This recording is from Christ Kingdom Church in Avalon Park, Orlando. Visit us online at ChristKingdom.org for our calendar, driving directions, and more audio recordings. It might take a minute to get a sound check. Jeremy, how are we doing? You all hear me okay? Move it up, move it down. And where's Matt? My brother. Matt, welcome. I'm John and fellow intern with you. Thank you for leading this morning, brother. If you would, please turn your Bible to the gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 9. There's also a handout in your bulletin with the text on it. We're looking at Mark chapter 9 starting in verse 30. And I invite you to stand as we read the Word of God together. I will read, read along with me. They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, the son of man is going to betray into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise. But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. 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 12 and said, if anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last and the servant of all. He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him 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. Maybe seated. What would you say you're great at? Who in here would say that they are great at something? Maybe you're like me or like most people. Or you consider yourself a jack of all trades or a jack of many trades but a master of none. But the truth is, despite what seems to be the general opinion that we are a jack of all trades, that we do some things pretty well but nothing really have we mastered, we do love great things done by great people. And this comes from every area of life. That as a child, it's easy to see many young boys, they have their favorite superhero or their comic book hero. I was always a spider man guy on my self, but no offense to you Batman Superman people out there. Well, we love great things done by great people. As we get older, it might turn into musicians or athletes or cooks. Maybe even a parent that does something really well, that you seek to imitate. They do something well that you can't help but be inspired by. And it's funny in that people that do great things and do them well, how it can indeed shape your life significantly. I'm a guitar player and I remember very clearly the first time I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn play. And it was on TV. It was the live at the Elma combo performance in Canada. I had a guitar for two years that I had never used. But seeing that performance made me want to play. Now, what he did was so good and so awesome I wanted to do that. Having never even picked up the instrument before. And this happens all the time. That greatness inspires. And it often inspires us to imitate that thing that they are so good at. Even if it's not necessarily a passion before you. But when something is done really great, it often inspires you to imitate it. Not only do you want to imitate that person, but you want to imitate what they are known for. What brought them fame. Again, back to the Superman example of the comic book hero. When someone impersonates a superhero, what do they normally do? If you're impersonating Superman, you're imitating them. You're usually acting like you're flying or saving someone. A long boy usually imitates, hey mom, here's my Clark Kent impression. I'm just going to walk around in a business suit because I'm going to cover. They impersonate the thing that they're great for. Things that are brought them attention that are brought them fame. And if you're wondering where is this going, I feel like our treatment of the gospel as we live the Christian life. That we're tempted to do the same thing. But the Christian life is full of good, glorious doctrines. Of living victoriously, of your best life now. Of having the good life now. Yes, there is the resurrection. Yes, there is the ascension of Christ. Yes, there is all things being made new. There are glorious doctrines that tend to point us to a very positive that is easily immediately accessible that the Christian life is one of goodness and just powerful living all the time. And we seek to almost imitate that and how we live. That a lot of us, including myself, put enough Assad many, many times throughout my day of how good my day is going when that's a lie, that we just feel we need to imitate this version of Jesus or this version of faith to where that's not the whole picture. That Superman does have his Clark Kent. That Stevie Ray Vaughan did a lot of things poorly and he had a life outside of guitar playing. And as we think about Jesus, as we think about greatness, as we think about living in the kingdom, living out the kingdom of life, I thought the temptation to always imitate the shiny things of this world or only to highlight the good things of Christianity, the immediately good things that we're losing a very crucial part of the gospel that is not the whole story. In this passage is going to serve to remind us of what is a crucial element that we might have been often overlooking or be tempted to overlook all the time. Now, where are we? We're in the gospel to Mark in chapter 9. And if you've heard me preach before, you know, I just think of a little bit of context just so we're not completely starting from the island of Scripture here. In Mark chapter 9, we've come nine chapters, nine and a half chapters of Jesus doing his ministry. Now, what all has Jesus done up until this point? Well, it's just a brief list. You can scan the subtitles in your own time of the chapter headings. But in the nine chapters previous, Jesus has healed many people of diseases. He has made a couple of paralytics walk. He has calmed the storm through his word. He has walked on water. He has cast out evil spirits. He has cast out demon possessed men. He has raised a dead girl to life. So Jesus' fame has grown up in this point. And you can imagine why people are seeking him out to heal them. Word has spread about Jesus and his fame is somewhat growing. Now, in the midst of this, in the midst of Jesus doing many incredible things, he has his disciples. And he often takes his disciples aside, getting them away from the crowds, and tries to teach them about what is going on. What is he doing through these miracles? What is he here to do? Often teaching them in parables. And it's easy for us as we look back and say, well, yeah, Jesus