Who's on first?

 Scripture   Mark 10:35-45

10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 10:36 And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?”  10:37 And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."

10:38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

10:39 They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 10:40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

10:41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.

10:42 So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 10:43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,  10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

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Today’s passage is yet another example of the cluelessness some of the disciples could exhibit.  We have to wonder, sometimes, why he picked these guys.  

You know, it is baseball playoff season.  Last night one of the teams in the National League won the pennant, and the World Series is coming up.   I know these things and I don’t even follow baseball.  It is highly possible that baseball has given us one of the best examples of cluelessness outside of the Bible. I give you, “Who’s on First.”   (two people perform a short section of the Abbott and Costello routine.)

James and John really seemed to have no more idea what Jesus was talking about than Costello did in this famous comedy routine.   They thought they were asking to be his closest advisors, his lieutenants, as it were, when he defeated the Romans and became known to the whole world as the King of Israel.  Whether they simply hadn’t been listening or they were just too self absorbed to hear what he had been saying, no one really knows.   Just before they asked this question, Jesus had said to them, “33 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; 34 they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.”  And in the moments after this, his third time telling them about his coming death and resurrection, these two come forward and say, “We want to sit at your right and left hands when you come into your glory.”   Reading this, we aren’t sure whether to laugh or cry or just shake our heads.   And the other disciples got mad.   Maybe they were all thinking the same thing, wanting to be the ones closest to Jesus, but James and John were the only ones who had the nerve to go up and ask for what they wanted.  

You know, we laugh - or shake our heads - at these two sons of Zebedee.  But I think we really aren’t that much different from them.  We may not be asking to sit at Jesus’ left and right hands, but how many of us sort of pray that First Christian Church can be restored to its former glory?  We were a big, influential church.  Our Bible study groups overflowed the building - had to meet in other places around town, because even in this big, beautiful building there wasn’t enough room for all who came.  There are pictures in the office of hundreds of people out in front of the building, and that’s just the Sunday school classes - in 1933.  Today, instead of hundreds, we count 35 or 50 in worship, maybe 10 in Sunday School, and we get really excited when a special event fills the sanctuary.   We would love to “grow the church” back to the way it was in 1933 or 1963.  But It is no longer 1933, or 1963, or any of those long ago glory days.  The world has changed.  How people view church membership has changed.  “Regular attendance” no longer means showing up every Sunday like it used to, when I was growing up.  Today it might mean showing up once a month or every other week - because there are so many other demands on our time.   Used to be nothing else happened on Sundays but church.  And if I’m being honest, sometimes I think if I just preached well enough I could fill this building.  Or if Leah managed to recruit half the high school then all their families would come and fill this building.  Or if Bring a Friend Sunday resulted in everyone showing up with at least one person who had never been here before and stayed from that day forward and brought their families, and filled this building . . .  Wait, what if every Sunday was Bring a Friend Sunday?   hmmmm.    We may not ask for these things out loud, as James and John asked to sit at Jesus’ left and right hands.  The other disciples didn’t ask, but I bet they were thinking about it, just like we think about it.  And some of us sit here, you know, and gather in meetings, and we plan ways to stay alive.  Cause we don’t know what the future will bring for a small church that used to be a big one.   And we are afraid for the future.  

The disciples were afraid.  And maybe, just maybe, James and John were just trying to deal with their fear, looking for a future that was secure.  They were on their way to Jerusalem and their rabbi, their Lord, kept telling them, “I’m going to die there.” And they didn’t want to hear it, but they knew that the Temple leaders opposed him.  They knew that his preaching was really upsetting some powerful people.  And they knew that John the Baptist had lost his head not that long ago for preaching against Herod.  They probably weren’t that stupid.  But they were that afraid.  And when we are afraid, we do every thing we can to make ourselves feel safe.  So, James and John asked to be close - at Jesus’ left and right hands - And Jesus said to them, “Can you do what what I’m doing?”  And they said, “sure we can!”  Because they didn’t quite understand what he was asking.  

