November 3, 2024
Luke 22: 24-30
The Greatest Among Us
I. Tell you about my paternal grandmother
-Mary Iola Fitzgibbon
-1 of 5 kids, born in small town Kentucky in 1924
-father worked for railroad
-married my grandfather though she didn’t much like him
-had two boys - Uncle Jon who was always her favorite and my dad
-became a nurse and was very good at it, worked for years in ERs in LA
-once had an unruly patient’s mouth sewn shut
-survived on black coffee and cigarettes which she chain-smoked in the house
-she could be mean as a snake
-also loved crosswords, kept candy in the house just for my uncle who had the worst sweet tooth, perfected a crunchy chocolate chip cookie I’ve never been able to replicate, could be disarmingly generous, would sneak treats to our dogs every time she visited, and made a boiled custard that called for a healthy pour of bourbon. She used Old Crow.
-Decided when her first grandchild was born that we’d call her Jake
-Also a product of the Jim Crow south in which she was raised
-this included the casual use of racial slurs that always made me uncomfortable
-so uncomfortable in fact that I eventually told Jake I would stop coming to visit if she used that language around me
-Not sure what possessed me
-She was scary!
-Raised to respect my elders
-Jake certainly didn’t like what I said.
-“Just how I was raised.”
-But stopped using that word around me
II. Disciples more or less use the “just how I was raised” excuse in this morning’s story
-Explanation: word “dispute” is philoneikia in Greek
-literally means “love of strife”
-what disciples are engaged in with this fight about who’s the greatest
-happens as they’re sitting around the table immediately after last super and revelation that one will betray Jesus
-Night of high emotions
-not just a holiday this comes after Jesus enters Jerusalem, teaches at Temple, and talks about eventual destruction of Temple
-Jesus and disciples have to be aware religious leaders aren’t happy
-Jesus obviously knows Judas has been recruited to turn him over
-With everything going on, Jesus could understandably dismiss the arguing
-has bigger things to deal with
-surely isn’t surprised by bickering - disciples often demonstrate love of strife
-he could shake his head
-dismiss disciples’ behavior as “just the way they are”
-But Jesus being Jesus he doesn’t dismiss his followers’ poor behavior
-confronts dispute head-on
-As commentator….notes “this dispute is a sign to Jesus that something is awry in the community that must be addressed.”[1]
-Sad irony that this argument happens in same space and around same table where communion was celebrated
-Also ironic that this isn’t first time this argument has happened - Luke 9
-But story is a reminder that “conflict is rarely redeemed through avoidance.”[2]
-And gospel writer “refuses to let the church engage in theological fantasty about rigors of building and maintaining healthy community life.”[3]
-In other words, “Communion isn’t a magical elixir to prevent church conflict.”
III. In the musical Hamilton there’s an interaction between Hamilton and George Washington that kept coming to mind this week
-Comes after a duel between Hamilton’s friend John Laurens and Charles Lee
-Lee had been intensely critical of George Washington
-So Laurens, one of Washington’s aids, challenged Lee to duel and wounded him
-In musical when Washington learns of duel he’s furious and his this interaction with Hamilton in a song called, “Meet Me Inside”
Washington: This war is hard enough without infighting
Hamilton: Lee called you out. We called his bluff
Washington: I am not a maiden in need of defending, I am grown
Hamilton: Charles Lee, Thomas Conway - These men take your name and they rake it through the mud
Washington: My name’s been through a lot, I can take it
Hamilton: Well, I don’t have your name. I don’t have your titles
I don’t have your land…if you gave me command of a battalion, a group of men to lead, I could fly above my station after the war
-Like disciples Hamilton is seeking greatness
-Like disciples he’s competing with those around him for advancement, to lead his own troops, to cement his legacy
-Like disciples Hamilton not only seems to love strife, he’s selfish, and overly concerned with his own honor
IV. As commentator ….points out Judas is often criticized for being selfish in betraying Jesus, but this story makes it clear that rest of disciples “are not free of the same guilt.”[4]
-In this society, greatness mostly determined by honor
-What is honor? Ascribed worth “usually acquired through power, old age, experience, and influence.”[5]
-Theologian Wil Gafney: “As the ultimate chosen one, the literal son of heaven...Jesus could claim all the dignity of royalty yet [does] not. This perpetually confuses the disciples who jockey for positions of power and access to the earthly son of heaven.”
-Jesus definition of honor is paradoxical to the social standard
-As usual, Jesus turns honor and greatness on their head
-Jesus’ words serve as rebuke to disciples’ selfishness
-greatness is instead connected with those lowest on honor totem pole: children and servants
-by pointing to these “less than” according to society Jesus is highlighting what greatness looks like in the eyes of God”[6]
-”True greatness is exhibited in humility, lowliness, and servanthood, not self-promotion.”[7]
-And “the model Jesus sets for greatness are invitations to interdependence” meaning we must remember we’re dependent on each other, on those around us.
-Must pay attention to those who serve us and listen for the quiet voices as they
often carry the most wisdom.
V. Conclusion
-Readjusting our concept of greatness as disciples are asked to do is challenging and the
-Model disciples argue over surrounds us
-argument about greatness is at root of all elections, particularly this one
-suffuses athletic competition
-it’s in our academic communities and our churches
-If we’re not mindful of true greatest we can end up following leaders like Hamilton who are selfishly concerned with themselves and their own legacy
-If we’re not aware of the model Jesus gives us we’re likely to passively allow unacceptable behavior rather than addressing it
-If we don’t adjust our concept of greatness to understand the importance of interdependence and servanthood we will not be following our Lord who was the ultimate servant-leader.
-Good News: On this All Saints Day we not only have Jesus’ teaching and model to hear and emulate, we have the example and memory of those Saints in our lives and our community to remember and follow.
-As we head into what is sure to be a week of high emotions let’s be aware that true greatness, true honor doesn’t come from the winners or those with the most power but from the humble.
-From those willing to serve and be last in line.
-True greatness stands in stark contrast to the way of the world for it is the way of God.
-True greatness is depending on each other.
[1] Homiletical Perspective - Feasting
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Exegetical Perspective, Feasting.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Pastoral, ibid.
[7] Homiletical, ibid.
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