Matthew chapter 18, starting at verse 1.
In verse 1.
And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.
It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Well, good morning, everyone.
Aspiring to greatness.
It's a very basic human character, I think.
We have within us that basic longing, that deep longing to make a significant impact in the world we live in.
We want people to notice a difference for us having been here.
We want, in simple terms, to make a real difference in the world we live in.
So aspiring to greatness is a very normal, very human character.
Of course, the sort of greatness a person aspires to then depends on what thinking they bring to that process.
So it may be that the desire to be great is actually the desire to be the most powerful or the most popular.
And if that's the case, then you're likely to see a lifetime shaped by self-interest, a desire for recognition, perhaps inevitably expressed in obsession with pegging orders and social status, accumulating possessions, and perhaps having a reputation among your peers for being the best in your field, whichever that field is, whether it's work or play or politics or whatever.
Or your aspiration to goodness may be driven by thinking that you want to be the most useful you can be in your lifetime.
And so you might then see from that a lifetime devoted to perhaps research, where somebody spends their whole life hoping to discover some new medicine, some new treatment for some disease, a new machine, a new process perhaps that will just advance the world generally or help people in particular, in a particular area.
Or indeed, you might see a lifetime of service.
Some people aspire to greatness through a lifetime of service, helping the poor, the oppressed, neglected.
And we see that a lot.
And of course, in that category, many of those people are actually quite selfless and unassuming.
And so their tag of greatness is actually almost an unintended consequence for them.
Because that wasn't what they set out to achieve.
But I think even for us more locally and immediate, for me, for you, there still is a sense in which we aspire for greatness.
Like we would say, look, I would want to be a great friend to such and such.
For me, I want to be a great dad.
I want to be a great husband.
And now, as I'm getting older, I want to be a great grandfather.
Well, that's another stage.
I don't want to take Don's position.
I want to be a great grandfather.
If you see, you know, I'll just move on.
It wasn't like that in my notes.
Or we say we want to be a nice, dependable worker, a great worker, a great grandchild, a great student, whatever.
So there's just this list of things where, in our own small way, we're aspiring to greatness.
But here's the question for us this morning.
Is it appropriate for us as Christians to aspire to greatness?
That's certainly the focus of the passage this morning.
The disciples ask a question about greatness.
Who is the greatest?
Who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus' answer is confronting, at the very least.
But at the worst, it's outrageous.
Because he outright rejects the question as expressed.
They come and say, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus gives them a real serve, in a sense.
But here's the nuance in it, I think.
That Jesus doesn't actually reject the notion of aspiring to greatness on their behalf, on their part.
Rather, he redefines greatness.
So it seems to me that, and we'll see the details in a few minutes,
they come asking for greatness in this category.
Jesus rejects that, but doesn't reject the idea of greatness,
but redefines it into kingdom categories.
And kingdom greatness, we'll see this morning, is radically different to worldly greatness.
Kingdom greatness is about self-sacrificing
versus worldly greatness, which is often self-aggrandizing.
Anyway, we'll get to the details more.
I want to do a little bit of revision,
because I think to understand the teaching of 18.1-9,
we need to remind ourselves of a big picture context in Matthew here.
So flick back to chapter 16, verse 13,
and I'm going to walk through these texts fairly quickly.
So at 16.13, the whole of that first section of Matthew's gospel
leads Matthew to finally answering his first question.
The question that's been working for the first 16 chapters,
who is this Jesus?
And in building that picture, Matthew's reached for evidence all the way back to Abraham
and right forward through all these incidents in these early chapters to Peter's confession.
And here's the answer.
You are God.
You are Messiah.
You are God's King and Savior.
The long-awaited one.
And with that, then, Matthew turns his attention to the second question of Jesus.
That is, what does it mean for this Jesus to be Messiah?
What does Jesus come to do, and how will he do it?
That, then, is Matthew's focus for the second part of his biography of Jesus.
And this is where I want you to follow me through the text.
So if you look at chapter 16, verse 18 to 20,
it's interesting, the very, very first thing Jesus says
about what he's going to do as Messiah is,
he will build his church.
Which is another picture of God's kingdom,
God's rule in the hearts and minds of his people.
And then verse 21, 23 of verse 16,
Jesus says this will require him to deal with sin.
That is, to go to Jerusalem to die and be resurrected.
It's interesting, isn't it, that his first statement is a corporate statement.
He has come to establish the church.
And the means of establishing the church is that he will die
to save people individually into the church.
Through apparent defeat,
he would be shown to be God's triumphant, successful king and savior.
