READING: MARK 9:33-50

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.’

He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.’

‘Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.’

‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said. ‘For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.

‘If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung round their neck and they were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.”

Everyone will be salted with fire.

‘Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.’

REFLECTION

Hello, welcome to a new week of Foundations Podcasts. My name is Dave, I’m part of the team here at STC. I work with young adults, both in our church community and our discipleship year, STC College. Whether you’re listening to this over breakfast, on the bus or on the beach, my hope for us this week is that together we will be inspired by the word of God. Each day I’m going to read a few verses and share what strikes me from the passage. I’ll leave us with a prayer and maybe a question or a challenge for the day. But my hope is that each day this resource will encourage you to pick up a Bible and read the whole passage, maybe more. To ask the question, ‘what are you saying to me, Lord?’

We start the week towards the end of chapter 9 of Mark’s Gospel. The full passage is Mark 9:33-50. Here are verses 33-35: They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Here we get another glimpse of this new Kingdom that Jesus is proclaiming.  In Jesus’ Kingdom He declares the first shall be last and the last shall be first. It seems upside down, topsy turvy, strange. There’s a scene in the movie 'Inception', which is a great movie by the way, that helps me picture how the disciples might have felt. In the scene, the dream world that is being created lifts up in the distance and slowly bends over on itself.  The characters are left standing in the street looking up at an upside down street above them, complete with people casually going about their normal business as if they’re not suspended upside down 200 feet above the ground.

As strange as it must have felt, being told to be first we must become last, the disciples knew that what they’d been doing wasn’t good. There was that awkward moment when Jesus asked what they’d been talking about. You can just about hear them stumbling to say, ‘er, nothing Jesus, er, nice weather today isn’t it?’ They knew that it wasn’t right to be arguing about who was the greatest. They knew it didn’t match with the message Jesus was preaching. You see, it didn’t just cause an argument - debates like that are never going to enhance group cohesion - but it also revealed the state of their hearts. One of the main ways we can trip up in life is to get distracted by ambition. The desire, the need to be the best. To be the greatest. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious in itself, in fact I think it can very much be a good thing that helps encourage us to do amazing things. However if it becomes all about us, if we become driven for success purely for the sake of success then ambition becomes a very dangerous thing. It strangles our walk with God and keeps us from experiencing His new Kingdom.

The way Jesus deals with this is vital. The opposite of wanting yourself to increase, to be the best, is not wanting to decrease, to be the worst. That’s low self esteem and isn’t what Jesus calls us to. The opposite, and remedy, isn’t thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less. Thinking of others first. Wanting good for others. Speaking well of others. It’s not about putting ourselves down but building others up.

A question for us to ponder and act on today, how can we build others up and prefer our friends and colleagues? How can we spread God’s kingdom in simple ways today?

PRAYER

Thank you God for this passage. Thank you that you fill our lives with good things. We say sorry Lord for the times our ambition has caused hurt to others. Please help us to think of others more today. Amen.

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