October 18, 2009
Our Place at the Table
- Mark 10:35-45
- Dr. Teri Thomas
When I was living and working in Washington DC I had a monthly breakfast meeting with the regional leaders of the various denominations.
One month we were meeting at the offices of the Roman Catholic archdiocese. Our host was the local Cardinal. We were all ushered into a very formal sitting room where chairs had been arranged in a circle. I walked across the room and took a seat. A few minutes later the Cardinal’s assistant came into the room and told us that the Cardinal was not well and would be unable to join us but the assistant would be our host. He then came to me and whispered in my ear that I was sitting in the Cardinal’s chair. I said I was sorry, I didn’t know it was his but since he wasn’t coming I guess it didn’t matter. I was quickly informed that I needed to move and the seat would remain empty since only the Cardinal could occupy it.
Seats matter. If you don’t believe it try taking someone’s favorite pew on a Sunday morning. Do you remember calling dibs on the front seat in the car when you were young? Seats matter.
Evidentially James and John thought so. The brothers want prime seats next to Jesus when he rules the Kingdom. They want to make sure that they get a little of that spotlight’s shine, a nice comfy spot. I suppose they figured that they had earned it.
Jesus listens to their request and asks if they are willing to drink from his cup and accept his baptism. Without thinking, they say they are willing. They could care less if the cup contained chardonnay or cabernet — whatever it was they wanted it. And as for the baptism, well, what’s a little water anyway? They earned these seats. They had sacrificed. They had done their time. They had followed faithfully and they deserved a reward.
Now let’s be careful lest we rush to judgment on these two disciples. They were not bad people. They were loaded with faith in Jesus. They believed that he was full of the power of God and that he would pull off something wonderful. They also loved him. Wouldn’t you say to someone you love, “Please save me a place so that we can be close to you when we get there?”
One scholar has suggested that James and John are no power mongers or egomaniacs or selfish but rather they are understandably afraid, and they react as human beings naturally do: they seek security.
A few weeks ago I was doing a wedding and the flower girl was way to young for the job she had been given. She walked into the center aisle from the back and saw hundreds of strange faces all looking at her and she froze. Tears started flowing. Then her mother, who was seated up front, leaned out into the aisle and waved at her daughter. The flower girl flew down the aisle straight into her mother’s arms. We humans want to make sure that, no matter what happens, our place and our safety are secured; if we know that, we think we can handle whatever comes. Maybe that is what James and John were thinking.
Amazing how little humans have changed in over 2000 years, isn’t it?
Coming back from Hilton Head a couple of weeks ago we saw a lot of “religious” billboards along the highway.
Looking for peace in life? Jesus is the answer.
Worried about the future? Jesus is the answer.
This is a very common presentation of the Christian faith these days. Come to church and Jesus will meet your needs.
All the church grow experts say that we need to identify what needs the people out there have and then find a way for the church to meet those needs.
When Mark wrote his gospel he was certainly interested in church growth. Interestingly enough, Mark has little to say about our needs, our struggles and our difficulties. Mark mainly talks about Jesus. And when he talks about Jesus, it's not Jesus as the answer to our problems that Mark stresses but, rather, Jesus as a strange and demanding Lord who calls us to join in service.
This is the message that we have been reluctant to proclaim to the world, perhaps because we're reluctant to hear this message ourselves! Jesus is not a technique for getting what we want out of God; Jesus is God's way of getting what God wants out of us. Jesus is not a self-help guru. He is a help the world guru. The way God restores the world is with ordinary people like us who are willing to walk like Jesus, talk like Jesus, yes, and even if need be to suffer like Jesus.
We don’t say that much.
On our web site it says-
At Northminster, we’re committed to loving, supporting and growing together
as we learn and apply God’s Word in our daily lives.
The Music Ministry is dedicated to providing a variety of quality experiences for our members.
Mid-High School youth are invited to be part of fun and support group
There are hundreds of thousands of words on our web site. I did a search for the word “sacrifice”. It showed up only five times. All in sermons. “Service” as a verb shows up five times outside of sermons.
Have you ever seen a church with a sign out front that read, "Come! Be Crucified! We've Got a Cross with your name on it!"
We come here to find Jesus so he will help us. But if we really want to find Jesus, don’t just look for him here. Before we finish the benediction he will have left. We will find him out there wherever people work together for good, wherever voices of people long silenced are listened to with respect, wherever the lonely are welcomed, and the hungry are fed.
And when we look for Jesus, deep inside we pray that when our time here is over Jesus will welcome us into the Kingdom and offer us a seat next to him at the table. But to hear Jesus tell it, he’s not even going to be sitting at the table! He will be on the wait staff. Good evening, my name is Jesus and I will be your server this evening. How may I help you? Would you care for water or a drink? Do you have enough to eat? Shall we put another leaf in the table to make sure that everyone can be served? Are you warm enough? Here take my coat.
So if we are going to be part of ushering in the reign of God now, we will be among the last who think first about bringing hope, peace, and good news to a broken and hurting world. Doing so in the name of Christ, who came to serve and who gave his life as a ransom for many—including you and me.
Amen.