Chapter 16, verse 24 to 27.
As for king and savior, so for his disciples.
All in commitment from Jesus, including his death.
All in commitment from his disciples.
Described here as dying to self.
All in loyalty to Jesus.
All in commitment.
17 verses 1 to 13.
The transfiguration story.
Jesus is up to the task.
We get God's stamping of Jesus with his authority again.
He's all powerful.
He's all sufficient.
He'll do what Moses and Elijah were unable to do.
That is, deal with sin and renew God's people.
And victoriously, then, he will ultimately return to the glory
for which he's set aside while he's in this world.
He will return to that glory.
But the pathway to glory is one of suffering and death.
And then 17, 14 to 27 that we looked at last week.
We come down to the harsh reality.
The bottom of the mountain in the valley again.
The pathway to glory is a hard, costly, spiritual battle.
It means, verse 14 through 21,
it means engaging with Satan's kingdom and Satan's power.
And freeing God's people from the ravages of sin.
And to do that requires all in faith in the all-sufficiency of Jesus.
It means Jesus again.
Going to the cross.
Consciously sacrificing himself to deal with Satan's kingdom
and Satan's power and the issues of sin.
And finally, in verse 24 through 27,
it means dismantling the old Jewish system of worship.
It was focused on the temple and sacrifice.
And Jesus is now going to reestablish a completely new order
that's focused on him, a new community.
He'll be the place where people find acceptance with God.
He'll be the place where people go for forgiveness of sin.
He'll be the place where people go to worship.
And this new community will actually be family.
It will mean an emergence of a totally new community gathered around Jesus.
New family identity in Jesus.
New family obligations to Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Now, with that, we can see chapter 18 then, 19 and 20,
starts to spell out in detail the character of this new community.
And this is why all this revision was important.
That these verses can't be seen just as little moral do-goody things.
It's actually Jesus starting to spell out the character of this new salvation community,
the one he's come to establish.
It's a community of died for people, the church.
And once again, the principle is the same.
As for the king, so for his people.
In other words, in summary here, therefore,
we are to reflect King Jesus in our attitudes and actions.
We're to live in the light of the all-sufficiency of Jesus.
We're to think and act selflessly.
We're to be loving.
And in that love, we're to extend grace to those around us,
especially brothers and sisters in Christ.
We're to extend compassion, mercy to the helpless.
And we're to hate any expression of sin in our actions.
So with that, I want to jump into the detail now of chapter 18.
And the question, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Well, of course, it's hard.
Well, it's actually impossible to know what the disciples had in mind
when they asked that question.
Were they thinking about who was the most powerful?
Who was the most useful?
Who was the most popular?
Who was the most privileged?
Who was the most important?
It's impossible to say exactly what is in their mind.
But the question at least suggests rivalry,
jealousy, resentment,
self-interested focus on status and pegging order among the disciples.
And it's not hard, just reading the context of this,
chapters 16, 17, and 18,
it's not hard to read the context and think,
well, perhaps Peter and James and John
started to think that they had a very privileged position
because, after all,
they were the ones that Jesus took up the mountain
and experienced the transfiguration.
Perhaps they even started to fancy themselves
as being of the sort of importance
as an Elijah and a Moses.
Or perhaps Peter then wanted to separate himself
to another level
because maybe he thought
that he was extra special,
even higher up again than James and John's
because, after all,
when Jesus talked about establishing the church
in chapter 16,
it was Peter's mention,
Peter's name that was mentioned.
It was Peter who was associated
as a foundation of the church.
And then, just immediately prior to these verses,
Jesus paid the temple tax for Peter only.
So it wouldn't be too hard to think,
well, Peter thought,
well, hey, maybe I'm the favorite.
I'm Jesus' favorite.
Or at least I'm further up the pegging order
than you guys are.
Not too hard to imagine all that at all,
but we don't really know.
We don't know their precise thinking,
but Jesus did, obviously.
And in response to the thinking,
Jesus delivered an incredibly strong response.
Greatness in my kingdom
is not about competing with others
for social status
in a self-indulgent pegging order.
Greatness in my kingdom
is seen in attitude to Jesus.
It doesn't sound like very much, does it?
It doesn't catch our attention.
We associate greatness with great things,
great actions, great endeavors,
years of effort.
Jesus said, well,
greatness is first and foremost
about an attitude to Jesus.
Now, there's something that jars in the text here
as I was preparing this week
because just, I don't know,
hours, maybe a couple of days,
maybe a week earlier,
the disciples, at least three of them,
had seen the glory of Jesus
in transfiguration.
