Sunday Messages

"Praise the LORD, my soul and forget not all his benefits"

--Psalm 103:2 [TNIV].
 

Soul = from the Greek psyche, the "breath of life."

It is my desire as Christ's undershepherd to share bits and pieces of my soul. I am sharing weekly, words of encouragement that help to stimulate the unfinished soul in all Jesus-followers.  It is my mission to serve suffering people by offering words of encouragement, comfort and hope through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

When we get thirsty, we simply guzzle down cold liquid and go!  We’re not thirsty anymore.  The body, however, thinks of thirst in a much different way.  I recently came across an interesting concept regarding the body and thirst.  The hypothalamus is the region of the brain primarily responsible for monitoring the body’s level of water, sensing an increased concentration of salt in the bloodstream.
 

Our unfinished soul experiences its own kind of thirst.  Those deep, inner longings we feel are simply the soul signaling to us that it needs something—comfort, affirmation, love.  Our soul is designed to consume one thing and one thing only: God.  All other earthly pursuits to quench our thirst do just the opposite.  Things we think will quench our thirst are simply loaded down with more “salt” of self-doubt, frustration, covetousness and pride. 
 

For example, if my pursuit in life is to have physical well-being in order to accomplish all the important things in life, then this thirst will not be quenched when my body is being attacked by cancer.  This past week the doctor reported my latest test results in my cancer treatment process.  The doctor said that he was “cautiously optimistic.”  Well, I have some frustration and fear when it comes to fully understanding the diagnosis of “cautiously optimistic.”   However, if God is my main pursuit, then I can drink in the cold liquid of his presence to quench the thirst I have for love, purpose, and hope for my life when it comes to physical well-being.
 

Only God is pure, clean and deeply satisfying to our unfinished soul.  Only God meets every need.  Only God ends the hopeless search for the soul’s true comfort of love, purpose and hope.  The psalmist David cried out in the Desert of Judah…
 

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” --Psalm 63:1.
 

Only God.  David kept those two words echoing in his mind.  What is our main pursuit?  What are we really thirsting for today?  Let’s echo in our minds the words “Only God!”
 

An unfinished soul,
Pastor Bob
 

 

 "Praise the LORD, my soul and forget not all his benefits" --Psalm 103:2 [TNIV].

Soul = from the Greek psyche, the "breath of life."

It is my desire as Christ's undershepherd to share bits and pieces of my soul.  These collectibles will hopefully provide encouragement to others who are seeking to nourish their own souls.  Even though God created me perfect in his image--formed and fashioned me with care--my soul is still unfinished. My Manufacturer is continuing to shape me so that I might one day be like Jesus.  I am sharing weekly, words of encouragement that help to stimulate the unfinished soul in all Jesus-followers.  It is my mission to serve suffering people by offering words of encouragement, comfort and hope through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

These collectibles are short. But then life is rarely an orderly compilation of large blocks of time.  Life is composed mostly of small, ill-fitting happenstances.  Life is not often seen as an architectural wonder made possible by meticulous blueprints.  Rather, I've experienced in my walk with God, it is a jumbled edifice: a collage of little renovations to dreams that must continually be repaired.

So here is a composite of my ongoing scrapes and bruises--my day-to-day gatherings of short, significant growing and learning encounters with God.  I am not learning these truths through long lectures in formal classroom settings, but as Calvin Miller says, "I have always collided with life.  scraped knees, nuclear explosions, amoebas in culture, cotton candy, and the church: all these weird and different items without framework or category have been my motley host of unlikely tutors."  I am discovering more and more that nourishing the soul is a never-finishing lab center of learning.  I have not become all I once wanted to be.  My soul is still unfinished!

The Manufacturer's Comfort

I want to begin this week with encouraging words from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 [TNIV]...

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." 

God really does comfort his children--and most often God chooses to do so through the arms and legs and voices and ears and faces and souls and tears of men and women who have been to the front lines and returned with battle scars.  I'm battling cancer right now on the front lines.  I'm going through hormonal therapy with infusions of drugs into my body.  I am wrestling with this disease.  So who better to reach out with understanding, empathy and genuine concern with those encountering the ravages of cancer?  I have the understanding and credibility to know what it is that the person in pain is going through--the questions, the doubts, the fears.  I can speak both compassionately and authoritatively because of my own experience.