Many times, when this passage is preached, we look at Jesus’ words to these sons of Zebedee as a threat.  We often interpret “You will drink the cup I am drinking,” as meaning “Being a leader in this group is not what you are hoping for.  Instead of power and wealth, you, too, will die a horrible, painful death.”  But what if Jesus is simply reassuring them?  What if this is not so much a threat as a promise?  What if what Jesus is telling them is actually, “Your fear will not always drive you, as it does now.  You will be empowered by the baptism of the Spirit to follow me into places you cannot imagine right now.  You will drink of the cup I drink from - the cup of salvation, of healing - and you will know peace in your heart.  You will be faithful, no matter what comes to pass.”   What if that is what we are supposed to hear in this passage?  What if Jesus is saying, in yet another way, “Do not be afraid.”

Jesus tells them again, as he has told them before, that whoever would be first must be last.   He says, “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,  10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  

Once again, Jesus is asking his disciples, his followers - us - to give everything, with no promise of a reward of the sort we typically think of.   Not “give and you will be rich and successful,” but “give because you love me.”  Not “go out into the community and do good, and I will fill these pews.”  But “do good because you love me.”  Serve others, because you love them.  Give of yourself - whatever you can give.  If you have money, give money.  If you have time, give your time.  If you have special talents, share those.   

Jesus only wants one thing from us - everything.  Our hearts.  Our love.  Our service.  Our lives.   Jesus gave it all for us, and asks us to do the same.   So ask yourselves, my brothers and sisters, what can I give?  

Camels and Rich Folks

Scripture   Mark 10:17-27  NRSV

10:17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

10:18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.   10:19 You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’"  10:20 He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 10:21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

10:22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

10:23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”  10:24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."10:26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?”

10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

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I always feel a little bad for the rich man in this story.  I mean, it is possible that he goes away shocked and grieving because he simply doesn’t want to give up the lifestyle of the rich and famous 1st century style.  But given the culture of the time, it is unlikely that this guy is a young, single billionaire buying fancy chariots, maintaining bachelor pads in Jerusalem, Athens and Rome, and frittering away the wealth that was given to him by dear old dad,  like good old Joe Camel here.   Chances are that a wealthy man of Jesus’ time is married with children, and is responsible not only for his immediate family, but also his widowed mother and any unmarried sisters, all the servants in the household, and all the clients and employees who depend upon him for their income.  We might think of him as the owner of a small manufacturing company or a ranch upon whom his extended family and many employees, as well as contractors and suppliers depend for their livelihood.  He has to weigh his desire to serve as Jesus has asked him to against the consequences that would befall all of those people if he just walked away from it all - sold everything and gave it to the poor.   

It is pretty much a given that this particular man, a man who followed the Law of Moses, tithed.  It would have been unthinkable for him NOT to give 10% of his income - and not just 10%, but the very best 10% of what he had.   Not for him the gift of used clothing, dented cans of peaches, and those shoes that somehow never looked as good on my feet as they did that day in the store.  No.  He gave the strongest of his lambs, the choicest cloth his maidservants wove, the juiciest grapes, the most blemish free grains, plus 10% of any cash that had come into his household.  He gave his best - first - before he took any for himself.  Not for him questions of whether to give 10% of his gross or net income.   Because, and this is the part that we usually miss somehow, that 10%, the tithe, is the minimum required giving.  Not the “try to work up to it” giving.  But the minimum required giving.  Quite literally, the Temple tithe was income tax.   The rich man of our story most likely also made gifts and offerings over and above his tithe - clothing for the priests and the poor, incense, money.  And then there were the required sacrifices for himself and his household - doves and rams, cakes of purest flour, jars of extra extra virgin olive oil, and so on.   A Law abiding Jew would have done all of these things.   

