Over the years, I've had two secretaries that were pastors' wives.
! One of them loved ministry, and she's all in.
She understood it. She got it. She's great at it.
The other, oh me.
Her husband was a pastor. Her dad had been a pastor.
And those years of ministry had hardened her.
And she told me one day, she said, if you don't watch out for yourself,
no one else is going to watch out for you in the church.
I never forgot that statement.
It told me a lot.
Let's look at Mark 9, verse 30.
It says, they went on from there, speaking of Jesus and his apostles.
And they passed through Galilee, and Jesus did not want anyone to know,
for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them,
the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.
And when he's killed, after three days he'll rise.
But they didn't understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him.
And they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he asked them,
what were you discussing on the way?
But they kept silent.
For on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
And he sat down and called the twelve, and he said to them,
if anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.
And he took a child and put him in the midst of them.
And taking him in his arms, he said to them,
whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,
and whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me.
After the Mount of Transfiguration, the ministry of Jesus began changing.
After he had spent much of his ministry in the Galilean region and the surrounding area,
he did go up through the Decapolis, and he did go up north to Tyre and Sidon.
But after that, he now began, in this passage, he begins heading toward Jerusalem.
And he needs time with his disciples.
He needs to prepare them for what's to come
and for what they need to do after he is physically gone from their presence.
And what he tells them in verse 31 is to prepare them
when he says the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men,
and they will kill him.
And when he's killed after three days, he will rise.
Now, he's already told them that before the Transfiguration.
He will tell them that again in a little while.
But he reemphasizes it here.
And notice what it says.
They didn't get it.
Verse 32 says,
We need to learn some things from this passage.
One is, look out for yourself.
My former secretary had it right.
You do need to look out for yourself, whether anyone else is or not.
But she meant it the wrong way.
I think you need to watch out for yourself.
Even more so, you need to watch out for self.
Because that can easily get in the way.
Jesus is telling them for the second time that he's going to surrender their life.
And he's going to surrender his life.
And their conversation, however, is about securing their rightful place.
He's teaching them about how to count the cost of discipleship and faithfulness.
But they're looking to the advantages of following him.
The setting almost has to play into this.
Think about this now.
James, John, and Peter have just come off the Mount of Transfiguration
and have experienced something that is absolutely unimaginable.
While they were doing that, the nine other disciples were in the valley
trying to cast out a demon unsuccessfully.
And that spurred a conversation about which of them would be the greatest.
And so Jesus asked them, what were you discussing on your way?
He didn't really ask that to get information.
God never asks us questions because he does not know the answer.
He asks us questions so that we'll hear the question.
So that we'll answer the question.
I don't know if Christ heard what they were discussing or not,
but I do know that he knew what they were concerned about.
And the reality is they were concerned about the wrong thing.
There are questions that we need to ask ourselves.
For one, what is it that you love to talk about?
What is it that you're most concerned about?
What are you focused in on?
You're not comparing yourself to other people, are you?
You're not asking what's in it for me, are you?
You're not asking what can I get from it, are you?
I mean, any time we sense those questions down deep within,
if it's God, he's not asking us because he wants the answer.
He already knows the answer.
We need to know the answer.
And we need to deal with that.
And Jesus asked the apostles, and they were silent.
They got caught.
They were silent in their shame.
I agree with my former secretary.
We better look out for ourselves,
but I think we need to make sure that we're not thinking first of ourselves.
That we're not ignoring the message of Christ, the gospel.
The fact that he died, rose again, and is coming back, to be honest,
ought to dictate our lives and our conversations.
So let's look out for ourselves.
And one of the best ways to look out for ourselves is first to look back to the cross.
It's what Christ's conversation was about.
It says in verse 31 that he was teaching.
That does not mean that he just brought this up three times,
as Mark specifically tells us.
Teaching there is an imperfect tense,
which means that this was not a one-time deal,
that it was an ongoing deal.
He was consistently sharing with them,
this is what's going to happen.
It was his concentration.
It needs to be our concentration.
It needed to be theirs.
It needs to be ours as well.
And the best way for us to look out
and to get ourselves out of the way
and to look out for ourselves
is to look back to the cross of Christ.
He was pointing them forward to the cross,
but since his death we now look back to the cross.
