Who is Greatest?

Gospel: Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14

The disciples are obsessed with power, status, and hierarchy, continually asking who is most important, who is the greatest, who has the most power.  So it is to this very day.  In response to this never ending lust for power and status, Jesus sets before his disciples a child, someone with no power, no status, no influence at all in society.  A child, then as now, is the most vulnerable and weakest member of the population, someone with no rights or privileges.  A child is greatest in the kingdom of God.

To highlight the point even further, Jesus then gives us a confounding parable of the lost sheep.  Jesus asks us a question: what shepherd wouldn't leave ninety-nine sheep exposed and vulnerable in order to find the one lost sheep?  Well, no shepherd would do that - except Jesus.  Every other shepherd would apply utilitarian calculus and abandon the lost sheep for the sake of the greater number, a calculus that dominates church ministry to this day.  

But Jesus is not a utilitarian, nor is he one to care about power, status, and hierarchy.  To be great in the kingdom is to do what Jesus did - to become vulnerable, weak, and powerless in order to serve the needs of others, especially those most vulnerable and lost.  Again, we are faced with two paths: the path of the disciples with its utilitarian calculus and striving for status, or the path of Jesus where all are loved and important, especially the most powerless and vulnerable.