Mark
10:35-45
Holy
Trinity Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas
Nineteenth
Sunday after Pentecost – October 18, 2003
Venerable
Canon Masalakulangwa Mabula
Jesus
teaches of the JOY to serve others:
People
are looking for authority (Greek eksousia - 'exousia) and power (Greek dunamis - dunamiV).
By definition service
means leadership while leadership does not necessarily and always
mean service. Those who serve are different from those who lead.
Seeking to serve is what Jesus Christ called us to do. Almost
all conflicts in our good world today are signs of a serious failure
to serve. By creating us, God has put in us the innate need to
serve others, but we have left this unexplored. All of us want
to become powerful and first. Power is the discussion of my sermon
today. Christ came to seek, to serve, and to set us free. I pray
that God will speak to us and prepare us to be servants. At the
end of this sermon we should attempt to answer two questions as
Christians: How many people have I served? How many people have
I helped.
According to Jesus,
service is a way to greatness but not many of us perceive it to
be so.
The life and teaching
of Jesus Christ in his earthly ministry was a servant (10:45). When he was teaching disciples about servant
leaders none of the disciples got it at that time.
Power was a popular
and dividing subject among disciples as it will endlessly be.
They argued among themselves about who would be the greatest and
the most powerful in Jesus’ Kingdom. They saw Jesus as a political
figure; they admired Jesus as King. Jesus knew their desire for
power. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the
very last, and the servant of all” (9:35). None of the disciples understood this concept.
They wanted to see
Jesus Christ as an earthly King, a President who will exercise
an earthly dominion. They wanted to see riches, earthly goods,
fame, and food. They did not follow well the fact that Jesus’
kingdom was not earthly, and the way to this heavenly kingdom
was and is always through suffering. Jesus was insistent in that
he was going to demonstrate suffering with his own body. What
they wanted to see in Jesus was that he was a revolutionary, a
freedom fighter who must do away with their enemy, the oppressive
and exploitative Rome.
James and John wanted
to use a shortcut to secure the positions of highest authority
(10:35). They probably
had a notion that Kings had a funny way of promising the impossible.
Herod promised Salome any gift up to half the kingdom. And when
Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist, Herod had to comply.
John and James knew that when they tell Jesus to promise them
the posts of power, Jesus would do exactly that. Of course all
this depends on who they thought Jesus was. “Teacher”, they said,
“we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” (10:35) “What do you
want Me to do for you?” Jesus asked. They replied “Grant us that
we may sit, one on your right hand and the other on Your left,
in Your glory.” (10:36).
They wanted to be his
chief advisers, his trusted counselors, and the highest placed
rulers in his kingdom, so that they could advise Jesus to bring
fire from heaven. They were seeking greatness and power through
a shortcut. They wanted to be elevated above the other members
of the house of disciples. This was a campaign that other disciples
were to be servants.
Jesus continued to
correct their misunderstanding about what constitutes greatness
was self-denial, suffering, bearing the cross, and following Jesus
in serving others. “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus
said. (10:38). And he also said to them, “Are you able
to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with?” (10:
38).
James and John said
to him, “Of course we can drink that cup and bear that baptism.”
(10:39-40). Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but
to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places
belong to those for whom they are been prepared.” It is God who
chooses who sits on the left and who on the right.
When we pursue the
stories of the Gospel, those who said that they are able to drink
the cup, fled when the soldiers came and took Jesus away. Only
John followed Jesus at a distance; even he was unwilling to suffer
with Christ. And so Jesus Christ suffered alone. The positions
on his right and on his left were occupied, but not by loyal followers,
willing to suffer to death with him. The positions were occupied
by two thieves who were justly crucified for their sins. And both
of them hurled insults at Christ and mocked him.
The other disciples
also were never better than James and John; they were grumbling.
They did not understand the nature of the kingdom. And so they
grumbled jealously: who do James and John think they are, asking
to rule over us like that? (10:42).
Jesus said to them,
“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority
((Greek - 'exousia)) (pronounced
- eksousia) over them.” But Jesus said to them, “Not so with
you. Instead, whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all”
(10:44).
Jesus taught them that
whoever desires to become great among them shall be servant of
all. This was a very unpopular route to greatness -- but a rewarding
one. The man in the apron is the master of the house, the cook
in the kitchen is great, the firewood collector, the sweeper,
the shoe shiner and the uncomplaining dishwasher. All these are
great! Jesus says this is the way it is supposed to be among you.
Serve each other if you want to be great. If you want to be greater
still, don't just be a servant, be a slave. Devote yourself wholeheartedly
to the good of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Serve others
first and serve them unreservedly, count them more important than
you.
