October 22, 2000 - LESSON: Mark 10.35-45, NRSV

RESPONSIVE READING: Isaiah 53.4-11, NRSV

SERMON TITLE: To Serve

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. Martin Luther reflected that a person lives in two kingdoms.
    1. There is the kingdom of the world, often called the kingdom of the Gentiles.
    2. And there is the kingdom of Christ in which the Christian lives.
  2. The desire for dominance is the result of the human condition in the kingdom of the world.
    1. In nature, dominance hierarchy is a fact of life.
      1. Animals live in groups, and within each group, one member is dominant while the others are submissive, and it is in the best interest of the submissive's to pick up on their role quickly.
      2. There are perks for those at the top of the pecking order: they're given priority when it comes to food, resting places and mates.
      3. Those who are subordinate express submissive behaviors by looking away and lowering head, body or tail.
      4. Extreme submission is marked by crouching down, rolling over and exposing the abdomen.
    2. Fact is, all humans have trouble with the dominance hierarchy.
      1. Yet it's present in virtually every social interaction.
      2. The dominance factor also appears in children even before the age of 3.
        1. It's more than just a case of "my toy".
        2. It's a yearning, a tendency that transcends gender, implanting itself early in the social landscape.

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  1. It is important to distinguish between the two kingdoms and especially the qualities and characteristics which define them.

MAIN BODY:

  1. All attempts at dominance, position and power are rebuffed by Jesus.
    1. He seeks to correct to clarify and to illustrate the true role of a disciple, a follower.
      1. In 8:32-33 Peter rebukes Jesus for his statement that he is going to suffer and be killed.

(Mark 8:31-33 NRSV) Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. (32) He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. [33] But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

      1. In 9:33-34 all the disciples start clamoring about who is the greatest

(Mark 9:33-34 NRSV) Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" [34] But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.

      1. In 10:35-41 James and John request places of honor when Jesus comes into his kingdom.

(Mark 10:35-43 NRSV) James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." [36] And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" [37] And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." [38] 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 with the baptism that I am baptized with?" [39] 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; [40] but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." [41] When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. [42] So Jesus called 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. [43] But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

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    1. In each case, Jesus responds to his disciples' confused comments by discussing the true essence of discipleship and explaining how it differs from all the disciples' expectations.
      1. In 8:34-38, Jesus counsels taking up the cross

(Mark 8:34-38 NRSV) He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. [35] For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. [36] For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? [37] Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? [38] Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

      1. In 9:35-37 selflessness and acceptance are taught.

(Mark 9:35-37 NRSV) He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." [36] Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, [37] "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."

      1. And finally, in 10:42-45, Jesus explicitly identifies service to others as the key to genuine discipleship.

(Mark 10:42-45 NRSV) So Jesus called 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. [43] But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, [44] and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. [45] For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

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    1. That these disciples really don't have any idea what they are talking about is further highlighted by verses 38-39.
      1. When Jesus asks them whether they will be able to "drink the cup" or "be baptized with the baptism" that he himself will experience, they blithely assert, "We are able."
      2. "The cup," whether the poignant cup Jesus passes at the Last Supper (14:22ff.) or the bitter cup he begs God to remove from him in the garden (14:36), is completely unknown to the disciples at this time.
      3. The "baptism" Jesus refers to, like the cup, is also a symbol of his dying to this life so that he will be raised into eternal life. Obviously neither James nor John has a clue about the nature of this "cup" and this "baptism" in which they are being asked to participate.
  1. Confronted with the unanimity of their incomprehension, Jesus again attempts to explain just what true discipleship means.
    1. Jesus appeals to his followers to sense the essence of their uniqueness by contrasting them with Gentiles.
      1. Gentile rulers, or great ones, are described as "tyrants."
      2. You're acting like Gentiles, Jesus admonishes.
      3. The "Gentiles" that would most naturally spring to the disciples' minds would be the petty tyrants and bullies they knew so well and despised so deeply from Roman political life (such as Tiberias and Herod Philip).
    2. The disciples of Jesus who wish to be "great" must consign themselves to being "servants."
      1. In contrast to mimicking these Gentiles, Jesus offers his disciples a new way to true discipleship. Standing common understanding on its head,
      2. Jesus declares that it is only in mundane service that one may become great.
      3. And the more lowly and servant like the service, the greater the genuine stature of the disciple.
      4. The very highest status, in fact, will be accorded one who becomes "slave of all."

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    1. It is the Son of Man, not Gentile rulers, that the disciples are to emulate - living "to serve," not to "be served".
      1. Jesus reminds his disciples that the Son of Man himself offers the greatest example of this paradoxical relationship between servant-hood and greatness.
      2. The Son of Man willingly becomes a slave, even to death, in order to serve - indeed to save - the world.
  1. We are called to be servants.
    1. Among the most difficult challenges confounding our own attempts at servant-hood is the battle with selfishness.
      1. Our egos crave recognition.
      2. We want to be patted on the back and told well done" for our sacrifices.
      3. Our own need for affirmation and approval overshadow our attempts at servant-hood and undermine even the best-intended motivations.
    2. Every Christian should know two Greek words: kenosis and pleurosis.
      1. Philippians 2:7 states that Jesus Christ was able to live among humans, to become a suffering servant to all humanity because he "emptied himself."
      2. This kenosis, this self emptying, enabled Jesus to enter fully into humble human form and to participate in the "form of a servant" which he freely chose.
      3. Christians, too, need to practice kenosis, emptying ourselves of human fears and desires, opening space within our souls.
    3. Once we are emptied we are ready to experience pleurosis, "filling up" those ego-abandoned caverns of our hearts with the spirit of Christ.
      1. As Philippians warns us, this emptying and filling demand both humility and obedience
      2. These are two attitudes that receive scant praise in today's high-profile culture of conspicuous consumption and cost benefit calculations.