obviously was the son of God. Well, that is not the case. In Jesus' life, people had a hard time figuring out who he was and what he was doing. So even with these miracles, they seem so. Well, this is obviously someone really important. This is obviously something really powerful, but it wasn't exactly clear as to who Jesus was. And you see this in the Gospel of Mark. That there is debate as to who Jesus is. That who are we dealing with here? So you have Jesus performing these miracles, trying to instruct the disciples kind of in close quarters. They often don't understand. Jesus has a holy frustration with the disciples often that they do not understand the parables that he is telling them. So here we arrive at chapter 9. And this is, again, there's been a turning point of sorts among the disciples. That it's starting to click as to who Jesus was. In the previous chapter, Jesus is asking his disciples, who do people say I am? And we have the debate. You will have some say you're Elijah, some say you're John the Baptist. You're just this great Old Testament prophet. Well, Peter answers rightly. You are the Messiah. You are the chosen one of God. Jesus confirms this as don't tell anyone. And then even more so, in chapter 9, earlier we had the Transfiguration, where Jesus goes up to a mountain with Peter, John, and James. And literally his closed shines sparkling white smoke on the mountain. A voice from heaven, this is my son whom I love. Listen to him. So now there's been a turning point among the disciples of, we think we know who Jesus is now. It's taken nine chapters to get here, but after a right identification, and after this miraculous Transfiguration, it's becoming clear to the disciples. Exactly who they're dealing with. And so we come to our text. Mark chapter 9, starting at verse 30. At this point, we are led to believe that there have some understanding of who Jesus is. So let's look at verse 30. They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were because he was teaching his disciples. Okay, again, this is one of those inner circle times. He has left the crowd. He's pulling his disciples, which just for a point of this statement of fact, as Jesus disciples, that we Christ kingdom, if you were a follower of Jesus Christ, you kind of fall into this category. Share these similar traits. Like you are a following Jesus. You're seeking to be a light came. You're seeking to learn from him. So he's kind of getting his disciples in a close corner. It's going to tell them something important. Listen up. I'm telling you something just for y'all. I want you to pay attention. And what does he say? The son of man is going to be delivered over to the hands of men. He will be killed. And after three days, he will rise. Now, we look back on that statement and say, that's very obvious. We know what Jesus is talking about. Jesus means he is going to be crucified on a cross. He's going to die for our sins. And then he's going to be raised up. He will be resurrected. We understand what that means. What's his disciples reaction? Look at verse 32. What they did not understand what he meant. And we're afraid to ask him about it. Now, why this reaction? Why would the disciples react this way? Well, the easy answer would be, they still just don't get it. They've seen the transfiguration. They've rightly identified Jesus as the Messiah. But they still don't quite get who Jesus is or what he's going to do. But the second part of that reaction, they were afraid to ask him, that's a little bit easier to understand. That in the previous chapter 8, it actually is, Jesus has had this conversation before. In chapter 8, verse 31, a very similar conversation goes down. He then began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things, that she priests and that he teaches the law. He will be killed, and after three days he will rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. And when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and get behind me Satan, he said, you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. So this is the second time this conversation has ensued. So you can see why they might be afraid to ask Jesus about his death and what that means. Because the first time they asked him about it, Jesus called Peter Satan. And I would love to have been there for Peter's review. I think it's a fascinating thing to ponder. Jesus says, very clearly, I'm going to be handed over to the cheap priest of scribes. They're going to kill me, and after three days I'll rise again. And Peter, I would love to know what he said. Like he pulls me along and says, Jesus, you've got to stop. You're freaking everybody out. You've come into telling me some great things, and now you're saying you're dying, would you please stop? It's weird, it's just it doesn't make sense. So that's the reaction he gets out of Peter. And Jesus says, get behind me Satan. Those are pretty strong words. If you'd had that conversation previously with somebody, you probably would say, I don't know what the right reaction is to a prediction of death, but I'm not going to rebuke it. You say, okay, I'm just going to, I'll just play my cards close to the vest right now. And then what? Verse 33. 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. And this does not mean the greatest in the general sense. The parallel passage in Matthew lets us know that he's talking about greatest in the kingdom. It doesn't mean greatest in the kingdom of God. This is kind of, it's not just great in a general sense. You have to appreciate the contrast. You know, there's some kind of humorous parts in the Bible. So we have one that Jesus, who has just predicted his death, there's fear of the disciples. Immediately on this journey, they turn their conversation to who is going to be the greatest in the kingdom. One of my favorite movies, which kind of has this summer dynamic as far as, as kind of like Jesus is the Debbie Downer. You know the Debbie Downer's getting SNL? Like, he said the bad word first. It's like, nobody wants to hear that. We're going to continue on his normal. Before a more redemptive analogy in Debbie Downer, consider the movie Changing Lanes. One of my favorite movies, a great movie about the law, revenge of the heart, just the wickedness of it. In Changing Lanes, you have Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck. And they get into a set of circumstances