Realigning Ourselves Keith McFarren October 20, 2024 Mark 10:35-45 Cardinal Joseph Bernadin, the Archbishop of Chicago, remembered that many years ago, when he was installed as an archbishop in the Catholic Church, his mother told him, “When you walk down the aisle at your installation service, try not to look too pleased with yourself.” That same thought came to mind last Sunday morning when Karen and I went to First United Methodist Church in South Bend to meet our new Bishop, Bishop Tracy Malone and listen to her preach. In my mind, she had every right to be pleased with herself. Among many of her accomplishments, including many roles of leadership, she is a black woman who was elected to the position of Bishop in the United Methodist Church…and at the same time, she is the first woman of any color to hold the office of Bishop in the Indiana Conference. That, is quite a resume. But as I watched how she handled herself during her introduction and during the worship service and during her sermon and even as we spoke to her after the service, I could tell she was a woman whose life wasn’t focused on her prestige, or her power or all her accomplishments. The world around us is prone to counting success by who we know and what we have and all that we have accomplished. After being around our new Bishop for a while, and listening to her preach about loving all people and caring for all people, and asking what we as a church are doing to take care of the marginalized, those who find themselves on the outside looking in, I believe that she is a woman whose life is focused not on stuff or pride or power, but on making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world; Bishop Malone is a woman of grace, a woman of compassion and a woman of humility…a woman that I believe we could all model ourselves after. All this concern for others stands in great contrast to James and John, the two guys in our scripture reading this morning, whom, I would hope, none of us sitting here this morning would want to admit we have anything in common with these two guys who openly admit that they strive to live the type of life that seeks power and notoriety. They were on their way to Jerusalem when all of this happened. Just prior to James and John asking for a special favor, Jesus told his disciples what was waiting for him when they got there. Jesus told them that when they got to Jerusalem, he would be betrayed to the religious leaders and put on trial and he would be sentenced to die. And the people would mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him…but after three days he would rise again. But unfortunately, the disciples didn’t hear what he was saying…or maybe we should say they heard only what they wanted to hear. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but they thought the Messiah would be a revolutionary hero and like Superman or Batman he would overcome everything that came at him and everything would be fine and dandy when Jesus used his super powers to overcome the evil Roman government. So, it sounds strange that after Jesus talks about being spit on and tried and flogged and killed, that James and John would come to him and say, “We’ve been following you for a long time and we’ve gone out of our way to do what you want us to do…so we want you to do us a big favor. Give us the best seats in the house. Give us seats two and three when your kingdom comes into power.” It used to be that when you traveled on the Toll Road, you would have to stop and pay a toll every so often. Toss your change into a hopper or pay the person if you didn’t have the correct change. Nowadays you can purchase a transponder, called an EZ-pass or I-Pass (?). This allows you to zip through the toll booths without having to stop to pay your toll. Instead of paying cash, and getting receipts, a prepaid microchip is placed on your windshield that contains your name and address and car type etc. The data on your microchip pass is read by an electronic scanner as your car passes through the toll gate and you are sent a monthly statement showing the total amount for all your fees. It’s a lot like a debit card, only a lot quicker and a whole lot easier. That’s what we’re looking for isn’t it? The easy way out. The quick way. Everybody wants the easy way to get to the front of the line. Everybody wants a quick way to glory. Everybody wants a fast track to success…including James and John, who want front row seats, seats two and three, in the Kingdom of God. Put yourself in their shoes for a minute and see if you can identify with their pride and their self-centeredness. Afterall, these guys gave up everything to follow this unknown guy named Jesus. They were in on the ground floor. They followed Jesus when nobody knew him. They followed Jesus before he started performing his miracles…and now that he was popular, James and John were feeling pretty good about themselves because they were his best friends and they knew Jesus better than everyone else. So, with all his popularity, we can understand why the two of them came to Jesus with their request. They wanted to be there when all the good stuff started happening…when their best buddy eventually took power. But notice that they did all this on the sly. Maybe they did all when the other disciples were out picking berries or collecting firewood or looking for a good place to spend the night. Whatever was going on, we’re told that when the other disciples found out that James and John were kissing up to Jesus for the best seats in the house, they weren’t very happy about it, which leads us to believe that it’s an ugly, pressure packed moment for James and John and the other disciples. Except Jesus doesn’t take it that way. He has other ideas about getting into the Kingdom of God. Jesus, if you will remember, once said that he and his kingdom were like a narrow gate. