Defining Greatness ...

Has there ever been a greater paradox than assigning the idea of greatness to someone?  I recently watched the movie Midway that chronicles the point in World War II where the tide turned in America’s favor after many crushing defeats.  The movie outlines a tapestry of American heroes responsible for the critical success of this battle.  Not one, but many.  Yet none of these outstanding heroes were rich, nor was their money or financial situations a factor in their heroism.  None of these men were college dropout tech savvy millionaires who started innovative companies that grew to influence the world we live in today.  Most lived in obscurity, at least until this movie told their respective stories.  One could say they performed deeds of greatness and great bravery, but these deeds are not done by men without the fortitude and determination to carry them out.  The deed does not live without the man.  But it is not even the deed that makes the greatness.  It is rather the sacrifice for others that does.

We in the U.S.A. are not living in a feudalistic Japanese culture because we won the war, not lost it.  Those deeds of greatness, of sacrifice, determined the fate of millions of us.  They granted us the freedom to live in a society of our own making, not one imposed upon us as a conquered nation.  And but for the deeds of the greatest men who faced their own demise to see us live, our stories might be radically different.  And therein lies the paradox of greatness.  It does not come with fame.  It does not come with wealth beyond measure.  It comes only with the impact of the sacrifice someone great chose to make for others because they cared just that much.  No one forces them to sacrifice or become great, they choose it without reward for themselves.

The chief servant of us all, might then be the greatest of us all, even when we didn’t even know their names or understand just how much they did for us.  Look then at our God.  We know He created us; we know He loves us.  But have you ever stopped to consider just how much He does for us, nearly every second, without even our knowledge of what that is?  And our God does not look for our gratitude in order to continue His service to us.  He does not look for payment.  His service is a gift of love’s creation.  He protects us from dangers we will never know even existed.  He opens doors for us in our education and careers that might otherwise have been slammed shut.  He preserves love in relationships that due to sin might have grown ice cold and withered away.  And He changes the core of who we are, that He might remake us in harmony with the Law of Love that His Commandments represent only a foundation of.   He does this for us.  His greatness is not just found in His awesome power, but His awesome sacrifice He makes with no fanfare, just a steadfast love that will never let go.

If you consider then that greatness is not the vanity of fame and pride, but more anonymous selfless service, the greatest of mankind are likely those whose name may never be printed or known.  With this lens, let us examine what Jesus Christ said about His cousin John the Baptist – the greatest prophet who ever lived.  Luke writes about it in his gospel in the seventh chapter picking up in verse 24 saying … “And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? [verse 25] But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. [verse 26] But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.”

Jesus begins by asking a profound question of his audience, namely, what did they go out to see in the wilderness concerning John the Baptist.  Did they expect John to cower and change his tune because those in church authority showed up to listen, like a reed shaking in the wind?  Or did they expect John to be one of great wealth and privilege descending from the courts of kings to talk to them about his own wisdom and experience?  No.  John was neither of these.  So did they go to see a prophet of God?  Yes, but much MORE than just a prophet.  The message of John was predicted in the footsteps of Elias the prophet who preceded him.  Jesus continues in verse 27 saying … “This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”  This role of preparation for Israel to receive the Messiah was perhaps the most critical in prophetic ministry.  It was a role of service by John to the people of Israel.  Not for the sake of fame, but for the sake of results.

Jesus then comments upon the greatness of John saying in verse 28 … “For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”  An even greater paradox emerges.  Jesus begins by stating clearly that of all the prophets ever born John the Baptist is by far the greatest.  He has performed the greatest service for Israel, even at the cost of his own life.  But all that sacrifice by John is dwarfed by the “least of these” in the Kingdom of God.  It is not just the telling of the message that counts.  It is the accepting of it.  It is not just knowing I have the need to repent, but actually repenting and craving that change that only the Messiah could bring.  It is not just agreeing with my teacher in church that I need to become like a little child to enter into His kingdom.  It is finding the humility to become just like that little child.  Even one sinner like me who is greatly undeserving, might submit myself to Jesus, and find myself in the greatest of all kingdoms though I deserve it not.  Having committed no great deeds of sacrifice for my fellow man.  Yet because I enter His kingdom Jesus thinks of me as even greater than John the Baptist.  Jesus turns the ideas of greatness upon its head.

