Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, October 19, 2003 - Preaching helps: seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost—day of thanksgiving, Series B

Currents in Theology and Mission, August, 2003

Isaiah 53:4-12

Psalm 91:9-16

Hebrews 5:1-10

Mark 10:35-45

First Reading

The reading from Isaiah is taken from the fourth and final Servant Song (52:13-53:12). While common in Christian parlance, the title "Suffering Servant" does not appear in any of the four Servant Songs. The servant might be Israel, a historical figure such as Moses or Jeremiah, or Christ and the Christian community. These multiple uses speak of the text's richness and vitality. Regardless of the servant's identity, this text names painful issues and announces the good news that God through the Servant is with us in the midst of our pain, brokenness, and alienation.

Hebrews 5:1-10 is the conclusion of a larger passage (3:1-5:10) that develops the theme of Christ as faithful and merciful. The appointed text describes high priests in general (vv. 1-4) and Christ as a priest of Melchizedek's order (vv. 5-10). While other priests are described in terms of their weakness, Christ is devout, obedient and perfect. Verse 8 is better translated, "Since he was a Son...." Christ's obedience came through harsh discipline.

Following Jesus' teaching about enduring suffering, James and John request places of honor next to Jesus. This request is in keeping with Mark's perspective that no one fully understands Jesus until after his suffering and death. The passage consists of the conversation between the Zebedee brothers and Jesus (vv. 35-40), and Jesus' teaching on servanthood to the disciples (vv. 42-45). James and John are interested in their own places of honor rather than in solidarity with the community. Jesus challenges James, John, and all disciples to compare themselves not with each other but with Jesus. Are we able to drink Jesus' cup and share Jesus' baptism of suffering and death?

Pastoral Reflection

"Grant us to sit," James and John ask Jesus, "one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." When the other disciples find out that James and John are trying to secure the top slots for themselves, they become indignant--angry, incensed, irate, offended. And the disciples' complaint is not "Knowing Jesus, how dare they ask such a thing?" but "What about us?"

Like everyone else in their world, the Zebedee brothers measured their worth according to where they stood in relation to others. Like everyone else in our world, so do we. We spend our lives in an ongoing effort to achieve first place. How often life resembles a playground filled with school kids' squabbles or a group of adults vying to be first in the checkout line at a sale! Whether it's doing the work of three jobs in order to hold on to one, or programming our children from little on up in order to secure their future, or cramming our golden years with activity in order to avoid boredom, we strive to be first. And we're left feeling on-guard, watchful, paranoid; for the competition can come from anywhere--work, friends, even family. Or else we decide that it's hopeless to try to be first, and we give up. And we're left filled with apathy and distrust. "Why bother?" we ask. "Who cares?" Commitment is replaced by convenience, and we become afraid of excellence because it might make someone look bad. In either instance stress abounds. If we cannot see this game of "compare and contrast" in our own lives, we can surely see it in the lives of many congregations.

Jesus instructs the disciples (and through them instructs us) that to become great is to become a servant. To become first is to be last. To sit with Jesus is not to be served but to serve, and to give one's life as a ransom for many. Mark is deliberately vague, probably in recognition that each disciple's life of faith and every congregation's life and mission will call them to different challenges. One of the preacher's tasks is to provide the details appropriate to their hearers. As Mark is vague, so is Isaiah. If the servant could be Israel, Moses, Jesus, and the Christian community, it certainly is us. To be great in God's reign is to bear others' infirmities and carry their afflictions, be wounded for their transgressions and crushed for their iniquities.

When we compare ourselves to Jesus and find ourselves wanting, Hebrews reminds us that Jesus did not set himself up as a measuring stick. Jesus merely clarified the task of those already about the business of comparing. For our sake Jesus reverently submitted--to us and to God. Jesus learned obedience through suffering. Rather than the yardstick that condemns us, Jesus became the source of salvation. We do not need to seek seats next to Jesus. Jesus has taken a place among us.