Sermon preached for Bishop’s Fall Convocation Closing Worship.

Mark 10:32-45

It is easy to be hard on James and John in this morning’s scripture passage. Jesus has just predicted his death for the third time, the most detailed description, and they ask about being seated at his right and left hand, in Jesus’ glory. What are they thinking?

The truth is that this is not strange behavior, even or maybe especially for revolutionaries. Remember, that’s what they believe they are witnessing–a revolution, a change in power, and they are not completely wrong. It’s just that Jesus’ way of turning the world upside down is not what they anticipate, even when he has just spelled it out for them.

Consider those jockeying for power shortly after this country’s revolution. If you have seen Hamiltonon stage or on the screen, picture everyone in the first act. They may have their differences, but they are all so passionate about the revolution, being finished as colonies and continuing the American experiment. Act One ends with Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr both on stage singing to their newborn babies: “You will come of age with our young nation. We’ll bleed and fight for you. We’ll make it right for you. If we lay a strong enough foundation. We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you.” There seems to be so much unity.

Alas, Act Two is all about Hamilton, Burr, and Thomas Jefferson jockeying for power. There is palpable tension between their love for the new nation, the vision for what could be, and who is going to leave the greatest legacy, or as the song goes, “who’s gonna be in the room where it happens.”

We could think it’s just revolutionaries like James and John and the Founding Fathers who get caught up in the desire for glory. On careful reflection, this passage always hits a little close to home. I remember the first year Trinity New Hope affordable housing participated in the Avenues for Hope campaign, a state-wide online fundraiser for nonprofits involved in housing and homelessness. Prize money is given to organizations who have the most dollars or most unique donors statewide and by region. 

There were a few days towards the end of that first campaign that Trinity New Hope was neck and neck with a nonprofit from Boise, for third place in our region. Getting third would have meant another $1000. I got just a little obsessed with the glory of third prize. I finally laid back on my pillow and decided it was ridiculous. We were all working to impact housing and homelessness after all! It was a strong reminder of the allure of glory.

James and John are not the only disciples enticed by visions of their own glory or of a triumphant reign. The other ten disciples fume over the brothers’ bid to be the most prominent. Jesus corrects their vision by holding up the conventions of the Roman Empire’s political authorities as negative examples. They regularly “overpower” and “tyrannize” others. They rely on coercion and control to maintain their dominance.  

Earlier in Mark we read the story of John the Baptizer’s death. In John’s case, the authorities’ self-interest, and self-protection trump justice to ensure John’s death. Jesus’ trial will display a similar kind of strong-armed political theater.

In absolute contrast, greatness among Jesus’ followers is measured by their ability to live as servants. That life will probably also include suffering oppression at the hands of those who wield power. Jesus will embody weakness in his trial and death. He will affirm the promise of his glorification and at the same time relinquish the power to prevail over others.

Jesus says, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Jesus’ death will be an example for such a way of living. His death will exemplify a radical rejection of authority and privilege. What makes the rejection so radical is the identity of the one who does it. It is Jesus, God’s own uniquely authorized agent.
 

Consider all that that one word means—ransom.  Jesus’ mention of a “ransom” means that his death will be more than just an inspiring example or a martyr’s tragic protest against an unjust system. The word suggests that his death does something; it secures a release. “Ransom” does not mean a specific type of payment, as this passage has often been interpreted, especially when paired with the RCL complimentary text from Isaiah 53.

Here, Jesus is talking with his disciples about power and servanthood. A ransom is a liberation created by divine strength, not by payment. Jesus declares that God, through Jesus’ death, will free people from oppression and captivity to another power. We had a foreshadowing of this earlier in the gospel, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless the strong man is first bound; then indeed his house may be plundered.” Well, here comes the plundering and liberation, but not in the way anyone anticipated. 

The baptism he is baptized with is the way of the cross. The cup he drinks is the way of crucifixion by a world ruled by domination. Jesus has come to serve and to give his life away for you and the entire cosmos. Through Jesus’ death, God frees you from oppression and captivity to another power.

The disciples’ misunderstandings would make us think that they never did learn the discipleship Jesus was teaching. We might thing they never did understand that Jesus freed them to serve others. But the disciples did learn. The early church did preach Jesus’ gospel and upside-down way of life where the first are last and the last are first. And such discipleship has been carried down through the centuries. 

Consider our hymn of the day. So often poetry and art and music can say more than a well-formed essay. In the first verse, Pastor Susan Briehl names God’s glory multiple times. In the second verse we sing, “power without peer, you bend to us in weakness, emptied, you draw near.” Then, “beauty unsurpassed, you are despised, rejected, scorned, you hold us fast.” And then in the final verse, “life that never ends, you show your love by dying, dying for your friends, and we behold you living.” We sing succinctly the paradox of Jesus crucifixion and resurrection which liberates you and me from the forces of evil and liberates us for the servanthood Jesus modeled.

This liberation that you know so well as leaders in the church is like nothing else. It’s why you are all still in this. You trust the promises of the font and altar, the promises for you and those in your care. And you and I get to be the stewards of this liberating message the world still so desperately needs. What a calling and what a gift. Thanks be to God.