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A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5 and Ryan 3.
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
"If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'"
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"
In today’s gospel reading, the disciples are arguing over who will be first in the kingdom of God. They are behaving like the children in the joke only instead of fighting over pancakes they are fighting over who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God. If you think about it, it is rather a ridiculous argument to be having, since only God decides such matters. Their argument denotes their arrogance in believing that they have authority in such divine matters.
Jesus stops them short in their tracks with His response to their childlike behavior. Mark writes, “He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’”
In Jesus’ time on earth, children were not considered to be at that time at the top of the ladder like they so often are in our society. Although children were evidence of a blessed marriage by being gifts from God, they were viewed as the least ones because they were the most needy and vulnerable. A child’s status rose with age as he/she were able to contribute more to society through an increase in chores and learning.
A child’s role was first and foremost to be obedient to their parents. Flogging of children, slaves and women was not uncommon. Older children who refused to be obedient could be taken out of the village and stoned to death by the villagers. This punishment was usually reserved for recalcitrant youths. Rebellion was not tolerated in Jewish society for anyone. So it is quite surprising that Jesus would tell his disciples to be respectful of the least ones in society.
The lesson that Jesus is trying to teach His disciples is that God does not look at a person’s status in society. Rather, God looks at our hearts. It is this wisdom of impartiality that Jesus wants his followers to embrace. As James writes, “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.”
When we think of purity, often the innocence of a child comes to mind. A child who is just beginning to learn right from wrong who does not know or understand the ways of adults is held in high esteem by God. A few verses later in the gospel of Mark chapter 9, in verse 42, Jesus warns his disciples with these words, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
Unlike Jesus’ contemporaries, Jesus sees children through the eyes of the Father God. Children are precious beings who need to be welcomed and taught God’s Word. Those who lead these little ones astray and does not love them with open arms stands in judgment before God, because God does not see the world as we humans do. In God’s kingdom, it is the first who are last and the last that are first. This is totally opposite of the priorities in this world where might too often makes right.
As we read from the book of Wisdom, those who follow the Lord’s teachings are hated by those who do not. The writer of Wisdom writes, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord, He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange.”
Those who dare to follow the teachings of God are repugnant to the world. Repugnant, because the righteous are lights in the darkness and those who live in spiritual darkness do not want their deeds to be exposed to the light of God. When this happens, the ones who follow after darkness are convicted of their sins. This does not always immediately lead to repentance, instead the first response of those living in darkness is to hate those who follow the Light of the World.
In today’s reading from the New Testament, James chastises those who are constantly arguing and fighting over material goods. He writes, “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
Children can be amazingly ingenious in their attempts to get their own way. It has been said that we are born with our fists closed and we die with our hands open. At the beginning of our lives and too often throughout our lives, we seek to grasp all we can for ourselves. Selfishness is inherent within the human soul. Yet, when we die, all of our material gains in this world are left behind.
At the end of our lives, it is where are priorities have been that will matter. If we have chosen to seek out the most vulnerable and helpless of society in order to welcome them and treat them with respect, then we will be rewarded. However, if it is material gains at the cost of others that have been our priority, then the eternal reward will not be pleasant. As Jesus would say, “it would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
Let us choose to not seek to follow the world’s priorities, but seek to be known here at St. Raphael’s as children of God. As children of God, may we love one another as Christ loves us. Seeking not to follow our own wills, but the will of our Father. All are welcome here.
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