Warm-up Question
- Who is the best teacher that you’ve ever known?
- What made them so good?
A GOAT in the Pressbox
Recently, Tom Brady began calling professional football games as an announcer on FOX. Brady is often considered the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). This expertise led to him receiving a massive contract worth $375 million to move from the field and into the pressbox.
After two weeks of calling games, reviews are mixed on Brady’s performance in his new role. Some—including many fans whose teams lost to Brady during his playing career—are taking this chance to tease that Brady can’t be good at everything. Others noted progress in his second week after a fairly pedestrian first outing. Still others complain that, regardless of how good someone is at that particular job, no one deserves hundreds of millions of dollars to talk about football on television.
Brady’s transition from the gridiron to the sidelines reveals a couple of things. One is pretty simple: no one becomes the greatest at anything without experience or practice. Another is no less true: our definitions of the greatest don’t necessarily translate into other parts of life.
Discussion Questions
- What is it like to try something new, especially with an audience?
- What is it like to struggle trying something new when other people have high expectations of you?
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)
For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.
Gospel Reflection
In this Gospel, Jesus challenges the disciples’ assumptions about greatness. First, he confronts their bickering about which one of them is the best of the bunch. Of course, its not uncommon for friends to compare themselves to one another. With so many county and state fairs going on right now, I imagine teens in every state have argued with their peers about who raises the best livestock, who wins the most midway games, who can eat the most fried Oreos, and so forth.
But the disciples arguments here are simultaneously more significant and more absurd. Who is the greatest at following Jesus? Following Jesus is definitely among the most important things in our lives. Turning faith into a contest? That’s bizarre.
Yet, the human propensity for competition doesn’t stop at the fairground or on the football field. Too often, we let our desire to win invade our relationship with Jesus. We let a yearning for victory misdirect our spiritual journey.
Fortunately, Jesus steps in at these moments for us, Just as he stepped in for the disciples in Mark 9. Jesus reminds all his disciples that greatness in the Reign of God is not the same as greatness in this world. God desires innocence more than excellence. God desires humility more than pride. Jesus teaches disciples, then or now, that God’s greatness is found in those society most ignores and least values.
Not only does Jesus challenge our assumptions about greatness. Jesus turns the definition on its head with both word and deed. Ultimately, Jesus shows us greatness in a willingness to suffer on others’ behalf. As he forecasts in the first verses of today’s Gospel, Jesus shows us that success doesn’t look like a military victory, but an empty tomb.
Discussion Questions
- Using Jesus’ definition of greatness, share some examples of the people who are greatest in your community.
- What makes them so great in God’s eyes?
- How can we learn to appreciate them in the same way?
Activity Suggestions
- Who are those who Jesus would call the greatest that we’ve been ignoring? Take time this week to contact people who often go unnoticed and tell them why you appreciate them. This could be people that serve you food or take out the trash. It could be kids at school who aren’t terribly popular. Whoever it is, let them know why you think they’re great.
- Develop a service project that a group can do together that serves others. In some parts of the country, its already time to rake leaves. Older congregants might appreciate assistance with that. With climate change wreaking havoc across the globe, creating and sending disaster relief kits through partners like Lutheran World Relief is another powerful way to serve. Whatever the project, find ways to practice the greatness that Christ teaches.
Closing Prayer
God, you are the greatest of all. You show us that greatness through becoming one of us, a human, a baby. You show us that greatness by washing feet and welcoming outsiders. You show us that greatness by living humbly, suffering willingly, and rising to new life vibrantly. Inspire us to embrace your greatness and to follow in that path of humility, service, and abundant life. We pray this in your name, Jesus: Amen.
