“A Question of Priorities"
Mark 9:30-37
Sunday, November 12, 2006

Introduction: A group of friends went deer hunting. They separated into pairs and went separate ways. That night, one hunter returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck. The other hunters asked, “Where’s Harry?” The lone hunter replied: “Harry fainted a couple of miles up the trail.” The others couldn’t believe it. “You mean you left him lying there and carried the deer back instead?” The man answered: “It was a tough call, but I figured no one was going to steal Harry!”/ PRIORITIES. One of the secrets to success in life is to have your priorities in order.

In the late 1980’s and early 90’s, Chris Spielman was an awesome linebacker for the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills. Football was his passion…or so everyone thought. But in 1994, Chris Spielman gladly gave up football when his wife, Stefanie, was diagnosed with cancer. He moved into his wife’s hospital room and waited on her hand and foot. He only ate when she ate; only slept when she slept. When Stefanie lost her hair to chemotherapy, Chris shaved his head. He became the primary caretaker for their two children. Today, Stefanie is in reimission and feeling good. And Christ has no regrets about giving up his career. As he says: “This is my family. This is my responsibility. This is my duty. This is my priority.”

I. Seeking the Best- (Mark 9:3-37)

a. Wanting to be first- In our passage this morning we read how Jesus

and the disciples traveled to Capernaum. When they were settled in, Jesus asked them: “What were you arguing about on the road?” Suddenly it got very quiet. Why? Because the disciples were embarrassed; embarrassed that they had been arguing about who was the greatest. The were arguing over who was number 1. All of a sudden what seemed like an okay discussion, didn’t seem okay anymore now that Jesus was confronting them about it. Suddenly, they saw it for what it really was; sinful, petty pride. No wonder they were embarrassed. No wonder they didn’t want to tell Jesus what they were arguing about.

Jesus called the 12 and said to them: “’If anyone wants to be first, he shall be the servant of all.’ And taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ‘Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me doe not receive Me but Him who sent Me.’” (Mark 9:36-37)

If you are like many people in our society today, you have a strong desire to succeed in what you do in your life; whether it be in your career, your family, or your faith. Never before have we had a generation to whom success is so important. We want to be at the top of the pyramid. We want to be number one.

In one sense, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be successful. Personal ambition can be a gift that God bestows upon us to cause us to be our best. If you were to have surgery, you would want one of the best surgeons to operate on you. If you go to a restaurant, you want a chef who is one of the best. If you have your car worked on, you mechanic who is one of the best. As someone once said: “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” Striving to be number one can be healthy, as long as we are able to put it into perspective. We need to understand that winning isn’t everything, neither is it the only thing. In fact, if it is not put into proper perspective, it can cost us our soul.

Going back to Jesus and the disciples, we see that Jesus didn’t scold the disciples for wanting to be number one. What He tried to do was to help them put this desire into the proper perspective.

b. The drive to succeed- An anonymous writer said it like this: “Imagine

life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them; work, family, health, friends, and faith. Here you are trying to keep all five balls in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls…are made of glass. If you drop one of them, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same.”/ That is some powerful imagery. Work is a rubber ball, all the other balls (the other important things of life) are made of glass. If you neglect these other life concerns in your quest to be number 1, your life will not really be a success. As Mark 9:35 says, “If anyone want to be first, he shall be the servant of all.” Having an attitude of servant-hood is very important to not let our drive to succeed overwhelm the important aspects of our lives.

Example- A few years ago, Tom Block resigned as the chief executive officer of H&R Block. H&R Block is a 1.7 Billion dollar tax-preparation and financial-services firm. Tom left behind his prestigious job to become a teacher at St. Francis Xavier middle school in Kansas City, Missouri. His annual salary suddenly dropped to less than $15,000 a year; about 3-percent of his old salary!! But Block knew his hectic schedule as CEO had been interfering with his top priority; his wife and their 2 sons. Block says of this decision: “The hardest part was telling my father,” (referring to H&R Block chairman Henry Block, who co-founded the company in 1955) “but I didn’t want to look back on my life and say, ‘Gee, you had an opportunity to play a bigger role in your children’s lives and didn’t take it.’”

Tom Block knew which ball was made of rubber and which one was made of glass. Along this same line, there was an article in Reader’s Digest years ago about a young woman named Elsa. Elsa and her husband had an argument one morning. She doesn’t remember what the argument was about, but she does remember how in the middle of the argument her husband began to leave for work. But Elsa spoke up, saying: “How can you just go off like that? We haven’t settled a thing!” At this her husband Steve did what few men would do. He turned around and went to the phone, called in to work, and cancelled all his morning meetings. Steve was in essence saying to Elsa that their relationship was more important than business meetings. You can imagine how much this meant to Elsa to discover that she had married a man who would sacrifice work to improve their relationship.