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  1. We can illustrate both these words and the teachings of Jesus that may help us to see more clearly and understand more completely.
    1. The servant is the one who seeks to help.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1)

Nearly a decade after leaving professional basketball, Abdul-Jabbar decided to return to the sport he loved by accepting a coaching position with the Alchesay Falcons - a high-school team of mostly White Mountain Apaches.

As an African-American among Native Americans, Abdul-Jabbar had to learn a great deal about his athletes and the tribe.

He discovered surprising cultural traditions that made it difficult to coach the team, such as Indian discomfort at being singled out for criticism, and he grew in sensitivity to the special challenges faced by young Native Americans.

By working with the students and coaching them, Abdul-Jabbar moved from a historical appreciation for the Apaches as a people to a new understanding of them as individuals.

Did he lord it over them as an NBA superstar? Not at all. He served them. He was first among them by acting as their coach, their teacher, their helper and their servant.

And in the end, he may have learned more than he actually taught during his season on the reservation.

Abdul-Jabbar, a Hall-of-Famer considered great by the world, discovered that true greatness is found in an unexpected place - a place of service.

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    1. The servant is the one who offers to provide.

Herb Miller, in his marvelous little book on basic biblical Christianity entitled How Not to Reinvent the Wheel[barrow] (2), tells the story of "Eddie and the Dragon."

"An exotic restaurant serving a wealthy clientele was named Eddie and the Dragon.

A beggar came to the back door one day and said to the woman who appeared to be in charge, 'I haven't eaten in days. Could you spare me some food?'

"'Get out of here,' yelled the woman. 'We don't feed beggars.' The man left, but a few minutes later he was back. 'What now?' the irritated woman asked.

"The beggar, looking up at the sign over the door, Eddie and the Dragon, said, 'I wonder if I can talk with Eddie this time?' "

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    1. The servant is the one who offers to sacrifice for the good of all.

During the summer of 1778, a British battleship dropped anchor in the harbor of Nantucket Island, off the New England coast. William Rotch, a leader of the Quaker community on the island, knew that the ship's purpose was to plunder the town. (3)

With the consent of his fellow citizens, Rotch formed a one-man welcoming committee, and greeted Sir Conway-Etherege, the British commander, at the pier. He invited Conway-Etherege home to dinner.

After a pleasant meal, the commander decided to get on with his business. "We're here to plunder," he told Rotch. "As you can see, your little hamlet is completely at our mercy. Where shall we start?"

"I don't know of a better place than here at my house," said Rotch. "I'm better able to bear the loss than anyone else. We have some silver plate, some good, serviceable blankets, and food supplies in the cellar."

Conway-Etherege didn't know what to do. He had never come across this response before! "Tell me," he said, "are there any more men like you on Nantucket?"

"Oh, yes, many better men," said Rotch.

"Well, I want to meet them," Conway-Etherege answered.

So Rotch took him around to meet a shopkeeper who had given 400 barrels of flour to the poor the winter before, and another one who had given away blankets and shoes.

"Would you like to meet more of our people?" asked Rotch. "Oh, no," replied Conway-Etherege. "I can hardly believe there are three such men as you in the world. A whole street full of them would be too much."

So Conway-Etherege went back to this ship, and Nantucket was saved.

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    1. The servant is the one who offers healing, even at cost to one's self..
      1. Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.
      2. We remember the story.
    2. The servant is the one who seeks, even at the cost of personal pain, to rescue that which is lost.

This is perhaps my favorite story of William Sloane Coffin's Riverside Church days. (4)

He illustrates the truth that "we are as we love" and that we sometimes must "accept pain in the service of love" by telling the story of an old man in India who sat down in the shade of an ancient banyan tree. Its roots stretched far into the swamp.

"Presently he discerned a small commotion where the roots entered the water. Concentrating his attention, he saw that a scorpion had become helplessly entangled in the roots.

Pulling himself to his feet, he made his way carefully along the tops of the roots until he came to the place where the scorpion was trapped.

He reached down to extricate it. But each time he touched the scorpion, it would lash his hand with its tail, stinging him painfully.

Finally his hand was so swollen he could no longer close his fingers, so he withdrew to the shade of the tree to wait for the swelling to go down.

As he arrived at the trunk, he saw a young man standing above him on the road laughing at him. "You're a fool," said the young man, "wasting your time trying to help a scorpion that can only do you harm."

The old man replied: "Simply because it is in the nature of the scorpion to sting, should I give up my nature, which is to save?"

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CONCLUSION:

John Updike's essay in Incarnation is on the Gospel of Matthew, but his observation applies to the entire gospel narratives, where "two worlds are colliding. Jesus overthrows common sense...and declares an inversion of the world's order." In his words: (5)

"Jesus declares an inversion of the world's order, whereby the first shall be last and the last first, the meek shall inherit the earth, the hungry and thirsty shall be satisfied, and the poor in spirit shall possess the Kingdom of Heaven. This Kingdom is the hope and pain of Christianity; it is attained against the grain, through the denial of instinctive and social wisdom and through faith in the unseen."

THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO SERVE.

1. Quoted in a Sermon, October 22, 2000 A God Geek.

2. How Not to Reinvent the Wheel[barrow] (Nashville: Abingdon, 1990), 143. (Quoted in Homiletics, Sermon, March 24, 1991, Thank You, "Magic Dragon"

3. (Quoted in Homiletics, Sermon, March 24, 1991, Thank You, "Magic Dragon"

4. (Quoted in Homiletics, Sermon, March 24, 1991, Thank You, "Magic Dragon"

5. (Quoted in Homiletics, Sermon, March 24, 1991, Thank You, "Magic Dragon"

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