As disciples of Jesus, we've been called to follow him by claiming his example and learning from his teachings. From June to October, we're going to focus on the Gospel of Mark so that we might better understand how we might follow our Savior and live as his community.
Mark 10:35-45 [Contemporary English Version]
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, will you do us a favor?”
Jesus asked them what they wanted, and they answered, “When you come into your glory, please let one of us sit at your right side and the other at your left.”
Jesus told them, “You don’t really know what you’re asking! Are you able to drink from the cup that I must soon drink from or be baptized as I must be baptized?”
“Yes, we are!” James and John answered.
Then Jesus replied, “You certainly will drink from the cup from which I must drink. And you will be baptized just as I must! But it isn’t for me to say who will sit at my right side and at my left. That is for God to decide.”
When the ten other disciples heard this, they were angry with James and John. But Jesus called the disciples together and said:
You know that those foreigners who call themselves kings like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over the people they rule. But don’t act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. And if you want to be first, you must be everyone’s slave. The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.
But Who’s Making the Broccoli Cheese?
Last week, I attended my second deacons meeting here in Sligo, and I’ve got to tell you, it was amazing. Now, if you don’t already know this, the job of the deacons is to address the needs of others. In other words, they’re like servants, working to help not only people in our congregation but also the broader community. Of course, to do that, they need money and to raise money, and right now they’re selling soup, $7.00 a quart, orders due by Sunday, September 19. And I’ve got to tell you, the way they talked about handling the ingredients already donated and then the way they made soup assignments, man, it was something to behold. I mean, everybody was volunteering to bring in all the stuff that hadn’t been donated, everything from these hamburger logs to a couple of onions, although I did sense some tension surrounding the chicken. They were the essence of efficiency. But you know, that wasn’t even the best part. Once the ingredients had been nailed down, they started assigning who was going to make what soup, something that I thought would take a while, because making three roasters full of soup seems to be a pretty big job, at least to me. But not for them, everything was settled in just a few minutes, and I’m talking about everything from chicken noodle to ham and bean. And nobody had to be guilted into doing something she didn’t want to do. No, these ladies grabbed the bull by the horn, a log of which they might actually use in the stuffed peppers, with or without onions. You see, with enthusiasm, they volunteered to offer some of their time and some of their resources to do something that will benefit someone else. And you know, they did the same thing when they put together the picnic we’ll be having after church this morning. You see, whether they realized it or not, I believe those deacons offered a real lesson in service and illustrated what being a servant is all about. And you know, although I’ve only been around here for a few months, I’ve seen that same focus with those who put together our Summer day camp, and Sunday School and at both session meetings I’ve moderated. I’ll tell you, I think this congregation knows a lot about service.
And you know, I think that’s a good thing, because as the passage we just read reminds us, as followers of Jesus, that’s what we’ve been called to do, you know to serve others. In words, as Christians, our job isn’t to be the boss. It isn’t to be the center of attention. And it sure isn’t to be recognized and praised. No, our job is to be servants, even slaves. In fact, I don’t think Jesus could have been clearer about that than when he said, “You know that those foreigners who call themselves kings like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over the people they rule. But don’t act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. And if you want to be first, you must be everyone’s slave. The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.” [Mark 10:42b-45, CEV] Now that’s what he said, and I think the meaning is really clear. As a congregation and as individual Christians, we’ve been called to serve. Man, that’s our purpose; that’s our job; that’s our function. And the people we’re called to serve, well, they’re not just church people. No, they include all those folks who live around us; I’m talking about individuals we may see every day, men and women we bump into at work and at school. They’re in our families and our neighborhoods. You see, as believers, we’re called to be servants. And to be really effective, I think we may probably need to make three decisions. And that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning.
