitude, you know they do not have a
servant heart.
2. True Greatness calls for Extreme Servanthood
Jesus contrasts Gentile Greatness with his own Kingdom
definition of greatness. He said, “But
you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the
youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves,” (22:26).
What
Jesus is calling for is quite radical. It is extremely opposite of what the
world thinks of greatness. What is Jesus asking? What is he calling for?
a) Called to be
counter-cultural – Jesus said quite emphatically, “you are not to be like
that.” As a follower of Jesus you are called to live a counter-cultural life. Everything
about the Christian life is opposite of the norm: confessing sin, declaring
Jesus Lord, denying oneself for the Kingdom. It’s all odd – it’s quite
peculiar. The KJV uses a word that sounds offensive and is yet appropriate: we
are a peculiar people.[ii]
There is
nothing more peculiar in our world than Paul’s charge to the Roman believers: “For by the grace given me I say to every
one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather
think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith
God has given you,” (Ro 12:3).
b) Called to turn
leadership upside-down – Next, Jesus gives two illustrations of how
leadership looks in his kingdom.
The
first illustration is of a child. Earlier in Luke, the disciples had argued
over this greatness question (9:46-48) and Jesus had taken a small boy and
said, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me.” Jesus also told
them that if anyone wants to enter the kingdom of God they must become like a
child. Small children are dependent on their parents for necessities and
direction. They have perfectly needy hearts that drive them to their parents
for all things. This is how a leader should be, Jesus says. The leader goes to
the Heavenly Father for all things and depends on his grace when things go
awry.
The
second illustration is that of a servant. If you have watched Downton Abbey,
you will notice the division of classes between the nobility and the servants
of the house. It is stark. Servants do not speak unless spoken to and at great
pains avoid mishaps with serving dishes. Jesus said that a leader is to be like
the footman, the butler, the maid, but not at all like the Earl or the Duchess.
A leader is a servant above all.
c) Called to be
like Jesus – Jesus then makes a statement about himself. “For who is greater, the one who is at the
table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am
among you as one who serves,” (22:27).
Who is
the greatest in the room? Jesus answers that by saying he had full rights to
sit at the table and be served. He is the Son of God. He is the Messiah, and
they acknowledged that. Now if he is the Messiah that is the Jewish way of
saying Jesus is the King. So who is the greatest in the room? Jesus is. But he
came to serve. Again in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is recorded as saying, “the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many,” (Mt 20:28). “Son of
Man” is another term for “king.”
What
does the king do? Somewhere in the course of the evening, perhaps after this
dispute and in the middle of supper, Jesus gets up and takes that lonely basin
of water, wraps a towel around his waist and begins to horrify the disciples…by
washing their feet. This is the job of the lowly servant. This is the epitome
of leadership. And the next day he would wash their feet again, as it were, he
would die for them.
When we
practice footwashing – and I hope I don’t scare you away from it by saying this
– but what we are really saying by washing each other’s feet is, “I would die
for you.” For what Jesus did in the act of footwashing was foreshadow the
cross. Jesus said if we want to follow him we have to take up our cross daily
and deny ourselves. Well here it is. We are called to be like Jesus – this is
what it means.
3. Jesus’ reward for those who serve
While it appears that Jesus is downplaying greatness, a
correct reading of this text shows that Jesus is promoting greatness – it’s the
“getting there” that is revolutionary. Jesus doesn’t rebuke the disciples for
wanting to be great – he shows them what true greatness really is. And there is
a reward for following Jesus’ example.
a) Jesus rewards
faithfulness – First, Jesus says, “You
are those who have always stood by me in my trials,” (28). When men of
Nazareth wanted to throw him off a cliff because of his preaching, the twelve
stood by him. When the popular Pharisees got angry with him, the twelve didn’t
abandon him. Through various hardships and challenges they stuck with him.
There
are challenges in following Jesus today, times when we could abandon him. In
those times of temptation, let us acknowledge, “I have been vain and
self-promoting and foolish. I am frequently desperately ashamed of how I have
been, but this one thing I know, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and my
Savior, and I am going to cling to him whatever. I shall stand by the Lord. I
shall identify with him. I will not be ashamed of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ when it is the most unfashionable thing in my culture and in my job to
believe in Jesus. Even then I shall stand by Christ in his trials.”[iii]
b) Jesus promises
something better – Jesus rewards faithfulness and promises something
better. We may be giving up a lot in this world by bending our knees to serve,
but we are gaining something far better. In this kingdom, the losers win. If we
lose our reputation for the sake of someone else’s advancement, if we lose our
social status for standing with the least of these, if we lose financial
security to better someone’s life, if we lose friends to love the loveless, we
lose a great deal. But that loss gains you a kingdom.
Jesus
said, “And I confer on you a kingdom,
just as my Father conferred one on me,” (29). This is spoken in covenantal
language, which means it is a promise. A life lived in giving to others is a
life of greatness that does not go unnoticed by God. A life of sacrifice is a
great life. But more than that, we lose in this life to gain in the next.
c) Jesus invites us
to his table – Here’s the best part: Jesus invites us to sit with him at
his table in his kingdom. One of my favorite images comes from Revelation where
Jesus knocks on the door and promises to come in and eat with us.[iv] I
imagine a long drawn-out meal, with good wine (its okay – its heaven), and
great conversation with my Lord. Well here it is more than that. Here it is the
consummation of the entire Gospel story from Genesis to Revelation.
In
Genesis humankind fell because Adam and Eve listened to a serpent and betrayed
our kingly and priestly roles. Instead of representing God to the creature, the
pair gave up their authority to rule to elevate themselves to God’s role. They
lost so much for the human race as a result. The way up was down.
Now
Jesus invites us again to take on that role as kings and priests in his
kingdom, to fellowship at his table, and to rule again. And Jesus shows us that
the way down is the way up. So get down on your knees and serve. That’s what
kings do.
Conclusion
Paul took the life of Jesus as his sole focus. This is
the reason he wrote verses like the following: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves,” (Phil 2:3).
No
matter how great we think we are, or are even perceived to be, Christ calls us
to stoop and serve. A large group of European pastors came to one of Dwight L.
Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s.
Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his
room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was
America and there were no hall servants.
Walking
the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and determined not to
embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who
were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses. Moody returned to the
dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world’s famous
evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of
a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.
When the
foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined.
They never know by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people,
and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the
shoes in secret. Perhaps the episode is a vital insight into why God used D. L.
Moody as He did. He was a man with a servant’s heart and that was the basis of
his true greatness.[v]
Jesus
calls us to true greatness. He calls us to humbly serve.
AMEN
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