³³ After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” ³⁴ But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

³⁶ Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”

Mark 9:33-37

Dear God, why is greatness our default position? I mean, really, at the time, those disciples were just a few of the hundreds of millions of people who were probably in the world. Now, I am one of 7-ish billion people on this world. And I’m just a human. Jesus even said as great as John the Baptist was, he is less than the least in your kingdom (Matthew 11:11). So, there are 7-ish billion people currently on this earth who are less than the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. I am just one of those 7-ish billion and I am not a great or powerful one. I live in the United States, and we think a lot of ourselves, but we only make up about 5% of that 7-ish billion. And not even a powerful person in this country. I’m just a man in a small town. And these twelve men to whom Jesus was talking were small men until they hitched their wagon to Jesus’s train, and Jesus decided it was time to humble them a little.

What I take from this is quite the inverse of what the disciples felt that day. First, it is the reality of how small I am, but second it the fact that I am truly that small and yet you love me so much. How can that be? You love your creation. You love me. You not only say you love me. You show you love me. You show you love others as well. Just this last Sunday, my wife and I decided to go to an early lunch on a whim. We then randomly picked a restaurant we maybe go to once every two or three months. One block away, at just the right time, we saw a woman from our church walking in the drizzle with one of her daughters. The woman was actually going to be part of an upcoming church service which started in 13 minutes and she was four blocks away. We were able to pick them up and take them to the church. I could see the stress in her eyes, making the best of a difficult situation, but it certainly felt like a divine appointment for us to be in that place at that moment. You cared about this woman. You cared about the church service. You cared about the little girl. And you used my wife and me. All of us so small, and yet you cared.

Father, there are a lot of people who need your care today. There are a lot of small people who are powerless and insignificant in the world who are scared. I really can’t imagine what that fear would be like. Some of them are children. Some of them are adults. Some of them are the elderly and even the infirm. I don’t know what to do to minister to them. To comfort them. Then there are those who aren’t targeted, but could be assumed to be part of them and are nervous about being attacked. Then there are those who aren’t targeted, but they are related to the targeted. All of us so small. All of us so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But all of us so loved by you. I don’t know where all of this is going, but I pray that you will guide me in it. And love and comfort your people. And for those who aren’t yours, use this pain to make them yours. Don’t let this pain be wasted. Use it for your glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen