Christ the King-Epiphany, Wilbraham

The Rev. Martha S. Sipe

October 20, 2024 / 22nd Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 29B

Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee and the disciples of Jesus – they had a nickname.  It was “Sons of Thunder.”  They were, shall we say, a little hotheaded?  Once, when Jesus and his disciples were traveling through Samaria, some of the villagers gave them a less-than-hospitable welcome.  James and John’s response?  They wanted to destroy them.  Like by calling down fire from heaven to obliterate them.  Not a temperate response, to be sure, but then not surprising for ones known as “Sons of Thunder.”  But reading today’s lesson, I wonder if a different nickname might be more appropriate for these two.  Perhaps instead of calling them the “Sons of Thunder,” we should call them the “Sons of Entitlement.”

Really, I mean think about it.  Who did they think they were, going up to Jesus and asking him to do whatever they asked him to do – like Jesus was some genie in a bottle that existed just to grant their wishes.  And that wasn’t the end of it, either.  When Jesus calmly and patiently responded (much more calmly and patiently than I would have responded, can I just say), when Jesus asked them what they wanted, they didn’t mince words.  They had the nerve to say that they wanted him to make one of them sit at Jesus’ right hand in glory, and the other to sit at his left.  “We’d like to be front and center with you, Lord.  Just give us the highest places in your kingdom, if you please.”   It’s a little shocking to hear such bold-faced ambition from the mouths of the disciples.  And it’s more than a little shocking to realize that James and John feel like they’re entitled to special favor – as if spending time with Jesus wasn’t enough, as if being one of the 12 wasn’t enough, as if being in Jesus’ inner circle along with Peter wasn’t enough.  They just wanted to get ahead.

In his last sermon, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed this text, and he called James and John’s desire for greatness, “The Drum Major Instinct.”  But before we throw the “Sons of Entitlement” under the bus, hear Dr. King’s suggestion to examine ourselves first. 

“Let us look calmly and honestly at ourselves, and we will discover that we too have those same basic desires for recognition, for importance… We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade… It’s a good instinct if you don’t distort it and pervert it.  Don’t give it up.  Keep feeling the need for being important.  Keep feeling the need for being first.  But I want you to be first in love.  I want you to be first in moral excellence.  I want you to be first in generosity.

“If you want to be important—wonderful.  If you want to be recognized—wonderful.  If you want to be great—wonderful.  But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness.”(1)

To be the greatest is to be a servant.  To be a drum major in Jesus’ parade is to walk in love, to do as he did, sacrificing one’s own position to raise others up.  To be the greatest means to be first in love, first in moral excellence, and first in generosity.

But how hard is that?  I mean, really.  How hard is it not to seek your own advancement or preservation, but instead to seek the advancement and preservation of the other guy?  It goes completely against the grain.  It feels totally backwards.  We’re hard-wired to try to get ahead.  It’s called survival of the fittest.  But clearly, Jesus’ goal was not survival in this life.  Though he had all the power, all the privilege of the universe, he willingly gave it all away to raise us up.  “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Can you imagine what our world would be like if Christians took seriously Jesus’ invitation to live, not for ourselves, but for others?  

We would welcome into our communities those who are different – 

        and everyone would benefit.

We would welcome into our conversations those with different opinions – 

        and everyone would benefit.

We would vote for the candidates who would advance the most people, and not just our own interests –

        and we would all be raised up.

We would support policies and programs that lifted up those most in need – 

         and we would all be raised up.

      We would give up some of our comforts and conveniences –

                and the whole creation would profit.

      We would give up some of our privilege and share some of our power –

               and the whole fabric of society would profit.

We won’t get it right all the time, of course.  We’ll fall back into entitlement and focus on what we think we deserve rather than what others need.  That’s when we can remember that all the benefits we need are the free gift of God in Christ.  We’ll slip back into our self-indulgent and self-centered ways.  That’s when we count on the grace and mercy of Jesus who did perfectly for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  We’ll get scared that there really isn’t enough to go around and we’ll be tempted to hold tightly to what we’ve got.  That’s when we can remind ourselves that our God is abundantly able to supply everything we need.

“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”  With Jesus’ words in our ears and his love in our hearts, let us be servants to one another.

(1)   http://www.mlkonline.net/speeches-the-drum-major-instinct.html