One of the responsibilities I have during the month of
October is to lead our church in worship each Sunday. Our small church has a
retired minister as our stated supply (Presbyterian term) who takes a sabbatical
during October (a well deserved one I might add.) A few years ago he asked if I
would speak in his absence and the rest, as they say, is history. I am going to
attempt to post my sermons for this month here on this blog.
Disclaimer: What I am going to post is going to be a rough attempt at a transcript of what I actually say. Now I am creating this transcript before I speak so it isn’t really a word for word transcript. Also, when I write a paper I try to use sentence structure and vocabulary and all those things you learned about in school correctly. I do try and speak professionally as well but my point is don’t grade this as a writing, but as a speech. Even then I hope you get the point of the message and don’t get caught up in the grammatical issues. Feel free to comment.
Pick Me
Mark 10:35-45
October 21, 2012
Read Scripture
35 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.’36And he said to
them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ 37And they said
to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your
glory.’ 38But 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?’ 39They 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;40but 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. 42So
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. 43But it is not so among you; but whoever
wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44and
whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45For
the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a
ransom for many.’
The book of Mark is one of the
four Gospels in the New Testament. Who was Mark? When was it written? Although
the book never mentions who the author is it is believed to be John Mark who
was a companion of Peter’s on his journeys. Because of that it was written with
a Greek-speaking audience in mind. Hence, many of the Jewish customs are
explained and few references are made to the Old Testament. It is also considered by most scholars to be
the oldest of the written gospels. According to Dr. Paul Ferguson, “In contrast to Matthew, who fully
records the discourses of our Lord, Mark pictures His deeds. So, while
Matthew gives us fifteen of his parables, Mark details only four, and that
in a condensed form. Mark’s style is swift-paced, pertinent, and proceeds
straight to the goal, like a Roman soldier on his march to battle. It is a
gospel of action and accomplishment, written to the Roman who was also a man of
action. Here Jesus is not adorned with words and narrative, but He is stripped
and girded for action. It emphasized what Jesus did rather than
what He said.”
In our verses this morning we hear James and John
asking Jesus for a favor. Matthew also records this encounter but in his
version it is actually their mother that makes the request on their behalf.
Either way we have two disciples who haven’t yet understood what Jesus is about
to go through or what it means to be a follower of Him. In Mark 32-34 we read
that “They were on the road, going up
to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those
who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them
what was to happen to him, 33saying, ‘See, we are going up to
Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the
scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to
the Gentiles; 34they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him,
and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’” Right after explaining
how he is going go through some terrible things all the disciples hear is he
will rise again and they are looking forward to his Kingdom. They still viewed
this as Jesus rising up and becoming a world leader like Herod or Caesar who
would then be able to lord over all the people. When that happens, these two
want to be right by his side and presumably partake in all the riches that
world leaders seem to have. Notice how they go about asking. Now Jesus has
already explained that when they ask for something in His name God will grant
their request. They apparently take this as some kind of genie in a bottle
offer. Depending on the translation you read they then ask Jesus will you do
what we want you to do. Or they say Jesus we want you to do what we ask. Either
way you view it they are “buttering” Jesus up before actually making their
request. Jesus simply says, “What do you want me to do?” That is when they ask
for the most honored positions someone could have in relationship to a king.
Jesus’ response is first that they don’t understand what they are asking for
and second he basically asks them if they are worthy of such an honor. Specifically
he asks “Are you able to drink the cup
that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.” They
claim that they are and goes on to say that they will drink from the cup and be
baptized with the same baptism. The cup is a reference to what was referred to
as God’s wrath and the baptism to suffering and submission to death. James is
later martyred and John exiled until his death so they do eventually experience
suffering and death. Jesus goes on to say that even if they are worthy it isn’t
his decision to make. God will decide the places of honor but it is their
responsibility to live a life of preparation for that honor. Verse 41 then says
that the other ten were angry with James and John for making this request.
