Tyson or Paul: The GOAT?

Passages: Is. 25:9-26.7; Phil. 1:1-11; Lk. 9:44-50
Ընթերցուածքներ՝ Եսայ. ԻԵ 9 – ԻԶ 7; Փիլիփ. Ա 1-11; Ղկ. Թ 44-50

In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!

Preparing a weekly sermon my dear brothers and sisters is about connecting God’s message and guidance to what we as his children are going through in our everyday life. It is one of the reasons why Christ used images and ideas that his audience was familiar with. For example, this week, when teaching a lesson of humility to the disciples, we read, “And an argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But when Jesus perceived the thought of their hearts, he took a child and put him by his side, and said to them, “’Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me; for he who is least among you all is the one who is great.’” Christ took a child that was nearby, someone who society would have said is uneducated, inexperienced and unprepared for real life and used him to relate a message to us all – what greatness really means. So as I prepared my sermon this week I thought about what so many of us perhaps experienced this week?

A few weeks ago, many of us were focused on the election; in the next few weeks we will be getting ready for Thanksgiving, and Christmas, then the New Years. This week many people either directly or indirectly saw or heard about the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. The reason this event was such a huge focus for many people was because we’ve all heard the name Mike Tyson, even if we don’t watch boxing. He was one of the greatest fighters in his prime yet, today he is 58 years old and as many of us know age takes it’s tole. Whereas in contrast Jake Paul is only 27 years old, nowhere near as experienced as Mike Tyson and quite arrogant. Yet, the match was set and the fight between these two fighters took place. Regardless of the results, something took place during this match which I believe reveals a message from God to each one of us.

You see both men fought to show their greatness; both trained hard, took hard hits in preparation and during the match to reach their final goal. Regardless of their age, they both showcased what made them best. Many of us know Mike Tyson as a brutal and vicious fighter in and out of the ring. Jake Paul is known as a young, arrogant, social media influencer and bad boy. Yet, in the final moments of that fight, as the last 15-30 seconds counted down, Jake Paul who was clearly at an advantage, did not take a final blow against Mike Tyson, who by round 3 the audience could tell was weakening, due to his age. But rather, Jake, took a step back and bowed to Tyson. The fight wasn’t anything to rave about when it came to the standards of a historical or memorable boxing match. Yet, the world saw, this arrogant, young man bow and show respect to a man all of us would have feared to step into the ring with. Mike Tyson, did not retaliate or take the opportunity to get that final swing against a defenseless Jake Paul. Rather, he extended his hand to tap gloves, showing respect, and even before the final bell, they embraced each other. There was a lot of negative commentary about this fight and people were disappointed that they did not see a brutal display of aggression from either fighter. They wanted to see the greatest of all. Yet, through their humility and respect for one another, Paul and Tyson displayed a higher quality of greatness. They recognized the value and greatness not in that one fight but in the character of the person.

My dears, where is our value? Where do we find our greatness, and do we recognize the greatness in others? The world tells us our value is in how hard we hit back, how tall, strong and aggressive we are; survival of the fittest, right? If we want to be great, we need to be the best, have the bigger paycheck, go to the best school, look the prettiest and dress in the most expensive clothes. Yet, our greatness is not defined by these things for God. As clearly seen in today’s Gospel with the child, greatness is defined by much more than what the world qualifies. Which is why today’s Gospel reading begins with Christ speaking about Himself, “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men.” (v.44) God, is who immortal and all powerful (what we sing every day in the Trisagion), who could destroy His enemies with a snap of a finger, who could bring natural disasters and send legions of angels to display his greatest – God chose to be delivered, betrayed, imprisoned at the hands of men to be tortured and killed. Why? Because greatness is humility; greatness is compassion; greatness is love. When we see a mother or father, who perhaps are struggling financially, or they must work multiple jobs to care for their family, do we say they are worthless? No! In fact, we say what a great parent. When we look at people in society who have failed repeatedly until they finally reached a goal, do we say they’re not that great? No! We use them as examples of hard work and determination.

My dears, then why is it do we allow our faults, our hurt, our failures and struggles to make us think and feel we and perhaps those around us are worthless? Our value, our greatness is in the love of God who created us and calls us to be likewise great in our love for ourselves and one another. This means taking care of our health, body, soul and mind, regardless of age; this means placing value in the time we share with one another and not in the materials we have; this means being proactive in prayer and extending that to those around us. Will we have differences of opinions, likes and dislikes? Yes. Will we fail according to the world’s standards of greatness? Perhaps. Will we find our true value? Only if we recognize that that child that Christ took to show as an example of greatness, that child is us. Someone the world might not even look at twice and yet for God is the example for us to learn from.

My dears, whether we watched the fight between Tyson and Paul or not, whether our focus is on elections, Thanksgiving, Christmas or something else, let us take a moment in prayer and ask ourselves, where is our greatness? Where is our value? Is it defined by the world or by God? For if it is by God, we must humble ourselves, confess our brokenness to God and recognize that all of us here are in the ring, fighting for our life. Let us take a step back and recognize that our greatness is not in that one thing, one fight, one moment, one experience or one success. Our greatness is in the love of God which heals our darkness and pain – a love given to us to share with one another. Let us take a step back and recognize that greatness in each other, for it is Christ Jesus in us all. It is the love of God that makes us great. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ illuminate our hearts and minds to see that truth, may the Holy Spirit guide us to understand our worth as a child of our Heavenly Father, Amen!