to where they're constantly trying to get back at each other. But there's a great scene where Ben Affleck is at dinner at a nice restaurant with his father-in-law. His father-in-law is mother-in-law and his wife. And his father-in-law is the big-time lawyer. Ben Affleck has just been a partner. He's a big-time lawyer too. It's a family business now. So Ben is doing very well for himself. But in this particular law firm, they are called to act sleasily. Over the course of the movie, Ben Affleck finally breaks down. He's like, you know, I'm done. The father-in-law, I'm not working like this. I'm going to make things right. I'm not going to do it anymore. I'm not playing the game. I'm going to do things right. So it's a very confrontational saying. You're like, oh goodness, what's going to happen? He just told us father-in-law, what's up? And his wife is there. He's like, what is going to happen? And then his mother-in-law jumps in and says, you know what? I think I'm going to have this snapper. It's a great scene because something serious has been said. And yet the conversation immediately is just, we don't really care about that. But this is kind of what's happening. I'm going to die. Okay, hey, Jesus, yeah, I'm not going to ask you about that again. So who's going to be the greatest? And what was this conversation like? I mean, it literally could have been who's going to be the greatest. Jesus like whatever, whenever he conquers things, whenever he sets things right, whenever he comes into the temple and gets his rightful place, whatever their expectations were, literally probably an argument of who's going to sit closest to Jesus? Who's going to be kind of going to get some of his fame with him? That's a funny thing to ponder. That that is where the heart is at this point. Well, Peter might say to James, I don't know James, he seems to like you. I don't know, Peter. He seems to spend a lot of time with you. Who's going to be the greatest when all this is made right? Is that sound familiar? Like how good is it going to be because we have Jesus? How good is it going to be because Jesus is on our side? What good things are we going to get because we are with Jesus? How easy is my life going to be because I have Jesus on my side? We can relate to the disciples here. We don't always understand Jesus, but we do want the glory that comes with it. We love it. I confess I'm right there with you. The good life. But Jesus is about to drop a bombshell on the disciples, if you will. In verse 35, Jesus says this, sitting down, Jesus called the twelve, anyone who wants to be first must be the very last and the servant of all. Now, this is probably not what the disciples were expecting. And again, I want you to notice that not only is with his disciples, but for some reason, Mark tells us that Jesus sits down. I don't know what all you could read in that. It might be a thrownly image going on, but just the fact that he sits down, he might be tired. He might be frustrated. He sits and says if anyone wants to be first, you must be the very last, the servant of all. So Jesus has just turned greatness upside down. You want to know what it's like to be great in the kingdom? You want to live greatly in the kingdom? You're going to have to be a servant. Now, our vision statement here at Christ, Kingdom, is along the lines of the kingdom of God, the reign and worship of Jesus Christ, this kingdom going out in our hearts, our families, our churches, and our community. We want to see the kingdom lived out. We want to see the kingdom expanded as individuals, and as corporate beings. So what does that look like? How is that going to happen? How is it going to happen that we're going to live like Kingdom members, we're going to live this life that Jesus calls us to? What does that look like? If you would like, I invite you, if you care to turn to Philippians, chapter 2, but you don't have to, I'm going to read it. Philippians, chapter 2, we get a wonderful picture of this. In Philippians, chapter 2, starting in verse 3. And this is a letter to the church, Paul is instructing the church. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interest, but each of you to the interest of the others. In your relationships with one another have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had. We're about to look at what is as we live with one another. Spouse to spouse, brother to sister, child to parent to child, co-worker to co-worker, especially for the household of faith. What is going to be our mindset towards one another? How are we going to live in the Kingdom? Paul said, think about this, meditate on Jesus Christ. Starting in verse 6, Philippians chapter 2. Who being in the very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage? Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a human being he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross. Very important shift right here in verse 9. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every need should bow and heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. Do you see what is going on here? That Jesus is exalted this good life of Christianity, this glorious truth that are eventually hours, that this comes through the low life, that it is through the cross that Jesus has lifted up, that no one has made a bigger descent than Jesus Christ, that he leaves his father's throne all the comforts of eternal past, all the glory is always his, and he takes on the form of a servant. Washing his disciples feet and being humiliated on a cross killed for you and I say, for our sake, and he invites you to that path, he invites you down, and that is what is not very popular now I fear in the church. And if you want to know what the kingdom life looks like, it is a lowly road. The imitation of Christ means to calm and die. You know, it's interesting to ponder architecture of churches even in this light. That if some of you have been to maybe a more an older church, that if you can think many, many older churches were designed, they have kind of two rows of pews, and there's a center aisle, and then there's kind of this area right here where it gets horizontal, and then there's where the communion was given. That was designed intentionally, that is the shape of a cross, that to come to the blessing, to the table of Jesus Christ, you have to walk the path of the cross. It's fascinating that even in the