Mark10:35-45 Panzer
Liturgical Service
October 18, 2015 Service is
Power
By this time in the Christian year, most preachers
are a little afraid to see what Jesus is going to say next. In these last two
chapters of Mark’s gospel, he’s been saying and doing some pretty amazing and
scary things. In this latest portion of the journey, Jesus has healed a boy of
an unclean spirit. He has foretold of his own death and resurrection for a
second time. He has helped the disciples
redefine what it means to be great by welcoming children into the Kingdom of
God.
He taught us that the penalty for getting in the way
of someone’s journey in the Kingdom is high and that our first concern must be
keeping the path clear for anyone and everyone to get to him. He helped us understand
the real value of marriage is for husband and wife to serve and glorify God in
love together. And when we heard about the rich young ruler, we saw someone who
walked away sadly because he couldn’t bear to give up his comfortable life to
follow Jesus.
We really want the disciples to get a clue, right?
We see them week after week, assuming they are eventually going to understand
what Jesus is trying to teach them. At this point in the story, they have made
plenty of erroneous assumptions. Just when they think that they understand who
Jesus is and why they are following him, they do something to demonstrate that
once again they have missed the point. In this week’s gospel lesson, James and John trump
their previous indiscriminate behavior by asking a pretty audacious thing… to
sit at the right and left hands of Jesus – that is – to sit at the place of
power in the Kingdom of God.
I think that for right or wrong, the disciples were actually
looking for demonstrations of two different kinds of power from Jesus. First,
did Jesus have the power to give them what they wanted? And second, in the end,
would they have the reward they ultimately deserved for leaving everything to
follow Jesus?
It’s important to understand how power worked in the
society where Jesus lived. Roman occupied the lands of Palestine, with an army
left behind to make sure that people stayed in their proper place. Force was
used as a last resort, or to make an example for the remainder of the
community’s benefit. Getting ahead in the Roman world meant using dominance and
oppression to keep people in line. In order to stay out of trouble, people
often gave in without a fight.
These two brothers saw their membership in Jesus’
Kingdom through the reflection of the society around them. They were still not
able to understand that Jesus’ world is the mirror opposite of what they were
expecting life to be. Jesus’ response was simple and puzzling, “I’m not the one
to give you what you’re asking for, but are you sure you know what you’re
asking for? Can you drink from the cup that’s coming to me? Can you receive the
same baptism I receive?”
Their answer was simple, “We can.” Yeah, they really
didn’t get it.
Of course, we’re really no different, are we? We,
too, are looking for power. We may not understand that’s what we’re doing some
of the time, but the world around us tells us that the only place with any
value is at the top of the heap. And so that’s where we strive to be. Even in
our goodness, our helpfulness, our work for the kingdom of God, we want to be
extraordinary… we want to be the best.
In some ways, the lectionary committee has done us a
little disservice by starting our reading at verse 35. If we go back to verse
32, we will hear Jesus foretelling of his arrest, crucifixion and resurrection
for a third time on this journey. In
that context, it’s especially curious that James and John would want to be at
Jesus’ side in the end. There’s a lot of difficult stuff that’s going to happen
before Jesus comes into his glory.
Jesus asks them, “You want to sit at my right hand
and left hand?” In the end the disciples
scattered, but those who took the place of honor beside him were common criminals.
The Jesus we worship today is the post-resurrection
Jesus. Unless it’s Holy Week , we don’t spend much time thinking about what is
really happening as Jesus heads toward death.
There is no way around it. Jesus was dominated in the crucifixion. The
very process stripped away his dignity and made him a victim just like those
who came before him. We see the cross and
we think of the ultimate glory achieved. But in the light of this passage, we must remember
that this was a significant use of power in that day and time. And this is what
power does to protect itself. The status quo must be protected at all costs.
In the end, the other disciples show their own true
selves in their anger at James and John over their unreasonable request. Jesus
confronts them all with a new reality check. He tells them that if they want to
be members of his kingdom, they need to understand and live out power in a new
and different way. Instead of seeking greatness, you will need to be a servant.
Instead of seeking to be first, you need to be willing to be last. And he
gently reminds them that service about self is the only real way to freedom. In
the Kingdom of God, power is only worth something if it helps empower someone
in need.[i]
For the most part, we understand and believe the
good news about who Jesus is. We accept Jesus as our Savior and hope to one day
share in his Kingdom and glory. But it takes a long time for us to progress to
the next level of Christian life. We get comfortable. We settle in. We find our
way to the top and make a home. But Jesus has a message for us. If we are going
to follow him, we have to drink from his cup.
We won’t pass from this life unscathed. We will get
sick. We will experience disappointments and heartbreaks. Our sufferings,
whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, they will be more common than
we want or expect. And those things can make us or break… depending on how much
we are willing to hold on to Jesus and his promises for us.
And in the second part of that message, we learn
(again) what it means to follow Jesus. He calls us to a life of serving, not of
being served. And that is more often than not, a hard thing to hear, and even
harder to remember.[ii]Rev David Sellery says: While we may not be ready for this level of perfection, we can take the first step. Let's start with a simple attitude adjustment. Listen more, talk less. Try understanding. Try forgiving. Try seeing things from the other person's point of view. Try not to take offense. Stop trying to convince everyone that you're the smartest guy in the room. Start bringing energy, encouragement and affirmation to everyone you encounter today. Start helping and do it humbly. Consciously make being an active loving Christian the focus of your day. Then wake up tomorrow and do it again. [iii]
Nobody said it would be easy. But I close with the
words from a familiar chorus, which I think can be a gentle reminder and point
us in the right direction:
“Day by day. O dear Lord, Three things I pray. To
see thee more clearly…Love thee more dearly…Follow thee more nearly… Day by
day.”[iv]
Amen.
Peace, Deb
[i] Dawn
Chesser, Preaching Helps for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/
[iv]
Prayer of Saint Richard of Chisester.