This is not just a
message to choir members, church elders, deacons, and priests.
It is a message fit for the “magisterium”
as well. Presiding Bishops, Bishops including Sufragan
Bishops are given this message, the message of Jesus’ love. All
of us have to pay attention to what Jesus is teaching us. Of course,
theologically most Bishops are like disciples, they are arguably
unwilling to serve, and Jesus says, serve one another for the
sake of the kingdom.
Most Christians know
what Jesus wanted when he said “For even the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom
for many.” (10:45).
Jesus gave himself
to us utterly. So anyone who wants to be great in the kingdom,
must give himself unreservedly to God's people.
What is my reaction
when I am told "Masalakulangwa serve my people." Do
I say "Oh Jesus, service again!" When I was made deacon,
my duty was to serve others. When I was ordered Priest, I was
still a deacon, I am still in office as deacon. I know some friends
of mine who have been trusted into being bishops, but their ordination
as priests is not removed. Jesus sees them as deacons first. Of
course they can make the church a home for others. Our primates
are still deacons first but with some specifically added responsibilities.
Our hearts have to
be contrite and broken to see what Jesus asks of his church. This
way we will seek to serve others.
Today the church is
full of tricky campaigns for offices and power. Men and women now follow James' and John's
examples. All want to rule and they like the "me first"
culture. Let “me” be first in your church. Give me authority over
the fellowship. Exalt me to the position of honor and respect.
Those who come this way do not know what they ask. They seek to
rule the church for their own benefit and honor.
All wise people know
that leadership in a mix of servanthood
is a burden but a blessing. God is aware that we are created with
an innate ability to serve -- we can serve others.
Jesus’ teaching has
to be taken Biblically. The Biblical servanthood
springs from Hebrew language
where the words “ebed” and
“abad” mean servant.
“ebed” comes from the root word “abad” meaning
to keep in service. Another important Hebrew word is “na-ar” translated to mean a boy or girl who is a servant
and can be translated as young servant, Sunday school children
are also called to the same service by Jesus. Doulos
(douloV) is Greek word for a servant, the one who serves
either voluntarily or involuntarily. Oikasate
('oikasate) means house servant. The Hebrew “na-ar”
means a child servant. Greek word for a child servant is Pais
( paiV). Waiter or attendant is diakonos (diakonoV) -
this is the root of deacons. Moses was a menial
servant -Therathonte (qeraqone). Whichever definition
we like, Jesus says “Whoever wants to be first, he must be the
very last, and the servant of all.” (9:35, 10:45).
As true followers of
Jesus, how many people have you and I served? How many people
have you and I helped? Let us answer these questions as we meditate
on this poem:
On
the true lovers of Jesus
Jesus
has many who love His kingdom in heaven,
But
few who bear His Cross
He
has many who desire comfort,
But
few who desire suffering.
He
finds many who share his feast,
But
few his fasting.
All
desire to rejoice with Him,
But
few willing to suffer for his sake.
Many
follow Jesus to the breaking of bread,
But
few to the drinking of the cup of his passion.
Many
admire his miracles,
But
few follow him to the humiliation of his cross.
Many
love Jesus as long as no hardship touches them,
They
who love Jesus for his own sake, and not for the sake of Comfort
for themselves, bless him in every trial and anguish of heart,
no less than in the greatest joy. And were he never willing to
bestow comfort on them, they would still always praise him…
It always easy to point
fingers to disciples, and say that they missed this point again.
But let it be clear here that looking at our culture today in
the West and in Africa, still that context
is evident. Three themes still remain -- I want power -- I want
to manipulate -- and, I want to make sure I know to cause despair
in others. Yearning for power and status at the expense of others
and at any cost have endlessly created conflict in the church
and in the society. Like disciples we are too individualistic
and our individualism and conflict have presented darkness to
our life. Our situation is contradictory to the Christian understanding
of God and human life. We have an incorrect and wrong definition
of community. People in the “me-first” culture are characteristically
boastful, arrogant and abusive. People in this “self-importance”
framework have put self first, in effect this means God is last.
The only diagnostic
result we should all know is that the me “self-importance” framework
unavoidably leads to a life of sin, characterized by desire for
money as an alternative security and yearning for instant pleasures.
Another feature of a de-centered person is resistance to sound
doctrine of truth, because truth if given room will precipitate
the process of restoring humanity to the Image and worship of
God.
The way to greatness
is not in how many people I control, how much money I have, and
how many fancy cars I drive. For the Africans it is not how many
cows or children do I have. Power is only in answering practically
the questions: How many people have I served and how many people
have you helped.
“Whoever
wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of
all.” (9:35, 10:45) +
