His Glory

Sermon in Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Panama City, Florida, Sunday, October 18, 2015, the Rev Tom Weller. 

Text: Mark 10:35-45 (RSV) The Request of James and John

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus, and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 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?” 39 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; 40 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.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 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. 43 But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The gospel is about expectations.

Good Friday is about expectations.

Sunday morning is about expectations.

From personal experience and observation, it’s clear. At least it’s obvious to me, that Christians are in this game like James and John Zebedee, for what they expect to get out of it — are in church this morning — have “accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. to feel as smugly sure for heaven as if they were already there” — for salvation — to save themselves — either from the fires of hell (if they are terrified of that), or for their mansion in the Father’s house and walk the streets of gold. We are here for what we expect of God, not to hear and become what God expects of us. A perverted gospel that starts with James and John the sons of Zebedee in this morning’s story: Lord, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

The Lord is no fool. “What do you want?” he asks, raising his eyebrows and rolling his eyes. “What is it you want me to do for you?”

We want places of honor when you come into your glory. One on your right and one on your left.

“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus says. Can you drink from my cup? Can you be baptized with my baptism? One on my right and one on my left, are you serious, are you kidding me?

Grant, O Lord, that all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ your Son may live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to come again in glory; who lives and reigns now and forever.

And what a timely reading we have from Hebrews this morning: a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood. We all of us are priests forever, after the order of Melchizedek.

Most gracious God, we give you thanks for your tender love  in sending Jesus Christ to come among us, to be born of a human mother, and to make the way of the cross to be the way of life.

James and John do not understand. After their puzzling conversation with Jesus they especially do not understand. Two thousand years on, you and I understand, but they do not understand. They are on the way to Jerusalem, with great expectations: expectations of Jesus, expectations for Israel, and especially as today’s gospel reveals, great expectations for themselves. In the spirit of Jewish history coming to fulfillment, they sense that they are disciples of the Messiah whom at long last God is raising up to overthrow hated foreign occupation of the Holy Land, to restore the throne of David, and to reestablish the glory of Israel. They have great expectations for sharing in his glory. They are expecting.

Arriving in Jerusalem with high expectations, they will enter the city to the acclamation of the crowd shouting, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest.” At supper in Jerusalem, they will drink from his cup. They will sing the hymn, not knowing the new lyrics: “In the cross of Christ I glory” and they will go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where they will doze while Jesus prays; and where, in the evening fragrance of the flowers of springtime, they will meet — not human expectations but the upside-down, inside-out glory of God as their dreams turn to nightmare, and “all of them desert him and flee.”

This is his glory.

As he is arrested, brutalized by temple authorities by stealth of night, and tried by Pontius Pilate the next day, this is his glory.

As his executioners viciously drive him toward the Place of the Skull, James and John are nowhere to be seen.

This is his glory.

Because none of his friends are there, Roman soldiers will compel a passerby, a stranger who has just come in from the fields, to carry his cross.

This is his glory. 

Humiliated, naked he hangs, honored under the inscription, “King of the Jews.”

This is his glory.

James and John asked to be with him in his glory, but “they crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and one on his left.”

This is his glory.

In excruciating pain, tormented by passersby and by those who hate him — even the women who followed him from Galilee watch from a distance. He is will die alone, in shame, executed for a capital crime. 

This is his glory.

As he gasps and dies, not one of his own, but another stranger, the soldier who crucified him, is there to glorify him. “Truly, this man was the son of God.”

This is his glory —

— not what they expected.

What do you expect of Jesus? Salvation by walking down the aisle and accepting him as your personal Savior? In our gospel this morning, Jesus kicks the garbage can of your expectations upside down: the Son of God is not about what you expect of him, but what he expects of you: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

  

As a Christian, you are baptized into the death and resurrection of the Crucified One. This is his glory, can you live into his baptism? Can you drink from his cup? With James and John Zebedee, you have said that you can and promised that you will.

Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?

Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?

Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?

Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?

Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?

Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?

God help you if you do, because he takes you into the Way of the Cross, and leads you to Calvary’s Hill.

Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?

Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you really?

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? Will you really? Do you realize what you have promised?

We promise so blithely, so off the cuff and casual: do you realize what you have promised? The Way of the Cross is the Way of Life, and this gospel becomes very personal: it’s election time in America. Already showing up in the press and social media online: the most damnable words of hatred against others, no matter which side you pick. It’s time to examine yourself: if you participate in the hatred, you break your covenant with Jesus Christ and dishonor your God. Watch your tongue. Hold your temper. Restrain your fingers as they dance furious and self-certain across the keyboard, lest you shame your Lord and Savior. 

You can do it: you can see Christ in every person. You can be an ambassador for justice and peace. You can respect the dignity of every human being, Red or Blue, black or white, foreign or domestic. Muslim, Christian, Hindu, atheist, agnostic or Jew. 

With God’s help, you can even honor the dignity of insufferably arrogant Christians across America who are as steeped in certitude as the worst of the enemy.

You can glorify Christ with God’s help.

Whatever you expected of Jesus, you are to put it aside, set yourself at naught and ask what He expects of you.

And this will be his glory.

The gospel of the Lord.

This morning's sermon is posted online not pridefully, but to honor my ongoing promise to a dear friend. TW+