Certainly it would have been a talking point
among the disciples for all that time.
And certainly they would have gotten the message
that Jesus' pathway to glory
was through suffering and death.
But it would seem like
the disciples are still determined
to pursue their own glory
in a form of worldly greatness.
They were going to carve out
their own pathway to glory
through status and privilege
and reputation.
And in response to all of that,
Jesus puts a little child
in the center of a group
as an illustration
of greatness
in the salvation community,
the church.
And he speaks about
childlike humility.
Truly I say to you,
unless you turn
and become like children,
you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself
like this child
is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.
Not will become,
but is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.
So what is this childlike humility?
I think it's actually quite simple.
I think it's an attitude
of littleness
and insignificance.
That's certainly how
children were viewed
in the ancient world.
And you have to think about that.
If you think about children
these days,
they're not little
and insignificant.
They rule the roost
far too often.
But in Jesus' day,
children were viewed
as little
and insignificant.
And in many ways
they still are.
Because children in the end,
in spite of what they might think,
they're unable
to care for themselves.
They're certainly unable
to care for themselves properly.
And Jesus' point here
is that in sharp contrast
to the subtle self-promotion
of the disciples,
the little child
doesn't consider himself
or herself
to command the attention
of Jesus.
The little child's just happy
to be in the middle there
and have the focus
of Jesus' attention
on them.
So greatness in the kingdom
begins, therefore,
with an attitude
of honest realization
about ourselves.
What is that realization?
That there's nothing in us
to command God's attention.
Command God's attention, sorry.
To command God's recognition.
And that we have God's attention,
we have God's love
and care
is a matter of grace.
And then it's an attitude,
I think,
of trustful dependence.
And children just look
to their parents
to care for them,
to provide for them.
They expect their parents
to dispel their fears.
They expect their parents
to fix whatever
needs to be fixed.
It's just that sort of
all-in dependence
on mom and dad.
Well, I think
it's almost exactly the same,
Jesus' point here.
Greatness in mind,
you died for community,
will be characterized
by total dependence,
unembarrassed
dependence
on Christ's
goodness
and care
and provision
and blessing.
Not their own abilities.
Now, those two things
aren't too hard
to describe.
But gosh,
they're a lot harder
to live out,
aren't they?
Very hard to live out.
And that's the other point
I think Jesus is making here.
He says,
you need to turn
unless you turn.
this sort of attitude,
this childlike humility
is not natural to us.
It requires
a conscious turning away
from how the world
thinks of greatness
and a conscious commitment
to Jesus' pathway
to greatness.
But put simply,
humility is not natural
to us
in our sinful state.
I cannot consciously
strive to secure
my own glory
or greatness
through what I do
and at the same time
consciously strive
to express
childlike humility
towards Jesus
and other
died for people
in this community.
The two just don't mix.
We can convince
ourselves they do,
but they don't
truly mix.
One will,
it's like oil and water,
one will settle
on top of the other.
We need to
consciously turn.
So,
it seems to me
that greatness
in the church
is a real paradox.
It actually
is the
unintended
consequence
of
an all-in
commitment
to thinking
and acting
with childlike
humility.
So,
as we
go about
serving Jesus
in that attitude
of trustful
dependence
and that attitude
of insignificance
living in the
light of grace
and having
our identity
from Jesus,
it's as we're
doing that
that we're
actually declared
by Jesus
to be great.
And it's not
a conscious thing
we're pursuing.
And there's
the paradox.
Our world
offers greatness
through self-achievement,
self-aggrandizing.
And often
that comes
at the expense
of manipulating
others around
us.
So,
if I set
myself to be
great in this
congregation,
then I'm
going to have
to barge
through others
that might
stop in my
way.
Or I might
see others
as useful
to me
toward the
end of me
looking great.
And so,
I'll manipulate
them,
I'll use
them.
And if they
get in the
way,
I'll skittle
them.
That's what
our world
offers as
greatness.
Jesus
says,
the most
inconsequential
Christian
who is
faithful and
loyal to
Christ
will be the
one deemed
greatest
in heaven.
It's a very
different pathway,
isn't it?
imagine if
local church
families like
ours, all
around Australia,
all around the
world, could
get a grasp
of that.
It would
just
immediately rid
church of
all the
politics that
is so
grubby, even
in churches.
churches.
It would
rid churches
of so
many, probably
not all, so
many of the
conflicts, so
many that
ended up in
broken
relationships or
strained
relationships.