I wonder...have you considered how God might want to use you to comfort someone in pain?  If you have suffered or are presently suffering, and God has and is still stepping in with his comfort, then you qualify to join God's band of comforters. I hope you're ready to enlist, because we need you.  And so does a hurting world!

An unfinished soul,

Pastor Bob

 

 

 

Celebration: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the extraordinary power to stand again as the resurrection miracle enables them to fully gain stability and security.

This Lenten message series has focused upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark. We’ve learned that Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God. It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal. The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower. The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use. The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living. The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!

 

It's a marvelous story about an executive in a high rise office building in Los Angeles. He had a 7 foot fluorescent light that had burnt out. But in the office building only the janitors could replace the lighting and the cost was $20. In his mind this was excessive. So he decided he would replace it himself. He went to a lighting outlet near his home and bought the proper fluorescent tube and got up early the next day, drove his car into town, caught the Metrolink into the city and, carrying the 7 foot fluorescent tube all the way, sneaked in through the foyer before anyone else was there except the security guard. Then he replaced the tube. He took the old tube, placed it up against the wall behind his desk chair so no one would see it, and for the rest of the day he pondered how he would get the burnt out tube past the janitors. Finally he had an idea. He had seen a construction site near where he had boarded the Metrolink, so he would stay late, sneak out of the building carrying the burned out tube and, toting it on the Metrolink, get off at his stop, but instead of going to his car, he'd take the tube to that construction site and put it in their dumpster.So he called his wife and told her he would be working late. He waited until well after six o'clock and successfully sneaked through the lobby holding the fluorescent tube vertically, and finally sat down on the Metrolink. That's when some odd events overtook him. An amazing thing began to occur. As the subway began to fill up, more and more people came and held onto that fluorescent light as if it were a crutch for support. Finally, when he reached his destination there were six people hanging onto his light tube and he had a better idea. When his stop arrived, he simply got up and walked out . . . leaving those six people holding onto his fluorescent light as if it were a crutch.

 

The question of Easter is what are we holding on to? Our minds begin to play with this story and take it further. We may wonder: what happened at the end of the line? We can picture a man or woman suddenly discovering that they are left holding a burnt out fluorescent light tube and not a support after all, and we wonder what they did with it.Or a more unpleasant state of affairs might be that the Metrolink car came to a sudden stop and those who were holding the burned out tube dramatically discovered that what they thought was a source of security and stability was neither. We don't like to think about that scenario. The potential for tragedy is too great. But it was like that tragic state of affairs on the first Easter morning, before Jesus’ followers knew that Jesus was raised from the dead. Early on the first day of the week, as the sun rose over Jerusalem, a small party of women made their way up a hillside toward a newly-hewn tomb. A frightened band of Jewish outcasts hid in an upper room. Mark gives the account of Christ’s resurrection.  

 

BEGINNINGS MEET ENDINGS—MARK 16:1-8 ¹ When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" ⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ⁶ "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' " ⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

 

As the women approached the tomb of Jesus Christ to anoint his body, the stone had been rolled back, and the King of Glory had already strode forth from the grave—mighty in battle the Victory over sin and death.

 

Mark records in verse 1: When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.

 

Mary Magdalene, who tradition tells us had seven demons cast out by this man Jesus of Nazareth, had clung to him in life as her source of personal strength and security. Now he was dead. The emptiness of her grief must have been immense. The other Mary, described as the mother of James, is our Lord's mother. She had heard the prophecy that a sword would pierce her heart. But surely she could not have imagined this: her child dying on a cross, and in true Semitic fashion, her life had been tied to her eldest son's; here too, her emptiness must have been great indeed. What could these women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, along with Salome—really hold on to that Easter morning?What about the situation that the disciples were facing? We're told that they were behind locked doors for fear of their lives. Peter, the impetuous, whose friendship with Jesus of Nazareth seemed a sure ticket to the kingdom of God, was now vacant of soul except for his fears and shame. James and John, the so-called sons of thunder who desired career advancement beyond their wildest imaginings, now faced the void of an unknown future.

