Pentecost
21 - Year B
Mark
10:(32-34)35-45
A Kingship Like No Other
Even though USC won their game
against Vanderbilt yesterday afternoon, Clemson fans are the ones walking around
tall and proud this morning. Did you
hear the commentators talking about how convinced they are that Clemson is a
strong candidate for a Championship bid?
We are walking proud. It doesn’t matter whether we are in the sit
to the left or to the right of Deshaun Watson, just so long as he stays healthy
and gets to sit in that center chair.
And getting to this place was pretty
easy – for most of us. We have arrived at
this place without any of us spending extra hours in the weight room. We might re-reply the game a couple of times
during the week, but none of us are going to look at Miami film in order to
prepare for the next opponent.
We are walking proud – and getting
this strut in our step was as easy as asking the lady at the spots shop to sell
us one of those orange t-shirts.
But it hasn’t been that easy for
Deshaun, or Keerse, or Alex. They know
the sacrifice and the price it has taken to get here. And while I am sure they appreciate our
support, I do wonder if they ever look around and ask “What do you mean? WE
are having a great season?”
One seldom gets to sit in the
chair of the King without putting in the time and making the sacrifice. It isn’t as simple as being in the right
place at the right time, or being the first to ask. Nor is it merely a matter of picking the right
color t-shirt.
Mark 10, verses 32-34, contains
what is often referred to as Jesus’ third prediction of his crucifixion. The first is in Mark 8:31. The second starts in Mark 9:30. If you have your Bible with you, you can look
at these two sections, along with today’s reading from Mark 10. Three chapters; three encounters in which
Jesus tells the disciples that when they get to Jerusalem all chaos is going to
break loose.
“I am going to die,” he tells
them in Mark 8.
In Mark 9 he adds that this death
will come as a result of “betrayal.”
In Mark 10 Jesus tries to tell
them again.
The disciples don’t seem get it;
they don’t seem to comprehend. Jesus
tries to tell them, and yet all they can think of is who will be seated, at
Jesus’ right hand and his left hand when this is all over. They want to ride high, but they are unaware
of the sacrifice necessary to do so.
This is the exchange printed in
the verses printed on the back of our bulletins. This is the disagreement Jesus has to settle
among them. They are fixated on their
own notions of what glory means that they cannot see how different are the
visions which draw Jesus to Jerusalem, his betrayal, and his death. And Mark, the Gospel writer, puts all three
of these reminders in a sequence because he knows that it will remain difficult
for any of us to grasp what Jesus is saying, and accept it for the Good News
that it really is. Mark knows that we
all want to ride high; but few of us will understand that getting there is more
about how we live here.
In the first of the predictions
of his death, Mark is sure to point out that Jesus says all this as clearly as
he possibly can. Mark 8:31ff is the
text. Verse 32 is where Mark records, “(Jesus)
said all this quite openly.” There
ought not to have been any doubt about this – but there was.
Mark 9:30-37 is the second of Jesus’
predictions. The key word in those verses
is “betrayed.” It won’t be some
accidental, misunderstanding which will lead to all these things
happening. It is going to be very
intentional.
But the disciples still don’t get
it. Even after a third clear,
unambiguous statement, James and John are so dense that they come to Jesus to
ask him if, when all this ugly business is behind them, if they might have the
honor of sitting, one at his right hand and the other at his left.
I too often dismiss moral
lessons. Moral lessons are good
things. The moral lesson which will no
doubt resound from many a pulpit this morning is that “Nothing worth having is
easily obtained.” And, when that moral
lesson makes its way home and into our hearts the world will be a better place
and we will be better people. That is
sort of the message I set up with my introduction.
But, the Gospel is trying to make
sure that we don’t apply that moral lesson to our lives as if it were the
advice of some exercise coach or the latest method for increasing our
marketability in the workplace. This
moral lesson, if it is to be reduced to that, is approached only after we have
come to realize that the lessons of Jesus begin with a complete shifting of
what it means to be the one who sits on the highest chair.
Jesus speaks differently about lords
and rulers. Jesus speaks of a way which
calls into question the scheming to be on top.
Jesus tells us that being lord and master, in the Kingdom which bears
his name, is to begin and end with the desire to serve. It is marked with a willingness to give one’s
life away.
I am in no way meaning to imply
that you don’t “know” this. And you have
probably heard many a sermon on what it means to be the server as opposed to
being the one who is served. What we
need to walk away with this morning is the realization of how difficult it is
to comprehend the kingship of which Jesus speaks. We too quickly skip over the sacrifice and
begin to talk about the rewards of that sacrifice. We are James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who give a wink and a nod to the rejection, the betrayal, and chose instead to anticipate
what it is that will come after.
Jesus tells them to stop it. Jesus tells them that nothing comes after,
nothing comes above – it is all about serving and sacrificing.
Sometimes we hear what we want to
hear, no matter what is actually being said.
Sometimes we do not hear that which contradicts what we desperately
want to believe. Sometimes we are unable
to hear even when the words leave no ambiguity.
It is interesting that in this
exchange, Jesus doesn't tell them, "No, you can't have those positions of
authority." Rather, he notes that
those spots will be given to those to those for whom it has been prepared. He doesn't turn them down; rather he works to
change their focus. He wants to move
their eyes from the possibility of future glory to the road which lies between
here and there. He wants to shift their view
from the seats of glory to the cup and the baptism which is
Christ's.
The only real concern Jesus has is
that the disciples do not allow themselves to think there is an easier way than
the one he is about to take. Jesus wants
to prevent any notion from forming in their heads which would allow them to
believe they can come to those seats of influence by any way other than
offering themselves. "If you want
to flank me," Jesus tells his disciples, "you must be prepared to lay
down your life for others."
I have long since given up on being
asked to sit at the right or the left of any truly important individual. The gifts to obtain such recognition are not
mine - and besides, I don't have the right kind of clothes for that kind of a
job.
But serving others is something I
can do. It is something I have
experienced and understand. It is in
loosing myself in the midst of service that I also get those fleeting images of
true calm and tranquility. Being a
servant to others has a power which can only be described as peace.
That is what the experience of building
the Homecoming Habitat house means to so many of us. It is crazy out there, and there is no opportunity
to give much thought to a better place which might someday be mine.
"The Son of Man came not to
be served but to serve."
"Whoever wishes to be first
among you must be slave of all."
This is the way of our Lord and
Master.
It is the way of Peace and
happiness.
Amen.