It would
literally be
life-changing.
Then moving on,
verses 5 through
to 9,
greatness is seen
in attitude to
sin.
Verse 5 is a
bridge.
It's a
bridge from
verses 1 to
4, obviously,
through to the
severe warnings
of Jesus in
verses 6 to
9.
And these
verses, if you
came here
hoping for a
warm, fuzzy
sermon this
morning, they're
going to really
disappoint you
because they're
harsh.
These are
confronting
verses.
Extreme.
And again,
once again, we
see the
principle of
as for the
king, so
for his
people.
Greatness in
Jesus died for
people also
means reflecting
Jesus' character
and attitude
towards sin.
What was his
character and
attitude towards
sin?
He saw it so
awful, so
much the
cause of the
broken relationship
between God
and his people
that he is
prepared to
sacrifice himself
to deal with
it.
he didn't
spare anything
to deal with
sin and
free God's
people from
its ravages.
And in
verse 4 and
5, you
get that
notion of
not being able
to separate
Jesus from
his people,
from his
died for
people.
very, very
simple
connection, but
it's very, very
powerful and
profound.
The way we
treat other
believers is a
clear indication
of how we
ourselves believe
we are saved
and acceptable
to God.
all believers
are died for
people.
That's what
Jesus came, go
back to that
summary again,
that's what
Jesus came to
achieve.
He came to
achieve, to
establish his
church, and
he did that by
dying for it.
All, therefore,
are part of
God's kingdom on
the same
basis, grace
alone.
All, therefore,
are precious to
Christ, regardless
of how insignificant
they are in
the world's
terms.
So what does
that mean for
us in practice?
What does that
look like in
practice?
Well, I think
very, very
simply in this
context it
means that we
should never be
competing with
other believers.
Never should we
be competing
with other
believers, especially
not for social
status or
reputation or
recognition.
Because to do
that in the
church is to
say that, well,
when Jesus died
for his people, he
was actually
establishing some
new but equally
horrible pegging
order.
Not quite the
same as the
world, but in
some ways it's
like the world.
against that and
contrast that, because
of shared identity
in Christ, we
should have the
same all in love
for and commitment
to our brothers and
sisters, our fellow
died for people.
We should love and
commit to them as
Christ loves and
commits to them.
And that's
greatness.
Practically, that
means these last
three verses,
practically that
means doing
anything we can
to avoid causing
little ones or
other believers
to sin.
verse 6.
It would be
better for him
to have a great
millstone fastened
around his neck and
to be drowned in
the depths of the
sea.
Now, apparently,
the Jews had
a protocol of
taking the worst
of criminals
out to sea,
tying a millstone
around their
necks,
chucking them
overboard,
drowning them.
Why?
Because the
nature of their
crime was so
awful, they
wanted to remove
them, as it
were, from
existence.
They wanted to
deprive them of
a proper burial.
Their crimes are
so horrendous.
And they
believed the
awfulness of that
crime required
such an extreme
response.
Jesus is
saying here
that the
worst possible
death imaginable
is actually
preferable to
causing one of
his died-for
people to sin.
Now, I have
to say, I got
stuck on this
this week,
because that's
such a huge
call.
Well,
it's a huge
call in
terms of the
challenge for
how I relate
to and
treat my
fellow
believers.
Greatness in
Christ's new
community, the
church, is
seen in loving
what Christ
loves and
hating what
he hates.
And that
means, again,
practically, being
as ruthless on
yourself as
necessary to
guard other
believers.
Now, look at
those verses
again.
Woe to the
world for
temptation to
sin, for it's
necessary or it's
inevitable that
temptations will
come.
But woe to
the one by
whom the
temptation
comes.
And then
here it is.
If your hand or
your foot causes
you to sin,
cut it off and
throw it away.
Now, that's
extreme language,
isn't it?
It's picture
language, but
it's still an
extreme picture
language.
Why?
It is better for
you to enter
life crippled or
maimed than
with two hands
or two feet to
be thrown into
the eternal
fire.
And if your
eye causes you
to sin, tear
it out and
throw it away.
It's better for
you to enter
life with one
eye than with
two eyes to be
thrown into the
hell of fire.
That picture
language is in
the context of
the temptation
or causing
little ones to
sin.
It's picture
language to
describe how
severely and
passionately we
must hold
ourselves to
account.
That is, we
hold ourselves
to account.
So, it says
here, it's not
that we can stop
sin altogether
because it's
inevitable, verse
7, that
temptations will
come.
