[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Resources for September 20th - Part 1 of 2

[Joe Parrish]

Sermon Resources for Proper 20:
 

    Mark 9:30-37  -  The Measure of Greatness
    Mark 9:30-37  -   What's Left Is Right

                                       by Leonard Sweet

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Mark 9, the sermon titled "The Measure of Greatness" 

Some years ago St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City was seeking a new president. Over one hundred candidates applied for the position. The search committee narrowed the list to five eminently qualified persons. Then somebody came up with a brilliant idea: let's send a person to the institutions where each of the five finalists is currently employed, and let's interview the janitor at each place, asking him what he thinks of the man seeking to be our president. This was done and a janitor gave such a glowing appraisal of William MacElvaney that he was selected President of St. Paul's School of Theology.

Somebody on that search committee understood, in a flash of genius, that those who live close to Christ become so secure in his love that they no longer relate to other people according to rank or power or money or prestige. They treat janitors and governors with equal dignity. They regard everybody as a VIP. Children seem to do this intuitively; adult Christians have to relearn it.

 

It is a telling little peace of scripture in verse 32: "But they did not understand." That's a picture that can be hung in the halls of the museum of mankind. When confronted by true greatness, we simply do not see it. That's what happens to the disciples. One day Jesus is passing through Galilee with his disciples. We are told that he did not want anyone in the area to know where they were? Why is that? Because, he had something important to tell them. It was a strategic part of his plan. "The Son of Man" he explains, "is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him," now listen to what he says here, "and after three days he will rise." There it was. The whole plan laid out before them. The crucifixion and the resurrection. They should have been curious. They should have asked questions. They could have seen the significance. But the best they could muster up was a blank stare and silence. They could not understand it because it did not meet the measure of greatness.

 

How do we grow to the point that we stop measuring people by their successes and start regarding people for their service, for their sacrifices? What is greatness in the kingdom of God?

 

1. Greatness Is Hardly Ever Recognized.

2. Greatness Is Never About Promotion.

3. Greatness Is Found In Service To All.

 

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.


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Second Sermon by Len Sweet

 

Mark 9, the sermon entitled 'What's Left Is Right' 

 

Party games. 

 

Just the phrase gives me the shivers. 

 

[You may want to get out some party games here and help people relive their horror. You could get some volunteers to do a quick party-game in front of everyone.] 

 

Whether played at a child's birthday or an after-hours office shindig, party games are designed to make us look ridiculous and act silly. The rationale seems to be as follows: now that we've been silly together, the ice is broken, people can get comfortable, and we can begin enjoying one another without pretensions and protocols. 

 

Party games are supposed to put people in a party mood. 

 

If there's one party game that truly does an outstanding job of making all participants look ridiculous, it's the dreaded limbo contest. The limbo is far worse than the bunny hop because you have to go one at a time (no hiding in the crowd). The whole point of the contest is to make you fall on your backside in front of a group of onlookers. 

 

Unfortunately, the better you are at bending over backwards and coming back up again without falling flat, the more sensational and embarrassing will be your eventual failure. Even if you manage not to fall, the more obtuse the angle of your back, the more convoluted and comical your body is going to appear. Face it. Even if you win a limbo contest, you've lost.you've lost your dignity and made yourself a laughingstock. 

 

Outside the limbo party atmosphere, nobody ever wants to know how low can you go. 

How much further can your family income drop? How much more dismal can morale get in your work place? How much more strained can the relationship get between yourself and your teenager? How far down can you drop into depression? How much more stupid can you feel at school? How unprepared can you be emotionally, mentally, fiscally for retirement? We spend our whole lives, and huge amounts of energies, clawing our way UP.

 

The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.

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Clothed with Humility

 

The word "humility" means literally a low estimate of self. But this does not imply self-deprecation. When you hear someone deprecating himself, usually you can put it down as a sort of counterfeit humility. Someone has said, "The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your full height before some higher nature that will show you how small your greatness is." "Walk humbly with thy God." Here is where we learn true humility. Walking with God, seeing ourselves by the side of His greatness, we see how little we are. And seeing how little we are is the first step toward becoming what we can and ought to be.

We never become truly great, we never do our best work until we are "clothed with humility"; until, like our Lord and Savior, we are willing to live to serve others. 
 
 John R. Gunn, Facing Life

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The Ambitious Disciples

 

Jesus and his disciples were coming to the town of Capernaum. As they entered the house where they would be staying, he asked his disciples, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet, says the writer of Mark's Gospel, because on the way they had argued about who was number one among them. 

 

So, the disciples were human just like you and I are human. Who doesn't want to stand out? Some of the greatest people who have ever lived were also among the most ambitious.

 

It is said that Michelangelo prayed: "Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish." 

 

Abraham Lincoln often said to himself as a boy studying by the pine log fire at night: "I will study and get ready and perhaps my chance will come." And, indeed, it did come. 

 

Having an African-American president reminds us of other people of color who have succeeded against even greater odds. They, too, were driven to succeed.

 

Who can help but be impressed by the accomplishments, for example, of George Washington Carver? Carver was born to an African slave mother. He never knew his father. But he wanted to make a difference in the world, and he did! Carver became one the greatest scientists in American history.

 

The disciples were human beings. They wanted their names to be in lights just as you and I want to stand out from our peers. There is nothing wrong with that as long it does not cause us to mistreat others or betray our values. My guess is Jesus wanted them to be ambitious because ambitious people get things done. He just wanted them to be ambitious in the right way. 

 

King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

 

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He that is down needs fear no fall,

He that is low, no pride:

He that is humble ever shall 

Have God to be his guide.

 

>From the Song of the Shepherd Boy, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

 

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 (continued in Part 2) 
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