And I know I'm picking on her a lot,
but I heard the comment over 25 years ago,
and I've never forgot it.
If I don't look out for myself, no one else will.
There's a Greek word for that.
Baloney.
I can look back to the cross
and see one that's looking out for me.
We can look back to the cross
and see one that's looking out for us
because when we have Christ,
we're secure in Christ.
Our identity is found in Christ.
Our worthiness is found in Christ.
Our role of importance is found in Christ.
We do need to look out for number one,
but we need to make sure that he is number one
and he has our backs.
And he has often shown me that
through God's people
without me ever having to look out for myself.
If we keep the cross, the focus,
it'll work out,
but we just got to look back to the cross
and keep looking back to the cross.
However, we also need to look around for others.
Notice what he goes on to say in verse 35.
It says,
And he sat down
and called the twelve
and he said to them,
If anyone would be first,
he must be last of all
and servant of all.
It's only natural for us
to look out for ourselves.
It's only supernatural
for us
to look out for others.
And this was not a passing thought.
It says that he sat down.
That means it was a rabbinical teaching.
That's the way rabbis taught.
They sat him down.
Come here, boys.
Let's sit down a minute
and talk about this.
And what he tells them
is backwards to everything in their culture.
There was always rank.
There was rank at a dining room table.
There was rank in worship.
There was rank in social life.
People knew where they were to sit.
Who was to speak first?
They could walk in a room
and know who was the most honorable.
And Jesus is turning the tables already,
at least on this thought.
I want you to hear a parable that he spoke.
In Luke 14, verse 8-11, it says this.
When you are invited by someone
to a wedding feast,
do not sit down in the place of honor,
lest someone more distinguished than you
be invited by him.
And he who invited,
go and sit in the lowest place
so that when your host comes,
he may say to you,
friend, move up higher.
Then you will be honored
in the presence of all
who sit at the table with you.
The reality for everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled,
and he who humbles himself
will be exalted.
This is a parable,
but it speaks of much more than a meal.
And I always take this seriously.
There was a time in my life
when I was foolish enough
to be the chairman of a school board.
At the same time,
I was the chaplain for the football team,
and I was the PA announcer
for the football team,
which I normally do here.
And I was invited to the football banquet
to give the invocation
so they could eat the steak.
And when I got there
and was trying to sit down,
somebody told me,
you need to go up there
to the head table and sit down
by the podium.
So I went up there and sat down.
A few minutes later,
another school board member came in,
saw me, walked up beside me,
said, I guess this is where we're sitting.
I didn't say anything.
I don't know if I should have or not.
He just sat down.
Football coaches don't care
if you're on the school board.
They don't know the difference.
They're worried about their opponent
next Friday.
Administration, they're concerned
about the school board.
But football coaches are not.
They're concerned about somebody praying
so they can eat.
That's what they're concerned about.
The rest of everybody else
at the head table
were coaches
and their wives.
So there was a lack of seating now
because they had
not given an extra chair.
And he soon found out
and he
got up
and walked away
and tried to find a seat
in a full room
because
in the time
that he had been there
the room had already filled up.
And I thought of this parable.
Take the seat that's left.
Eat last.
Put others first.
Greatness is not about
having people serve us.
It's about us serving others.
When they went in the upper room
and there was a basin of water
and a towel
that was in the upper room
I bet the disciples
were looking around
going who's going to do that?
And then Jesus
kneeled down in front
of their nasty feet
and washed them.
He was the most important one
in the crowd.
So I ask you
how are you serving others?
A great place to practice
is in the church.
How are you serving in the church?
I feel sure
you've been served today.
You were greeted
when you came in.
If you were not greeted
it's because you avoided them
probably
because they try to greet you.
If you wanted coffee
there was coffee made for you
and that was made before
we got here this morning.
There's homemade treats
over there.
Each week
somebody
fixes
each and every week
so that we can have them.
There are servants
that are running
this screen show.
There are
servants on
the sound board.
There are
servants
perfecting the online worship
for those who can't be
with us in person.
We have security
that is watching
much more
than you think they are
that are unseen.
We have people
who are working
with children.
We have people
who are working
with youth.
We have people
who shuttle you
in the parking lot
if you need to be shuttled.
We've been blessed
by this choir.
