The Anatomy of Greatness

Scripture: Mark 10:35-45

Sermon by Rev. Dale Rose – Lake Joseph Community Church – July 5, 2026

In the last decade or so, an interesting conversation has developed around sports heroes. And it revolves around one word – “goat.” G.O.A.T has become an acronym for “greatest of all time.” It is an ongoing debate in almost every sport. Who is the greatest hockey player? Gordie Howe? Bobby Orr? Sidney Crosby? Or Wayne Gretzky, who is even called “The Great One”? In basketball, is it Michael Jordan or Lebron James? In baseball, is it Babe Ruth, Ted Williams or now Shohei Ohtani? All of these debates cause us to reflect on a deeper question: What does it mean to be great?

Our world has its own definition of greatness, of course. And it is usually linked to power, fame or significant accomplishments. A little hubris and self-promotion doesn’t hurt either. There is an old parable about a lion. One day this particular lion wanted to make sure that all the other animals knew he was king of the jungle. He was so confident that he passed by the smaller animals and went straight to the bear. “Who is the king of the jungle?” he asked. The bear replied: “You are, of course.” The lion gave a roar of approval. The he asked the tiger: “Who is the king of the jungle?” The tiger also responded: “You are, mighty lion.” Next on the list was the elephant. When the lion asked “Who is the king of the jungle?” the elephant grabbed him with his trunk. He whirled the lion around several times and slammed him into a tree. He pounded him into the ground and shoved him under water in a nearby lake and dumped him on the shore. The lion was beaten and bruised, and said to the elephant: “Listen, just because you don’t know the answer is not a reason to be mean about it!”

Well how many of us live with this same kind of self-delusion, thinking we are greater than others? Self-confidence is a good thing, as long as it doesn’t descend into pride, arrogance and ego. In one of his books, the author and pastor John Ortberg tells a funny story about a business executive. He was the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. One day he pulled into the service station for some gas. He went inside to pay, and when he came out his wife was speaking with one of the station attendants. It turns out she knew the guy, and had actually dated him in high school before she met her husband. Then they got in their car and drove away in silence. The CEO was feeling pretty good about himself. He said to his wife: “I bet I know what you are thinking. I bet you are thinking you’re glad you married me, the CEO of a large company, and not that service station attendant.” “No,” said his wife. “Actually I was thinking if I had married him, he would be the company CEO and you would be a gas station attendant.” Sometimes life has a way of keeping us humble and grounded. Spouses and family members can do the same thing.

Now having said all this about humility, there needs to be a certain balance in our lives. We need a certain amount of healthy ambition. We try to instill this in our children, don’t we? “Keep it up,” we say. “Don’t stop trying. You can do it.” Everyone needs motivation. Recently I was reading a Christian book about this theme of ambition and desire. This theologian made an interesting point. He talked about a Hebrew word that occurs in the creation story in Genesis chapter 2. The writer says: “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7) The word translated as “living being” is the Hebrew word nephesh, which literally means “a bundle of appetites.” That’s what we are in essence – a bundle of appetites. That is what stirs within us the desire to savour the goodness of life, to accomplish great goals, to prove our ability. A healthy appetite is essential to good health. And a healthy ambition can also be a good thing, as long as it is balanced and not given to excess.

Today we are looking a story in the gospels which really illustrates this tension between ambition and humility in our walk with God. The story occurs in both Matthew and Mark’s gospel. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come up to Jesus with a request. Actually it is more of a statement: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” It’s a pretty brash request. But maybe they felt they were part of the inner circle of Jesus’ friends, along with Peter. So Jesus plays along for a bit, since this is a teaching moment. He says: “Okay, what is it you want me to do for you?” And to his amazement, they ask for positions of power. “Grant that we might have the positions of honour in your kingdom, to sit on your right and your left.” Jesus is just as blunt in his response: “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I will be baptized with?” He was referring to his suffering and death. They replied: “Yes, we are able.” Jesus then offers a prediction: “You will indeed drink my cup and experience my baptism of fire. But these positions of honour are not mine to grant.”

Now it is interesting to note the reaction of the other ten disciples when they become aware of this request. They are indignant and ticked off at the two brothers. How dare they request such a thing! It is undignified and crass. Yet you can be sure that deep down they were thinking the same thing. They also wanted positions of power. James and John had simply beaten them to it in their request of Jesus.

Now this story also appears in Matthew’s gospel. It is essentially the same story with the same details except for one difference. Matthew says it was the mother of James and John who asks Jesus for this special favour. Maybe this was an example of over-zealous parenting. Or “helicopter parenting” in the parlance of today. Helicopter parenting is characterized by excessive parental involvement, like constantly monitoring a child’s activities, choosing their friends, stepping in to solve every problem for them. Maybe this mother was overly involved in her sons’ lives, or had big dreams and ambitions for them.

Some Bible scholars believe the early church may have redacted this story a bit. Matthew’s gospel was written later than Mark’s. Perhaps they wanted to show the disciples in a better light. So it became the mother who made the request. But either way, it shows us some of the humanity and imperfections of the early apostles. And it highlights the truth of the old saying attributed to the playwright George Bernard Shaw: “There are only two tragedies in life. One is not getting what one wants. The other is getting it.” Somehow I think this applies to James and John in today’s gospel lesson.  They really didn’t understand what they were asking for.