So it isn’t like he just popped a check in the offering plate once a month.  But what is being demanded of him now is that he give more.  That he give up everything he holds precious to follow Jesus.   And that was going to be too hard.  So he walked away, grieving.  

This is isn’t the only time Jesus has said that people need to give up everything they care about in order to follow him.  He said, “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29).  And even, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)   

Yet, we know from the stories of Jesus’ life that he didn’t hate people with money.  In many ways he depended upon them.  The women who followed him, for the most part, had independent incomes and were able to buy food and so on.  He had friends who owned houses and who put him and his disciples up for the night and fed them all.  Joseph of Arimathea was very rich, and he donated his own tomb to be Jesus’ resting place after the crucifixion.  So if Jesus didn’t hate rich people, what is he really asking of us here?     

You know, most of us are rich people.  I know, we don’t feel rich.  When we think “rich” we look at Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg and the Kardashians and folks like that - and Joe Camel here.   But we, most of us, are rich.  We have enough to eat.  We have a place to live.  We have transportation that gets us where we need to go.  We have families, friends, jobs, hobbies - things that are important to us.  We dedicate our lives to causes that are meaningful to us - Animal Shelters, Cancer funds, children’s programs, feeding programs, literacy programs, prison ministry, social justice work of all sorts.   We do things to help benefit those who are not as well off as we are - and that is pretty much the definition of rich.    What if suddenly we walked away from our parents, grandparents, spouses, children, grandchildren, and walked off our jobs and sold our houses and cars and gave all the money to the poor?  How would we serve Jesus then?  How could we support the church and its ministries?  How could we help the homeless and feed the hungry, if we ourselves became homeless and hungry?   

We couldn’t.  Period.  So what do we do?  How do we, as rich folks, follow Jesus?  Because he said “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”  And while there are all kinds of rationalizations about camels and needles - some scholars say Jesus really meant it was hard (but not impossible) for a camel to get through this one very narrow gateway into the city of Jerusalem, thus rich people could get into heaven if they were really really good - I believe he meant exactly what he said.  It is easier for a camel to go through the literal eye of a needle than for those who are attached to their lives and their stuff to be part of the kingdom of heaven.   If you look at all those other things he said, they all boil down to this - if any person or any thing is more important to you than following Jesus is, then you cannot live in the kingdom of heaven.   

First, I guess, it’s important to consider that when Jesus talked about the kingdom of heaven he was not usually talking about in the sky by and by after we die heaven that we usually think of.  He was talking about living on earth as it is in heaven.  Living here, in the world, as if we were sitting at God’s feet with all the citizens of heaven.  Caring for and loving one another - friends and strangers and even enemies.  Reconciling with those who have hurt us or whom we have hurt.  Because I’m pretty sure that in heaven, folks who lived as enemies on earth are no longer filled with the hatred and anger that drove them before.  Living like that here, on earth, in our daily lives, that is living in God’s kingdom.  And it’s really hard to live in God’s kingdom if we are attached to stuff and people more strongly than we are attached to God.

For example:  A customer service rep was helping a customer activate a new phone for a family member.  In the background he could hear much screaming and carrying on by another family member who thought they should get the new phone, and kept threatening to break it so no one could have it.  That person is not living in the kingdom of God.  In the kingdom of God, if one person receives a blessing, her friends and family rejoice for her.   In the kingdom of God, we are grateful for what we have, and we want to share the blessings we have received with others.   

It’s hard to give up our attachment to stuff.   Even if we really want to live simple, uncluttered lives, dedicated to Christ - there’s always that really cool thing, that new piece of tech, that upgrade to our game, that shiny sparkly new something wonderful, that book, that piece of music, that new kitchen gadget, that new power tool  . . . and let’s face it, that new sparkly thing is much sexier than putting the money in the collection plate at church.  Cause we like stuff, and we can see stuff, and use it, or eat it, or wear it.  It’s hard to see where the money in the plate goes.   