We've been blessed
by this orchestra
and I hate
giving lists like this
because I left somebody out
and don't come to me
and tell me I left you out
because it is not
an exhaustive list.
because I want
to be clear
there's a ton
of places
to serve around here
and every one of us
has that responsibility
to do that.
When God
lays upon your life
to be a part
of a church
you need to be
a part of that church.
You don't need
to run alongside
of it.
You don't need
to stay unaffiliated.
I want you
to be clear
of what God
wants you to do
but once God
tells you to do it
do it.
Be a part
of that church
and then
find a way
to serve
in the church.
That kind
of service
to others
is not limited
to the church
though.
We're to serve
all.
So please
don't misunderstand
me.
There's nothing
wrong with
properly minded
ambition.
The problem
is what
are we ambitious
about?
Jesus said
you ought
to be ambitious
about serving
others.
And the word
for serving
there comes
from the word
diakonos
in the Greek.
does that
ring an air
of familiarity
to you at all?
Because that's
where we
transliterate
the word
and make it
deacon.
Our deacons
serve
in a variety
of ways.
Before you
got here
this morning
there were
deacons
preparing
this plant.
all during
the week
in order
for things
to work
correctly
and to
move right
all during
the week
there are
deacons
serving.
After we
leave here
today and
this building
is almost
abandoned
there will
still be
guys working
to make
sure it
gets done.
They have
a lot of
responsibility
and
all
major
decisions
of this
church
are
vetted
by the
deacons
before it
ever moves
to the
church.
Just a
side note
that's why
you ought to
agree with it
when it's
presented
because it's
been properly
vetted by
men who's
prayed over
it and
who's
considered
it and
sometimes
hashed it
over many
times.
They take
it seriously.
But
their great
service is
service and
there are
servant
leaders and
we ought to
follow their
lead and
we ought to
thank them
along the
way.
One of the
best ways
to look out
for ourselves
is by
looking around
for others.
But there's
one more
way to do
it.
we also
need to look
forward to
the next
generation.
I want you
to see what
he says in
verse 36
and 37.
It says
and he took
a child
and put him
in the midst
of them and
taking him in
his arms he
said to them
whoever receives
one such child
in my name
receives me
and whoever
receives me
receives not
me but him
who sent
me.
Remember
Jesus is
talking about
the place
of honor
where the
attention should
go and he
picks up a
child.
A child who
has no
social standing
at all in
that environment.
Now I don't
want you to
misunderstand me
their families
dearly love
them but the
world didn't
center around
that child.
It didn't.
Still shouldn't
quite honestly
but it
ought to
center around
Christ and
it ought to
center around
pointing those
children to
Christ not to
participation
trophies and
not to
fulfilling every
want that they
have and not
failing to say
no to them
along the way
but point them
to Christ.
That'll make
some hard
decisions at
times.
Jesus picked
up a
dependent
that could do
nothing to aid
them or benefit
the apostles and
said this is who
you need to
bend over
backwards for.
This is who
you need to
receive.
This is who
you need to
work to
make an
impact to
bring people
to Christ.
This is who
we welcome.
This is who
we value.
This is where
we place our
care.
we learn
their names.
We listen
to them.
We volunteer
to lead
them.
We share
the gospel
with them.
We provide
a safe
godly
enriching
environment
for them.
We take
care of
the vulnerable
and that
does not
only apply
biblically
to children.
James tells
us not to
neglect the
widows and
the orphans.
He also
tells us not
to let the
one with
shabby
clothes sit
in the bad
seats.
But instead
to honor
them.
Jesus said
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
That's not
just the one
that lives
right beside
you.
Sesame Street
taught me who
my neighbor
was.
who are the
people in
your
neighborhood?
In your
neighborhood.
In your
neighborhood.
Who are the
people in your
neighborhood?
They're the
people that you
meet when you're
walking down the
street.
They're the
people that you
meet each
day.
They're the
people that
will serve you
in a little
while when you
leave here.
If you go
eat.
They're the
people that
when you fly
through a gas
station or
dollar general
or grab
something real
cheap that
are standing
there serving
you.
They're the
people that
walk these
streets.
looking for a
place to lay
their heads.
They're the
people God
placed in
front of us
to serve.
