Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection grow. pray. study. Daily Guide for Wednesday, 26 March 2014 "What does true greatness look like?"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection grow. pray. study. Daily Guide for Wednesday, 26 March 2014 "What does true greatness look like?"
Daily Scripture: Luke 15:1  Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him. 2 The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
3 He told them this parable. 4 “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? 5 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. 8 Or what woman, if she had ten drachma[a] coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.’ 10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.”
11 He said, “A certain man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them. 13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. 14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. 17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. 19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’
20 “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate; 24 for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on. 27 He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ 28 But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
31 “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
Footnotes:
a. Luke 15:8 A drachma coin was worth about 2 days wages for an agricultural laborer.
Reflection Questions:
Moses, Elijah, a flash of light, God's voice—THAT looked like greatness to human eyes. For Peter, John, and James, seeing the greatness and glory of Jesus was so overwhelming it left them speechless. But true greatness in God's kingdom wasn't on a mountaintop. When they came down from that experience, Jesus defined greatness as having childlike trust in God, healing the sick and broken, serving people's needs, and even suffering at human hands.
The drama of the scene was stunning: Jesus' face and clothes flashed like lightning, Moses and Elijah appeared, and God's presence manifested in a cloud overshadowed Peter, John, and James. In the midst of it all, God's voice said of Jesus, "This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him!" Here's a straightforward question for you to ponder: what does it mean for you to listen to Jesus? Are you willing to do it?
Peter, John, and James probably expected Jesus to descend the mountain, call in the cavalry, and drive out the Roman oppressors! They couldn't yet grasp that greatness in God's kingdom often looks very different from the world's idea of greatness. True greatness, as Jesus lived it, involved serving others, trusting God as a child would and saving the world by giving himself. How do you define greatness? In what specific ways do greatness according to God and greatness according to the world differ?
Today's Prayer:
King Jesus, thank you for showing me what true greatness looks like. Help me to seek a greatness based on your example of faith, serving, and even the willingness to suffer for the sake of others. Amen.
Insight from Angela LaVallie
Angela LaVallie is the Worship Logistics Program Director at Resurrection. She oversees preparing the Sanctuary for worship, supports Vibe worship in the Student Center, provides oversight for Holy Communion at the Leawood campus, and assists at conferences.
This week I attended the funeral of a long-time Resurrection member who had served as a pilot in the military during World War II and then later went on to seminary to become a United Methodist pastor. I heard stories about this man’s life from his son, grandson, and the pastors who were officiating at the service. As I listened to the ways he had inspired his family, friends, and countless others, I thought to myself, “I hope I can influence even just a small fraction of the people he did.”
The thing is, he wasn’t always going around doing heroic things (although piloting airplanes during a war is pretty heroic by most people’s standards); he lived to follow Jesus and to serve God and his fellow man. His son used the following quote attributed to St Francis of Assisi to describe his father: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
I didn’t have a chance to get to know this man until the past year, and even then, I didn’t know him well, but it struck me as I heard others who were close to him explain that the reason people respected and loved and followed him was because he loved and followed the Lord. He lived out the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels.
The world judges greatness and success by a different set of standards than God. The world sees power, profit, strength, beauty, and popularity as greatness. God looks for humility, service, and love. The world would only see  the Jesus during the transfiguration as great, but his true greatness was evident off the mountain when he healed the sick, ate with sinners, stood up for the marginalized, and died a humiliating death on a cross to save the world.
If we want to be great, it would behoove us to ignore what the world says and ask that clichéd but always-applicable question – what would Jesus do?
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