 

What could the disciples hold on to as well? In likeness to the women and the disciples, what about us on this Easter morning? Have we ever been left holding thin air (a burned out light tube) when we thought we had something really solid in hand? There is another great word picture to help us understand the contrast between the futility of our own means of stability, and the support experienced in the power of the resurrection.

 

Resurrection = the Greek term for resurrection, anastasis, literally means, “to stand again.”

 

This is the powerful effect of the resurrection in the life of every Jesus-follower. This power enables us to hold on to the truth of Easter in such a way that it gives us the security and stability we need to stand again, every day. Satan, the Evil One, is a great bully. He engages us in his age-old battle. Daily he attempts to wrestle us to the ground.

• Perhaps there are women or men here today who have placed their hopes for a safe secure future on their relationships only to be wrestled to the ground, left alone -- like Mary Magdalene.
• Maybe there are parents here who have lived their lives around and through a child only to be wrestled to the ground, profoundly disappointed and left grieving in the wings -- like Mary, the mother of our Lord.
• There could be men and women here who tied their career aspirations to a friendship which they then betrayed, or which then betrayed them -- like Peter, James, and John -- and you've been wrestled to the ground, left holding an empty present and the fear of an unknown future.

There could be men and women here who have placed their faith in living with a sound, physical body and mind only to hear the news of a debilitating disease---and you’ve been wrestled to the ground, left clinging to the latest doctor’s diagnosis and treatment. But who among us hasn't been wrestled to the ground by Satan, left holding a burned out light tube when we thought what we had hold of was safe and secure? A man facing bankruptcy stated to me recently that he "stared the devil in the eye." We’ve all stared the devil in the eye. Have we faced our own powerlessness?

 

A gifted pastor, Chaplain John Vannorsdall writes…God raised Jesus from the dead, why didn't God fix him up? Why scars? Why the print of nails that you could feel with your fingers? Can it be that the gospel words are saying to us in our waiting: 'You will not see Jesus Christ unless you see the wounds'? Somehow we must understand that the resurrected Christ is forever the wounded Christ. Living, but never fixed up. Not bound by death, yet scarred for eternity. The deaf have a sign for Jesus. Quickly they make this sign many times during their worship: the middle finger of each hand is placed into the palm of the other. Jesus, the one with wounded hands. And when they touch the place, they remember. They hear the name in their own flesh.

 

To all who know emptiness and grief and worry and despair, Mark writes in verse 4: But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:17, 20 writes… ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins… ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

 

And if God raised Christ, we believe he will raise us also. God will raise us every day. As the same sin knocks us to the ground, God’s power is at work in us enabling us to stand again. And God will raise us for eternity. Even after death, we will stand again.

 

If we understand this, it will radically change the way we live. That’s why we must tell our own resurrection stories. This is why we must, like the women at the tomb, in the midst of trembling, shout the truth with joy into the Easter morning (see Matthew 28:8). This truth is: "Don't be alarmed, You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” There is power and rejoicing in this truth.

 

Karl Barth (May 10, 1886–December 10, 1968) (pronounced Bart) was the most influential Reformed Christian theologian since John Calvin. Barth in his writing, Dogmatics in Outline, says…the Easter message tells us that our enemies, sin, the curse, and death, are beaten. Ultimately they can no longer start mischief. They still behave as though the game was not decided, the battle not fought; we must still reckon with them, but fundamentally we must cease to fear them any more. Regarding the sting of sin and death:

•  In the past— the penalty through sin has been paid
•  In the present—the power over sin is available
•  In the future—the presence of sin will be wiped away

 

No guilt in life, no fear in death: this is “the power of Christ in me!” The Easter question is: What are we holding on to . . . for life, security and forever?

