Mother Vivian Shelby – The Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost, October 20, 2024

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

So today’s gospel can be divided into two parts. The first part is the conversation between James and John and Jesus. And then the second part is with all of the disciples and Jesus.

So the first part, James and John privately with Jesus have the audacity to say to Jesus, “Hey, teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you to do.” And Jesus, instead of saying (he could have said many things), “That’s incredibly selfish.” No. He says, like a good parent, if you craft your questions properly, “Well, what exactly is it you’re asking me to do? What are you looking for?” And they say boldly and bravely, “We want to be on your right and on your left in heaven.” And Jesus says, “You just don’t have a clue what’s going on. Can you drink the cup? Can you be baptized with the same baptism?” So they still don’t understand that he’s going to die.

So the cup of suffering and the baptism into his death, that’s what they’re asking for. But he says, “You will. You will have suffering. I will die and you’ll be baptized into my death. But there are still some things that only God the Father can decide. So who’s at my right, who’s at my left, I don’t know. It’s not my decision.”

So then we go into the second part. Remember, this was a private conversation. And somehow, the other ten disciples hear that this was going on and they get angry with James and John. So Jesus decides to make it a teaching moment. A moment about power and how to yield power. So he says to all of them, and they’re under Roman rule, right? So they know what the experience is like to have tyrants over them that have unlimited power to make them do whatever they want them to do. So he names that. And then looks at them and says, “But it is not so among you. This is not the way we operate as king.” And he uses himself as an example. “I came not to be served, but to serve others.” And even more than that, he’s going to die and give his life as a price for all of humanity.

So the disciples learn something that day. The community that is reading this, Mark’s community, knows the rest of the story. So they understand that they are being called to those things. And we today can look at it as a call to us.

So James and John were worried and thinking about what they wanted in heaven. It seemed, at least at that moment, to be their focus. So do we ever get distracted by that? What’s it going to be like in heaven? When I get there, if I get there, God willing, will my pets be there? All of my loved ones? All of the people I didn’t love? Who’s going to be there? So we too, as human beings, can get distracted. Because eternal life, as Christians, is our hope. But it is not our purpose. It is not why we’re here.

Our purpose here is the second part. Are we willing to give our life as a price for someone else? Are we willing to give up being served to be the one who’s doing the serving? That’s our purpose. That’s our purpose.

Eternal life can only happen if you know God. And that’s our job. To make sure that everyone has an invitation. An invitation to know God. To know this incredible love of Jesus Christ. The Trinity. The Holy Spirit. And how it can change your life. Now that is worth taking a chance to spread it however you can.

I’m an introvert. You all know that. So I’m not a big Bible-thumper, per se. So it’s subtle. I have relationships with people. I get to meet people. I get to know them. And they ultimately will ask me, How? How have you been through all these things in your life? And you’re happy. You’re calm. And I just tell them the truth. It’s God. It’s God.

So this week I want you to think about that. Are you distracted by the thoughts of what it’s going to be like in heaven? Or am I going to get into heaven? Or are you focused on serving? And serving everyone. All people. No matter who they are. What color their skin is. Who they love. What their economic status is. What religion they are. Who they vote for. And in our baptismal covenant, respect the dignity of every human being. So think about that this week. Are we in a place in our lives where we’re willing to give our life as a ransom for many? Amen.