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). There’s no quick, easy way into the Kingdom of God. There is no shortcut. There are no favors. It doesn’t matter who you know, where you come from or how much you have. There is no EZ-Pass to God’s Kingdom. It’s about giving ourselves to Jesus. It’s about having the heart and mind of Jesus and being willing to die within ourselves so that we might become more like him…and in doing so we find both eternal life here on earth and eternal life in heaven. James and John said they were willing to face any trial for Jesus. And we’ve got to give them a lot of credit. Both did…and both suffered. James died as a martyr (Acts 12:2) and John was forced to live a life in exile on the island of Patmos because he refused to stop preaching the Good News of the Gospel (Revelation 1:9). We may not face persecution for our faith like the early Christians did, but even with the freedom we have today very few of us have the courage to stand up and share God’s word with others. Which should cause us to wonder…if we hesitate to share our faith with others during easy times, how will we do during the difficult times? All of which reminds me of the song we’ve sang many times here on Sunday. “Are ye able,” said the Master, “to be crucified with me?” “Yea,” the sturdy dreamers answered, “to the death we follow thee.” Lord, we are able. Our spirits are thine. Remold them, make us, like thee, divine (Are Ye Able, UMH #530). Do you pay attention to the songs that we sing? Do the words have any meaning? Do you pay attention to the words and then try to apply them to the way you live your life? James and John aren’t the only ones who want to put themselves up on a pedestal with Jesus. It has become a cultural blindness for many people. That’s because we’re surrounded by a world that tells us to dream big and reach for the stars…and do whatever it takes to reach to reach your goals. In and of itself, it’s not a bad thing to do, but it also leads to finding or creating shortcuts that often end up causing harm to ourselves or to others. That, is why Paul was often so big in stressing humility in all of the New Testament letters that he wrote because he knew of the damage self – contained pride and ambition could do. When the other disciples found out how James and John went behind their backs to trying to get into Jesus’ good graces and things were about to get out of control, Jesus took charge of the situation and used it as a teaching experience with a lesson on what it means to be a real leader. He says that we can look around the world we live in and see all kinds of power and authority and there are many, many different ways of showing it. But that’s not how we function in God’s kingdom. That’s not the model God’s children are to follow. Take a good look at me and the way I live my life, Jesus says, and you will see the way to ultimately show and to use your power and authority…and you will find your way through the narrow gate. Jesus’ purpose here on earth can’t be expressed by the passive voice of “being served.” His purpose here on earth can only be expressed by the active voice “to serve.” For the Christian, for the person who professes to follow the ways of Jesus, our greatest achievement in life is to get ourselves out of the passive voice and into the active voice…to go from “being served” to “serving others.” “That,” George Buttrick writes, “is the great divide which some people never cross.” “We all begin in the passive voice. We are acted upon before we act. We are loved before we love. We are served [in countless ways] before we serve. Yet life’s most significant graduation day comes only when we graduate into the active voice; [when we go from being served to serving others]. And so few of us ever do.” “The aim of the ‘great one’s’ the ones Jesus repudiated, was to keep themselves in the passive voice, to be waited upon, forever on the receiving end, and never on the giving end. That is the surest way to miss life and life’s largest possibilities. Only when we go from the passive voice to the active voice do we touch life’s highest glory and receive life’s greatest joy” [Only when we go from the passive voice to the active voice do we enter into the kingdom of God through the narrow gate and find our due reward] (George Buttrick, editor, The Interpreter’s Bible, The Gospel of Mark, Vol. VII, Nashville, TN; Abingdon Cokesbury Press, 1951, 817). We do it by setting ourselves aside. We do it by serving. Not serving so that we can climb a ladder to reach a specific goal or to place ourselves high upon a pedestal. We serve to serve others…the exact way Jesus served us…even if it’s to the point of giving our lives away. Serving others isn’t meant to be some type of strategy. It isn’t used as a means of getting to the top. It isn’t used as a means of achieving a personal goal. Serving others is a way of being…it’s a way of living. Serving others is a part of our everyday life. We realign ourselves as individuals. We realign ourselves as a church. We realign ourselves toward service with one another; we realign ourselves toward service with our community and we realign ourselves toward service with the world around us. This is a partnership with one another; it’s a partnership as a church, and it’s a partnership with God. It is a service that will be sustainable because we do it together. James and John wanted the highest position in God’s kingdom. But Jesus, and Bishop Malone in her sermon last Sunday, said that true greatness comes not in pride and power and authority, but in serving others with grace and compassion and humility. Businesses, organizations, institutions and people all over the world measure greatness and success by personal achievement. But in the Kingdom of God, service to others is the only way to get ahead. The desire to be on top will never help us…the desire to be on top will only hinder us. Rather than seeking ways to have your needs met, look instead, for ways that you can meet the needs of others. |