Walking with Jesus: Not to Be Served
Visit our YouTube page to view service recordings.
When you listen to scripture being read, or when you read it yourself, does anyone else try to see which character you identify with the most? If so, you might not want to do that practice with today’s text. At least that is how I feel! We probably don’t want to think the idea that we might share some similarities with James and John. They are far from great examples this week.
A few verses before our text, we hear about how Jesus was telling the disciples about his impending death. It just feels icky that after Jesus talks about being killed, that James and John go up to him and say, “Give us the best seats in the house!” They did privately, you notice. Mark says, “When the ten heard this,” they freaked out. So, James and John basically snuck around and asked Jesus this when the others weren’t listening. Who knows, maybe the others wandered off after Jesus talked about going to Jerusalem to die, and James and John seized the moment and cornered Jesus.
They started with, “We want you to do whatever we ask.” Are you kidding? Can you imagine asking someone this question (out loud!)?
This is just an ugly moment for two members of the inner circle of disciples. Right? I mean none of us wants to admit that we, too, might be seeking popularity and power but perhaps we do. Maybe we are more similar to the disciples in this moment than we wish we were.
Here at church there are some of us searching for our place with determination and enthusiasm that may (or may not!) be a little misguided or misplaced. Some of us are waiting on the sidelines, longing for someone to invite them to step into their role and find their place in the community. There might even be some conflict simmering under the surface as people misunderstand and misinterpret one another. This is what happens sometimes when we humans get together.
What does Jesus do? How does Jesus respond to James and John in this moment? I want to focus on how Jesus responds to this less-than-stellar moment for the two disciples. With incredible patience, he explains to them what’s involved here. “You don’t know what you’re asking,” he says to them. Weren’t you listening? Well, apparently, they were, they nod their heads with enthusiasm and say, ”Yep, we can do it!” “Are you able,” he asks. “Yes, we are able,” Here’s the amazing bit. Jesus agrees with them. Whether he means the inevitability of persecution that will fall on them all, or he sees something of significance in the two of them who will be part of a movement that changes the world, it is hard to say in this moment. But Jesus treats them with more kindness than most of us would have in this moment.
And then when the incident blows up into the rest of the group, Jesus calms everyone down with a teachable moment on what it means to lead. He says we can look around and see all kinds of authority, many ways of using power. But that’s not how we function. That’s not the model we follow. Instead, I’m showing you what it means to exercise ultimate power. We do it by setting ourselves aside. We do it by serving. It is not a means of getting to the top, of achieving a personal goal. Instead, it is a way of being. Service is a way of living.
Today, we have 8 new people joining the church as and we heard earlier in the service they are promising (and we remember our promises) to support the church with our Prayers, Presence, Gifts, SERVICE, and Witness. Did you hear it? SERVE. And we recommitted ourselves that those very same things as members of this church.
Friends, along this walk with Jesus we are all searching for a place to belong. So, where do start? How do we do this?
Jesus, as usual, gives us a good place to start. We serve. We realign ourselves toward service with one another, our community, and our world—Service in partnership with one another and God, service that values one another and the gifts we bring, service that is sustainable through the ebbs and flows of our lives because we do it together.
I am continually amazed at the opportunities God has given us to serve our community and world!
Whether it is through our Sunday Dinner Ministry—serving up over 80 meals to those in need on our given week.
Or whether it is serving with the Beyond These Walls team as minister neighbors at Sanctuary House or Francis Center.
Or whether you serve at Learning Links helping to tutor kids or spend a Saturday working on a Habitat House.
Or whether you serve alongside another Church/ministry such as Asbury Outreach Center give your time to a local school.
Or whether you’re singing with a choir to bring to the love of God to those in nursing homes—like our Joyful Noise Choir did this week.
Or maybe it will be working with/helping refugees in our area. The opportunities are endless.
Fairport UMC, Jesus’ words are meant to be life-giving to us. We each have so much to share. We bring incredible gifts to the world. It’s not about who is best—who does it better—who does it more. It is about using what we have and sharing it with the world-TOGETHER.
On this leg of the journey with Jesus, let’s take time to pray and celebrate the ways God is already at work and will continue to work among us! Today I thank God for James and John who help Jesus make his point. Perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on them. We need a few good bad examples, some might say. Or maybe our example should be the one who didn’t come to serve but who gave his life so that we might have life. Amen