Who is the Greatest?

Message by Rev. Bill Worley, PSEC Conference Minister 

At St. Peter’s UCC, Orwin 

Sept. 21, 2021 

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ and from the 158 congregations of the Pennsylvania Southeast conference of the United Church of Christ. It is great to be here. I am deeply grateful for Pastor Maureen’s invitation to speak here and to be with you. 

It’s my custom to preach at a different UCC congregation each Sunday. It’s been several years since I was here. It has been a very difficult 18 months for our congregations who have struggle to respond do the pandemic. It has been a time of lost loved ones claimed by the pandemic. It has been a time of lost unity as congregations have struggled with how to respond to the pandemic. Do we wear masks or not? Do we ask if people have been vaccinated or not? What do we do about children? It has been a tremendously stressful time for pastors who’ve had to learn to do worship online. And I am delighted you all are recording this worship! And you have a website. Can I tell you how thrilled I am about your new website? 

Change is stressful. I don’t like change, do you? In our communities, we are caught between what the science and our government tell us and what we want to live in our freedom. And the choices that creates and the debate that creates, and the anger that creates. What saddens me is when we demonize one another. How we live together, or how we manage not to live together are some of the sources of the deepest stress in my life. Many people have wished I were a bishop, and that I’m going to tell everyone what we’re going to do. Some would not want me to tell everyone what we’re going to do. But I am not a bishop, I’m a conference minister, which means I have all the responsibility and work of a bishop, but none of the authority of a bishop. 

So, I tried to give the best guidance I could with one prevailing principle: keep each other safe, how ever you do that. Knowing that in 158 congregations there are 158 practices of how that’s going to get done. That’s the glory of the UCC—he freedom for every local church to express how their local ministry is going to get done. The fact that you are all wearing masks this morning just warms my heart. I recognize that we were at Trinity where not many people were wearing masks. People on the street are not wearing masks. I appreciate the fact that you are wearing masks.  

And I’m feeling really guilty at the moment that I am not. Sorry about that. I am vaccinated, but I want to say thank you. And I also want to acknowledge that we’re going to move through this time. We will move through the pandemic and there is going to be a better day beyond this. I trust this. Because I know that God is always in the future, always doing things to anticipate. I give thanks. 

In our text this morning from the write of James, James warns to be careful about ambitions. Because ambitions can make you boastful, and lad you away from the humility God intends. In the reading from the gospel of Mark, even the disciples are arguing with each other about who is the greatest, because the book of James hasn’t been written yet and they don’t have that counsel. Arguing about who is the greatest is not the best way to honor the holy one in their midst. My younger brother had a conversation where we argued who was our parent’s favorite. We thought the other was the favorite. It was ridiculous! We were both the shining gems and stars of their whole world. 

The disciples are arguing over who is the greatest. They don’t want Jesus to know they are arguing. They don’t ask Jesus what he means when he says he is going away, because they are afraid, they will look stupid. Sometimes our fear of asking questions keeps us away from learning and understanding. In a family—not asking questions gets in the way of deeply knowing each other. My father died this year in April. I have been hearing from my mom all the stories my dad never told me about his life. It’s like someone turned on a light and I can see why we are such a crazy, screwed up family! It’s so important to tell our family stories because that’s how we learn who we are and how we fit in the world. 

Jesus knows this and asks them, what are you talking about? They confess, we were talking about who is the greatest. Can you imagine if I asked you to have a conversation around who is the greatest in this church? Jesus! That’s right. 

Jesus illustrated who is the greatest by drawing a child to him and saying, if you want to be great this is how you do it, you welcome the least of these. Children in the biblical era didn’t have rights, privileges, or place. Their only value was when they worked and contributed to the economic well-being of children. Jesus is saying, if you want to be great, you have to value what no one else does. So, he welcomes a child.  

