If you want to be happy for an hour, take a nap. If you want to be happy for a day, go fishing. If you want to be happy for a month, get married. If you want to be happy for a lifetime, inherit a fortune. If you want to be happy for eternity, help others. Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.
Put yourself first, and you might become a star. Put yourself last, and you'll be first in the kingdom of God.
Dancers, singers, actors and artists. They all want one thing. Fame.
In 1980, the Oscar-winning movie Fame followed a group of talented students through four years at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts.
On September 25, just five days from now, a new version of this film releases, starring Debbie Allen, Kelsey Krammer and Bebe Neuwirth. You might remember that Debbie Allen played a dance instructor in the original movie, but now, after almost 30 years, she has been cast as the school's principal. The headlines are reading "Allen Returns to Fame."
At this performing arts high school, the competitive environment is incredibly hot, and each student's talents, passions and determination are put to the test. In addition, the students face all the other struggles of high school -- schoolwork, friendships, romances and the rocky road of self-discovery. This film's drama lies in its depiction of teenagers growing up as they discover whether they have the talent and discipline to become true stars.
One of the many stirring songs from the movie includes these lyrics:
I sing the body electric, I celebrate the me yet to come,
I toast to my own reunion when I become one with the sun.
And I'll look back on Venus, I'll look back on Mars, and I'll burn with the fire of 10 million stars;
And in time, and in time, we will all be stars.
That's the dream of each of these young people: To become one with the sun, to burn brightly in the heavens, to become a star.
Some achieve this goal, of course, and go on to great artistic success. But most blow up, burn out or just fade away. "Everybody else here is colorful or eccentric or charismatic," laments one student, "and I'm perfectly normal."
Being normal isn't necessarily an advantage when your goal is to achieve fame. You have to possess enormous talent and a burning desire to become one with the sun.
Jesus encounters this same longing for glory when, according to Mark 9, he's passing through the region of Galilee with his disciples. He doesn't feel it himself, but he sees it in his followers. Jesus is avoiding the spotlight in a way that would be unthinkable to the students of the New York City High School of Performing Arts. Instead of seeking attention, Jesus lies low, using his undercover time to teach his disciples that "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days later he will rise again" (Mark 9:31). Asin last weeks lesson Jesus is again giving his farewell speech and reminds his disciples of impending death and resurrection.
The disciples don't get it this time anymore than what we saw last week.. They don't understand what Jesus is saying, and they're afraid to ask him (v. 32). This talk of betrayal and death and rising again doesn't fit their idea of a good career plan.
Remember that this chapter of Mark begins with the transfiguration, that glorious mountaintop experience in which Jesus is revealed to be the Son of God. Mark tells us that Jesus' clothes become "dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them" (v. 3), and Matthew adds that "his face shone like the sun" (17:2). He enters into a conversation with Elijah and Moses, the two superstars of the Old Testament, and God's voice booms out of a cloud, "This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!" (Mark 9:4-7).
Peter, James and John are shocked, terrified and totally impressed by this display of divine power, and if they'd been able to offer a musical tribute, they probably would've united their voices in:
I sing the body electric, I celebrate the new year to come,
I toast to my own reunion when I become one with the sun.
When Jesus and the disciples come down the mountain together, they run into an adoring crowd, one that is "immediately overcome with awe" (v. 15). Then Jesus strongly rebukes an unclean spirit that's possessing a boy, and the spirit leaves the boy, "crying out and convulsing him terribly." The boy seems dead, but Jesus lifts him up, and he is able to stand (vv. 26-27). Showing his demon-defeating power as the Beloved Son of God, Jesus appears to be a rising star, one who will burn with the fire of 10 million stars.
At least that's what the disciples think.
But Jesus has another idea. "The Son of Man is to be betrayed .... killed .... [and] rise again," he says (v. 31). He predicts that his fire will be snuffed out completely before it is rekindled by God.
The disciples follow Jesus along the road to Capernaum, and when they reach their destination, he asks them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" They are silent because they had been sparring with one another about who was the greatest. They had been singing another song from the movie Fame:
I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly -- High!
I feel it comin' together, People will see me and cry -- Fame!
I'm gonna make it to heaven, Light up the sky like a flame -- Fame!
I'm gonna live forever, Baby, remember my name!
