Mark 9:30-37

Soon, across this country, there will be a fight. A fight for control, power and dominance. It may have already begun in some places. Children big and small will fight for the top. They will fight to be King of that castle built high upon the mound of snow plowed out after a big dump, high upon the playground structure in the neighbourhood park, high upon the bales of hay stacked up this fall. Kings will rise to the top to take their place in the seat of power and kings will fall into soft and not so soft piles of snow, piles of sand or piles of hay and grass.

The child’s game, ‘Who’s the King of the Castle?’, is not too far off from debate that the disciples have today. Jesus has been again lecturing about his future. For two weeks Jesus has been explaining what the future of the Messiah is, that he will suffer, die and rise again. But this time there is no rebuke from Peter, only blank stares and silence. And when they get the chance, the disciples take up to arguing, arguing over who is the greatest.  Who is Jesus’ number two man? Who is Jesus’ right hand? Who among them is the one following Jesus the farthest without his sandals hurting? Who can nod the hardest when Jesus tells off a Pharisee? Who can act the least surprised when Jesus casts out a demon or heals yet another sick, lame, blind or deaf person?

The disciples fight and Jesus is not impressed. He sits them down and places a child before them. A child who in that society had no position. A child who was expendable, who was likely to die before the age of 16. A child who was usually not even given a name before the age of 5. A child who was seen as a drain on resources and who was last to be fed in a famine. A child who was of no use to society until he or she was grown up. Jesus places one of these children who has no position in that society before the disicples and says, “whoever wants to be first must be last of all”.

Clearly, Jesus is not impressed with the the debate that the disciples had,  and yet, its easy for us to stand with Jesus in judgement of the disciples. However, this debate over who is greatest is played out over and over again in our world too. In fact, we are pretty good at finding all sorts of ways to play ‘Who is the King of the Castle?’.  We play it in the work place with competition for better jobs, better wages and more power. We play it in school for grades and scholarships, for entrance into post-secondary institutions. We play it on the sports field, most visibly in the arena of professional sports, where the King of the Castle is rewarded with the most money, and big trophy. We play the game in our social circles by having the nicest clothes, the nicest houses and the nicest cars. And our most extreme, perverse and sick version of the game, Who is the King of Castle is the version that gave this simple child’s diversion its name. War. War which is no game at all... As human beings we have played war for power and control, for prestige and position and we have done it taking millions and millions of lives in the process. The scolding that Jesus gives to the disciples is gentle compared to the scolding that humanity deserves after the last hundred years of playing the game, ‘Who’s the King of the Castle?’.

Imagine if Jesus was standing in front of you and I. Who would Jesus place in front of us and say, “whoever wants to be first must be last of all?” An Afghani immigrant? A homeless person? A mentally ill person? A single parent on welfare?

(Pause)

Jeremy did not stand out. He was average, he was normal, he was unremarkable. When he began grade 10 he marks were solidly C+, he was not very artistic or musical or athletic. But one day, walking through hallways of his high school another student wearing a football jersey handed him a sheet a paper. It was a poster for try outs. Jeremy had never thought of doing anything like that before, but he figured that he might as well give it a try.

So when the day of try outs came he arrived at the field just in time. The coach, the Mr. Stevens, began the afternoon by thanking everyone for coming. Mr. Stevens then wished everyone good luck and the try outs began. Jeremy was assigned to defense. Throughout the course of the afternoon Jeremy tried several different positions. But Jeremy was awful. When he tried to tackle the running back he just got ran over. When he tried to keep up with a receiver he was left behind in the dust. When he tried to get to the quarterback, he was knocked down by some kid who was bigger than Jeremy’s dad! After that afternoon, Jeremy was sure that this was he first and last day of football.

And yet, when the list of who made the team was posted, Jeremy couldn’t help but check. And to his shock and surprise, his name was, indeed, on the list. In fact, everyone’s name was there. The list that was posted on the wall was the same sheet that everyone signed when they started try outs. And there was a note from Mr. Stevens, it said, “Everyone makes the team and everyone plays”.

(Pause)

Despite our games of Who’s the King of the Castle, God is doing something different. Jesus gathers us around and sets before us God’s version of Who’s the King of the Castle. God’s version which has no hill, which has no castle and for which there is no King. And in God’s version, its not about making it to the top, but instead about joining with those at the bottom. And for God, we are all at the bottom so to speak. The whole who is the greatest debate began because the disciples did not understand what God had come into the world to do, it started because they didn’t understand how Jesus’ version of the Messiah was going to do God’s work in the world. Jesus doesn’t come as a King, striving to push us all down to the bottom of the hill. As far as creation goes, God is on top of the hill. However, instead of going for the top, God steps down. God steps down giving up power and glory, for life and death in creation. God steps down to meet us in Jesus. Jesus who comes to us as a baby in a manger, who comes to us a poor wandering carpenter turned preacher, who comes to us as a crucified like a criminal Messiah, and who shows us a risen saviour. A risen saviour who invites us into that same death and resurrection.

In our version of this world, we play the game Who’s the King of the Castle. In God’s version of this world, He steps down to show us that president or homeless person, dictator or oppressed, super star athlete or normal average joe, God steps down to show that “Everyone makes the team and everyone plays”... that we are equal before God and that we are a part of God’s gracious gift of life. Its not about being at the top of hill for God. Its about stepping down to meet and to love us... to love us even while we are trying to be King of the Castle.

Jesus tries to tell the disciples what the Messiah has come to do, and instead we and them live in a world where Who’s the King of the Castle is the most important game we play. And still the Messiah does what the Messiah has come to do. The Messiah holds before us the lowest of the low, Jesus holds before us those that we step on, on our way up the hill. And then Jesus says to us, “it is for these ones, the ones at the bottom of the hill, that I have come. And I have come also for you because in my world Everyone makes the team and everyone plays... in my world you all belong to me and to my Father.”

Amen.