 

* - A group of botanists went on an expedition into a hard-to-reach location in the Alps, searching for new varieties of flowers. One day as a scientist looked through his binoculars, he saw a beautiful, rare species growing at the bottom of a deep ravine. To reach it, someone would have to be lowered into that gorge. Noticing a local youngster standing nearby, the man asked him if he would help them get the flower. The boy was told that he could hold onto a rope that would be tied around his waist and the men would then lower him to the floor of the canyon. Excited yet apprehensive about the adventure, the youngster peered thoughtfully into the chasm. "Wait," he said, "I'll be back," and off he dashed. When he returned, he was accompanied by an older man. Approaching the head botanist, the boy said, "I'll go over the cliff now and get the flower for you, but this man must hold onto the rope. He's my dad!" When Jesus Christ came into the world to die for our sins, he was willing to go over the cliff and into a deep chasm of our sin because he knew that he could hold on to the rope held by his heavenly Father. And Jesus was resurrected so that we might be lifted out of that chasm with the power to stand again.

 

… they [the women] saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

 

What are we holding on to this Easter? Where have we been wrestled to the ground by Satan?

 

The little boy knew that he needed to hold on because his dad ultimately held on to him. When we have stared the devil in the eye; when we’ve been wrestled to the ground by Satan, can there be any doubt to whom we hold on to, helping us to stand again? Today is Easter and we know what one thing we can hold on to that won't betray us: it's God who alone is God, the Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier.

• If we're waiting for something to hold on to that is worth building our lives on--this is the right place and the Risen One comes to meet us here.  "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them"  --Matthew 18:20.
• If we're looking for something to hold on to that will carry us through our season of emptiness--this is the right time and Jesus is the right one.  I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation --2 Corinthians 6:2. 
• If we have experienced disarray, divorce, personal health or job loss, if we're wading through a night of despair or loneliness—we turn to the right person and Christ alone can roll the stone away, and open the very gates of heaven."Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved" --Acts 4:12.

 

Paul writes in Romans 6:4…“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

 

This Easter season, yes, there is death at work in us. But there is also life at work in us—the life of Christ. Every day, God reaches down and resurrects us from the grip of death. For each of us, we wrestle differently with Satan. And every day, God exerts that same power that he used to resurrect Christ from the grip of death. It gives us the power to stand again. Since we’ve seen what God did in Christ, we can be confident of what God will continue to do in us. As we have lived the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have taught us much about the journey from sacrifice to celebration. Here at last is something to hold on to: a Risen Savior and Lord who promises us that we too shall live forever. We tell ourselves we have the power to stand again!

 

Prayer for Easter SundayChrist-empowered Savior: by whose power tragedy becomes triumph, we seek you not among the dead but among the living. We rejoice today because the tomb is empty, the stone rolled away, and the Easter miracle accomplished. When we thought the adventure of following you was over, you surprised us with the good news that it was just beginning. You did not leave us without hope; you fought the battle against death and despair until the victory was won. Now we need not be afraid, for through your resurrection, we have the power to stand again. No matter how dark the night, no matter how hard the struggle or ominous the foe, we are more than conquerors through you who loved us. Thank you for proving that nothing is impossible for you, for kindling the fires of resurrection and renewal in the ashes of defeat. We want to be pilgrims on the resurrection road, the same road that the women walked on their way to an encounter with you as our risen Christ. We surrender everything to you that is dead within us—our stillborn dreams, our unhealed wounds, our besetting anxieties. You are the Savior of new beginnings. Set before us some high challenge that will force us to rely on your power to stand again, the power at work in us to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or imagine. Focus our thoughts, not on what we cannot do because of our limitations, but on what you want to do in and thought us by your Spirit. May we live in the light of Easter’s dawn, and may there always be room for an alleluia in our hearts! Amen.

