Mark 10:35-45

The conversation, between Jesus and two of his disciples, recorded in this

morning's Gospel lesson, took place "on the road to Jerusalem." Jesus and his

followers were about to enter the center of "priestly power," therefore,

everyone except Jesus was understandably afraid. Their fears were hardly

allayed by Jesus' telling them that he would be delivered into the hands of

his enemies and be killed. James and John walk up alongside of Jesus and make

a request that shows they understand nothing of what he had been saying for

weeks and months:

                "We want to be your right and left hand guys, they say,

          so we can have a place of greater prominence in the Kingdom."

One cannot help but wonder where they were earlier, when Jesus took a little

child into his arms and spoke about humility? There must have been a note of

exasperation in Jesus' response:

                "You do not know what you are asking."

Indeed they did not. But, to keep the conversation going, Jesus asks them:

                "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be

baptized with the

          baptism with which I am baptized?"

They responded, unthinkingly, "We are able."

I can remember many years ago, as a boy at Fortune Lake Bible Camp in

Michigan's Upper Peninsula, singing a song entitled:

"Are You Able, Said the Master?"

The song was directed to youth, challenging us to follow Jesus and his cross.

 While I can't find it in my library of hymnals and songbooks I do recall,

with some accuracy, I believe, two lines:

"Are you able, said the Master, to be crucified with me?

Yes, the sturdy dreamers answered, to the death we'll follow thee!"

Just like James and John, we junior high school campers didn't have the

slightest clue as to what we were singing about. That a cross was involved in

following Jesus scarcely figured into our thinking. As catechetical students,

studying the Sacraments, Jesus' references to Holy Communion and Baptism

should have made us realize that, each time we partook of the Lord's Supper

and remembered our baptism we were pledging ourselves to take up the cross. 

But, they didn't!

How similar to modern day power brokers James and John seem---at least to me!

I think they would be right at home midst Year 2000 corporate and political

power plays. For "movers and shakers", like James and John, life is a race, a

scramble for control ---and, in that scramble, one needs to take advantage of

every connection one has. You must know what you want; you must be willing to

use whomever you can to get what you want; and then, you must be prepared to

go for "it" no matter what the cost---even friendship!

Today, using their connections to Jesus, brothers James and John could make a

lot of money producing cable TV 'infomercials' and working the corporate

motivational seminar circuit. They might call their presentation:

"How to Lay Hold of the Seats of Power in the Kingdom of God!"

The presentation would, of course, be complete with 3-ring binders filled

with snappy sayings attributed to Jesus, whether he really said them or not.

Sayings like:

"To him who has much, more will be given!"  And,

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall get stomped on!"
 

Our Gospel Lesson concludes with the reaction of the other disciples to the

behavior of their two friends and fellow travelers. It is apparent that they

were upset with James and John, not because they had a better understanding

of what Jesus was trying to tell them, but because they were worried about

being squeezed-out by two of their own.

They were angry that James and John beat them to the punch in seeking

privileged places. We know this by the reply that Jesus makes when he hears

them squabbling. He declares that his way is not their way, namely a way of

"privilege" but rather, his way is the Way of Servanthood.

A few days later he presents this teaching in two unforgettable ways: First,

by washing the feet of his disciples in the Upper Room and then, by

submitting to the cross on Golgotha. This, he says, is why he came to earth

in the first place---not to be served, but to serve.

If you want to hear a clear and simple message of where true servanthood

begins and ends, listen carefully to the words of our Sermon Hymn?

"Lord, whose love in humble service

Bore the weight of human need,

Who upon the cross, forsaken,

Worked your mercy's perfect deed:

We, your servants, bring the worship

Not of voice alone, but heart;

Consecrating to your purpose

Ev'ry gift which you impart."

The verse that follows the first, speaks to all that has been left undone.

Despite our best efforts at serving---children still wandering homeless, the

hungry still crying for bread, captives still longing for freedom, those who

grieve still mourning their dead. And, finally, in the third and last verse,

the writer returns us to "servanthood," within the context of worship, with

these words:

As we worship, grant us vision,

Till your love's revealing light

In its height and depth and greatness

Dawns upon our quickened sight,

Making known the needs and burdens

Your compassion bids us bear,

Stirring us to ardent service,

Your abundant life to share."

In case you hadn't guessed, true servanthood means taking the time and energy

to identify human need and to do so within the bright, revealing light of

Christ's love. Our sermon hymn also suggests that, having done that, it is

worship that will take us the next step; it is worship that will provide us

with a vision and stir us to ever more ardent service. In all of this our

struggle to identify the needs of others and even provide answers, we must be

aware that while solutions may be simple they don't necessarily come easily.

An example of how the homeless, the hungry, the captive and the grieving

might become frustrated by ill-conceived attempts at serving is to be found

in the lighthearted story of a the man who went to an optometrist to have his

eyes examined. Explaining to the doctor that he was having problems seeing

things at a distance, the optometrist immediately took off his own glasses,

handed them to the patient, and told him to put them on. The patient did as

he was told, then quickly said:

            "I'm sorry, doctor, but I still can't see at a distance.

          In fact, things appear more blurry than before."

The optometrist replied, "Boy, how ungrateful are you!"

Serving other people means caring for others, not as we might have decided

they should to be cared for, but as they indeed need to be cared for.  We

must never forget that each person we serve is an individual who may very

well require a very particular and special kind of service. A service that

you and only you can bring them at that moment in time.

Even serving masses of humanity, in far away places, in times of famine, in

disaster relief, and following the devastation of war should be as

individualized and personal as church denominations and their servants can

make it! To paraphrase portions of today's Sermon Hymn:

As the whole Church on earth worships. . . grant it vision;

Making known the needs and burdens Christ's compassion bids us bear;

Stirring us to ardent service, His abundant life to share."

AMEN.