When I was a
kid I heard
a phrase that's
always stuck out
to me.
It was the
title of an
autobiography of
Gail Sayers.
Gail Sayers was
the Kansas
Comet.
He was a
fast,
elusive running
back that
played at the
University of
Kansas,
set records,
went on to be
in the College
Football Hall
of Fame,
was drafted
in 1965 by
the Chicago
Bears and
only played
for the
Chicago Bears
and is in
the Pro
Football Hall
of Fame.
At the time
he was the
youngest to
be inducted
in the
Pro Football
Hall of Fame.
He writes
about a
devastating knee
injury that he
experienced and
his recovery from
that knee
injury and how
he, an
African-American,
had a white
roommate named
Brian Piccolo
who helped him
with his recovery
from his knee
injury.
Then the
tables turned
and Brian was
diagnosed with
cancer, a
very invasive
metastasized
cancer that
took his life
at the age of
26 years old.
and Sayers was
by his side
teaching us
valuable lessons
about relations
during tense
days and how
to support a
friend through a
life battle.
And the title of
that book is
I Am Third.
That saying
came from Sayers
College track
coach that
said,
the Lord is
first,
my friends are
second,
and I am
third.
Gail Sayers is
one of the
greatest football
players to ever
play, but today
he's as known for
that book and
that motto and
that attitude as
he was his game.
I know that it
always stuck out
to me and I
don't think I've
ever seen Gail Sayers
play, except
maybe on film.
Gail, nor his
coach, came up
with that.
Jesus did.
With a child in
his arms.
Look out,
folks.
Mainly, let's
watch out for
ourselves.
Because we may,
in fact, be the
greatest hindrance
that we have from
being everything that
God wants us to
be.
With every head
bowed and every
eye closed, I
want to ask you
this morning, what
is it that you
need to give over
to God that
stands as a
hindrance in your
life?
It could be that
you're here this
morning and you've
never had a
relationship with
Christ.
There's a
relationship with
the church,
there's an
attendance at the
church, but there's
never been a time in
your life when you've
surrendered your life
to follow Christ.
To say, Lord, I
know I'm a sinner and
I know I've done
wrong and I want to
be right with you and
so I ask you to come
into my life and to
forgive me and to
change me from this
day forward.
And from this day
forward, I commit my
life to follow you.
If that's never
happened to you, I
want you to know
today's the day to
give him your all.
God's grace to
God.
Or maybe you're here
and you've done that
privately in your own
heart, but you've never
acknowledged that
publicly.
And Jesus, by his
commission and by his
example, show us that
we're to follow that
with baptism.
Or maybe God's
drawing in, and we're
not baptizing this
morning, but we will
be soon, and so if
God's leading you to do
that, we will arrange
that.
You just come and say,
Pastor, I've never
been baptized as a
believer, and I need to
be baptized.
Or maybe you're here
this morning and God
is leading you to
Pickens First Baptist
Church.
I don't think that's a
rough decision by any
means, and I never, I'm
not a high-pressure guy,
I don't believe in that
kind of stuff.
But I will say that if
God's leading you and
you get clarity in that,
that it's disobedient not
to follow him in that.
So I encourage you to
follow the Lord's will as
he leads, whatever he'd
have you to do.
Or maybe you're here
this morning and you
realize from this passage
of Scripture, you just
think too much of
yourself.
You need to lay some
things aside.
You need to put some
people forward.
You need to serve.
And I will tell you,
when we walk out these
doors in a few minutes,
moments, and the volume
of the world hits us,
we'll forget a lot of
things that we've been
concerned about in this
hour.
So the reason why I
drill down at the end of
our hour together is for
us to do commitment
business with God before
we ever leave this room.
Whether that be in your
own heart where you stand,
or whether it be at an
altar praying, or whether
the pastor praying with
you, however that is,
let's just make sure that
we do what God's told us
to do.
That's the full circle of
worship.
That's what it's all
about.
Heavenly Father, I love
you, and I thank you for
the example that Christ has
set for us.
Help us to live by it.
Lord, that begins by coming
into a relationship with you
and then living wholeheartedly
for you.
So God, help us to lay the
matters down before us that we
prioritize too much and put you
in proper place.
in Jesus' precious name.
Amen.
Stand and