Mark
10:(32-34)35-45
Serving
– Our Experience of Heaven
For the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve.
You know this line, right? You have heard it countless time, correct? And yet, it is a thought or message or
instruction which we find difficult to take to heart.
But don’t lose heart – even those
who physically traveled with Jesus found it to be a difficult lesson too.
Mark 10 – open your bibles or look
at the verses in your bulletin. (I keep
saying, get a Bible app on your cell phone.
There are free copies, but for $9.99 you can get a version that allows
you to do a word or phrase or verse search.
If you can’t afford $9.99 come see me.)
The appointed verses for today are Mark
10:35-45. Last Sunday’s reading had
ended at Mark 10:31. Almost the same ending.
Last week the closing statement by Jesus was “(M)any who are first
will be last, and the last shall be first.”
See the similarities to “For the Son of Man came not to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many”?
For some reason, the designers of
the lectionary skip over verses 32-34 in Mark 10. Probably because there is also a redundancy here.
Mark 10, verses 32-34, contain what
is often referred to as Jesus’ third prediction of his crucifixion. The first announcement is in Mark 8:31. The
second starts in Mark 9:30. Check it out,
in your Bible app.
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.” The disciples don’t seem get it; they don’t
seem to comprehend.
This is the context (and the
outrage) at the request made by James and John to sit at Jesus’ right and at
his left. They are fixated on their own
visions of what awaits them in Jerusalem.
They cannot see what Jesus sees and they do not share that draws Jesus
to Jerusalem.
Mark, the Gospel writer, puts these
three of these statement of Jesus in a sequence because he knows that it will
remain difficult for any of us to grasp what Jesus is saying, and accept it as the
way of discipleship.
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 statement. 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.
A little time passes, the disciples
come to realize that they are incapable of doing what it is that Jesus is
capable of doing (there is a foreshadowing in that phrase) and after he tries
to make them feel better about their inability to cast to the demons which
Jesus so easily dismisses, he tells them, again, about what will happen in
Jerusalem.
Mark 9:30-37 includes the warning
that their inability to grasp all this will bring additional hardship and
heartbreak. Jesus speaks of being “betrayed.”
He will be betrayed, by the one disciple who leads the guards to him; by
all his disciples as they flee.
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.
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 Jesus doesn't
tell them, "No, you can't have those positions of authority." In the end he simply 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 concern Jesus has is that his
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 some 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."
So often, when we tell the Jesus
story we begin with the payoff. We speak
of Jesus as the one who saves us from our sins; as the one who saves us from
death and hell. We talk about “heaven.” Don't you find it interesting that Jesus
speaks of one who serves? It is service,
not saving, which Jesus so often highlights.
He speaks of action, not of the payoffs; he describes the sacrifice, not
the reward.
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 losing
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 the peace of God, the peace
which passes all understanding.
I have had such experiences over the
25 years of building those Habitat houses on Bowman Field. Working alongside the thousands of students,
I didn’t give much thought to a better place which might someday be mine. The opportunity to lose oneself in service is
such a sweet gift that I have no worries as to the beauty and joy associated
with future gifts.
"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.
No comments:
Post a Comment