Mark 10:35-45
October 21, 2012
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
Everyone likes to be great. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali when he was in his twenties said, “I am the greatest!” Wayne Gretzky, the ice hockey star is referred to as “The Great One.” When children do a house chore well, we often would say, “Great job!” When Jesus called James and John, the sons of Zebedee (Mark 3:17) to be a couple of guys in the inner circle, they thought they were great because they called themselves, “Sons of Thunder!” That’s an awesome name; capturing their sense of being special and being great.
So these two brothers thought that they would like to be known as “the Great.” They walk up to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you to do” (10:35). That’s pretty presumptuous of them and probably out of line. But when you believe you are the greatest, you are naturally going to make such demands. You might want to shake your head at such arrogance, but the request they made was not that surprising.
There’s a story about a business traveler at an airport during one particularly, bad weather day that had caused delays and cancellations throughout the system. Hundreds of anxious travelers were on standby. The senior business executive was desperate to get on the plane so he wouldn’t be late for a meeting. He kept crowding the counter, trying to get the airline staff to do something to move his name up the standby list.
The agent had just put down the microphone, having said to the crowd for the third or fourth time: “Those of you who are on standby, please sit down and we will call your name when we have a seat for you.”
But this was a man who would not take “maybe” for an answer. He kept pestering the agent, explaining how important it was that he gets on the next flight. Finally, in exasperation, he asked her, “Do you know who I am?”
The agent had had enough. Picking up the microphone, she announced: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a man here who does not know who he is. Would someone please claim him, offer him a seat in the waiting area, and tell him I’ll talk to him when it’s his turn.” This business traveler thinks he’s the greatest.
Upcoming Elections
As we enter into the final two weeks of a long and punishing presidential campaign, we can see that these men think they are the greatest. They would not aspire to the highest office in the land if they didn’t think that they are the greatest. And they have spent years approaching rich donors and saying, in effect, “I want you to do for me whatever I ask of you.”
Many of these donors immediately pull out their checkbooks. Even in our times, presumptuous behavior is not discouraged but rewarded when your candidate comes into power. There will be people sitting on the right side and left side after November 6th.
So James and John said to Jesus, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one on your left, in your glory” (v. 37). They want a couple of prime cabinet posts in the messianic administration of Jesus, sitting in the seats closest to the very throne of God. Nothing would make them happier than to having people look up to Jesus and seeing his inner circle, James and John sitting there too. Not only would they be the greatest but they would be feeling great too!
But there are a couple of problems with being great. The first is a life of illusion and the second is a state of confusion. The illusion is that you are more invincible, powerful and righteous than you really are. The confusion is that you do not know the true meaning of greatness.
The Illusion of Greatness
Let’s talk about illusion. History is full of men and women who are described as “the Great,” although they all had their weaknesses and blind spots. Alexander the Great was the Macedonian king and general who took control of the vast Persian Empire in the 4th century BC. Tutored by Aristotle, he went on to achieve an undefeated record in military battles. Imagine never losing a battle. But Alexander was not invincible. A lowly mosquito probably brought him down. Evidence suggests that he died of malaria at age 32.
How about Catherine the Great? She was the empress who ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796. Her greatness was grounded in her modernization and expansion of Russia’s holdings, and her creation of the country’s first school for girls. But Catherine was not as powerful as she thought. Her rise to domination came only after her lover led a coup to depose her husband.
Another mighty ruler was Ramses the Great, Egyptian pharaoh from 1279 to 1213 BC, who built cities, temples and monuments. The Bible does not portray him as so righteous, however. He was likely the pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites and caused Moses to lead the exodus out of Egypt.
History teaches that greatness is often linked to a life of illusion, one which causes people to believe that they are more invincible, powerful and righteous than they really are. Alexander was vulnerable to a mosquito, Catherine owed her power to a coup, and Ramses was unrighteous. All were “the Great,” but not the greatest.
Today, we can easily list others who thought they were pretty great: Enron principals, Bernie Madoff, Mark McGwire, Barry Bond, Lance Armstrong et al. The number one peril of greatest is a life of illusion.
The Confusion of Greatness
The second problem with being great is the state of confusion. There’s confusion about the meaning of greatness.
In the passage we read this morning, Jesus addresses this problem when he said, “You do not know what you are asking,” says Jesus to the aspiring great ones, James and John. “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (v. 38). Jesus senses that they are confused about what they are asking for and he makes it clear that the path to glory goes straight through the wilderness of suffering.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, asks Jesus—the cup of my blood, shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sin? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with—the baptism of dying and rising, one in which suffering and death always precede joy and new life?
James and John reply, “We are able” (v. 39). The two come across as supremely confident, but you have to suspect that they don’t know what they’re talking about. They’re still confused about the path that lies ahead.
Jesus doesn’t shoot them down for their confidence. Instead, he nods in agreement. “The cup that I drink you will drink,” he promises; “and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized” (v. 39). Jesus knows that they are walking the way of the cross, which will lead to suffering for all and to death for some.
