Read: Mark 9:30-37

It is said that Benjamin Franklin made a list of character qualities that he wanted to develop in his life. As he mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty well, he said, until he got to humility. Every time he thought he was making some progress, he would be so pleased with himself that he became proud.

Most of us are like Franklin in that humility tends to elude us. I remember that in my own childhood, when I would get “too big for my britches,” my mother would remind me that “humility is a virtue.”

That’s exactly what's behind the wrangling between the disciples in today's reading. They want to know who’s the greatest? Who’s in charge? They want to own the church, when it should be the church that owns them.

We struggle with exactly the same issues that the disciples certainly struggled with, so we need to understand what has happened to them. I think that they have gone through three stages of struggle in today’s Gospel lesson:

First Stage: They failed to recognize their own limitations (Mark 9:30-32). The disciples were the most privileged people in history. They had the opportunity to learn the great lessons of all time from the greatest teacher of all time. But they failed to understand, and they were too ashamed to ask for an explanation.

Second Stage: The first failure was compounded by undeserved pride (Mark 9:33-34). They were arguing about who was the greatest when none of them had done anything to deserve it. Maybe, as we said, they couldn’t understand what they were being taught. But perhaps they were simply not listening. Isn’t it odd that the disciples are literally on the road with Jesus, but they are still not following in his way?

Jesus asks the disciples what they've been so busy discussing. He knows, of course, but he wants to see what they will say. Just like little kids caught in a lie, they get real quiet. They hope that if they ignore the question it will go away. It doesn’t, but Jesus doesn’t force the disciples to answer the question. Instead, he makes one of those amazing statements that blow up our preconceptions about reality: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)

Third stage: Perhaps in desperation, Jesus gives them an example of true humility (Mark 9:35-37). He wants them to know about servant ministry, so he teaches them a lesson through a little child. Jesus is trying to get them to understand the true nature of greatness. It's not position or possessions. Instead, it comes from being a servant, the type of servanthood that finds its best and highest expression on the cross. And what's more, Jesus then calls his disciples to follow him in this way of being a servant.

The message is crystal clear, but what a bombshell it is. It runs counter to the way we think of life. Our society is all about-competition. Just like the disciples, we want to know: Who is No. 1? Here Jesus offers another view of life, a different version of reality.

My hunch is that on this day (and most days) we are all aware of a gap in our lives. The gap is between what we want to be and what we are in reality. The good news is that God desires that we come to a deep knowledge of who we really are, our true selves. And he’s given us the gift of choice to decide to be a servant in God's creation. And you and I know that when that happens, if only in fleeting moments, we catch a taste of the true joy of living.