The Upside-Down Crown: Service Before Exaltation

The problem isn't that they desire and they long after greatness. It is that they have defined it incorrectly. And this is where Jesus does something remarkable. He doesn't rebuke their desire for greatness. He redefines it. He says, you know that the rulers of this world lord it over their people. In other words, you've been discipled by the wrong kingdom. And it begs a question for us here today in Philip, truly, which kingdom has been discipling us? Rome believes greatness is dominance, visibility, control. I don't know. Perhaps London believes the same. [00:10:26] (45 seconds)  #RedefineGreatness

That is not humility advice. That is a revolution of power. Every other kingdom in every other kingdom, greatness is met measured by how many serve you. But in this kingdom, greatness is measured by how far you're willing to descend for others. They were thinking throne, and Jesus was walking towards a cross, towards a death. And this is why this this text is so confronting for us here today. You and I ought to read it again and again and again because because pride isn't necessarily loud arrogance. [00:11:56] (39 seconds)  #GreatnessIsService

But among you, it will be different. Among you, CCF, it will be different. Whoever wants to be great among us must first be a servant. Then Jesus says something even more shocking. He says, for even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. That title son of man comes from Daniel seven. It describes the one who is given authority, glory, and a kingdom that will never end. And that king says that king says, I didn't come to be served. [00:11:12] (45 seconds)  #ServeLikeJesus

is how easily our definition of greatness can sometimes slip into our discipleship. We don't reject the world's version of greatness, rather we refine it. We make it Christian. And so calling becomes ambition becomes calling, platform becomes impact. Visibility becomes influence for the kingdom of god. And before we know it, you and I are prioritizing a sea of aspiration, sometimes stepping over one another in the climb to the top. And if we're honest with ourselves, we've all felt this pull, this this tug of war between advancing ourselves and lifting others up. [00:07:17] (52 seconds)  #GuardYourCalling

Let's go a little bit deeper. Let me ask the question, what what what gets in the way? What robs us of of humility? What robs us of a posture that is positioned before Jesus in every sense of the word, in every single moment of our lives? Or how about firstly, the fact that maybe sometimes we often want the glory without the grit? In our pursuit of glory, perhaps we reject we often reject the cost. Like the disciples pursuing a crown, not realizing or willing to accept that that often it takes a cross. [00:14:30] (38 seconds)  #GloryRequiresGrit

This was a family play. This became a family play, a strategic move leveraging relationship, history, and proximity. Because surely, Jesus, if if anything is gonna get us to the right hand side and left hand side of your throne, surely surely this is how we get it. And this isn't even what got me about the text. It's the fact that their mother asks the question for them. And the reason why this hits differently for me now is because just being a father now, I can already see how if I'm not careful and if we're not careful as parents, we can feed our pride through our kids. [00:22:57] (42 seconds)  #PrideThroughKids

We see this relentless chase in our in our daily surroundings, our daily contents context every single day where we begin to measure ourselves by by applause, by our reach, by our perceived influence, and then quietly, our identity becomes dependent on temporary validations of public opinions rather than on eternal truths. And in our text here today, Jesus is confronting this very tension. He's trying to teach an important eternal truth that challenge it that challenges everything that you and I know about greatness. [00:08:09] (48 seconds)  #IdentityNotMetrics

This cup contains injustice and the courts mockery from the crowds. You don't want this cup. Hey. There is no crown without the crushing. I'm gonna go ahead and say it this morning. Listen, if you're feeling the crushing, and I'm speaking to myself right now. If you're feeling the crushing, good. Good. Because it's producing something. Yeah. It's it's stirring faith. Mhmm. Mhmm. Because maybe there's been a season of comfort in the previous in the previous few weeks and months and maybe even years. [00:19:53] (47 seconds)  #NoCrownWithoutCrushing

Hear the voice of the Lord calling you out of that, out of slumber, out of apathy. Spiritual apathy. I hear him calling us out. He's calling me out. He's calling us out of the days of the slumber that we can sometimes the lull that we can sometimes slip into because because we've heard the sermons. You're not gonna remember the sermon, and I and I'm comfortable with that. We've heard the sermons. We've sung the songs. You reign. You reign, Lord. Yeah. We've but does he? [00:20:40] (36 seconds)  #WakeFromApathy

Pride is the instinct that is inside each and every single one of us to place ourselves in the center of the story. And it seems that that instinct doesn't necessarily disappear when we follow Jesus. These guys were his closest friends. Oh, come on. They believed in him. They they believed in his kingdom. They they followed Jesus, and yet they were still struggling with this. Even Peter pipes up as usual. He says, lord Jesus, we've given up everything to follow you. [00:12:35] (34 seconds)  #PrideRemains

and the fast that we're doing, the social media fast we're doing over lent that you and I have announced. By the way, isn't the point that we don't announce them anyway? Even even after all the encounters and and the moments in in these gatherings where we get to lift up the name of of Jesus, and we get to experience him. I wonder if this moment has become transactional for us. And our attitude, our demeanor, our hands in our pockets, our arms crossed have have become echoes of of what's in it for me. [00:13:52] (37 seconds)  #NotForLikes

Three times Jesus spoke of his suffering in Mark. Each time they didn't wanna hear it. They ignored it. They they they they changed the subject. Often, I think that sometimes what gets in the way is that we want the prize and not necessarily the process that comes with it. And I'm learning so much of that in my life right now about the about the process. And let me tell you, it's tough. There are people in this room who've been walking with Jesus for a long time, and and perhaps they will testify, it's not always easy. [00:15:07] (35 seconds)  #EmbraceTheProcess

You see, it would be remiss of me to stand up here and tell you that, hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. This is the easy life. Carrying a cross is not the easy life to say to say no to hard things. James and I are taking cold showers, not together, obviously, but we're we're we're doing the cold shower thing, which which is tough. It's tough in the winter. I've got the sweetest of teeth. I am struggling. But there's something about doing the hard thing. There's something about resisting the enemy and him fleeing. [00:15:43] (40 seconds)  #ChooseTheHard