Introduction Of all the gospels, Mark is the fastest gospel, and the most straightforward

Transcription

1 1 Learning the Life of Servanthood St. Paul s United Methodist Church Warrington, PA Yr. B 18 th Sunday after Pentecost/in Kingdomtide 1 (James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37) September 23, 2018 Irving Cotto, OSL Introduction Of all the gospels, Mark is the fastest gospel, and the most straightforward gospel. It goes right to the point; it doesn t spend much time elaborating on the story of Jesus. Therefore, it shouldn t surprise us that in Chapter 9 Jesus and the disciples are first on a mountain where Jesus transfigures himself before the disciples; then, they come down from the mountain, into the home of a child with a spirit and from there, they go through Galilee and from there they end up in Capernaum in someones house. Between Galilee and Capernaum, the disciples are listening to Jesus talk about the final outcome of his mission. It is the second time that he tells them about his inevitable death and his triumphant resurrection. Yet, the disciples don t understand what he s talking about. Jesus really wants them to grasp to the full extent the meaning of his ministry, nevertheless. they seemed to be distracted by another concern which is addressed a bit later. 1 [or 21 st Sunday in Ordinary Time]

2 2 The text says, they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him (v. 32). A scholar put words in the mouths of the silent and confused disciples. It goes like this, Lord, we don t understand you...we are afraid of asking you about the meaning of your horrifying words, not because we are shy. But because we are afraid of finding out something we have been suspecting since we decided to follow you. We prefer not to go deeper concerning an unpleasant truth, rather than knowing the truth about your cross... which is also our cross. This is why, we decide to stay in the periphery. We don t want to go deeper. Please, Lord, do not take away from us our excuses! 2 Of course, these words do not appear in the text, but we could only imagine them saying them and wondering about the full implications of Jesus words. They seemed to have pretended not to listen to Jesus teaching; instead, they continue to walk toward their next stop while arguing about another more appealing subject, namely, who is the greatest among us? Can you believe this? Jesus is trying to get through their heads about serving in the kingdom and they are worried about debating the matter of who is first, who is the greatest, who gets to sit in the front row, who excels in leadership. So, this became the perfect moment for Jesus to go into a lesson about servanthood! The text says, then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, what were you arguing about on the way? (v. 33). Their response? Silence! Now, is it wrong to aspire to greater things in our carrier, in 2 Quoted in Spanish, Pronzato, in Guillermo Cook and Ricardo Foulkes, Comentario Biblico: Marcos, Editorial Caribe, p. 237.

3 3 our business? No. Is it wrong to be assertive, and be successful, and excel at our profession, no! Is it bad to be an optimist and to go for the next challenge? Of course not! And by the way, Jesus did not put them down for having this kind of discussion. Instead, what he did was to propose a different view about leadership and life in the kingdom of God. Jesus proposes servanthood. Yes, servanthood as the mark by which all disciples are to be known. It was a hard lesson for them and it is still a hard lesson for all disciples of all time. Dr. Craig C. Hill, The Dean of Perkins School of Theology, at Southern Methodist University, says the following, Like most of us, the disciples were egocentric, jostling with others for prominence, looking to others for affirmation. Egocentrism is a profoundly weak state of being. Indeed, it is a kind of bondage. Jesus, by contrast, was strong enough to serve. 3 Our culture among other things, promotes excellence through fame, cut throat behaviors, competition with little regard for others, being successful no matter what; whether we jeopardize the health of our marriages, families, or significant relationships. In fact, leadership in many places has been identified with narcissism, blatant lies, getting the job done regardless of our moral and spiritual character. The epistle of James says, don t cover up the truth with boasting and lying (3:14b, New Living Translation) 3 Craig C. Hill, in Servant Leadership Embracing the Calling, Perspective Magazine, Spring 2018, p. 3.

4 4 Jesus master plan for us is, again, a life of servanthood. What exactly does this mean? Well let s go back to the text, and observe what Jesus is doing and listen carefully to what he is saying. (1) First of all, knowing the importance of the subject, a genius at getting to the heart of the matter, by appealing to the heart of his disciples-in-training. Jesus has them take a seat. And then he says to them, so, you want to be first, you want to excel, that s ok, to have goals, and high aspirations, in life, but check this out and he then takes a little child (we don t know what age this boy was), puts him in the middle of the living room, and takes him in his arms and proceeds to make his point: whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me (v.37). I know, it sounds like a play on words. But think about this image; it is parabolic: An innocent child, with a lack of experience, under the tutelage of responsible and loving adults, a symbol of purity, playfulness, promise, honesty, humility and simplicity. These are precisely the qualities of a servant. A servant is thus, Someone who recognizes his or her need to continue to learn new things on the road of faith Someone who strives to be under the guidance of God s word and God s Holy Spirit in order to discern and grasp God s will and purpose Someone who is simple, approachable, humble, truthful, and has a good sense of humor. Someone who is capable of receiving love. And therefore, in truly loving others they are vulnerable and run the risk of being hurt, perceived as weak.

5 5 (2) Secondly, St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians includes a hymn that was well known by many during his time. It it s called the kenosis of Christ or the self-emptying of Christ. Philippians, 2: 5: Let the same mind be in you that was Christ Jesus. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness and being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. (vv.5-8) Conclusion So how do we learn the life of servanthood? By doing! By serving. As simple as that. By taking risks at letting our hearts respond to the needs of others, Keeping it simple! Rather than thinking about it too much, we need to go with the flow, as the Spirt leads, as the need arises. In today s gospel lesson Jesus points us in the direction of a child; that s where we learn what it means to be a servant. We are to care for them by being their protectors their advocates, their mentors, but also by learning from them to be approachable, transparent and able to give unconditional love. Someone wrote: Greatness is embodied by caring for the most vulnerable members of our community, first of all by embracing them with love, hearing their stories, and responding to their cares. Our congregations do their best ministry with children

6 6 when they make sure that the children of the church-and the children of the community-know that God loves them... 4 Sisters and brothers, let s take home the image of children, all kinds of children, those who were born in privilege, and comfort, those who have nothing and yet are able to offer an innocent smile. And then, let us ask the Lord, How am I doing? Help me be like them. Amen? Let us rise and affirm our faith. 4 Bruce Epperly