II. Overcoming the Pressure- (Matthew 6:33)

a. What to fall back on? There is tremendous pressure on us all to

succeed, and if we don’t watch it, we can lose some things that are precious to us along the way. Are we prepared to deal with the curves life throws at us? If we are too concerned with success and being the best at everything, then we will not be.

EXAMPLE- There is a pastor who tells of one of his congregation members who came in one day needing to talk. “Pastor, I feel so empty—so dried up inside—I’m scared,” the man said with his voice quivering. Then he continued: “Pastor, I have just come from the doctor’s office—and he told me that I have only six months to live! After I left his office I realized that I have no spiritual resources, no inner strength to cope with this. There is nothing to fall back on, to lean against. Many people would be surprised to hear me say this, for I have made lots of money, and people think I am a success, not only at making money, but at being a strong and powerful person.” Finally, he said: “You know I’m poor in the things that count the most. I see it now; I’ve put my faith in the wrong things, and the truth is I am destitute spiritually. I could pick up the phone and call any bank in Houston and borrow any amount of money to do whatever I wanted to but just giving them my name. Pastor, do you understand? But I guess there are some things you can’t buy.”

As Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33- “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given to you as well.” There are some things you can’t buy, some things you can’t earn. Those are the glass balls.

b. Motivation- In our scripture passage this morning it is interesting to

see how Jesus put a child in the midst of the disciples as a means of helping the disciples adjust their priorities. Children often remind us that our priorities are out of whack. And love for our children can help us motivate ourselves to get our lives back into proper focus.

Illustration- “Daughter Needs Kidney Transplant,” People Magazine.

There was an article in People magazine not too long ago where a man regained his focus thanks to his love for his daughter. Randy and Genie Leamer found out that their 18-month old daughter had severe kidney disease. No matter what the doctors tried for the little girl, she kept getting worse. By the age of 5 Meagan desperately needed a kidney transplant. Both her parents were a match, but Genie’s family had a history of kidney problems and high blood pressure. So it fell on Randy to give the kidney. The problem was that Randy weighed 300 pounds, and the doctors didn’t think his body could survive the surgery at this weight. So he had to lose over 100 pounds. Though he had not been properly motivated to do this, now he had motivation. So he began to exercise and eat a low fat diet. Friends at work cheered him on, and even brought their old clothes for Randy when his clothes became too big. Within 8 months Randy was down to 194 pounds. Meagan’s surgery was performed on December 12, 1997. Both Randy and Meagan fully recovered after the surgery!/ Because of his love for his daughter, Randy Leamer took a needed action that may in the long run have given him a longer life as well. It is amazing to see how the love we have for our children can help us to regain the focus in life. Children are energetic, loving, forgiving, caring, and genuine. These are just a few of the qualities that should be priorities in our lives.

We could seek to make excuses, but in the end they are just excuses. For example, people all the time have excuses for not coming to church to worship God and grow in their faith. But what if we took these excuses and applied them to eating? The list might look like this: 1. I was forced to eat as a child./ 2. People who eat all the time are hypocrites; they aren't really hungry./ 3. There are so many different kinds of food, I can't decide what to eat./ 4. I used to eat, but I got bored and stopped./ 5. I only eat on special occasions, like Christmas and Easter./ 6. None of my friends will eat with me./ 7. I'll start eating when I get older./ 8. I don't really have time to eat./ 9. I don't believe that eating does anybody any good. It's just a crutch./ 10. Restaurants and grocery stores are only after your money.

It sounds pretty silly when we put it like this. Just like the disciples knew they sounded silly by trying to determine who was the greatest.

Conclusion: All of us are under pressure to succeed in life. All of us want to be the best we could be. There is pressure to succeed in being a good parent; pressure to succeed in finding a career; pressure to succeed in just living out this day. There is nothing wrong with seeking to be the best, as long as we seek to be the best in what is important: family, health, friendships, and faith. These we do not want to drop; in these we do not want to be second best.

Last week we talked about what to treasure. This week we talked about setting good priorities. Having the right understanding of both is very important in life. To have the right understanding we need to seek God. So I encourage you today to not make excuses for what you should be doing, and for the priorities you should have in your life. Make a list of those things that fall into these 4 important categories: family, health, friendships, and faith, and set goals to make each one a priority. Only then can we be walking the path Jesus has for us. Amen.