When Osama Bin Laden attacked the World Trade Center in New York, he understood how America thought of greatness, measuring it by means of power, success, and wealth. Jesus changed the definition of greatness one day when he put a child among his disciples and taught that greatness began with paying attention to the needs of the most vulnerable among us.

PRAYER

You may not have noticed an insignificant detail in the Gospel account. Jesus sat down. You know what is coming next when a parent tells a child, or a spouse says, "Let’s sit down, I want to talk to you." It’s serious. In this case you might say Jesus gave the disciples a children’s sermon. How Jesus used a child to teach a lesson is echoed in the words of the French biologist, DuBos, who said the greatness of a society can be measured by asking the question, "is it good for children." This morning you came to worship God, not power, success, or wealth. That is the start of being open to Jesus’ teaching about what true greatness is. So, the best thing for me to do this morning is echo what Jesus did, use stories of children to help us understand what true greatness is under the rule of God. The first story is about two brothers, Kevin, aged 5, and Ryan, aged 3. One morning they came down to breakfast to find mom making pancakes. An argument immediately began about who would get the first pancake. Mom saw a moral lesson in the making. She said: "if Jesus were sitting here, he would say, ‘let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.’" Kevin turned to his younger brother and said: "Ryan, you be Jesus." Another story from a bygone era when ice cream sundaes could be purchased for pocket change. A ten year ole boy entered a drugstore and sat down at the counter. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy took his change out of his pocket and studied the coins. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he asked. The waitress, barely concealing her impatience, brusquely said, "35 cents." After counting his coins again, the little boy said, "I’ll have the plain ice cream." The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the counter, and walked away without saying a word. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back to clean off the counter, she got a lump in her throat. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels, and five pennies. The little boy couldn’t have the sundae because he didn’t have enough money for the tip. And finally a story from the late 1930’s, when the country was coming out of the Great Depression. In southeastern Idaho there was a Brother Miller’s Roadside Food Stand, a common occurrence before supermarkets. A local woman had stopped and had Mr. Miller bag up some potatoes for her. As she waited she noticed a young boy in ragged clothes eyeing a basket of freshly picked peas. The woman paid for the potatoes but was also drawn to the delicious looking peas. "Hello, Barry," Mr. Miller said to the boy. "H’lo Mr. Miller. Those peas sure look good." "They are good," Mr. Miller replied. "How’s your ma, Barry?" Barry replied, "She’s getting stronger all the time. Thanks for asking." "That’s good," said Mr. Miller. "Would you like some peas?" "No sir, I ain’t got nothing to pay for ‘em." "Well, have you got something to trade for them, Barry?" "All’s I got is my prize aggie marble," he replied. "Is that right. Let’s see it, replied Mr. Miller. Barry pulled the marble out of his pocket to show Mr. Miller. "It’s a fine one, all right. But it’s blue. I’m kinda partial to red. Have you got a red one?" "Yes sir," replied Barry, "it’s at home." "You take a sack of peas home and bring me the red one next time." Mr. Miller’s wife had been standing near witnessing the exchange. She explained to the woman with the potatoes that there were two other boys from the community who were also living under difficult circumstances. Mr. Miller would always send the boys home with groceries always saying he wanted a different color marble next time. The woman moved away from the community shortly after that, but always remembered the generosity of Mr. Miller. Several years had gone by when she learned that Mr. Miller had recently died. She decided to go back to the community, visit some friends, and attend the funeral service for Mr. Miller. When she arrived at the church, she got into the line that led to where people were greeting Mrs. Miller with their condolences. She notice ahead of her three young men, one dressed in a military uniform, the others in dark suit and tie. When the young men approached the casket, each put out his hand and put it on top of Mr. Miller’s lifeless hand. Then they hugged Mrs. Miller, and tearfully sat down. When the woman greeted Mrs. Miller, she introduced herself and reminded her of the story of the boys and the marbles. Mrs. Miller led the woman over to her husband’s casket. Mrs. Miller said that the three young men were those same boys that her husband gave food to. She went on to say that she and her husband never had much in life, but that her husband was now the richest man in Idaho. With that she lifted up his lifeless fingers to reveal 3 shiny red marbles resting underneath. Jesus said: "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me, but the one who sent me." Amen.