I am the greatest

I knew I had him in the first round. Almighty God was with me. I want everyone to bear witness, I am the greatest! I'm the greatest thing that ever lived. I don't have a mark on my face, and I upset Sonny Liston, and I just turned 22 years old. I must be the greatest. I showed the world. I talk to God everyday. I know the real God. I shook up the world, I'm the king of the world. You must listen to me. I am the greatest! I can't be beat!

These words were spoken back in 1964 by the man then known as Cassius Clay. He later changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Many years later he modified his statement to say "Allah is the Greatest. I'm just the greatest boxer."

It is an interesting question as to who is the greatest - in boxing, in football, in other sports; or in science or business or whatever. In Matthew 18:1 this sort of question is raised and to it Jesus gives a striking answer and an important conclusion.

Wide door, narrow door

Let's get the picture in Matthew 7:13, 14 clear in our minds first. We are thinking probably of gates into a walled city. Think of a large gate and a small gate. Or think of a narrow gap between two mountains. Perhaps a turnstile or a kissing gate, if you know what that is, is the most helpful to think of. Or do you know what a wicket gate is? A small door within a large door. You used to see people coming out of prison coming through such a door.

The one door is a wide door. It is easily entered. It needs no thought and can easily be found. This gate or door stands for all of life outside Christ. By nature we have all come through the wide gate. You don’t have to find it you just stream in with all the rest.

The point about the other door is that it is a narrow one. The first steps in religion are difficult. To get through a narrow gate you need to leave all your baggage behind and squeeze through.

The gate is not only narrow but it is not obvious - few even find it. That is to say that, in one sense, it is not easy even to understand how to be a Christian. Unless it is revealed to a person, there is no hope. Thought and effort are necessary.

Haven't you spent enough time ... ?

1 Peter 4:3

What do you think of the idea of spending two years making phone calls to people who aren't in? It doesn't sound attractive. According to a management study, however, that's how long the average person spends trying to return calls to people who never seem to be in. Not only that, in a lifetime we spend six months waiting for the traffic light to turn green and another eight months dealing with junk mail. It's easy to waste time. Don't waste any more on doing what pagans do.

Acrobats, Dads, swimming and new skills

It is important for people to abandon their trust in their riches and come to Christ but it is not impossible for God to save them. He can change a man, he can transform him. Think of Saul of Tarsus. Our hearts are in his hands. The things impossible with men are possible with God! By his grace he can transform even the most hopeless case. All that is required is to despair of self and to look only to him. That is what counts.

Have you ever seen acrobats at the circus? Learning to be an acrobat is partly about the need to learn to rely totally on your partner.

I heard a story of a man and his son who went out into the countryside one day to climb in the cliffs. The man tells how suddenly he heard a voice from above him yelling "Hey Dad! Catch me!" He says

I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and then yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.

When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???"

He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure ... because you're my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted.

If we only see that God can be trusted then we will trust in him.

Or think of swimming. You know that to swim you have to trust that the water will keep you up. Some find that easy but some find it difficult to believe. My father was a keen swimmer and most of his friends enjoyed swimming as teenagers. He had one friend, however, who never could swim until he made a trip to the Dead Sea and learned there. As you know, the Dead Sea is very salty and so it is easier to swim there because the water really does hold you up as will any body of water to some extent. God will certainly uphold you if you will simply trust him.

To gain any new skill you need to listen to what the instructor says - the piano teacher or the football coach or whatever. If you do what the Lord says you can come to faith.

God alone can change you - you can’t change yourself. So look to him alone. The question is not ‘Am I elect?’ but ‘Am I relying entirely and only on Jesus?’ One reason why poor people and children often seem more ready to come to Christ is that they have so little to lose. Of course, some who are rich are saved. part of the reason is that they learn not to rely on their wealth.

The monkey and the banana

Is there something keeping you out of the kingdom? Anything that keeps you from trust in Jesus can be a danger. Think of the way in. While a camel remains a camel there is no way in. So you, if you are not a believer - as you are, by nature, there is no way in.