 

* - Alternate IllustrationThe 3-year old felt secure in his father's arms as Dad stood in the middle of the pool. But Dad, with confidence, began walking slowly toward the deep end, gently chanting, "Deeper and deeper and deeper," as the water rose higher and higher on the child. The boy's face registered increasing degrees of panic, as he held all the more tightly to his father, who, of course, easily touched the bottom. Had the little boy been able to analyze his situation, he'd have realized there was no reason for increased anxiety. The water's depth in ANY part of the pool was over his head. Even in the shallowest part, had he not been held up, he'd have drowned. His safety anywhere in that pool depended on Dad. At various points in our lives, all of us feel we're getting "out of our depth" -- problems abound, an estranged relationship, a lost job, health of a loved one diminishes, someone dies. Our temptation is to panic, for we feel we've lost control. Yet, as with the child in the pool, the truth is we've never been in control over the most valuable things of life. Easter announces the truth that we've always been held up by the grace of God, our Father, and that does not change. God is never out of his depth, and therefore we're safe when we're "going deeper" than we've ever been. Who are we holding on to this Easter? In spite of the depth, we can “go deeper” in life as we hold on more tightly to God this Easter.

Passion: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the amazing power to handle rejection as they cease making plans for themselves, letting God plan their lives.   

 

This Lenten message series continues to focus upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark.  Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God.  It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal.  The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower.  The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use.  The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living.  The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!

This weekend marks the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem—the beginning of the holiest week for disciples of Jesus as we contemplate the salvation God has provided for us in Jesus Christ. As we survey that week, how easy it would be to interpret Jesus' death as victimization: wooed by an impression-hungry crowd; betrayed by a close friend; caught in the political tug-of-war between Rome and Jerusalem; cast to the will of a mindless mob; crushed on a cross by the world's greatest power!  However, Jesus was able to overcome this rejection. 

The New Testament never speaks of Jesus as victim.  Jesus is silent before his accusers because his silence judges them. His life is not taken from him; rather he lays down his life as a free gift. The cross is not thrust upon him but is embraced by him.  Though facing rejection by people, Jesus never felt victimized.  Why? Because Jesus experienced God's immeasurable love for him.  Jesus was even able to move through the rejection of his heavenly Father on the cross.  This is not weakness or victimization, but love in its fullest, strongest and deepest measure.

What is the fear of rejection? Fear of rejection is “the irrational alarm that others will not accept me for who I am, what I believe, and how I act.”  When hit by rejection, it is uplifting to know we are not alone. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A, my oh my, what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine heading my way. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A. We don’t always have “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Days.”Everybody suffers rejection at some time or another in their lives. It is vitally important that we learn to handle rejection.  We must recognize that rejection is a necessary part of our private and professional lives. No growth in life is achievable without encountering rejection of some form along the way. It encourages us to hone our skills and hearten our faith.

Let’s begin by exploring this thought with the following examples of those people who could spring back to effectiveness after facing a major blow:

• A teenager’s low popularity convinced her that she was not attractive. She became a top fashion model, hailed by many as the most beautiful woman in the world. All those who had ignored her are now boasting that they had gone to school with Claudia Schiffer!  She is one of the most beautiful and visually stunning women in the world; tall, blonde and rich. As world standards go, do we really need to know anything else?

·        Rejected as too awkward and clumsy to be a ball boy in a Davis Cup tennis match, Stan Smith went on to become the officially ranked number one tennis player in the world (1972-1973). ·        Would-be crime novelist John Creasey received an unbroken succession of 743 rejection slips. Over sixty million of his books have now been published. ·        ‘What will they send me next!’ said Edmund Hillary’s gym instructor of the puny school boy now known as the man who conquered Mount Everest. ·        ‘Balding, skinny, can dance a little,’ they said of Fred Astaire at his first audition. ·        Beethoven’s music teacher declared him ‘hopeless’ at composing. ·        Albert Einstein’s parents feared he was sub-normal. ·        As Billy Graham preached, a missionary’s daughter battled an almost uncontrollable urge to run out of the meeting. It was his future wife, and it wasn’t conviction that made her squirm. It was her response to what she considered appalling preaching. ·        An invitation was extended to witness one of humanity’s most historic moments – the Wright brothers’ first flight in their heavier-than-air machine. Five people turned up. ·        H. B. Warner of Warner Brothers fame scoffed at the notion of ‘talkies.’ No one would want to hear movie actors talk.

