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Reverend Phil Price  
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“A Lesson on Missing the Point”

Mark 10:35-45
October 18, 2009    

          In this morning’s Gospel reading, James and John appeared to be surprised at Jesus’ denial of their request to sit in places of honor next to him in God’s glorious kingdom.  Little did they realize the cost that came in Jesus’ serving his heavenly Father was not one that others would be asked to make.  Their assumptions that Jesus had the rightful desire to choose who would be honored to serve in Glory revealed that we can ask for anything, but our request may be denied.  God wants to give us what is best for us and not merely what we want. 

          Please listen for how the Spirit of God is addressing us through God’s word found on page 44 in the New Testament section of your pew Bibles from the Gospel of Mark chapter ten verses thirty-five through forty-five… 

          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 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 and 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 to 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.

This is God’s word to us…

          The greatest: who is the greatest?  Let’s play a guessing game.  Who do Americans say was the greatest boxer of all time?  The answer is: Mohammed Ali—better known as “The Greatest.”

          Who is the greatest golfer of all time?  The answer is: Jack Nicklaus who won a record 18 majors or some would say Tiger Woods who may some day surpass Nicklaus’ feat.

          Who do Americans say was the greatest scientist of the past 100 years?  Undoubtedly the answer must be Albert Einstein.

          Which singing group sold the greatest number of platinum albums?  The answer is: The Beatles. 

          Who do Americans say was the greatest American President?  According to most polls the answer remains Abraham Lincoln.

          The list of “greats” and “greatest” could go on and on.  Even so, it is one thing to be the greatest boxer, to be the greatest golfer, to be the greatest scientist, to be the greatest president; it is quite another thing to have a need to be great, to have a need to be number one, to have a need to be better than others.  When you think about it, none of us really like those people who need to be the greatest; do we?

          That is what this gospel lesson is all about today.  It is a lesson on how the disciples and how we often miss the point when it comes to who is really the greatest.  Some disciples needed to be number one, the best of the best.  This is one of those things that always amazes me about Jesus’ followers; that they spent so much time with Jesus, saw his miracles, talked with him and learned from him, directly: but they still didn’t “get it” did they?  How had they managed to be so close to Jesus and still not “get it” that the greatest in the kingdom of God was the person who had the heart and hands of a servant?

          So how did James and John arrive at this place of asking such a bold, albeit misguided question?  The story goes like this: Jesus invited Peter, James and John to go up on a mountain.  While on the peak, the three disciples experienced the Transfiguration where Jesus was transformed into the Christ of glory; Jesus face shown like the sun.  Meanwhile the other nine disciples remained down below where they were struggling to heal a boy who was possessed and try as they might they could not heal him until, that is, Jesus came down from the mountain and healed the boy for them.

          Shortly after, as the disciples were walking along and talking about all that they had heard and seen the twelve got into an argument about who among them was the greatest.   The Bible doesn’t say explicitly what started the argument but I suspect it was James and John who started things.  I suspect that after their mountaintop experience with Jesus and their encounter with the nine who couldn’t quite figure out how to heal the sick boy that they began to feel somehow superior to the other nine.

          Even after Jesus stopped the arguing between the disciples and told them that those who entered the Kingdom of God had to first become like children they still didn’t “get it.”  And so we come to the point where James and John approached Jesus and said, “Jesus, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”  Is that not one of the most selfish and self-centered statements, were these grown men or what?   But how does Jesus respond?  He asked James and John as well as all of us, “What do you really want from me?”

          For their part, James’ and John’s answer revealed their self-centered and self-serving hearts; “Grant us to sit at your right hand and your left when you come again in glory.”  Talk about misguided, talk about a warped perspective after all they had heard Jesus teach and all he had done to reveal God’s intent for humanity and still they hungered for glory?   They wanted power, status, and authority.   James and John still didn’t “get it” about what Jesus was saying about the Son of Man suffering, being killed and on the third day rising from the dead.  After telling his disciples this message three times, still James and John were thinking of earthly glory.