Sin is everywhere
around us and
in everything around
us.
So, it's
inevitable.
But we can
take ourselves
to account.
And this is
the extreme
length where
we hold
ourselves to
account.
Our
thinking, our
attitudes, our
actions.
And we've
got to be so
passionate about
those that
we'll take
whatever action
it is within
our will to
do and our
ability to do
rather than
possibly
cause a
fellow brother
or sister
in Christ
to get
tripped into
sin.
So, it's
not a
sinless
perfection
Jesus is
talking about
here.
Because even
as believers,
we know the
reality of sin
at every point
in our being.
But what he's
talking about
here is taking
responsibility for
ourselves,
holding ourselves
to account
for how our
actions, our
thinking, our
words impact on
those around us,
other died for
people.
And Jesus
said here, we
need to struggle
with every ounce
of our ability
and being to
ensure our
impact on other
believers reflects
our identity in
Jesus.
Now, I was
trying to work
out, well, how
do you unpack
these things in
application?
And I honestly
came to the
conclusion I
didn't know how.
And I wasn't
sure even if I
needed to because
the words
themselves are so
painfully obvious.
But I thought,
well, okay, I'll
give it one go
anyway.
So how might
we cause other
believers to
stumble?
In Greek, the
word is
scandalize.
So how might
we scandalize
other believers?
I think in the
context here, in
these verses, it
will be thinking
about church
competitively and
evaluating one
another on
performance.
because.
And we hear it
all the time,
don't we?
I am more
important than
others because.
I have more
influence than
you because.
I am more
useful in this
church than you
because.
I am more
godly than
you because.
And so the
list could go
on and on.
Now, of
course, we might
not hear such
thoughts expressed
openly because I
think even for
our own ears,
and sometimes our
ears are rather
dull to these
awful things, but
even to our own
ears to express
that openly would
be a step too
far.
But I suspect it's
there lurking in
the back of our
minds and driving
us nonetheless.
I don't think I
need to spell it
out to you.
I think if you've
been around
churches for any
length of time,
you've seen it.
you've experienced
it.
You've probably
dished it out.
And together we
see its destructive
impact.
So here's the
challenge.
Are you able to
say, honestly, in
your mind before the
Lord this morning,
are you able to
say that you're so
concerned to avoid
causing others to
stumble into sin or
to be disheartened
in their service of
Christ, that you
would restrict any
freedom that's
rightfully yours as a
believer, that you
would curb any
opinion legitimately
held as a believer,
that you would back
down on any issues
that you might
legitimately be
passionate about in
order to avoid
causing somebody
else in this
church family here
to stumble into
sin?
That's a big call,
isn't it?
I think that's what
the text asks us to
do.
That's exactly what
Christ calls us to
do.
Now the question is,
do you see why?
these disciples were so
determined to advance
their own position and
rank that they were
prepared to wound other
believers in the
process instead of
guarding them and
encouraging them.
And after all that,
these disciples had
missed the mark anyway
because the evidence of
greatness in Christ's
kingdom is treating
all believers as
carefully and lovingly
and sacrificially.
as Christ does.
So friends, let's
look right back to
my start.
Greatness is a
great thing to
aspire to.
I think it's an
honourable thing to
say I want to be a
great Christian.
I want to be a
great follower of
Christ.
I want to be known
as a great follower
of Christ.
But here's the
rub.
You need to choose
then whether you
chase greatness in
the self-seeking
categories of the
world, position,
power, reputation,
status, or whether
you'll pursue
greatness, kingdom
greatness, self-giving,
self-sacrificing
humility, total
dependence on the
all-sufficiency of
Christ, and a
ruthless determination
to avoid anything that
might cause another
believer in this
church family to
sin.
As always, it's
your choice.
But make a choice
you must because
the two can't fit
together.
Pray with me,
please.
Lord, these are hard
words, but they're
your words, Lord,
spoken in love for
the good of your
people.
So help us to hear
them.
Help us, Lord, to
hear them without
defensiveness.
Help us to hear
them with a heart
of repentance.
For each of us
know only too
well, Lord, how
we've sought to
carve our own
little empires in
a church family
like this.
We want to be
noticed.
We want to be
recognized.
We want to be
considered to be
important.
We want our
statements to be
considered valued,
valuable.
And so the list
goes on.
Lord, help us
to be truly
childlike in our
humility.
Help us to be
those who are
most noticeable
for our
dependence on
Jesus.
Help us, we
pray, Lord, in
Jesus' name I
pray.
Amen.