WHO REALLY IS A CHRISTIAN?

(Preached on Sunday, October 22, 2006)

But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,...                                          -Mark 10:43

 

They were the inner circle of Jesus= followers.

When Jesus wanted to reveal something important about himself or his mission, he pulled Peter, James, and John out of the pack.  These three went with him to the mount of Transfiguration.  They were with him when he went in to heal and raise up the daughter of the synagogue ruler in Capernaum.  They would accompany him to the garden of Gethsemane.  So, it probably did not seem to James and John that they were out of line to ask Jesus for this one special favor.

In fact, one could even argue that they were exhibiting tremendous faith in Jesus by their request, since at this point he did not really have much to offer them in terms of what they were seeking.

What they were seeking was a share of Jesus= power; they wanted to be the numbers 2 & 3 in his organization, with Jesus, of course, being number 1.

It is no wonder that when the other followers heard what they had asked they became angry C after all, they had been with Jesus all this time, too.   They had been faithful, they had given up just as much.  Who did James and John think they were, claim-jumping things like that?!  It is no wonder Jesus had to do some damage control with them all and, once again, remind them what he was all about and what it meant to follow him.

 

They were having real trouble fully grasping the notion that Jesus was doing something totally radical, totally new.

They are still working off their view of the world and reality, of social structures and politics, that they have known all their lives long.

They just think that this new world Jesus is going to set up will be just like the old world, only with new leadership in place.  The bad guys at the head table will be removed, their chairs will be fumigated and God=s new crew will be seated, with Jesus in the number one position and the most loyal members of his campaign staff on either side of him.

Once this change has been accomplished, then C finally! at last! C the good people will commence to redeem the world from top to bottom, beginning from the top.  The ultimate trickle-down effect.

 

AIt doesn=t work that way,@ Jesus tells them one more time.

The new world is not remotely like the old one.

It turns the old one upside down.  The number ones are not the powerful ones having their pictures taken at the head of the table: they are the quiet ones slipping in and out among the guests, refilling wine glasses and laying down clean silverware for the next course.  The great ones are not the dignitaries to the left and right of the ruler; they are the slaves who are stirring pots int he kitchen, testing the temperature of the soup so that it is neither too hot nor too cold for the honored guests.  James and John want Jesus to hurry up and become king of the world, but he has other things on his mind. 

Has everyone been served?  Is all the food on the table?

Does anyone need anything?   AFor the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.@

 

We have heard this teaching so many times that it is all but lost on us.  The end of the line is the best place to be.

The lowliest job is the one to covet.  Those who serve are luckier than those in power and lovers of God get less status, not more.

It is incomprehensible in terms of the world in which we live.  Things simply do not work that way.  The only way to make any sense out of it at all is to think of it as some sort of intermediate stage, like boot camp or parole.  Do your time as a servant with no whining and win two good seats in the kingdom to come.

 

AIt doesn=t work that way,@ Jesus tells them one more time.

He is not pretending to be a servant until the time comes for him to whip off his disguise and climb onto his throne; he is a servant through and through.  Jesus came to set up a new world, but he did it with a paradoxical, left-handed power.

Recall what Jesus does in the Gospel of Mark.

One minute, he screams away the demonic forces that torment human minds, telling them to hush.  The next minute, he gathers little children and lepers into the embrace of God.  One day he shouts at the wind and waves and all the turbulent powers of an unruly creation.  Another day he rides a humble donkey into a hostile city. 

Once Jesus puts his fingers in the ears of someone who had never heard the good news of God.  Immediately he uses his words as a scalpel for cutting away the cancerous lies that keep people from the health which God intends. 

In every way, Jesus has come to make a difference in this painful, haunted world.  He has come to serve, not to sit on a throne with dull-minded disciples on his right and his left.

He has come to give his life as a ransom to the powers and principalities that enslave, oppress and abuse people.  He has come to set people free from all that can damage, hurt, or destroy them.

 

That is what Jesus is all about.  That life is his glory.

And so he asks James and John, are you able to do that?

Are you able to drink that cup?  Are you able to share that baptism?  Because that is what it means to follow Jesus.

 

Notice what it doesn=t mean.  Jesus doesn=t say to his disciples, in fact I cannot find anywhere in any of the gospels where it suggests that he says, ABelieve the following five things about me and you=ve got it.@

He does not have them read a set of principles or propositions or doctrines or dogma or theses and ask them to sign-off on them.

No.  What Jesus asks of his followers are three simple things. 

First: AFollow me!@  In other words, watch me, learn from me, imitate me, do what I do.

Second: ALove God and love your neighbor and love each other, too.@  That is what I do C I give my live back to God out of love for God, returning God=s love, grace, and blessings, and I do that by serving you and all my neighbors, sharing God=s love for them with them.

Finally: ABe my witnesses.@  That is, don=t keep this marvelous, meaningful life a secret, but tell everyone you meet, everyone who asks you why you do what you do, about God=s love and acceptance and invite others to live this life with you.

 

To be a follower of Jesus is like being a medical intern.  To become a doctor you start out as an intern and you follow a doctor around every day, learning how to diagnose illness and disease, watching how to treat patients and care for their bodies, learning the procedures and skills, practicing under the watchful supervision of one who has been doing it much longer than you.

 

So who, really, is a Christian?  It has very little to do with what you believe about God or Jesus or religion.

It has everything to do with how your live your life.

Are you seeking to live your life the way Jesus lived his life?

Are you doing the things that Jesus did?  Are you living your life for yourself, or for the sake of others?  Are you living a life of service?

What that might mean is different for each one of us.