If only we could laugh in the midst of our trial. Coping with rejection and apparent failure is a serious matter.  Many of us have stifled our lives by heeding some misguided critic who implied we were not good enough. Few things in life are certain. But rejection is. Though spineless people-pleasers try hard, no one totally avoids rejection. Being right doesn’t help. Neither does loving everyone, or being perfect. The world crucified the only One with these qualities. Everything Jesus did upset someone. He was rejected even by friends, family and religious leaders. Twenty-one centuries later, with the advantage of hindsight, he is still slandered.

We will discover in the text of this message, how Jesus enters Jerusalem with cheers from a celebrative crowd that would soon turn into jeers from an angry mob.  His Triumphal Entry points to God’s servant ministering in the official role of Servant-King.

PROTEST MEETS PASSION—MARK 11:1-11

¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' " ⁴ They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵ some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"    ⁶ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.  ⁷ When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.                       ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!^]" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" ¹⁰ "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!"  ¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Mark continues to demonstrate an action-oriented Jesus.  His urgency to tell the story of Jesus and alert his community to the gospel message of Christ before it was too late is well known. It is evidenced in the brevity of his words and the repeated use of "immediate" language throughout his accounts. The Palm Sunday passage is no exception. The demand to find the colt is insistent, and Jesus gives instructions to the disciples who may encounter questioning.

Like branches at his feet, everything falls into place just as if he had meticulously planned the whole procession down to the most minor detail.  Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem would later prove the triumph of a Servant-King.  It would point to a spiritual and not a military triumph.  Jesus’ triumph would be the victory of love over hatred, truth over error, and life over death.  After looking into the temple area at the end of the day, Jesus returns the next day.  No doubt Jesus spends time in prayer with his disciples, seeking to prepare them for the difficult week where passion would turn into protest.

The Triumphal Tragedy

Based on events relating to the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Passion Week enacts the central drama of the Christian faith.  The “passion” comprises the very last week of Jesus’ life on earth.  It begins on Palm Sunday and concludes on the morning of Easter Sunday.  It is likened to a play with seven distinct acts:  (1) royal entry; (2) Temple refinement; (3) intimate feast; (4) intense request; (5) rash disloyalty; (6) severe anguish; (7) regal outcome.

 

Several years ago a young man named Jerry went out to the lake with his wife and parents for a day of recreation on the water. As things worked out, Jerry was water skiing behind one boat while his wife and parents were in another. The ski boat pulling Jerry made a loop close to his parent’s boat, and as he passed by them, his wife and mother waved excitedly. Jerry waved back, thinking nothing of it.  As Jerry skied off into the distance, he left behind a tragedy he knew nothing about. His father had been operating their craft and in the manipulation of a turn one of Jerry’s younger sisters had fallen overboard. The father quickly turned around headed the craft close to her, killed the engine, and as the boat drifted alongside, Jerry’s dad jumped into the water to save his daughter. Unexplainably, both the father and the daughter began to go under. And as they did so, the boat with Jerry’s wife and mother drifted further and further away, and neither of the women knew how to operate the craft. It was just at this moment that Jerry skied close by. Their waves were not just a casual, friendly gesture, but a desperate plea for help. It was not until some time later that Jerry learned that his father and sister had drowned, almost before his eyes, and yet unknown. Things are not always what they seem. Such was the case with the so-called Triumphal Entry of Jesus as described by each of the four gospels. On the surface, it was a time of rejoicing and celebration but as that week drew to a close, it was seen in full view as the great tragedy of recorded history.

 

Let’s rename Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.  Let’s call this unusual entrance of Jesus the Triumphal Tragedy, for it is not really a triumph at all. When we study all of the gospel accounts we learn that no one but our Lord grasped the full significance of his actions. The scribes and Pharisees perceived it at the moment as a devastating defeat of their efforts to turn the crowds against Jesus (John 12:19). The multitudes grasped the event as a possible entrance into the kingdom age, but failed to comprehend the kind of King the Messiah was to be at his first coming, and the nature of his kingdom (Luke 19:11). The disciples did not understand the meaning of these events either (John 12:16).Things are not always what they seem to be. What appears on the surface to be a hearty welcome is, in fact, a forerunner of warning. More than this, we have already noted that the Triumphal Entry (so-called) was not thrust upon Jesus by his disciples or the crowds; it was a deliberate act of his volition to precipitate the final events of his earthly life, as foreordained from eternity past. 

