Dancers, singers, actors, and artists. They all want one thing: Fame.

In 1980, the Oscar-winning movie Fame followed a group of talented students through four years at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. On September 25, a new version of this film releases, starring Debbie Allen, Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth. You might remember that Debbie Allen played a dance instructor in the original movie, but now, after almost 30 years, she has been cast as the school’s principal. And of course, the headlines are reading "Allen Returns to Fame."

At this performing arts high school, the competitive environment is incredibly hot, and each student’s talents, passions and determination are put to the test. In addition, the students face all the other struggles of high school — schoolwork, friendships, romances and the rocky road of self-discovery. This film’s drama lies in its depiction of teenagers growing up as they discover whether they have the talent and discipline to become true stars.

One of the many stirring songs from the movie includes these lyrics: I sing the body electric, I celebrate the me yet to come,
I toast to my own reunion when I become one with the sun.
And I’ll look back on Venus, I’ll look back on Mars, and I’ll burn with the fire of 10 million stars;

And in time, and in time, we will all be stars.

That’s the dream of each of these young people: To become one with the sun, to burn brightly in the heavens, to become a star.

Of course, some achieve this goal, and go on to great artistic success. But most blow up, burn out or simply fade away. "Everybody else here is colorful or eccentric or charismatic," laments one student, "and I’m just perfectly normal."
Being normal isn’t necessarily an advantage when your goal is to achieve fame. You have to possess enormous talent and a burning desire to become one with the sun.

Jesus encounters this same longing for glory when, according to Mark 9, he’s passing through the region of Galilee with his disciples. He doesn’t feel it himself, but he sees it in his followers. Jesus has spent his career avoiding the spotlight in a way that would be unthinkable to the students of the New York City High School of Performing Arts.

Instead of seeking attention, Jesus lies low, using his undercover time to teach his disciples that "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise."

But the disciples don’t get it. They don’t understand what Jesus is saying, and even worse, they’re afraid to ask him. This talk of betrayal and death and rising again doesn’t fit their idea of a good career plan. It certainly doesn’t fit into their idea of a Messiah.

It’s important to remember that this chapter of Mark begins with the transfiguration, that glorious mountaintop experience in which Jesus is revealed to be the Son of God. Mark tells us that Jesus’ clothes become "dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them." Matthew adds that "his face shone like the sun." He has a conversation with Elijah and Moses, the two superstars of the Old Testament, and God’s voice booms out of a cloud, "This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him!"

Peter, James and John are shocked, terrified and totally impressed by this display of divine power. Never had they seen anything like what they saw that day, and they would never see anything like it again, this side of eternity.

When Jesus and the disciples come down the mountain together, they run into an adoring crowd, one that was "overwhelmed with wonder." His disciples had been unable to cast a demon out of a young boy, and were in a heated discussion with some of the Scribe. So the crowd turns to Jesus to see what he will do.

Jesus rebuked the evil spirit that possessed the boy, and the spirit left the boy, "shrieking and convulsing the boy violently." The boy seemed dead at first, but Jesus helped him up, and he was able to stand. Showing his demon-defeating power as the Beloved Son of God, Jesus appears to be a rising star, one who will burn with the fire of 10 million stars. At least that’s what the disciples think.

But Jesus has another idea. Jesus tells them "The Son of Man is to be betrayed … killed ... [and] rise again. He predicts that his fire will be snuffed out completely before it is rekindled by God.

The disciples continue to follow Jesus along the road to the town of Capernaum, and when they reach their destination, probably Peter’s house, he asks them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" Of course, they knew that Jesus knew exactly what they had been arguing about. They can only remain silent in the face of Jesus’ confronting question. They had been interested in one thing: Fame.

The disciples suddenly realize that there has been something deeply wrong with their attitudes, something in opposition to the agenda of a Messiah who kept quiet about his accomplishments and miracles. So they stand around in the house in Capernaum, looking at their feet in shame. That’s right: shame, not fame.

Then Jesus sits down in his teacher’s seat, calls the 12 disciples, and says to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." To be first you must be last, he insists; to be a star you must be a servant.

And to illustrate this countercultural career advice more clearly, Jesus takes a little child in his arms and says, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me but him who sent me."

The jaws of the disciples must have really hit the floor at this point, because in the first century a child was a non-person, a nonentity, a nobody. There is no reason for a little child to be close to a great teacher such as Jesus, or in the middle of a group of men. Children are to stay with the women and keep themselves out of the way, until they grow up and can start exercising some adult responsibilities.

Jesus is saying, "When you welcome a nobody, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome God. So if you want to be first in the kingdom of God, then you had better get used to being a child-welcoming servant of all people."

That’s what it means to be one with the Son … the Son of God.

Jesus is calling us to flip our usual attitudes toward greatness and honor and fame completely upside down. Our normal perspective is to look at life from the top down, giving our greatest attention to the people who have competed with one another and come out on top. We do this with dancers, singers, actors and artists, as well as with politicians and business leaders. We are drawn to their fame and are impressed by their talents and accomplishments.

But Jesus is saying, "No — change your perspective." Instead, he says, look at life from the bottom up and give your greatest attention to the people who have no fame. Focus on children, on single mothers, on dishwashers, on chambermaids, on the working poor, on the homeless. "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me," says Jesus, "and whoever welcomes me" … welcomes God.

Our challenge is not to burn with the fire of 10 million stars. Instead, it is to act in such a way that we are one with the Son of God.

We do this whenever we treat people with the dignity they deserve, as people who are made in God’s image. In California, there is an annual March for Human Dignity, which includes an underwear drive for the homeless. Hundreds of volunteers collect thousands of pairs of underwear and socks for people served by the Los Angeles Mission.

"While many may look at this as something to joke about, we take it very seriously," says mission chairperson Herb Smith. "To us, and to our guests, respect is a very important subject. When we treat people with dignity, they begin the process of retaining their self-respect, and over time, that can result in recovery and self-sufficiency."

As weird as it sounds, as something that we take for granted, the gift of a clean pair of underwear can help a homeless person regain a sense of self-respect. It can be an important step in recovery and self-sufficiency. It’s a small but significant one — one that treats the people on our streets with the dignity they deserve.

To serve a homeless person is to serve Jesus, and to welcome such a brother or sister is to welcome the God who sent Jesus into the world. This bottom-up approach to greatness will never earn us fame or put us in the spotlight, but empowered by the Holy Spirit, it will move us ever closer to the light of God’s eternal kingdom.

We learn from this story that the only proper way to be first is to step back and be last, and from that lowly posture, serve others in everything we do. Becoming first by serving from a position of last is the very fabric of the new world our Lord brought to pass when he descended so very low, even to death on a cross, shedding the brilliance of the light of the glory of heaven, setting aside all his power, to assume the form of a servant, the Suffering Servant, reshaping the entire fabric of life on earth, transforming from selfish the ambition of fame to selfless serving and giving.

When the curtain rises in that kingdom, we’ll be surprised by whom we see on stage: the faithful servants of this world, people who served God and neighbor without ever drawing attention to themselves. By the grace of God through faith, there will be a place on that stage for us as well.

Hear again the words of Jesus, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." Those words tell us how to live, how to win, and the way to be one with the Son for eternity. Amen.