Rev. Scott Summerville

And 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.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And 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; 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.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:35-45

What do you want?

What is it that you desire?

What do you long for in your heart of hearts?

What would make you truly happy?

I was in a department store, waiting at the checkout line. Standing near the line there was a mother and her daughter. I guess the little girl was a year old or a bit more, just at the age where the child can stand and walk or toddle around. The mother held the child in her arms and then tried to set her down on her own feet. As the child’s feet touched the floor, she let out a huge yell. WAAAAHHHH!!!! The mother laughed and picked her up and then let her down again. As her toes touched the floor she hollered so the whole store could hear: WAAAAAAHH!!!! After three or four rounds of this game, mama picked her up and held her – the kid got her way. I thought, “Wow, there’s a whole big feisty human being inside that little bitty body of that baby girl. And she knows what she wants and how to express herself to get it.”

Do you know what you want?

If we were to take a field trip down to the crib room right now, and if we were to interview the youngsters and ask them, “What do you want?” They would be able to tell us what they want – at least at that particular moment. “I want the toy that she is playing with!” “I want a cookie!” “I want my mommy!” There is an age at which we know exactly what we want.

But if I were to ask you in this moment, “What do you want?” I doubt very much whether most of us could answer as quickly as the children in the crib room. Ah, if only we knew what we truly want.

I was talking recently with someone who is under a lot of pressure. This person said to me, “There are four dimensions of my life that are extremely important to me. There is my wife. There is my work. There are my friends. And there is the house, the car, the lawn, finances and all that personal business. “ (This person does not have children.) After listing those four things he said, “ I only have time for two of them.” Well, that is a bit of a problem, is it not? It may be a problem you are quite familiar with. If I want more things than I have time to accomplish, then in some sense I still do not really know what I want.

Since this is October, we are in the thick of the baseball playoffs. The stadium is filled. Tens of thousands of people crowd the stands. It’s late in the game, the score is close, the winning run is on deck; the count is 3 and 2; the world hangs on the next pitch. In the stadium and at home watching or listening to the radio, millions of human hearts are beating faster; thousands of gallons of adrenaline are being produced as a result of eighteen men playing a game. People are holding onto each other. Many are so filled with emotion they close their eyes; the passage of time, that slow baseball passage of time is excruciating; here it comes… the pitch! Depending upon whether it is a strike out or a hit, millions of lives will be instantly affected. People will react in that moment with the passionate intensity of someone giving birth or hearing of a death — the body chemistry is all scrambled up; emotions are flying around like a swarm of bees. It is a great laboratory of human desire based upon a small object being thrown ninety feet.

That moment the pitcher goes into his windup, millions of people know exactly what they want. Maybe that is part of the appeal of watching sports – when our team is playing, at least for a few passionate moments we know exactly what we want. We know exactly what will make us happy… At least for a moment, and hour, or a day.

We have been reading from the Gospel of Mark in recent weeks. Each of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, has its own particular style and emphasis. Each one presents the disciples in a slightly different light. Mark probably presents the most negative picture of the disciples; Jesus is always having to correct them, admonish them, and remind them of what he is all about.

The story today from chapter 10 is just one of many of these episodes in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus has set his course to go to Jerusalem and to endure the cross. He has taught his disciples that it is the path of service, the path of suffering love that he has chosen and that he has asked his followers to choose.

Despite hearing this message a thousand times, the disciples on this day want something very different. They want personal power, glory and success. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus, and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus told them, “You do not know what you are asking.”

And he told them for the thousand and firsd time what he was all about: “…the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
We want you – to do for us – whatever we – ask of you.
Ego – ego – ego.
I want… I want … for me… for me…

The other day I heard someone complaining about health care reform. This person said that the government was going to take his their health insurance and deny him the surgery he needed and basically ruin his life. I question the factual basis of some of these claims, but the person seemed quite convinced of the truth of them. Since this person had identified himself as a Christian I said, “I hear that you have these concerns about your health care, but let me ask you, as a Christian, what about the fact that millions of your fellow citizens do not have health insurance and do not have any of the sorts of benefits that you are worried about losing? How do you feel about that as a Christian?” It is amazing how our national healthcare debate has come to be framed in terms of: I want… I want…. for me.. Me… me… The message of Jesus is always pointing us to a place that is bigger than “ME.”
I heard an interesting comment by a scholar last week who has analyzed our culture and the attitude that got us into the financial crisis. Of course we know that the politicians, and the bankers, and the Wall Street investors are to blame for the crisis, but this scholar added another category of persons at fault. She said preachers must bear part of the blame. Yes, preachers! She argued that there were many people who committed themselves financially way beyond any realistic possibility for themselves, because they kept hearing those preachers who preach what’s called The Prosperity Gospel, telling them every Sunday, “God wants you to have a bigger house; God wants you to have an in-ground swimming pool; live right with the Lord, and support my ministry, and all these material blessings shall come to you.” Many people got in way over their heads financially, because someone told them that going deeply into debt is an act of faith. God will pay the mortgage!

I want… I want… I want…. For me…. Me….. Me…. And Jesus said, “Follow me and you can have anything you want.” That’s not what it says in my Gospel.

…they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking…..You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve…

How would you respond if you suddenly had to take care of a sick relative – a totally dependent person – a parent, child, spouse, or partner? Would your ego be able to handle it? For many of you this is not an abstract question. Would you be able to move your life into servant mode – would your ego be able to handle the transition? If you believe the messages of our consumer culture that the meaning of life lies in the consumption and enjoyment of products, you will be crushed by the challenge of living in a way that is focused on service to another. But if you are steeped in the message of Jesus – I am among you as one who serves – whoever would be great among you must be your servant – then you will have at least some preparation, if you are called upon to set aside your pleasure for the sake of another.

Today an infant was baptized. The baptism of a child is a happy time in the church. We would love to have a baptism every Sunday. The baptism of a child is also an opportunity for clarity. If it were not for children, if it were not for that deep-in-the-gut, passionate, all-out love we have for our children and grandchildren, then we could simply live for ourselves, our own satisfaction, our own pleasure. It would not matter so much what shape the world is in 50 or 100 years from now.

Our children – and I don’t just mean our biological children – we may or may not have biological children, but in the church we all have lots of children – and our children are our anchors in the future. They link us beyond the lifetime of our material bodies; they link us beyond our personal mortal life spans and our own personal wants and desires in this moment.

A few years ago an ecologist spoke at this church on Earth Day. He is an engineer and a scientist, but his core message was that the future of the planet Earth for us humans now depends upon whether we can actually live out the spiritual principles we have professed for millennia. Material and scientific achievements alone will not save us, he said. It will take those old spiritual principles of compassion, service, and community spirit. It will require a spiritual vision, because the great challenge facing humanity is not where the stock market will be the end of 2009 or what my retirement account will look like twenty years from now; our great challenge is to address the question, “What kind of world will we leave for our children’s children’s children’s children’s children?”

Shalom, Salaam, Geace and Peace to you