Accepting repentance, embracing submission, doing what is said – is more important than speaking it, even to the whole of a nation, even to the point of giving one’s life for it.  And so Jesus continues outlining how the message of John was received, picking up in verse 29 saying … “And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. [verse 30] But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.”  Here the publicans or the chief among sinners accept the message of John to humble themselves repent, and be baptized.  Yet the supposedly great religious leaders and teachers of the law refuse.  How scary.  The religious leadership rejects the counsel of God to them.  Enter pride, the destroyer of true greatness.  These men feel no need to listen to a backwater hippy, a fad that is sure to pass quickly from the minds of the people.  These leaders of the faith, do not hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in the sermons of John.  Instead they are certain they need hear only their own voices.  The doctors of the law are sure they are already saved through mechanisms of their own device.  So they reject the doctrine of John, reject its simplicity and purity.  They reject the need for humility because after all, “they” are the true teachers of all that is holy.  And who is John anyway?

Jesus continues in describing religious leaders like this.  He picks up in verse 31 saying … “And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? [verse 32] They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. [verse 33] For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. [verse 34] The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! [verse 35] But wisdom is justified of all her children.”  Jesus described two groups of believers, neither satisfied with the message of salvation.  First the liberals, who you would think would respond to a message of love and happiness.  Liberals that should be dancing because they have discovered the liberation of the freedom the transformation of Jesus brings to the soul.  But they do not.  Instead they are only liberal with their sense of morality, using it to excuse sin instead of be rid of it.  They call themselves liberals happy to party, but not the party of liberation.  They hold love close to the vest, because they have little and practice less.  Is it any different in our day?

The second group of people are conservatives.  You would think the sullen group of believers would respond with an appreciation of one who strictly follows all the rules invented to the find salvation.  After all conservative’s love rules and lists.  They love them more than the people they may impact by them.  You would think they would respond to a sullen message of the need for repentance, a message of mourning regarding the state of the church and of the sinful nation around it.  You would think they would weep with such a sullen somber message like this.  But they weep not.  For they do not care about people.  They only care about the performance of rules.  They have little love in them, and practice even less.  They deride the liberals for their lack of understanding of the need of strict rule adherence, yet practice no such level of adherence themselves, unable to ever perform at such a high level of expectations on their own.  And worst of all, unwilling to put aside pride, and humble themselves to seek a salvation outside of themselves.  Is it any different in our day?

And what of greatness?  Wisdom is justified of all her children.  Children, those young and old, who are willing to put aside pride and become like little children to see the wisdom of our God’s salvation.  To love like little children, freely and without proscribed limits.  To trust God like little children, KNOWING that our God is saving us, even when we cannot see it ourselves, or ever figure out how.  Submitting to our God, because we do trust in His unfailing love, and have seen it in our lives.  The wisdom of God is that He wants to save us, and is the only One who can save us.  We cannot save ourselves.  Only Jesus can do this for us.  Only Jesus can change us from the inside out, remaking us in harmony with His Laws.  Freeing us from the chains of our sins, that we would never be able to free ourselves from.  This is where His wisdom justifies our lives.  It does not justify us to keep sinning and hurting ourselves and others, instead His recreation of us, transforms us in harmony with His laws, and keeps us from sinning or wanting to sin, in the first place.  It is a journey.  But it is the journey of salvation.  It is the journey towards perfection.  Not of ourselves.  But of His gift to us.  Wisdom, justified of all her children.

And in our submission, in our lack of pride, emerges one like you or I, who entering into the Kingdom of God in the here and now, becomes greater even than John the Baptist, the greatest prophet who has ever lived.  And our history of sin does not prevent us from seeing this happen.  For it is not our history that matters, it is our present, and our future.  And Jesus intends to address all three.  Our history He forgives.  Our present He intends to change.  And Our future He promises to be something greater than we could ever imagine.  And looking more closely we discover, it was never “our” greatness involved at all.  But again, it is the greatness of our God.  Not because of His awesome power which He will always have.  But because of His awesome love for one like you and I which no one could ever deny us of.  It is our God who is great.  And the salvation of Jesus in us, that defines greatness forevermore.