Mark describes Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem into two distinct phases:

1.  The preparation for the Servant-King

¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' “4They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵ some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"    ⁶ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.  ⁷ When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.

Even if we’ve set out on the Lenten pilgrimage on Ash Wednesday and taken every step in penitence and prayer through Mark’s Gospel, we are still not prepared for the arrival. Neither were those who joined Jesus in Galilee and made their way up to Jerusalem. For many it was an annual pilgrimage, this Passover. Others, having to travel greater distances, saw the Holy City through the joyful tears of those who know they will never make the journey again. But in one particular year, the pilgrimage was a once-in-a-lifetime experience because it was made in the company of Jesus of Nazareth. For him too, Jerusalem was the end of a pilgrimage.

The portion of the journey to which Mark draws our attention goes from Bethany, a town just east of the Mount of Olives, to Jerusalem. It is difficult to listen to Mark describe the scene because the event has been elevated into a major Christian celebration, Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, and celebrations tend to draw upon all the available resources in order to enlarge the drama. Matthew contributes the children, John the palms, and all the Evangelists except Mark describe the pilgrimage as going into the streets of the city. Only Mark speaks of the procession going to the entrance of the city, and says that Jesus went alone into Jerusalem.

Were the preparations for Jesus’ triumphal entry a part of God’s providential care or a fluke? Paul Harvey’s, The Rest of the Story, gives the account about the West Side Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska. Normally all of the good choir people came to church on Wednesday night to practice, and they tended to be early, well before the 7:30 starting time. But one night, March 1, 1950, one by one, two by two, they all had excuses for being late.   Marilyn, the church pianist overslept on her after-dinner nap, so she and her mother were late. One girl, a high school sophomore, was having trouble with her homework. That delayed her, so she was late. One couple couldn't get their car started. They, and those they were to pick up, were subsequently late. All eighteen choir members, including the pastor and his wife, were late. All had good excuses. At 7:30, the time the choir rehearsal was to begin, not one soul was in the choir loft. This had never happened before.   But that night, the only night in the history of the church that the choir wasn't starting to practice at 7:30, was the night that there was a gas leak in the basement of the West Side Baptist Church. At precisely the time at which the choir would have been singing, the gas leak was ignited by the church furnace and the whole church blew up. The furnace room was right below the choir loft! 

 

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is not a fluke, it is a divine plan preordained by God.  The preparations are prophesied from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah (9:9), even down to the Savior riding a colt that had never been ridden upon. In fact, if we follow closely Jesus’ life, God preordains a number of preparations for Jesus.  All of these preparations are borrowed like the colt Jesus rides upon into Jerusalem.  Some of these preparations are: a manger, a boat, a lunch, a feast, a cross, a tomb.  God is preparing our lives as Jesus-followers through preparations.  They are not flukes, but intended plans to help us become more like Jesus!2.  The parade for the Servant-King⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!^]" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" ¹⁰ "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!"  ¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The journey from Bethany to Jerusalem is for Mark an impressive parade. There is the large and loud crowd.  A crowd that follows Jesus from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem merges with the crowd out of the city that comes to meet him at the Jerusalem’s gates.  Two crowds: the faithful followers and the distant onlookers.  Garments and branches pave Jesus’ way, and the bursts of praise and blessing ring out in antiphonal celebration.  The multitudes thought in terms of earthly prosperity and freedom from Rome. So they cried, "Hosanna in the highest!" (Mark 11:10). “Hosanna,” which means “Lord, save us now!” Yet a few days later, the shouts of the crowd become: "Crucify Him!" (Mark 15:13). So as we sometimes have early warm weather called "false spring," so it is possible to observe a "false Easter." Those who keep the last Sunday of Lent as Passion rather than as Palm Sunday avoid the problem.