Interestingly, it isn’t that they are appalled that these two would make such a
request, but rather that they beat them to the punch so to say. This isn’t the
first time the twelve had discussed positions in the kingdom and who was the
greatest of them. But now they see two of their group making a move for the
top. When Jesus sees their anger and understands why, He explains once again
what it means to be a follower of Him. He begins by comparing how the Gentiles
view leadership compared to how they should view leadership. The Gentiles use
positions of power to lord over the underlings and are tyrants over them. As
His disciples, however, they should strive to be servants of all. This bit of
advice is similar to what he had told them before. In order to be first in the
Kingdom of God you have to be last here on earth. He doesn’t just tell them to
do as I say not as I do. 45For
the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a
ransom for many. He spent many hours each day teaching and healing all
those who came to him. Jesus even washed the feet of the disciples in spite of
their protests to give them a living example of what it takes to be great. This
seems to go against all the advice of today’s society. We can read all kinds of
material, watch all kinds of videos, attend all kinds of seminars and they all
seem to encourage us to be forceful in fulfilling our goals. Those goals, we
are taught, are to be the best at whatever we are trying to do. Sometimes we
are taught that that might result in some questionable practices, but if we
want to get ahead, you have to do it.
This reminds me of some
politicians today. As we approach another election and have to decide who
should lead us we should look at how our politicians represent us. Are they
servants or do they use positions of power to rule over their
constituents? This is not to say that
all politicians are power hungry tyrants or that God does not approve of a
career in politics. All we have to do is look at the Old Testament at Joseph
and Daniel as two examples of people God placed in positions within enemy
empires, and not only in a position, but a powerful position within those
kingdoms. Our system of government was founded on representatives serving the
people they represent. Most, if not all, will campaign to be your servant in
Columbia or Washington, but when they get there are their actions self-serving
or representative of serving the voter?
What is really going on here
with James and John is they are asking that their will be done over God’s will.
Carson Wheitnauer states this is nothing but another form of idolatry. Now
before we sit in judgment of these two disciples how many times have we prayed
for something we wanted with no regard for God’s will?
·
“God, I promise I’ll do anything for
you, if you’ll just get me an A on this test.”
·
“God, I know I haven’t been to church
in a while, but please, I need a raise at work.”
Can you imagine if you did this
in any other context? What if I said, “Terry, I need your help.” She’d go, “OK,
how can I help?” And I said, “Can you find me another wife?” Terry would not be
pleased. If I am looking for another wife, well, I’m already married. Asking my
current wife to find me another wife is illogical, and offensive.[i]
It also might not be the best way to ensure a good night’s sleep. Yet we don’t
seem to have a problem asking God to replace Himself as the object of our
worship with something else.
Athletes can be the same way.
Many of them are a “look at me” kind of player. What can I Tweet today that
will keep me in the news? How can I make sure I don’t fade away from the public
eye? Why is it so important for them to be seen and heard? Because with the
notoriety comes money. With that comes admirers and people who now hold you up
as some kind of hero to be worshiped. The funny thing is some will pray to God
for Him to help them throw a TD pass or hit a homerun, not because they want to
win, but because they want that next contract to be bigger than the one they
have now. Something else placed ahead of God.
Not all athletes are that way.
Two very familiar athletes here in South Carolina are not “me first” kind of
players. I’m talking about Marcus Lattimore of South Carolina and DeAndre
Hopkins of Clemson. Hopkins, affectionately known as Nuk, could have easily
adopted a “me first” attitude after last season. Two years ago he was the
freshman receiver who was going to be the next great thing at Clemson. He
worked his way into the lineup and became a reliable option on a team that
didn’t have quite the receiving talent they do now. Then last year in comes
this guy named Sammy Watkins. Sensational freshman along with some other
talented players and all of a sudden Nuk is an afterthought. Instead of
engaging in some “me first” antics he gets back to work and commits himself to
developing the talent God blessed him with. Now he is the leader on the team
but still deflects attention. He recently was baptized after a practice in
front of his teammates showing his faithful commitment to Christ.
Lattimore has risen to the level
at South Carolina that affords him superstar status. One that means he can
start lining up the people he wants around him that will be willing to serve
him as he moves on the next level. Instead, he takes the time to serve others.
We have an eighth grader at Gable who was just diagnosed with cancer this year.
