RVCC Pastor's Sermon

Sermon - October 18, 2009

“The Glory Train”

By Rev. Nancy Foran
Mark 10:35-45

The disciples just did not get it. That much is abundantly clear in the Gospel of Mark. Peter, James, John, and the others did not understand when Jesus spoke to them in parables and metaphors. About the most they could muster up in response was a quizzical look or a scratching of the head.

And they did not get when he spoke to them plainly and directly. Remember the first time that Jesus predicted his own demise? Peter first roundly criticized him for mentioning suffering and death and then practically bowed down to him, figuring that his gentle rabbi would ultimately be transformed into a leader bent on overthrowing the military might of Rome. “You are the Messiah!” “Get behind me, Satan. You do not know what you are talking about.”

The second time Jesus foretold his passion, the Twelve ended up in a lively argument about which one of them was the greatest and therefore the most capable of assuming leadership when Jesus was no longer with them. That instance did not go unnoticed by Jesus either, and the disciples received a tongue-lashing for even engaging in such a debate.

Now, the depth of misunderstanding once again builds and finally climaxes in the passage we just read. In the verses just preceding the ones we are reflecting upon, Jesus could not have been more graphic in describing for a third time the suffering that he would endure, which would be exacerbated by heckling and catcalls, before the indignity and pain of his execution. “All this will be as I have described,” he seemed to say. “It will all happen just as surely as God made little green apples.” So goes the third and final passion prediction in Mark’s Gospel.

We do not know how ten of the disciples processed this information at the time, but we do know that James and John were open and honest about what they thought. You can not fault them for their candor. They did not pull any punches.

As soon as they could, they cornered Jesus out of the earshot of the other disciples and - “Psst! Jesus! There is something we want YOU to do for US,” they whispered.

“And what might that be?” Jesus replied. “What do you really want from me?”

“Let us sit at your right hand and at your left when you come again in glory.” James and John wanted to be the number one and number two guys on the judgment day when Jesus Christ was sitting all nice and pretty, resurrected and ascendant on that throne. They truly believed that Jesus was the one, but talk about glory hounding!

And at the core of that request, the truth was finally revealed. James and John wanted glory. Above all, they desired power, status, and authority. They wanted the favored seats in the palace throne room.

Jesus sadly shook his tired head. “You do not know what you are asking for.” And in a sense, how could they know? How could they know that they would be greeted ultimately not by a triumphant parade but by a lynch mob in Jerusalem? How could they know that those on Jesus’ left and right would be nailed to crosses – just as their beloved teacher would be? How could they know that in the end God is in charge of the seating assignments – and they will be handed out in a way that sets the world all topsy-turvy?

Oh, James and John were quick to affirm their participation in what was to come, which Jesus alludes to using the metaphor of the cup and the baptism, two well-known symbols of death in Jewish culture but given a new twist. As former Methodist Bishop, Kenneth Carder noted, “The cup from which Jesus drank is self-emptying love, the giving of one’s own life for others. The baptism with which he was baptized is a burial of the old world with its power games and the rising of God’s reign of justice, generosity and joy.”

Just as surely as God made little green apples, James and John had no understanding of the personal cost that would necessarily be exacted by their off-the-cuff affirmation. “Sure, we’ll go along with you.”

But how could they possibly go along with this kind of dying, which, as Marcus Borg notes, lies at the core of Christian faith: "a dying of the self as the center of its own concern" and "a dying to the world as the center of security." How could they know?

How could any of the Twelve know? They had not “gotten it” in all the time of Jesus’ ministry. Why would they suddenly “get it” now?

Certainly then it should come as no surprise that, as Pastor Mickey Anders writes, “James and John's request angers the other disciples. They were upset that the two had somehow beaten them to the punch and gained some advantage over them.

(And so to calm things down and maybe straighten out their off-base thinking), Jesus called them all together to give them yet another lecture on real leadership in the kingdom of God.” It was a moment of remedial teaching as once again Jesus honed in on the demand to give and give and give. Once again the expectations of the disciples were reversed: the way to be great is to be a servant, even as Jesus came as a servant.

"You've observed how godless rulers throw their weight around," he said in The Message translation of this text, "and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served."

How could they know that their place was not in the throne room, but in the kitchen? Not with a scepter, but with a dish towel?

And it is really not all that different for us. After all, everybody wants to be - somebody. Since the dawn of history, human beings have been trying to jostle themselves into position to be important. We have always been tempted to replace love with power, and I would submit that this is a theme running through the Bible, through human history and through our own psyche. (Henri Nouwen) Just as surely as God made little green apples, it is simply who we are.

As Kenneth Carder reflects, “We should not be surprised or excessively judgmental with James and John. Although their brashness may not be our style, the motive underlying their request is not strange: "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."

Oh, the Glory Train is leaving the station. There is no doubt about that – and we are invited to come along. Not doubt about that either because that is the essence of grace.

But the Glory Train is not an express. It is a local and so will make stops along the way at places we would prefer to avoid but cannot—places like a homeless shelter or war-torn vistas, villages where food bowls are empty because the grain that could fill them is feeding the beef cattle you and I will eat tonight and tomorrow night and the night after, emergency rooms where people with no health insurance sit and wait, places like the upper room, the garden of Gethsemane, and Golgotha.

Discipleship – following Jesus – riding on the Glory Train - is not an easy endeavor. It will mean more trouble, not less. The Gospel was never intended to be a “no risk” offer, but glimpses of the Kingdom it proclaims – the final destination - are all around us.

When we in Christ’s churches participate in, as Lamar Williamson writes, that “costly pouring out of one's life for another, whether it be to an aging parent, a difficult spouse, a special child, another member of the Christian fellowship who has unusual needs, or any person whose situation elicits neighborly service at personal cost”, that is living the Gospel – that is leadership - because that is service to others – and in the end, Jesus came to serve. That is what the Kingdom is all about.

To lead is to be a servant. To lead is to put your heart and your hands first – as individuals and as the church. That is what will change the world – not we or our churches jockeying for control and status and prestige.

There is certainly a lot we do not know, but one thing the Gospel writer of Mark makes abundantly clear is this (as Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor’s reflected): "Whether we can make sense of it or not, serving is how we will transform the world, not from the top down but from the bottom up. The ultimate trickle-up effect. That's the power the God gives us in abundance, "the strongest stuff in the world: the power to serve." That is what makes the Glory Train go!

Sermon - October 18, 2009

“The Glory Train”

By Rev. Nancy Foran Mark 10:35-45

By Rev. Nancy Foran
Mark 10:35-45