May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9:30-37)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: The comedian Rodney Dangerfield always laments: I don't get any respect. As comedy often has there is a hint of truth in the phrase. Respect is something we crave. How often, though, don't we feel that we're not getting the respect we deserve from peers, parents, children, teammates, co-workers and bosses? People sometimes will make it a major goal in life to gain respect, but efforts can be dashed in a moment when we fail to get the respect we seek. We are concerned about gaining people's respect. What about respect before God? In a certain sense God respects everyone. All life is precious to him-both believers and unbelievers alike. His creative hand gave and preserves life. But what about being respectable enough to be allowed a place in heaven? Do we have that kind of respect before God? The Gospel today speaks of RESPECT - IN GOD'S EYES.

We cannot earn God's respect. As we listen in on the Jesus and his disciples today we see a great contrast. There is the perfect Lord Jesus, Son of God and son of Man, living in such as way as to show complete respect for his heavenly Father's plans. He speaks matter-of-factly about following those plans even though it meant pain and death for him. That's why Jesus had the respect of his heavenly Father. God once said of his Son: With him I am well pleased.

On the other hand there are the disciples-unrespectable before God because they were not respectful of God's plans. Granted, some of their disrespect was unintentional ignorance. Jesus speaks plainly to the disciples about his intentions to follow the Father's plans for him, plans that meant suffering, death, and rising. The disciples do not understand (v.32). They are afraid to ask questions, partly because they are embarrassed that they don't understand even though they have spent three years following and listening to this man. Part of their ignorance was self-chosen. They had often heard Jesus speak of suffering and dying, and it did not fit their plans. And because the disciples chose not to be respectful of God's plans, their disrespect for God's will showed in selfish, childish bickering about who was the greatest. See, they wanted to have respect from God; they wanted God to say of them what he said of his Son-with you I am well pleased, but their thoughts and actions showed they were no where near having the respect of their heavenly Father. They were full of pride. Sinful people cannot overcome this natural sinful tendency of ignoring God and disagreeing with him, and living contrary to God's will. Think about it-How could God ever respect such people?

With man this is impossible-to be found respectable enough for heaven. But with God all things are possible. Our Gospel tells us the wonderful truth of how...

God restores respectability to his people. The key to our having the respect of God is wrapped up in God's Son and what he did for the world. He was betrayed, handed over, killed and rose. God had explained to his people from Adam and Eve on about how that death would pay for sins. That death was the atoning sacrifice for our sins--This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10) And when Jesus rose, when the Father raised Jesus from the dead, God was saying: I respect what Jesus has done to pay for sins. I accept it. I am pleased with it! I declare the world free from sin. The world is restored to respectability before me.

And what Jesus did for all, he gives to each as he works contrition and faith in the heart. With amazing, patient love Jesus asked the disciples: What were you arguing about on the way? He who gave his life also schools the hearts of those for whom he died. He exposes their sinful, disrespectful pride. He carries the soul to the point where it says, I need this redeeming blood for I have sinned; and I see that his blood covers my sins too. It says in 1 John 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he (Jesus) is pure. And we have the respect of God! And this grace is not without effect in our lives.

When we have God's respect, it shows. A few times Jesus made a child an object lesson for adults. One time he was praising the humble trustfulness of children. He said: I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. He was saying faith is like a child. As a child completely depends on it's parents, so having faith is completely depending on God. We don't earn his blessing; God gives it just because he loves us.

This time the child-object lesson is a bit different. Jesus takes a child up in his arms. You will show that you have the respect of God as you welcome this child, he says. Children have no way of reciprocating. They can give expressions of thanks by doing their chores, but a child could never pay back a parent for the total cost of parenting. And we don't expect them to. Well, Jesus is saying, now that you have the respect of God by his grace, serve without expecting anything in return.

I heard a story once about a wealthy woman who supported generously the work of her church overseas. One year she visited the missions. She worshipped at a church she had paid for filled with happy families worshipping the Lord. She visited an orphanage that did its good work largely by her generosity. Then she visited a medical clinic she supported where lepers were treated for their terrible disease. As she watched a nurse lovingly bandage ugly wounds on a grotesque young man she said quietly, more to herself than to the nurse, I wouldn't do that for a million dollars. The nurse who was treating the patient answered, Neither would I. You see, the nurse did not expect anything in return. People needed her help so she served. Such selfless service is exactly what God respects. As a pastor from long ago once said: Lord, tell us what you require, and then, Lord, give us what you require. May the Lord keep us in his forgiving grace that we always have his respect and show that we have his respect in how we serve him and our neighbor.     Amen.