Today's Scripture: Mark 10:35-45

Today's Sermon

 

"No To Be Served, But To Serve"

 

Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

We don’t have any roadside billboards here in Marin County, but when I lived in Baton Rouge, billboards were all over the place.  I-10 cuts right through Baton Rouge, which provides a great advertising opportunity for all sorts of organizations.  The billboards that always caught my eye were the Jesus billboards.  Some were funny, some were serious, some were theologically questionable … all having to do with the importance of following Jesus.  Many of the Jesus billboards tried to offer some sort of encouragement or assurance to people.  Here are a few examples -
“Concerned?  Jesus can be trusted.”
“Worried?  Jesus offers security.”
“Anxious? Jesus offers rest.”

I don’t disagree with any of those statements. And, I hope that when someone is feeling concerned, worried, or anxious, they will turn to Jesus as a source of calm and strength and rest.  It is important to know that we are not alone during the difficult times of our lives. 

Throughout the Gospels, we hear stories of Jesus healing people who are in sick, feeding people who are hungry, calming a storm that frightens the disciples.  But those aren’t the only stories we hear about Jesus in the Gospels.  William Willimon, a professor at Duke Divinity School, notes that when Mark’s Gospeltalks about Jesus, “it's not Jesus as the answer to our problems that Mark stresses but, rather, Jesus as strange and demanding Lord.”

We experience this in today’s scripture reading.  But, before we get to Jesus, let’s first consider James and John.  They come to Jesus, asking for the opportunity to share in his future glory. Many who interpret this passage tend to paint James and John in a negative light.  Why are you two being so selfishly ambitious?  Why are you only looking out for yourselves and your own glory? In fact, when the other disciples hear what they have requested, they are angry with James and John.  How dare you? 

In her book, “Bread of Angels,” Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor re-examines this negative stereotype of James and John. She writes, “while this may be an example of gross ambition on their part, it may also be a case of profound faith.  James and John absolutely believe that Jesus will reign.  In spite of his dire predictions, in spite of the storm clouds gathering on the horizon ahead of them, they are so sure of Jesus’ final victory that they sign up to go with him.”

She imagines that James and John are thinking that the new world, where Jesus reigns in glory, will be set up just like the old world, only with new leadership in place.  Taylor writes, “The bad guys at the head table will be removed and God’s new crew will be seated, with Jesus in the number one position and the most loyal members of his campaign staff on either side of him.  Once this change has been accomplished, then – finally! At last! – the good people will commence to redeem the world.”  Of course James and John want to be a part of that.  Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that!

However, here is where Jesus as strange and demanding, to use Willimon’s phrase, makes an appearance.  You’ve got it all wrong, he tells the disciples.  I am not here simply to replace those in power.  I am here to turn the power structure upside down.  Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.  The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.  You want to be in glory with me?  We won’t be sitting at the head of the table ready for fine dining.  We will be bussing the plates and replacing the silverware and preparing the food and cleaning the spills.

Returning to those billboards, we really shortchange what it means to follow Jesus when we only focus on the comfort and rest of Jesus. Yes, that is important.  “Come to me and I will give you rest,” says Jesus. But, just as important is the hard work that Jesus asks of us.  James and John think they are ready.  “We are able!” they declare when Jesus questions them about their readiness to drink the cup that he drinks.  But, as Barbara Brown Taylor points out, perhaps they don’t quite understand the life to which they are agreeing.  A life of service and servanthood.

Jesus does regularly talk with his disciples about what will happen to him throughout the Gospel of Mark.  In fact, immediately before the passage we heard today, Jesus tells his disciples – very specifically, for the third time – very specifically that the Son of Man will be condemned to death, mocked, flogged, and killed, and will rise again after three days.  But, though James and John hear that, they still can’t quite seem to process that information and make it a reality.  We, with the benefit of living 2000 years later, know the reality.  We know that Jesus’ life and ministry of servanthood led to his death.  We know that the choice to be a disciple of Jesus Christ means a choice to follow the difficult call of service.  Not to be served, but to serve.  James and John were all in, but without all the information.  We have all the information.  Will we be all in as well?