He is a huge Gamecock fan so at a pep rally a couple of weeks ago, he was
presented with a autographed Marcus Lattimore jersey. Lattimore didn’t have to
do that. In fact, he being a former Byrnes standout, a rival of Dorman, certainly
didn’t have to do something nice for a kid who will one day attend Dorman. But
he did. Service in the name of Christ is more important that football
rivalries. Both of those athletes
glorify God with their service to others and by working hard to be
successful. Their success glorifies
God.
Now I am certainly not against
hard work in order to be successful. Jesus doesn’t teach us to lie around and
be lazy and serve people in the sense of wait for someone to tell us what to
do. We are taught to actively serve others. Notice the scripture says 44and whoever wishes to be first
among you must be slave of all. A slave of all. If a George Clooney came
around again to film a movie or Cam Newton or Chipper Jones was in town and we
had a chance to serve them most people wouldn’t have a problem dropping
whatever they had going on to go and help them for nothing. Just associating
with them would be payment enough. What about the poor and neglected? Are we as
willing to visit the sick, serve in the soup kitchen, or deliver meals to the
homebound for nothing in return? I know some of you do just that. That is the
kind of service we are called to do. Service to the church is no different. We
also don’t have to think we are qualified to enter in to service either. God
can use us to accomplish his will even when we feel inadequate. When we humbly submit to his will things have
a way of working out. In closing, let me share this story with you. It is from
a mother of a cub scout.
My son Gilbert was eight years
old and had been in Cub Scouts only a short time. During one of his meetings he
was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return
home and give all to "dad".
That was not an easy task for
Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to doing things with his son. But Gilbert
tried. Dad read the paper and scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby
car with his young eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks
passed. Finally, mom stepped in to see if she could figure this all out. The
project began.
Having no carpentry skills, I
decided it would be best if I simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the
work. And he did. I read aloud the measurements, the rules of what we could do
and what we couldn't do. Within days his block of wood was turning into a
pinewood derby car. A little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the
eyes of mom). Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids' cars and was feeling pretty
proud of his "Blue Lightning", the pride that comes with knowing you
did something on your own.
Then the big night came. With
his blue pinewood derby car in his hand and pride in his heart we headed to the
big race. Once there my little one's pride turned to humility. Gilbert's car
was obviously the only car made entirely on his own. All the other cars were a
father-son partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for
speed.
A few of the boys giggled as
they looked at Gilbert's lopsided, wobbly, unattractive vehicle. To add to the
humility, Gilbert was the only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the
boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by
their side, Gilbert had "mom".
As the race began it was done in
elimination fashion. You kept racing as long as you were the winner. One by one
the cars raced down the finely sanded ramp. Finally it was between Gilbert and
the sleekest, fastest looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, my
wide eyed, shy eight year old asked if they could stop the race for a minute,
because he wanted to pray. The race stopped.
Gilbert went to his knees
clutching his funny looking block of wood between his hands. With a wrinkled
brow he set to converse with his Father. He prayed in earnest for a very long
minute and a half. Then he stood, smile on his face and announced, 'Okay, I am
ready."
As the crowd cheered, a boy
named Tommy stood with his father as their car sped down the ramp. Gilbert
stood with his Father within his heart and watched his block of wood wobble
down the ramp with surprisingly great speed and rushed over the finish line a
fraction of a second before Tommy's car. Gilbert leaped into the air with a
loud "Thank You" as the crowd roared in approval.
The Scout Master came up to
Gilbert with microphone in hand and asked the obvious question, "So you
prayed to win, huh, Gilbert?" To which my young son answered, "Oh, no
sir. That wouldn't be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just
asked Him to make it so I wouldn't cry when I lost." -----
Children seem to have a wisdom
far beyond us. Gilbert didn't ask God to win the race, he didn't ask God to fix
the outcome. Gilbert asked God to give him strength in the outcome. When
Gilbert first saw the other cars he didn't cry out to God, "No fair, they
had a father's help!" No, Gilbert went to his Heavenly Father for
strength.
Perhaps we spend too much of our
prayer time asking God to rig the race, to make us number one, or too much time
asking God to remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's
strength to get us through the struggle.[ii]
Remember in order to be great we have to be willing to serve others and submit
to God’s will and not our own.
Let us pray.
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