The money in the plate keeps the lights on, so we can see each other in here.  It pays all the boring, unsexy, bills and expenses that you have at home - water and gas, property tax, and insurance.  It pays salaries and buys the day to day necessities that come with running an office.  Those are ongoing, all the time, month to month, regular boring expenses that never go away - like you pay at home.  The money in the plate also supports missionaries overseas, church camps in our Region, help agencies right here in Selma, and so much more.   The money in the plate keeps this little part of Christ’s family doing his work in the world.   The money in the plate helps us bring the kingdom of God to earth.    

What would happen if we all behaved like the rich man in the story?  Not the going away grieving cause he couldn’t give up his life part - but the tithing and gifting part?    Carolyn Winfrey Gillette wrote a song that speaks to that question.  My brothers and sisters, please stand and sing with me “Giving God, We Pause and Wonder.” 

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Hymn Giving God, We Pause and Wonder

Tune:  “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

Lyrics: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Songs of Grace:  New Hymns for God and Neighbor 2009

Used with permission

 

You love US?

Psalm 8 Common English Bible (CEB) 

8 

Lord, our Lord, how majestic
    is your name throughout the earth!
    You made your glory higher than heaven!

2 

From the mouths of nursing babies
    you have laid a strong foundation
    because of your foes,
    in order to stop vengeful enemies.

3 

When I look up at your skies,
    at what your fingers made—
    the moon and the stars
    that you set firmly in place—

4 

        what are human beings
            that you think about them;
        what are human beings
            that you pay attention to them?

5 

You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
    crowning them with glory and grandeur.

6 

You’ve let them rule over your handiwork,
    putting everything under their feet—

7 

        all sheep and all cattle,
        the wild animals too,

8 

        the birds in the sky,
        the fish of the ocean,
        everything that travels the pathways of the sea.

9 

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

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Today is World Communion Sunday, and here, at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Selma, California, we think that’s kind of a big deal.  So today we are doing things a little differently than usual.  We had a processional, carrying in the bread and cup and Bible, to remind ourselves of the importance of Word and the Table.  We are singing songs from all around the world, even in languages we don’t know, to show our relationship with the church where ever it exists.    We have declared today Bring a Friend Sunday, and invited friends and relatives, neighbors and co-workers, to join us for worship.  Today we are celebrating God’s love for humanity.  

What are human beings that you think about them?  

What are human beings that you pay attention to them?  

The Psalmist has a point.  I mean, really?  What are we to the creator of everything?    When we look at the sky, at the planets and stars, at the snow covered mountains, at the immensity of the seas, at the perfection of the tiny atom, when we look at all of the strange and beautiful creatures that God created, we have to wonder why we should even matter?   

We matter because God made us in God’s own image.  Every one of us, every human, is a reflection of God, a child of God.  In the eyes of God, no one, no person, is more important or more beloved than any other.  We may have trouble with that concept because of the way the world sees things, but in God’s eyes, we are all beloved.   In the human realm it is easy to see that some believe themselves to be more important than others.   It is easy to see that some are held to be of greater or lesser worth than others.  But that’s the human world, not God’s world.  In God’s world there are no races or classes or genders - no Gentile or Jew, no slave or free, no man or woman - but only human beings, frail and fallible, but oh so dearly loved.    God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to teach us how to be reconciled with God, how to return God’s love for us, and how to share that love with all of our brothers and sisters.   And because the human world fears and hates that which it does not understand, Jesus died at the hands of men who feared the loss of their own power.    Because Jesus was human like us, his suffering and death on the cross, his sacrifice, became the foundation upon which his Church was built.  

But before he died, he instituted a practice - a sacrament, if you will - sharing a meal with his beloved disciples, and said, “as often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me”.   In the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we take those instructions from Jesus very seriously and we share this meal every time we come together for worship.  And we share it with everyone present, just as Jesus did on that last night.  Even with the one who would betray him, who might have been considered unworthy.   Because you see, we don’t believe anyone is unworthy of God’s love. 