arrangement of the chairs, you must walk the path of the cross to experience Christ. To be like him, you must come and die. So it's interesting. You know, when churches, when insides of churches look like, you know, they look close to strip malls, I'm not necessarily saying that it's inherently sinful, but I'm saying even that the shape of the building was trying to communicate, the Christian life is one of dying. And often, when we ask questions like, you know, I was part of a church that was struggling, or kind of plateaued off, and why isn't the church having the cultural impact it might have once had? It's fascinating to hear strategies to correct this. What ways can we get the church to win? We like the right candidate. We have the right kind of music. We have the nice type of building. If we do these things that could somehow make us more easily accessible, what does Jesus say about how the world will know who the church is? And I think they're by drawing to it. They will know Jesus disciples by their love for one another. That is what drives the church. And how do we love one another? So as we seek to live out the kingdom, as we seek to be faithful Christ's kingdom church, as we seek to have the kingdom of God in our hearts, in our families, in our church, in our community, where would you start? What was the first thing we should consider as we seek to live this out? You should consider Jesus Christ and His descent. It is through the cross that we are lifted up. It is through suffering that we share in Christ sufferings. That all the promises of co-airs and redemption and resurrection, those are true, but it is first the cross. Without the cross, there is no resurrection. Without the humiliation, there is no glorification. Does that make sense that this is the way of the gospel? It is a call to come and die. That is not very popular. And that's not immediately attractive. But in dying, there is life. And submitting to Christ's call, there is freedom. Back to Mark. Verse 36. Jesus is going to give us a visual aid to help us along. 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, and my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sent me. Now I will be honest with you, I have a hard time with this verse. You get a grasp on exactly what Jesus is trying to communicate here. But I do think it is fair, so that he is not necessarily just making children as a category, that we will always be gazed as far as how we love children. I think that is a fair thing to consider. But children, especially in Jesus' time, would have been somewhat marginalized. And not only kind of the marginalized fray of society, but also those that need help, that they need help, they need to be served. Now only do they need to be served, that they can't really serve you in return. So I feel like children might be trying to annotate like a greater picture, not just children, but those that are marginalized. Those that are viewed as less than, those that need help, those that cannot offer you glory or service and return. And in so doing and loving like that, and serving your brothers and sisters in the Lord, and serving those that cannot serve you back, this is directly related to welcoming Jesus and welcoming the Father who sent him. And look like to welcome or receive a child. What does it look like to welcome or receive someone with maybe special needs? What does it look like to welcome or receive those that are on the fringes of society? I'm not exactly sure. I think it's worth thinking about. What does it look like to welcome or receive such as those? All of a sudden church, the gospel takes on a whole different character. The sermon title you might have noticed was Downward Mobility. And I am owed, I mean, I'm indebted to a man by the name of Henry Nowan. I believe his high pronounce his name. I'll be new in N-O-U-W-E-N. He had a book entitled The Selfless Way of Christ, Downward Mobility in the Spiritual Life. It's a great brief reflection on the humiliation of Christ. As he ponders, what does it mean for our great hero of the faith? What does it mean for our Savior? What have you forgotten the flesh to think about the low road that he took? We started this sermon by imitation. The idea of the imitation inspires. That greatness inspires imitation. That we have these things that we like and want to do and want to do well. Well, the imitation of Christ is Downward Mobility, is dying for the sake of the other, is serving the other, and even serving those that can't offer you much in return. And Christ, if my demeanor has almost been one of anger, I don't mean for that to be, is this sermon hurts to preach, even in preparing this sermon, it's a horror thing to try to teach this yourself. Anything I say to you, I'm saying to myself as well, that it is tough. It is tough to love those on the Friends of Society. It is tough to place others' interests above yourself. But this is the way of the gospel. And as Jesus said in verse 35, anyone who wants to be first must be the very last that's serving of all. Well, Jesus is first. No one's made a greater dissension than Jesus Christ. That is why he is exalted above every other name. So we're not looking for a performance in this. How far down can you go? But in imitating Christ, how has he inspired us to be great? Well, he's turning greatness upside down and say, follow me down. Follow me to the cross. This is the good news. By God's grace, Christ, kingdom church, we will live that way to each other. We will die for the sake of the other. We will serve the sake of the other as we seek to imitate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for what you have done for us. And that you have given us hope. You have given us an example to follow. And you have done indeed the work for us in your humiliation, in your service to your church. You have borne the wrath of God. You have washed your disciples' feet. You have gone the way of the cross and you call us to do the same. Father, as you've instructed your disciples and those that follow you, that we must take up our cross and follow you denying ourselves, that that would not be a cliche, catchphrase, Bible verse, that would seek into our bones and when it struck us on how we should live towards one another. Holy Spirit teaches these things what he help us to live this way, so that Christ would be made known among the nations, among our community, in Jesus' name. Amen.