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Mark 10:35-45

What’s In It for Me?

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Mark 10:35-45

What’s In It for Me?

By Pastor Curtis Tilleraas

“During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. Their leader was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, “Sir, I am a corporal!” The stranger apologized, dismounted, & proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, “Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, (ask him to contact me) and I will come and help you again.” With that (General) George Washington, the future President of the United States, got back on (his) horse and rode off.” (from esermons.com)

The kind of leadership George Washington exhibited was a lot closer to the kind of leadership Jesus is talking about than the kind of leadership the corporal is exhibiting. The corporal’s kind of leadership satisfies one’s pride and demands prestige. Leadership in this world is often based on who you know, on fame, on wealth or access to wealth, and a willingness to make what are often referred to as “tough decisions.” This usually means the decisions you make are tough on other people, but good for you. Corporate CEO’s are often called upon to make tough decisions and they do. They will lay off hundreds or thousands of workers, close manufacturing plants in America and open up new shops in foreign countries. These decisions result in great profits for the CEO and for stockholders, but they lead to joblessness and homeless for their former employees. Very brave people in government make tough decisions all the time about American troops, thousands of miles away from the front lines, and we see their bravery as they march from one press conference to another.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, had traveled with Jesus for three years and still they wanted to assume positions of leadership that would give them great prestige, satisfy their egos, and give them power over others. They were so filled with themselves that they said to Jesus: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” How’s that for confidence? They sure didn’t need any courses in self-esteem, did they? And yet, they are not very different from many of us who desire nothing more than to follow Jesus, if only He will give us what we want & not challenge us to change the way we live.

“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them.  And then he asked, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

“We are able,” they said.

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; 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.” Little did the sons of Zebedee know, at this time, that Jesus was speaking of his own death as well as of their martyrdom. But these two men, who were so interested in assuming positions of leadership, did go on, after Pentecost, to become martyrs. In other words, they eventually drank from the cup that Jesus drank from — and they learned what it means to serve.

Jesus also asked for something that was not granted to Him, when He asked His heavenly Father to spare him from taking the journey to the cross. ‘Father, would that this cup could be removed from me?’ He pleaded, but his Father had appointed Him for this most holy task. As it says in Isaiah 53, written hundreds of years before Jesus came into the world: “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.” Paul says, in our second reading from Hebrews: “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” He was heard, yes, but he was not spared. The cup was handed to Him, and He took it — willingly — after a great struggle. And then, as Paul says, “having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

Last week we heard about the rich young man who wanted it all — the worldly wealth and prestige he already possessed — as well as the gift of eternal life. You can have eternal life if you follow me, Jesus told him, but first you must sell all that you have and give the proceeds to the poor. A sacrifice was required of him, just as it was required of the sons of Zebedee, and just as it is required of us.

Jesus states it like this: “Whoever wishes to become 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 as a ransom for many.”

To become a servant is to suffer, and it takes sacrifice. Not somebody else’s sacrifice, but our own. You might say, “Well, I am not interested in being great,” and that’s wonderful — but if you want to follow Jesus you will still have to learn how to become a servant and to make the sacrifices that have been appointed, by the Father, for you to make.

Paul tells us that Jesus Himself had to learn obedience and it was a painful experience, even for him. As Paul says in v. 8 of today’s lesson: “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.” And though He has taken our sins upon Himself, He has not relieved us of our responsibilities. As Paul says, again, “And having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Obedience & faithfulness — these are flipsides of the coin that belongs to God — the coin of the realm — the currency of the kingdom. To put it differently, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Having all the right ideas about God would be a wonderful thing — but it is not the same thing as loving God, with all your heart, soul & mind & your neighbor as yourself.

“The story in today’s gospel, with two brothers jockeying for positions of power in the Kingdom, takes place five days before Jesus’ crucifixion. Four days before his betrayal and trial. One day before the clearing of the temple, and a few hours before the Triumphal Entry. If the Disciples were going to start practicing the teachings of Jesus in their lives it ought to be now. But it doesn’t happen. Moments before the most crucial events in their life they are a bickering, petty, bad-tempered quarrelsome lot. We need to learn from this not-so-flattering moment in the life of the disciples.

