Wishing to be great?

by The Rev. Shelby Ochs Owen

This sermon is based on Mark 10:35-45.

Ah, the Zebedee brothers!  So close to Jesus.  And yet so far away.  These two, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were among those first called to be Jesus’ disciples.  Looking back to chapter one, we remember these two brothers were quick to leave their father standing in their fishing boat so they could follow Jesus.  They have now been with Jesus quite a while.  And now in the passage we read today we see just how far away from him they are in understanding who he is and how they might follow him, what true discipleship entails.  

By this point the disciples have been told three different times that Jesus will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, they will condemn him to death, they will kill him and after three days he will rise again. And the first thing out of the mouths of the Zebedee boys after Jesus has repeated this scenario of his suffering and death is, “Jesus, we want you to do whatever we ask you to do.”  “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one on your left, in your glory,”  which is to have asked for a place of extreme honor.  Jesus simply says, “You don’t know what you’re asking.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”  And then the other disciples are angry with the Zebedee brothers, perhaps because they are embarrassed but more likely they don’t want James and John to get ahead of them in rank or position, they don’t want them to hold more power or have more respect than they.

What is wrong with this picture? Where and how have the disciples failed to understand Jesus’ message? When did their heads and hearts get so misaligned? They certainly seem to have started out with the best intentions, the best of motivations-following Jesus!  Something seemed to be clogging their spiritual arteries.

“Donald Meichenbaum, one of the American Psychologist’s ten most influential psychotherapists, tells of the time that his car was struck by lightning while he was driving.  Once he was safe at home, Meichenbaum began to share his ordeal with his teenage son, expecting at least some degree of sympathy. Instead his son interrupted, ‘Dad, let’s go buy a lottery ticket.  They say the chances of being hit by lightning are like the chances of winning the lottery.’” Do we see a connection between the self-absorption of this young teenager and the self-absorption of James and John? A connection between this teenager’s inability to get past his own individual interests and these disciples whose vision is so limited?   And what about ourselves?  Do we possibly recognize a tiny seed or maybe even an overgrown root system of self-absorption in our own lives at times?

It is difficult to have pure motives all the time.  In fact, it is impossible to have pure motives all the time.  It is part of the human condition to have competing motives in our actions.  We may start out in a particular direction with a good enough, perhaps even Godly, motive, like the Zebedee brothers, and if we are honest and reflective with ourselves, we may see that quickly other motives begin to creep in, motives of greed or self aggrandizement or self security, motives of power or position, status, vanity or ambition.  So how do we move away from self-absorption, move away from acting on selfish motives and move in the direction of the divine?  Jesus’ answer was a reversal from what the disciples thought was the way.  Maybe Jesus’ answer is a reversal from what we, at times, think is the way as well.  Maybe Jesus had more in mind for these disciples of his.  Maybe Jesus has more in mind for us, as well.

Jesus was offering an alternative community, the kingdom of God, where a ruler is not a tyrant but a servant leader, where the goal is to serve and not to be served, where the first must be last.  This alternative community, the kingdom of God would be the vehicle for transformation and the way to wholeness. “Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”  It is difficult to say exactly when the truth of the message dawned on the disciples.  Maybe at this point in their journey.  Maybe not. They do seem to have struggled with Jesus’ message right up until the end.  But even though they strayed from Jesus when he needed them most, Jesus did not forsake them; Jesus stayed with them even in their weakness. Indeed he gave his life, he gave everything he had for a ransom for all - for the disciples, for the weak, for the strong, for the entire world.  Jesus’ sacrifice of his life was the ultimate paradigm for servant leadership and the ultimate act of love.  And in the end these same disciples gave of themselves; they were able to carry their own crosses and to love through serving others.  Ultimately they were transformed into their higher selves and were part of the unfolding kingdom.

If any of you saw the second presidential debate this week, you may have noticed an incredible verbal struggle at times, for both of the candidates and the moderator, to come out on top.  At several points all three were talking over one another in their efforts to gain control of the debate.  Comedy or tragedy, you can decide.  It would be easy to picture them literally stepping on top of each other in a big heap to see who would come out on top.  It was a fine reminder for us to search for a deeper truth, a reminder to pin our hopes of salvation on something that can bear the weight of our trust and hope, which is God alone.  None of us really know the motivations of our political leaders but as we move closer to the election, I wonder if we can consider the true test of leadership, that of a servant’s heart.  Can we take an honest look at our own motives for why we do the things we do and can we readjust our actions to reflect our call to serve others?

The Zebedee brothers wanted to be great, and they eventually found greatness in their ability to serve others.  The same is true for us.  When we serve others in love we release that self-absorption and a better self emerges. When we serve others in love, the kingdom of God unfolds.  We all have the capacity to serve, every single one of us, whether it is in sharing our material resources, doing physical works, praying or even simply sharing a kind word.  When we serve others we move toward wholeness because when we serve others we simply give what God has given us and we become more of who God intends us to be. So serve with love.   Let God do great things through you!   Amen.