The disciples know there's something deeply wrong with this approach, something out of whack, something opposed to the agenda of a Messiah who keeps quiet about his accomplishments (vv. 33-34). So they stand around in the house in Capernaum, looking at their feet in shame.
That's right: shame, not fame.
Then Jesus sits down in his teacher's seat, calls the 12 disciples, and says to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." To be first you must be last, he insists; to be a star you must be a servant (v. 35).
And to illustrate this countercultural career advice more clearly, Jesus takes a little child in his arms and says, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me" (vv. 36-37). The jaws of the disciples really hit the floor at this point, because in the first century a child is a nonperson, a nonentity, a nobody. There is no reason for a little child to be close to a great teacher such as Jesus, or in the middle of a group of men. Children are to stay with the women and keep themselves out of the way, until they grow up and can start exercising some adult responsibilities.
Jesus is saying, "When you welcome a nobody, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome God. So if you want to be first in the kingdom of God, then you had better get used to being a child-welcoming servant of all people." Don't go around criticizing those whom you dislike. Don't judge others by your own standards. Welcome even your enemy as a child of God. Pray for those who would persecute you, pray for those...
That's what it means to be One with the Son of God.
Jesus is calling us to flip our usual attitudes toward greatness and honor and fame completely upside down. Our normal perspective is to look at life from the top down, giving our greatest attention to the people who have competed with one another and come out on top. We do this with dancers, singers, actors and artists, as well as with politicians and business leaders, especially those whom we agree with.. We are drawn to their fame and are impressed by their talents and accomplishments.
But Jesus is saying, "No -- change your perspective." Instead, he says, look at life from the bottom up and give your greatest attention to the people who have no fame. Focus on children, on single mothers, on cab drivers, on dishwashers, on chambermaids, on the working poor, on the homeless. "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me," says Jesus, "and whoever welcomes me" ... welcomes God.
Our challenge is not to burn with the fire of 10 million stars. Itt is to act in such a way that we are One with the Son of God.
We do this whenever we treat people with the dignity they deserve, as people who are made in God's image. In California, there is an annual March for Human Dignity, which includes an underwear drive for the homeless. Hundreds of volunteers collect thousands of pairs of underwear and socks for people served by the Los Angeles Mission.
"While many may look at this as something to joke about, we take it very seriously," says mission chairperson Herb Smith. "To us, and to our guests, respect is a very important subject. When we treat people with dignity, they begin the process of retaining their self-respect, and over time, that can result in recovery and self-sufficiency."
The gift of a clean pair of underwear can help a homeless person regain a sense of self-respect. It can be an important step in recovery and self-sufficiency. It's a small but significant one -- one that treats the people with the dignity they deserve.
SHUMC has volunteers who go to UMOM, prepare the food for the homeless and look them in the face when they dish up the food and hand it to them. We collect selected needed items for UMOM and Wesley Center each month through our Missions Committee. We collect food the first Sunday of each month for the food bank. Some of our people deliver the food, others go there weekly to sort and package the food for the poor and outcast, the discontent, the less fortunate...a portion of our offerings go to our conference for out reach ministry to the needy throughout the world.
To serve a homeless person is to serve Jesus, and to welcome such a brother or sister is to welcome the God who sent Jesus into the world. This bottom-up approach to greatness will never earn us fame or put us in the spotlight, but it will move us ever closer to the light of God's eternal kingdom.
Last week we received a gift of $8,000 from Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Hammersleg. They read about our hoped for sign. They didn't want fame. They wanted to see the sign go up. Like others of you who gave toward the sign they gave in hopes that the county will approve our sign and then that someone or someones might come to Jesus because our sign said that they were welcome here. The stories go on...you give to the church because the church has been and is there for you and you want it to be there for others.Who ever welcomes a child of God welcomes me and welcomes the Father...When the curtain rises in that kingdom, we might be surprised by whom we see on stage: the faithful servants of this world, people who served God and neighbor and stranger without ever drawing attention to themselves. And who knows, maybe there will be a place for you on that stage as well. As the song goes: In time, and in time, we will all be stars.
Sources: "Allen returns to fame." December 1, 2008, IMDb: The Internet Movie Database, imdb.com. "March for human dignity highlights homeless needs." February 18, 2008, Los Angeles Mission Web Site, losangelesmission.org.
Perkins, Pheme. "The Gospel of Mark." The New Interpreter's Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995.
