Proper 20B, 2024

Text: Mark 9:30-37

Title: The Goat

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When I was growing up, if someone called you a “goat.” It was a bad thing.  It usually meant you were getting blamed for something.  If you messed up and your team lost the game, you were the goat. It was your fault.  You were the worst.

If you talk to kids these days, goat means something different.  In fact, it means the exact opposite.  As I’m sure you know, it’s an acronym for Greatest Of All Time, G. O. A. T.  People will argue about who the GOAT is, whether it’s in sports, music, whatever.  To be the GOAT is a good thing.  It means you’re the best, you’re the greatest.

The disciples were arguing as well about who was the GOAT among them.  Who was the greatest of all the disciples. 

Jesus was heading to Jerusalem, and they were expecting Him to begin His reign soon.  They expected a kingdom with wealth and power and glory.  Surely, they wouldn’t all be equal, would they? Surely Jesus has to have a favorite, doesn’t He? 

The Mount of Transfiguration was in the rearview mirror, and only Peter, James, and John had gotten in on that, so, clearly they were in the running for the greatest disciple.  It didn’t help that the others had failed spectacularly while those three guys were gone.  Remember last week?  A father had brought his son for healing, and these other nine guys couldn’t help him.

And Peter was always putting his foot in his mouth and getting told off by Jesus.  So, maybe James and John have the inside track.  James is the older one, John’s the beloved one.  Which counts more?  Who is the greatest?

That’s what they were arguing about.

And it’s hard to blame them.  It’s hard to point the finger at the disciples when you act the same way.

Who’s the GOAT?  Who is the smartest, the fastest, or the best looking among us? Who has the most money, the most friends, the biggest following?  From the first day of school when you’re fighting your way to the front of line for recess, to the last day of your life, when you’re fighting for your reputation and your legacy, you want to be first, you want to be best, you want to be greatest.

There’s even this temptation in the church.  Who has the biggest congregation?  Who has nicest sanctuary?  Who has the most money saved away for a rainy day?  Who’s got the most programs?  Who’s got the best reputation in the neighborhood?  Who’s the most devoted Christian among us? Which church, which Christian is the GOAT?

Jesus needed to have a sit-down with the disciples, and He needs to have a sit-down with you, too, if this is the way that you’re thinking and talking and arguing with one another. 

Now, it’s certainly not bad to have friends or money, and we certainly want our church to grow and for us to be devoted followers of Christ.

But if you’re always comparing yourself to others, if you’re always judging others in comparison to yourself, if it’s always about you and your greatness, then you’ve got discipleship all wrong.

And if you’ve got discipleship wrong, then you’ve got Jesus wrong.

And that’s the root of the disciples’ problem. They get discipleship wrong because they get Jesus wrong first.

Jesus has told them again, for at least the second time now, that He’s going to Jerusalem, and when He gets there, He will be betrayed and killed.

This is no secret, this is no surprise, Jesus knows what will happen.  But He keeps going to Jerusalem anyways, and He lets the disciples in on the plan.

But they don’t get it.  They can’t conceive of a Messiah who would die.  They are in the power and glory mindset, and they can’t understand what in the world Jesus is talking about.  They are so bewildered, they are afraid to ask Jesus to explain it to them.

You see, Jesus was the true goat.  The scapegoat.  The one from the Old Testament.  On the day of atonement, the High Priest would confess all the sins of the people onto a goat, a real, live, physical goat.  And that goat would be led out into the wilderness to escape, to bear the sins of the people away from them.

Jesus goes to the cross as the goat, the scapegoat, as the one who bears the sins of the world.  The disciples’ sins, your sins, my sins, the sins of all who have put pride and competition over love and service.  Jesus takes those sins away from you, and they die with Him.

Jesus was the greatest, and there on the cross He made Himself the least.  Jesus was the Lord of all, and He made Himself the servant.  Jesus shows the perfect love He has for you, His children, by doing the most selfless act imaginable—giving up His life for you.

And that’s what will make you great as well. Not the recognition and accolades of others.  Not the friends and followers.  Not the wealth and power.  But that same love and servant heart that led Jesus to the cross.

And if you want to know what that kind of love is like, try taking care of a child.

You know what that’s like.  It’s hard.  It’s dirty. It’s exhausting.  It means sacrificing sleep, money, and ultimately freedom.  It means completely devoting yourself to another human being, who still has the ability to reject you and everything you stand for.

Ultimately, it means dying to yourself.

And when you die to yourself, you are dying with Christ.

And you know that death was not the end for Christ. He told the disciples all about that, too.  He promised resurrection, and He came through on that promise as well.  Jesus rose from the dead, and that truly proved that He was and is and ever shall be the Greatest Of All Time.  No arguments.

And you share in that victory.  You have new life here and now.  You are set free from the need to compete and prove yourself better than everyone else.  Your worth comes from Christ and not what others think about you.  If you have Christ, you have everything.

And when Christ returns, you will be raised from the dead.  You will share in His glorious victory over all His enemies. 

So, go ahead.  Be a goat.  But be a goat in the way of Jesus, and learn greatness from Him. 

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