For example, first, if we’re serious about serving, I think it’s crucially important that we make the decision to accept, you know, to accept that we really have been called to be servants, to be slaves, and to accept everything that goes with it. Now, having said that, I know it sounds a little like a “Duh” statement. I mean, if you’re going to be a servant, you’ve pretty much decided to accept that role, right? Well, maybe. But you know, when we’ve been intentional in making the decision, I think our perspective changes. I mean, if we really see ourselves as servants, as slaves, I think we’re going to recognize that the needs of others just might be more important than our own wants. You see, it’s about him, not me. It’s about them, not us. Now I think that shift happens when we decide to accept our role. And you know, isn’t that what Jesus was getting at when he said this to his disciples: “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me and for the good news, you will save it. What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What could you give to get back your soul?” [Mark 8:34b-37, CEV] And in the passage we just read, he said, “If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. And if you want to be first, you must be everyone’s slave.” [Mark 10:43b-44, CEV] You see, Jesus challenges us to serve everybody. I mean, as we slog through a world full of people who have all kinds of problems and pain, we’re called to put them first even though that may mean putting ourselves second, even though that may mean delaying the purchase of that news car, even though that may mean sacrificing a little television time, even though that may mean dropping another hamburger log into the soup. Man, if we’re going to do what Jesus wants us to do, we really need to recognize that the needs of others are more important than our wants. And I’ll tell you, that’ll happen when we decide to accept that we’re servant. And that’s the first decision we can make.
And second, if we really see ourselves as servants, we pretty much have to decide that we’re going to listen, and I’m talking about listening to the folks whom we’ve been called to serve. And you know, that just makes sense. I mean, how in heaven’s name are we going to know what they need if we don’t listen to them. And I’ll tell you, that’s exactly what Jesus did in the story we’ll talk about next week. You see, there was this blind beggar named Bartimaeus who wanted to be healed. And after yelling and screaming and becoming a general pain in the neck, he was called over and then “Jesus asked, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man answered, ‘Master, I want to see!’ Jesus told him, ‘You may go. Your eyes are healed because of your faith.’ Right away the man could see, and he went down the road with Jesus.” [Mark 10:51-52, CEV] You see, Jesus couldn’t have known what Bartinaeus wanted unless he asked and then listened. And you know, the same is true for us. I mean, give me a break, how in heaven’s name are we going to know what people need, if he don’t take the time to listen. And I’ll tell you something else, to listen, just like Jesus did, sometimes we may have got to ask. And you know, I think that’s where a lot a Christians kind of drop the ball. You see, sometimes we assume that we already know, that we already know what people outside the church need, man, we even assume that we already know what they want. I remember working in a church that tried to get outreach ideas by taking a survey within the congregation. Now that was fine, but looking back, I bet we would have been a whole lot more successful, I mean, we would have met a lot more needs and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lot more people outside the church, if we’d asked them rather than ourselves. You see, we really need to tune in to the outside world, if we ever want to serve them. And I’ll tell you, that’ll happen when we decide to listen, the second decision we can make.
And third, if this is the role we’re going to play, then some where down the line, we need to decide that we’re going to act, you know, to help in a real way those whom we serve and to respond to the needs we’ve heard. And I’ll tell you, this is really where the rubber hits the road. I mean, we can decide that we’re going to accept the role of servants and we can decide that we’re going to listen until the cows come home, but if we don’t act, we really haven’t done much for Jesus Christ and his Kingdom, have we? And remember, according to Jesus himself, our entire nation will be judged based on how we treat those who need our help. He said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all of his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.’” [Matthew 25:31-34, CEV] You see, compassion really doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t lead to action. But I’ll tell you, I don’t think show this compassion man, it doesn’t have to be big and dramatic. In fact, I believe those little acts of kindness can make a big difference in the lives of the people we’re called to serve. And to show what I’m talking about, this is how the movie Schindler’s List ends.
Helping one person, without strings or expectations, helping him or her because it’s just the right thing to do, that’s our job. You see, to be servants, we can decide to act, and that’s the third decision we can make.
Of course, regardless of what I decide to do, I doubt I’ll be able to duplicate what I saw at the deacons meeting. You see, in my mind, they’re really good at service. And the reason, well, it’s sort like what we’ve been talking about this morning. They’ve decided to accept that they really are servants. And they’ve decided to listen to others, particularly those in need. And they’ve decided to act, you know, to respond to the people they serve by addressing the needs they’ve heard. And I’ll tell you, we can decide to do the same thing ourselves. Of course, this will be a little easier to do if we’ve got some good, hearty soup in our system. Therefore, we can take comfort knowing that Heather is making the chicken noodle, with her own chicken. And Paula is making stuffed peppers, with or without onions. And Diane is cooking up some ham and beans. But who’s making the broccoli cheese?
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