          Obviously they still didn’t “get it” and so Jesus challenged them by saying, “Do you know what you are asking?  Are you able to be baptized as I am going to be baptized?”

          Looking like tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum James and John in effect say, “Yep”; not understanding that Jesus was going to be baptized into his suffering and death on the cross.  The text goes on to say, “When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John,” they were angry at their colleagues’ inflated, selfish, brazen ambition.  Jesus then taught them, “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.”

          That James and John eventually would “get it” leaves open the question, “So what about us?”  As we walk with Jesus; as we talk with Jesus; hang-out with Jesus’ friends do we “get it” about being a servant of others?  The fact is we can use the right religious buzz-words and attend weekly worship, but still not get that the basic lesson on life that Jesus was trying to teach James and John and all of us is that the greatest person in God’s sight is the person who has a heart and hands of humble service towards God and others.

          Who are the servants that you have witnessed in your walk with Christ?  Who are those people in your life who “get it,” who understand that serving God involves our hearts and our hands?  Who among your circle of family and friends has not missed the point of what it means to follow Jesus?

          A servant always has a loving heart and working hands.  Both heart and hands are involved in the service of God; not just the heart of a servant who sees the needs of others; not just the heart who feels the pain of those who are in distress; not just a heart who empathizes with those who have lost hope.   True servants of Christ always have good, loving and generous hearts, but they also have hands to do the work: hands that make the meals; hands that clean-up the tables; hands that do the dishes; hands that actually reach-out to people in need.

          Heart and hands; in today’s gospel reading Jesus tells us that whoever is great among us must be a servant.  Jesus tells us that we cannot fully be a disciple of his without also being a servant, without having the heart and hands of a servant.  Being a servant is a must, a demand, like water being wet and fire being hot and ice being cold; so too must a follower of Christ be a servant.

          A university professor tells of being invited to speak at a military base one December and there meeting an unforgettable soldier named Ralph.  Ralph had been sent to meet the professor at the airport.  After they introduced themselves, they headed toward the baggage claim.  As they walked down the concourse, Ralph kept disappearing.  Once to help an older woman whose suitcase had fallen open; once to lift two toddlers up to where they could see Santa Claus, again to give directions to someone who was lost.   Each time he came back with a smile on his face.

          “Where did you learn that?” the professor asked.  “What?” Ralph said.  “Where did you learn to live like that?”

          “Oh,” Ralph said, “during the war, I guess.”  He then told the professor about his tour of duty in Afghanistan, how it was his job to clear mine fields, how he watched his friends blow up before his eyes, one after another.  “I learned to live between he steps,” he said.  “I never knew whether the next one would be my last, so I learned to get everything I could out of the moment between when I picked up my foot and when I put it down again.  Every step I took was a whole new world, and I guess I’ve been that way ever since.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, from “Fresh Illustrations,” p. 7)

          It is so important to have the heart and hands of a servant in our most intimate relationships as well.  In the old days, it was wives who were thought of as being servants of husbands, not realizing that the Biblical teaching is that the Lord invites us to be servants of one another.  In your marriage, what would it mean for you to be a servant to your wife, your husband?  What would it mean for you to look out for the needs of your spouse?

          How about parents being servants of your children?  What would that mean for you in your family?  How about kids being servants of your mom and dad?  What would that mean for you?

          Jesus invites us to be servants of all; not only servants within our marriages and within our families only.  So too are we to be servants at work, in life; to be a servant whose primary concern is not to serve one’s own self-interest but all those who surround us wherever we may be.  Jesus’ words are clear, “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.”

          So who will you serve today?  How will you let the love of God found in Jesus Christ turn your heart and your hands in service towards your spouse, your children, you family, your neighbor, the waitress at dinner, the clerk at the store, the homeless person on the street?

          Amen.

 

 

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