Last Sunday, Rob and I held a new member orientation for 6 people who we will welcome into church membership next week. We always like to leave plenty of time for questions, and one of our new members asked about commitment.  Were she to choose to join the church, what kind of commitment would be expected from her?  I really appreciated that question.  As James and John show us, it is important to know what you are getting into. However, I find that I struggle to answer that question.  On the one hand, I don’t want to overwhelm or scare off potential new members.  My first instinct is to answer like the Jesus billboards.  Being a part of Westminster means being a part of this loving, caring, supportive community.  We hope that you’ll commit to meeting people and forming meaningful relationships.  We hope that you will commit to continuing to explore your spiritual journey.

These are all true sentiments.  I hope that each of you has made those commitments to yourself and to this congregation.  If we stop there, though, I feel like we would leave new members in the James and John territory – trying to make a decision without all the details. Because joining a church community also means making a commitment to showing up.  To worshipping together.  To joining in.  To serving both here at the church and in the wider community.  To following Jesus’ call in your life.  Of course, you could be a church member and chose to only think about Jesus on Christmas and Easter.  But that is not the commitment that Jesus asks those who follow him to make.

What might this commitment look like in someone’s life?  Someone who has taken seriously Jesus’ call not to be served but to serve?  I’ll return to William Willimon, who tells a story about a man he has known for many years.  Willimon shares that this young man, “became an active Christian in high school.  He was going through a turbulent period in his life.  In an emotional youth worship service, he gave his life to Christ.  He said of his conversion, ‘I have found what I've always been looking for.’”

Willimon continues, “I visited with him a while back.  He now runs a ministry for inner city kids in East Saint Louis.  He lives in the same dangerous, tough part of town, as the kids who come to his ministry.  He has been the victim of crime on a number of occasions.  When I marveled at his faith and his faithfulness, he said with a smile, ‘Well, it's sometimes what you get when you get Jesus.  I thought I 'found Christ' when in reality, Christ found me.  I thought he wanted to give me something.  Well, he has given me many good gifts, but mostly what Jesus gave me was a job to do for him rather than to do what I wanted to do for myself.’"

I hear that story and I think, no way, I couldn’t do that.  And, thankfully, I don’t have to, because that young man has been called to do that. But even if we don’t serve in that specific way, this story is a striking example of someone who has taken seriously Jesus’ call to servanthood.  Not just when it is easy or convenient, but all of the time, with his whole life. Thankfully, servanthood doesn’t necessarily have to involve being the victim of a crime on multiple occasions, but it does require sacrifice and dedication and hard work and risk taking and letting go of that which is comfortable and familiar. 

I am guessing that most of us are not fully living into Jesus’ call to servanthood.  I know I am not.  This sermon is not a call to radically change your life, though maybe some of you might choose to do that.  Instead, this is a nudge to consider how you might lead by serving in your corner of the world.  How you might be an example of true greatness that comes from service.  How you might, this week, make a specific choice to follow Jesus’ call to serve.

I will close with a poem by Andrew King –

Is that you, Lord,
changing the diaper in the nursing home,
holding the spoon for the woman in her wheelchair,
wiping down the toilet and the floor;

is that you
serving the dinner at the homeless shelter,
sorting the cans at the food bank,
mowing the aged neighbor’s lawn;

is that you, Lord,
bandaging the wounds of the bomb victim,
erecting the tent for the refugees,
handing out the water and the food;

is that you
driving the patient to the treatment center,
sitting through the night with the family,
making the call to the forgotten friend;

is that you, Lord,
lighting the candle in the darkness,
keeping vigil for compassion and justice,
loving in us and through us and with us

 until the world that you love has been changed?