I know that when children are in churches it is a source of profound joy. And when they’re not it’s a source of profound sorrow. I know when I was growing up in church, I was supposed to be seen and not heard. That’s why my grandmother had a purse stuffed with candy. That conveys something to a child, being seen, but not heard. It means, we’re glad you’re here, but don’t’ say anything, don’t distract us from being with Jesus.  

What I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is that the creativity, playfulness, and curiosity of a child has been taken over by the crotchetiness of age. I find that I play less and complain a little more. I don’t do the things of my childhood that made me so happy then, because I’ve got so much responsibility as an adult now. That came to a head for me when I was pastor at First Reformed in Lancaster. That was a very different urban ministry setting. Our congregation was doing three community meals a week for people. People on the sidewalk outside of our church were emotionally or mentally disturbed or challenged. There was constant tension between neighbors. Our church was filled with people who had a lot of needs. But for a pastor, that gets very heavy. And due to heaviness, my heart was starting to close. Then one Saturday morning in Baltimore inner Harbor, on a rare day off I was spending with my two sons, I happened upon a water fountain. And I knew my sons would want to throw money in that fountain, because they wanted to throw money in every fountain they ever found.  

But sitting on the edge of the fountain there was a man with a duffle bag, disheveled clothes, unshaven, and I could tell he was living on the street. He had a cup in his hand that he held out, shaking it, trying to draw attention to the fact that he needed money. I was just tired, burned out, and I didn’t want to interact with one more person who wanted something from me. My oldest son grabs my hand, draws me right to the fountain. I keep telling him, I don’t have any coins. The man holding his cup stands up as he sees us coming and I know he’s going to ask me for money and I’m angry and irritated that I’ve go to deal with one more homeless person. I get to the fountain, and the man takes coins out of his cup and gives them to my son and says, “Every child’s dream should come true.” And in that moment, this homeless man is doing exactly what Jesus taught his disciples to do. 

That memory is a permanent lesson for me to be on guard for when my heart gets hard, because that’s when I’m not open to meeting new people and talking with folks who disagree with me and finding the holiness in every human being. Because it’s there. Greatness is determined by how we welcome the least of these, understanding we are the people in need of the welcoming. I hope every time you come here on Sunday and walk through those doors, you know the power and presence of Jesus welcoming you. 

I want to say about your website, I hope all of you have seen it. When you go to your website, the first word is, “Welcome!” What I love about your website, and I’ve seen a lot of church website, is that the first thing that people see, other than the word “Welcome” is not the church building, it is the smiling faces of our people standing behind that welcome. And what I got from that word and picture is, you’re not only welcoming people, but you mean it. I love your website. And I lover your website because I thought, ok, that’s good, the first page has people. But you know what? All the other pages have your pictures as well. As much as we come into a building to experience the presence of each other and the presence of the Holy, the Holy is not in the building, the holy is in you. And the welcome for people outside this building is not going to come from this building, it’s going to come from you. And I am blessed to be here this morning because I have been made to feel so welcome by you. Last night as I was looking at the website that Pastor Maureen shared with me. And you have every right to be proud of that website, and your pastor is. I read these words and they brought joy to my heart: 

We at St. Peter’s want to make a lasting difference in your life, in the community and in the world. Our mission is to connect with God, connect with others, and connect others with God. We believe you matter, your life has a purpose, and God created you with that purpose in mind. Your faith journey has a next step, and we’ll help you find it, whether it’s serving or joining a group. Worship with us regularly and it makes your whole week go better. We want to help you become the person God created you to be. 

I read that and I said to myself, I want to be a member of that church! So, friends at St. Peter’s, thank you and bless you for the way you welcome each other, and the way you are ready to welcome people outside of your church. Thank you and bless you that in this pandemic season you have not stopped being church, whether you’re here or whether you’re at home, because God has not stopped being God. The world has not stopped needing love and grace. It needs it now more than ever! And we ill never be able to stop being the people of the resurrection because that is who God created us to be! May the power of the resurrected spirit of Jesus Christ welcome you always and everywhere, until that last day, when God welcomes us home. In Jesus’ name, Amen.