How is it that critical moments can be so close at hand and we are off wondering what’s in it for me?” (adapted from esermon illustrations). Today Jesus is inviting each of us to let go of all of those things — those desires for things we think we just have to have — those things we think we most definitely deserve — and to come and walk with him. How much did the disciples miss that was truly going on around them, by going off into dream worlds of their own making and scheming? How much do we miss when we are busy wondering what’s in it for me, rather than asking, “Lord, what are you showing me right now, here, today, in this moment, in this crisis, in this opportunity?

Instead of saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you,” we still have time to say, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” A number of cups are laid out before us — wealth, power over others, prestige, bitterness, resentment, or the cup that Jesus drank from. The choice is yours and Jesus is simply asking you and me today: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

“A well-dressed European woman was on safari in Africa. The group stopped briefly at a hospital for lepers. The heat was intense, the flies buzzing. She noticed a nurse bending down in the dirt, tending to the (terrible) sores of a leper.

With disdain the woman remarked, “Why, I wouldn’t do that for all the money in the world!”

The nurse quietly replied, “Neither would I.” (Donald L. Deffner, “Seasonal Illustrations” p. 130)

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Perhaps God has been calling you to a task that you think you are not capable of doing; and when you feel his call you try to bargain with Him and offer up another alternative? But what if the alternative you are offering is not what God wants from you? In confirmation we have been looking at some texts that speak of the many ways God is capable of making things happen. Often, those ways seem rather ridiculous — illogical even. It is easy for us to say that God’s ways are not our ways, but to apply that principle in our own lives is another matter. We feel the need to protest — Lord, not me, I can’t do that — I can’t do that, either. But I can do this! But what if God isn’t calling you to do what is most comfortable, or what appears to be reasonable and acceptable? What if God is inviting you to drink from the cup that Jesus drank from?

The two brothers in today’s story wanted to be in positions of power so much that they said “yes” to Jesus –but it wasn’t possible for them to truly follow Him until they received power from on high, until the Holy Spirit fell upon them at Pentecost. In that moment everything began to change — cowards became ready to become martyrs — those who were afraid of persecution became unable to stop themselves from singing the praises of the God who climbed upon a cross for them.

Men of power and prestige became willing to live as servants, to leave their courts of worldly honor above ground, and to worship the Lord, underground, in the catacombs. In Confirmation we have been studying the lives of early Christian as well contemporary Christian martyrs — not out of a morbid fascination for people who are too strange for words — & many of them were very strange — but for the purpose of learning something real about the power of God to transform common people, people like you and me, into people who willingly, and joyfully, drink from the cup that Jesus drank from.

In closing I would like to read a paragraph from a Letter of the Churches of Gaul to those of Asia, a letter that was written about a hundred and forty years after Jesus was crucified & raised from the dead. “The severity of our trials here, the unbridled fury of the pagans against God’s people, the untold sufferings of the blessed martyrs, we are incapable of describing in detail: indeed no pen could do them justice. The adversary swooped on us with all his might… he left no stone unturned in his efforts to train his adherents and equip them to attack the servants of God, so that not only were we debarred from houses, baths, and the forum: they actually forbade any of us to be seen in any place whatever. But against them the grace of God put itself at our head, rescuing the weak and deploying against our enemies unshakeable pillars, able by their endurance to draw upon themselves the whole onslaught of the evil one. These charged into the fight…” (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 5.1)

The greatest sacrifice, and the only sacrifice that leads to our salvation was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And the greatest sacrifice that we can offer to him is the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart — a heart softened by the love of God. It is easy to stand up for Jesus and carry signs condemning the sins of others. But to stand up for Jesus and serve the least among us, with joy in our hearts, that is the mercy that Jesus Christ desires. All the money, power, and prestige in the world cannot prepare you for this adventure — but with His love burning in your heart, there’s no telling what might happen next. . . Let the journey begin, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

— Copyright for this sermon 2003, Curtis Tilleraas. Used by permission.