The Book of Acts tells us that James was later put to death by the sword, on the order of King Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:2). The first of the apostles to be martyred for the faith, he came to be known as James the Greater to differentiate him from another James, the son of Alphaeus, who is known as James the Lesser.
James may have not been the greatest but at least her was James the Greater.
As for John, he too suffered under the persecution of Herod Agrippa, but did not lose his life for the Christian faith. Tradition says that he lived a long time and died of natural causes in Ephesus. James and John both suffered. One was martyred. They drank the cup and experience the baptism.
But as far as for positions of honor and greatness, Jesus says: “to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant” (Mark 10:40). Jesus can promise suffering, death and new life to all who follow him in faith, but the granting of special places in the kingdom of heaven? That’s God’s call, because God is in control.
Service is Greatness
When the other 10 disciples heard what James and John were asking, they became envious and upset at them. They wanted to be great too and sit closest to Jesus in his glory.
Seeing the argument in front of him, Jesus used this opportunity to clear up any confusion about the true meaning of greatness. He begins by pointing out to them the way that leaders of the Gentiles act as tyrants, lording it over their people (v. 42). Jesus is saying that this is not the kind of greatness that you want.
“But it is not so among you,” he says; “but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all” (vv. 43-44). Clearly, the key to being the greatest of disciples is to be a servant of others.
And since Jesus practices what he preaches, he said, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (v. 45). Let there be no confusion about who is “the Great,” says Jesus. It is not Alexander or Catherine or Ramses or whoever else thinks that they are. Instead. The one who is great is the one who serves.
With the presidential elections only a couple of weeks away, you may still be thinking about to whom to vote for. Some of you have already made up your mind. However, I hope that all of you will be making an informed and faithful decision when you vote. We know that elected officials can help society through public measures and economic investments. They can negotiate and make alliances to reduce the dangers of war and to find lasting peace. But just like Alexander, Catherine and Ramses, their potential aspiring toward greatness is not founded on what they might promise on the campaign trail but whether or not they are serving the people. I’m not telling you how to vote; I can’t do that. Even if I did, you may not listen to me anyway. But what I can do is to tell you that according to Jesus, the key to being the greatest is to be a servant of others. Vote for the candidate whom you believe is serving the people.
Everybody Can Be Great
Two disciples asked to sit next to Jesus in his glory, one on his right, the other on his left. When Jesus came into his glory, it was not on a throne but on a cross with two thieves, one on his right and the other on his left.
This is the message that followers of Jesus have been reluctant to proclaim to the world, perhaps because we’re reluctant to hear this message for ourselves! We see Jesus as a technique for getting what we want out of God—greatness. But Jesus is God’s way of getting what God wants out of us. God wants the world, a world redeemed, restored to God. Jesus says that this ransomed world is the whole reason why he has come, the cause of his suffering and rejection. And the way God gets a ransomed, redeemed world is through ordinary people like us who are willing to walk with Jesus, talk like Jesus, yes, and even if need to–to suffer like Jesus.
We are blessed to have our American Baptist missionaries Mike and Becky Mann from Chiang Mai, Thailand with us this morning. If you want to meet a couple of pretty great people, there they are! They are God’s servants serving with humility and a deep sense of doing God’s holy work in northern Thailand.
Jesus is telling us that there’s a cross for you and me too. Jesus says, “Come, take up your cross too, come follow me and take up the challenge of a life that’s lived in the light of my life.”
In this season of stewardship and pledging to the life-changing ministries of this church, would making a pledge to the church in 2013 be a part of taking up your cross to follow Jesus? When we sacrifice some of our “first-world conveniences” that we have gotten so comfortable with in order for us to participate in the work of God in the world, we would be taking up the cross. When we are able to serve others by giving and especially by giving to the World Missions Offering, we can be called great as a servant of others.
Instead of living a life of illusion, know who you are. A fragile human being with limited power and righteousness. The truth is that none of us is the Greatest, but we serve a Great God. With Christ’s forgiveness and inspiration, we can have a powerful impact—especially if we serve others through our time, talents and tithes.
And rather than enduring a state of confusion, know that the true meaning of greatness is service to others.
“Everybody can be great,” said Martin Luther King, Jr., “because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.
Let us pray.
God of us all, we know we have been called to serve and in the quietness of these moments, we confess our shortcomings. In the face of worldly unrest and tragedy, mayhem and murder, illness and death, we acknowledge we sometimes feel powerless. We realize anew the difficulties we have in being faithful servants and we wonder if we are, indeed, able to drink the cup set before us. At such times, keep us mindful that it is not all up to us. Help us to remember that the source of our service is also the source of our strength and hope. We know that you are with us always—even to the end of time. We pray in the sure knowledge that your love for us never lets us go even when we falter in our service. In Christ, we pray. Amen.