October 18, 2009

Mark 10:35-45

Are We Missing the Message? 

What would you think if I would use oxygen to blow myself up like a balloon and I then flew around the Sanctuary until I deflated and fell spent and flat as a newspaper?   It would be hard to make sense of it because it doesn’t fit into the way you think the world operates. The structure of your experiences would have no place for this, and it is likely that you would go crazy trying to understand it.  

This is about the way the disciples felt when Jesus talked to them here about their future. Jesus tells them that up is down, first is last, insiders are outsiders, power is weakness. He might as well been floating around like a balloon. They just can’t make sense out of this new kingdom world that Jesus is talking about.  

Their understanding is this. In just a few days, Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, is going to Jerusalem to oust the Roman occupiers and take his thrown as the new King. And, of course, those who had been with him during his development time would be rewarded with privileges. “You know,” Jesus said, “that among the gentiles, those whom they recognized as their rulers, lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.” James and John are saying, “Yes, yes”. They simply want what’s coming to them because of their faithfulness - rewards, places of power, and authority. Can you blame them? No. But Jesus then starts flying around like a balloon, turns black into white, and says he is going to be crucified by the Romans. The disciples are scared and afraid and try hard not to go crazy.  

We’re not much different in our view of Jesus than were the disciples. The Gospel in today’s world seems to be a lot about worldly power, social status, prosperity, and ego gratification. If you have come this morning with one of these understandings, then like James and John you need to gather around Jesus and let him turn your world upside down.  We go down so many false winding trails as we try to make Jesus’ teachings fit out needs rather than letting his teachings form our world view. We even confess Jesus is the Son of God, and we look forward to our reward of heaven. Are we following Jesus for the wrong reasons? Not to serve him, not to follow his teachings, and not to live his way, his truth and his life, but to get from him – a reward? Maybe not to sit on his right or left hand but to get what we want.  

What does Jesus not say here? He does not say follow me and you will be rich. Nor does he say you will wield power over others like the Gentiles. Nor does he say I will grant your egos the kind of satisfaction you seek. Neither he nor his Father will grant wish fulfillments. He scraps their entire power messiah thinking and tells them they will become table waiters like him. Those who find themselves comfortable in God’s kingdom will be the table waiters. The Greek word used here “to serve” is used elsewhere in the New Testament in the context of “waiting on tables.” Everyone knows that being served is greater than the one serving. Jesus tells them that up is down, first is last, insiders are outsiders, power is weakness.   

Power over others is not your lot in life. I am your example; and he concludes by saying, “My serving involves dying on your behalf. Being a servant to others is your role in life.” And it is also my role and your role as disciples of Jesus.  

Are you feeling a little overwhelmed by now with all the caring and serving you are suppose to be doing? There are starving children in Dufar, people being blown up in Pakistan, drownings in Samoa, heart and cancer money drives, our soldiers dying in the middle east. There is so much need. Too much!  What are we to do?  We don’t need anymore guilt trips; but what do we do with Jesus’ new world order of servanthood for Christians, and how do we respond?

Let me make this clear. It is not that we just need to do more. Even Jesus did not heal every blind man in Jerusalem. We are called to have a servant attitude rather than live as if everyone exists to serve us. Jesus calls us to live as servants to each other and to care for each other and the world He made. God is present in Jesus with us wherever the spirit of self-giving love is found. What does this newborn person look like in God’s kingdom here on earth?  There is a poem written by Carol Wimmer about the attitude that Jesus calls those who bear his name to have.  It goes like this:

When I say..."I am a Christian"

 I'm not shouting "I am saved"

 I'm whispering "I was lost"

 That is why I chose this way.

When I say ..."I am a Christian"

 I don't speak of this with pride.

 I'm confessing that I stumble

 and need someone to be my guide.

 When I say..."I am a Christian"

 I'm not trying to be strong

 I'm professing that I'm weak

 and pray for strength to carry on.

 When I say..."I am a Christian"

 I'm not bragging of success.

 I'm admitting I have failed

 and cannot ever pay the debt.

 When I say..."I am a Christian"

 I'm not claiming to be perfect,

 My flaws are too visible

 But, God believes I'm worth it.

When I say..."I am a Christian"

 I still feel the sting of pain

 I have my share of heartaches

 Which is why I speak His name.

 When I say..."I am a Christian"

 I do not wish to judge.

 I have no authority.

 I only know I'm loved.

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