The late preacher and author Fred Craddock once said there are two kinds of sermons that are difficult to hear: bad sermons and good sermons. We know that bad sermons just don’t resonate with people. But sometimes a good sermon is the one that gets under people’s skin and bothers them. There are Sundays when we preachers want this to happen. So it can be disappointing in a way when church members say at the door: “I really enjoyed your sermon today, pastor.” Sometimes I want to reply: “I was actually hoping it would bother you!” In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus is trying to bug us a little. It creates a teachable moment for all of us. This is a passage that should bother us. It should make us feel uncomfortable. It should challenge our assumptions about greatness and honour. So let me reflect on a few ideas that we can glean from today’s gospel.

First, James and John let reckless ambition guide their thinking. Verses 35-37: “James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’” Now what was really going on here with this request? Well, it certainly reveals some things about the heart of these two disciples. No doubt they were committed to Jesus and the cause of the gospel. But they had weaknesses, along with things they needed to work on.

Earlier in the third chapter of Mark’s gospel, he describes the calling of the twelve: “And he appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder).” Jesus gives these two brothers a nickname. He doesn’t call them the “timid brothers” or “the quiet, silent ones.” No, he calls them “the sons of thunder.” I am no expert on nicknames, but I have to think that using thunder in the name is not indicative of meek and mild-mannered people. The truth is, James and John had bad tempers. They could be volatile at times. When a Samaritan village rejected Jesus, these two brothers asked him if they should bid fire come down from heaven to consume this town. Jesus rebukes them by saying: “You do not know what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of humans but to save them.”

At this point, James and John were filled with pride. They displayed a false humility. There is a story about the Canadian preacher Harry Ironside who pastored the Moody Church in Chicago. He felt he was not as humble as he should be, and asked a friend for some advice. The friend said: “Here’s what you should do. Make a sandwich board with some scripture on it and wear it while walking through the main shopping district of the city for a whole day.” Ironside thought this was rather extreme, but agreed to do it. After completing this humiliating experience, he returned to his home and took off the sandwich board. And he caught himself thinking: “There’s not another person in Chicago that would be willing to do what I just did.” Sometimes it is hard to be humble.

Secondly, true humility comes out of a healthy Christ-centredness. Verses 38-40: “But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’”

The two brothers were seeking recognition. They wanted honour, praise and respect. But for the Christian, these are not things we should seek. Rather, they are by products of faithfulness and commitment. Following Jesus requires submitting ourselves to the will of God. It is desiring God and his kingdom, not craving recognition for ourselves. I love how one Bible commentator describes this request of the brothers. He writes: “I wonder if James and John are right in what they seek but mistaken in how they are seeking it. Maybe they need to realize that glory and greatness are not about all the many ways we “lord it over” another: power, rank, position, prestige, reputation, beauty, accomplishments, skills. Maybe glory and greatness are not something we are given, but something into which we are transformed. Maybe they are not something we have but something we become.”

Our goal as God’s people is transformation. Day by day we seek to be transformed more into the image of Christ. This is what James and John needed to learn. And Jesus challenges their presuppositions about greatness.

Next, Jesus offers us a definition of greatness. Verses 42-44: “You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.”

This is so counter-cultural isn’t it? When you consider our world today, the more popular choice is to be served. That’s why all-inclusive resorts and cruises are so popular. Other people serve us and cater to our needs. The truth is, we live in an ambitious world. We want to know and associate with whoever is the best, the greatest, the smartest, the strongest. That’s why the Guiness Book of World Records is a bestseller every year. That’s why we watch shows like the Super Bowl and Survivor. Let’s be honest. For many people, life is all about winning and losing. That’s why we keep score. Ambition itself is not wrong. If you have no ambition, you may never get out of bed in the morning. Ambition can be good or bad, depending on whether we use our ambition for good things.

For real estate brokers, there are three essential things to selling a property: location, location, location. If I were to ask you what the three essential qualities are for the Christian life, what would you say? St. Augustine was once asked this very question, and he answered: humility, humility, humility. Jesus said the same thing.

The last thing to note here is how Jesus concludes this teaching. He models servanthood in his own life. Verse 45: “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” What I love about this passage is how Jesus responds to James and John. He doesn’t berate or belittle them for their power play. He doesn’t say: “Forget about it. You will never hold the positions of honour in my kingdom.” No, instead he says: “Okay. You want to sit next to me? Here is what it will cost you.”

The late pastor and author Warren Wiersbe once said we should be careful what we pray for, because we might actually get it. James and John assumed their suffering was over and their work was done. They were wrong. It was just beginning. Albert Schweitzer was a German theologian and humanitarian who became a famous missionary. But he didn’t start out that way. He studied theology and was a gifted organist. But in his thirties he decided to study medicine and became a medical missionary in Africa. He established a hospital and worked among the poor. He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. But what always strikes me about Schweitzer is not all his accomplishments, but how he discovered the real secret to the Christian journey in the words of Jesus. We are called not to be served, but to serve. Schweitzer summed this idea up in his own words when he said: “Every person I know who has been truly happy has learned how to serve others.”

I sometimes wonder if James and John were not completely wrong but just mistaken. They sought glory and honour in the wrong ways. They needed to understand that greatness and honour are not about how we control others through power, position or accomplishments. Greatness is not something we receive, but rather something that changes us into the image of Christ. Matthew records this event in his gospel: “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 18:1-4)

Today let us remember the true secret of greatness and honour. It is found in service in the name of Christ. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached a famous sermon on today’s gospel lesson. Let me close with his words: “Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important –wonderful. If you want to be recognized — wonderful. If you want to be great — wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”