You know how traditionally they used to catch monkeys. You put a banana in a cage with a hole large enough for the monkey's hand to fit in, but not large enough for the monkey's fist to come out while it is still clutching the banana. The monkey lacks the intellect to let go of the banana and run away. It would be wiser to let go of the banana and live. In a similar way we need to let go of it all. It is impossible to do that in our own strength. That is why we must say that conversion is impossible with man. Anyone who thinks otherwise is foolish. We can’t widen the gate or slim down! That is impossible. Until we see that, we see nothing. Have you realised the impossibility of your being saved? There are too many sins, too many things wrong, we just won’t fit. And yet we must. Too many think - of course I’m okay. You are not.

Camel and the eye of a needle

In Matthew 19:23-26 Jesus is not talking about camels coming through gates into cities or cables rather than camels as some suggest.

Rather, Jesus is saying ‘Think of the smallest hole you can - a small city gate? Smaller. A fox hole? Smaller. A fishing net gap? Smaller. A roof leak? Smaller. The eye of needle? Yes! Think of that as the gate into the kingdom.

Then think of a common large animal. A cat? Bigger. A dog? Bigger. A lion? Bigger. A cow? Bigger. A camel? Yes. (Why not an elephant? Jesus is speaking to the poor and they may not have heard of an elephant.) Think of that as a person who is rich.

Now imagine trying to get a great big camel into a tiny needle eye. You know how difficult it is to get thread in the eye of a needle; a camel is ridiculous. There is humour here, of course! By nature rich people cannot get into the kingdom, they cannot become Christians. The problem is not the riches themselves but the tendency to hold on to their riches and rely on them. We are not thinking simply, of course, of the materially wealthy. Money and possessions are not the only things that people rely on. You can be rich in other ways: you can be clever, popular, talented. They can all keep you out if you are not careful.

The Scottish Method

One of the things that all faithful preachers must speak about is sin. It must be done faithfully but carefully. In his 1969 work The Homiletical Innovations of Andrew W. Blackwood (Studies in Preaching; No. 3) the pastoral theologian Jay E. Adams says that the homiletician Blackwood (1882-1966) advocated the use of the Scottish method in this area. That is to say, you preach against your own sins with the hope that even where people are not tempted in the same way as you they see how they can make a similar application to themselves.

I have heard many preachers do this well. Clearly, if you are tempted to murder your kids or run off with the woman next door, best to confess that to the Lord and say no more about it. What you want is a sin or temptation that exposes our shallow and wicked nature but that is easily forgiven by most.

So for example, I heard an American preacher once describing how now that the children have grown up and left the nest he and his wife like from time to time to lay in bed watching TV or something of that sort. He will be sent downstairs for ice cream at some point further enhancing the evening's enjoyment. He then describes how, having filled two bowls he spend the time ascending the stairs carefully weighing up which might be the bigger of the two so he can give the other to his spouse. I think that is a neat way of exposing the greed that lurks in his own heart and in yours and mine too, no doubt.

Another time I heard a minister from the North of England describe how on a hospital visit, as he left the car park, he managed to bump another car. Quite candidly, he described how he seriously considered for some moments simply driving off and saying nothing. But how could he? And so he began to frame a note to put on the car he had hit. Again it is an identifiable way of exposing the selfishness and the lack of love that lurks in all our hearts. May be you would never dream of not owning up but no doubt there are other areas where you would be tempted not to do the right thing.

A third example would be an older Englishman who has ministered all his life in Scotland. I remember him describing how he has set there writing a letter to a grand child and in his head he has congratulated himself on how wonderful he is writing to the child such a wonderful spiritual letter. Again, it makes the speaker look a little silly and exposes his pride and self-regard - something we all share in common.

Each preacher has to think of his own example. The one that comes most forcefully to my mind in this area is the way on a Sunday we will be singing a hymn I have chosen and I will notice how well some of the words fit with what has been preached or is about to be preached, even though I did not choose the hymn for that reason. I imagine others in the congregation thinking "Oh, he's worked so hard on this and found such appropriate words." In truth, I doubt if anyone is thinking such a thing. It still exposes my pride and my willingness to take credit where no credit is due. It is a good example to take as it self-mocks and points to the foolishness and wickedness that lies in all our hearts.