Who is the greatest?

You find on on-line discussions the arguments for who is the GOAT in tennis, football, Rock Bands, conker players etc. GOAT in case you haven’t heard stands for the ‘Greatest Of All Time.’ Federer, Messi, The Beatles and a kid I think called Alan Barrett from Rogerstone School who I think cheated by soaking conkers in vinegar would be my choices. In the first of the new series of ‘Endeavor’ which tells the stories of the early ‘Morse’ who is perhaps the GOAT of television crime detectives,  Endeavor having successfully solved his latest case this time within the world of professional football (An environment he really didn’t understand) says to his boss played by the brilliant Roger Allam ‘I didn’t get picked for any team at school.’ Allam’s character replies ‘I picked you.’ Endeavor who is of course the young Morse is known for his love of classical music, the opera and solving crosswords which help him solve cases. He has no interest in sport, particularly football.

I can remember when I was young experiencing the humiliation of being lined up with other boys by a teacher before the selection of two sides was made. Two captains were chosen by the teacher who then chose their favourite players. Sadly there were occasions when eleven boys were due to play and following the first ten being picked both teams would argue about who didn’t want a sixth player! I unlike Morse (Endeavor) did enjoy football and sport generally and I did get better at games so that I did make plenty of teams as I got older although my name never made any argument for GOAT!

In the gospel of St Mark there is a real argument between the disciples and Jesus over who is the greatest. The disciples believed that by following Jesus they would be the ones who would be the greatest. Jesus after all was the Son of God and by being close to him they would rise in status. Jesus seeing that they are struggling to understand the meaning of discipleship takes a child in his arms and tells them ‘whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.’ The disciples and many of us are concerned with status and what’s in it for us ideas. Pope Francis calls this ‘The leprosy of Careerism’. He wants his clergy to keep free of ambitions or personal aims that can cause the church harm. The Pope goes on to say that if we think following Jesus enhances our own prestige and self-worth then we may miss what God is calling us to do.

The child of course in the times of Jesus was, aside from the affection of the family, not particularly highly rated and had no status or prestige. The point Jesus was making was that by following him we would not gain status but if we helped someone in need or someone vulnerable then we were helping him. All Saints Church family is trying to discern how we might be a ‘Welcoming church’. Perhaps if we value the vulnerable, the needy, those who are seeking spiritual and practical help, those facing crisis in their lives and those preparing for weddings, baptisms and perhaps the planning of a funeral for a loved one are the people we need to be there for. Yes we want to be a welcoming church and we should have confidence because we know that through our baptisms Jesus has chosen us as his adopted brothers and sisters and wants each one of us in his team.

Blessings,

Fr Jeremy