Our denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was founded around the belief that the Lord’s Table should be open to all who come to share this meal of love.    In about 1808, Thomas Campbell, a Presbyterian minister, was carrying the Good News into small communities on the Western frontier of the US (Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky) where there were no established churches.  He came into these settlements to preach and marry folks and perform baptisms for the children of the folks he had just married (There were no churches on the frontier, remember? Often it had been years since they last saw a preacher.)  But one thing he could not do was offer communion to those who were not Presbyterian in good standing, and could prove their belief in and understanding of the Apostles Creed.   If you were in that frontier community but you were a Baptist or a Methodist or some other sort of Christian, you were not allowed to come to the Table.  That upset him, and so, even though it was against the rules, he began to serve everyone who came.   When the Presbytery who had sent him into the frontier heard this, of course, they kicked him out - suspended his credentials.  Which didn’t stop him, of course.  He started a church where the Table was open, and no creed was required as a test of faith.

Meanwhile, back in Scotland, his son Alexander had completed seminary and, with his mother and siblings, was preparing to join his father in the US, when Communion Sunday came around.  Alexander was easily able to prove his belief in and understanding of the Creed and he was given the token that would allow him to receive Communion in the Presbyterian Church.  But there was a man there, who was not able to prove he deserved the privilege of coming to the Table, and Alexander had a problem with that.  So he gave the man his token.  Arriving in the US, he discovered that he and his father had come to similar conclusions about the Table and creeds, and together they founded a movement, a church, in which no one is required to prove they believed the right stuff in order to come to the Lord’s Table.  “No creed but Christ,” they said, and we still hold to that.   Today we proclaim that, “We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.”   All are welcome, and all means ALL. 

Another difference between Disciples and many other traditions is that no ordained minister is required to preside at the table.   Ordained ministers in the early days of our church were usually itinerant, and might not be there every Sunday.  But we do share Communion every Sunday, whether or not an ordained person is present, so the elders of congregations regularly presided at the table.  That practice varies from congregation to congregation - in some the Elders preside, in others it’s the pastor.   Each congregation does this in the way they prefer.  It is, therefore, well known that you might be a Disciple if whenever you visit a different Disciples congregation you learn a new way to do communion.  In this congregation most weeks the Elders preside and the Deacons serve, although this week things will be a little different.   Today, because we have three stations, where the bread and cup will be available, each representing another part of the world, I will do the words of institution and prayer and serve the bread and cup at the front Table, and the Elders will serve at the other two stations.   The Deacons will help direct you to one station or another, to Africa or Mexico or China, depending on where you sitting.  You will take a piece of the bread that is offered, dip it in the cup, and then eat.  If you cannot come forward, someone will bring it to you, so don’t worry.  No one will be left out of the Lord’s Supper.   Because everyone deserves to participate in this remembrance of God’s love for us.  

Just as we welcome everyone to the Table every Sunday, so too we welcome everyone to worship whom God has made in God’s image, which is all of us.   In some congregations and traditions there are rules about who can participate in various aspects of the life of the church.  But that’s not the case here.  No matter who you are, you are welcome here.  You are worthy.  You are loved.

There are those who say that coming to this Table weekly is too often, that it becomes routine and loses importance.  But really, how often is too often to experience God’s love?   This Table is a way that we remember, every single time that we come together, that we are loved.  This Table is a way that we remember humanity is so important to God that he sent his son to show us the way to him.  This Table is a symbol of God’s “I love you,” just as wedding and engagement and promise rings are symbols of human love for one another.    

The Psalmist asks “who are we, that you should care?”  And God says, you are my children, my beloved, whom I love so much that I sent you my son.   And here, at this Table, we remember that, every week.  Every week, we experience God’s love through the bread of life and the cup of salvation.

My brothers and sisters, please stand and join in singing the words the Psalmist gave us, “How Majestic is your Name!” 

Hymn How Majestic is Your Name Hymnal 63