Whatever may have been in the minds of the crowds, whatever may have been in the minds of the Twelve, the reader knows there is more going on than a parade honoring Jesus. We might describe the event as a protest march.  The stakes are higher now -- Jesus is no longer in the villages and open country of his home province. This is the capital and the seat of religious and civil authority, where chief priests and elders have power. To what extent the crowds of pilgrims or the residents of Jerusalem supported his protests is not fully clear. The crowds are "spellbound by his miraculous works," and Jesus’ popularity with them causes his opponents to fear the crowds.

The final Sunday of Lent is therefore marked by a celebratory parade, which is also a protest march. Only Jesus knows that the same event is also a funeral procession. The Twelve should have known; on three occasions Jesus tells them of his approaching death in Jerusalem. Their response after each prediction makes it evident, however, that they do not comprehend his words. It is painful to read of their continuing claims of adequacy for what lies ahead and of their divisive competition for seats of favor in the coming kingdom.

But we must not rush to judgment. The Twelve spent much time with Jesus listening and observing, it is true, but that time together lay on the other side of the cross and the empty tomb. After the resurrection they remembered -- and for the first time, they understood. To their credit, they regrouped. Records subsequent to Mark testify to faithfulness in continuing the work of Jesus, even in the face of rejection as strong as any Jesus himself had to endure.

Mark concludes this passage as Jesus alone enters the temple.  ¹¹Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.  Jesus enters the Temple not to occupy it, not to cleanse it, but to survey it, and then to leave it and the city, retiring with the Twelve to Bethany. Simply put, Mark’s account is not only brief; it is restrained and without the claims about Jesus found in the other three Gospels.A Case Study of RejectionInstinct leads the people along the way to break forth with a natural three-fold response to the entry of a king—garments are scattered on his path, palm leaves are plucked and waved, and an impromptu choir begins its antiphonal chant.  However, to be precise, the error of the crowds was at least a three-fold rejection. 1.  Motivated by miracles“What have you done for me lately?”  The crowd’s acclaim is almost totally based upon and motivated by the miracles which Jesus had performed (Luke 19:37; John 12:9). It was not his words (his teaching and doctrine), but his works that motivated many to receive Jesus as Messiah.  We need to be careful today as Jesus-followers that our passion for Jesus is not motivated by what Jesus will do for us, rejecting the very words of Jesus.  We also need to be prepared to face people who will reject us because we can’t perform up to their expectations placed on us. 2.  Stimulated by success “What have you awarded to me lately?”  The crowd failed to grasp the proper priorities for the coming kingdom. Ultimately, the Messiah would establish a physical, earthly kingdom, but primarily this kingdom was based upon a spiritual renewal. The cheering crowds thought only of the material dimensions of the kingdom to the exclusion of the spiritual; only the external aspects and not the internal. We need to be cautious today as Jesus-followers that our desire to follow Jesus is not stimulated by attaining success through material possessions, rejecting the spiritual dimensions of our faith.  We also need to be ready to encounter people who will reject us because we can’t materially award them the good things of life.3.  Prompted by power“What have you given to me lately?” The crowd was completely in error as to how the kingdom was to be established. They thought it would be accomplished by military might, power and revolution, rather than by rejection, suffering, and a humiliating death for the Messiah, who was to die as the Lamb of God for the sins of his people (cf. Isaiah 52:13–53:12).  We need to be watchful today as Jesus-followers that our identification with Jesus is not prompted by power and revolution.  We also need to be ready to experience people who will reject us because we can’t give to them the power and prestige they desire.   G. Campbell Morgan, one of the greatest preachers and bible teachers of the 19^th century, was one of 150 young men who sought entrance to the Wesleyan ministry in 1888. He passed the doctrinal examinations, but then faced the trial sermon. In a spacious auditorium that could seat more than 1,000 sat three ministers and 75 others who came to listen. When Morgan stepped into the pulpit, the vast room and the searching, critical eyes caught him up short. Two weeks later Morgan's name appeared among the l05 REJECTED for the ministry that year. Jill Morgan, his daughter-in-law, wrote in her book, A Man of the Word, "He wired to his father the one word, 'Rejected,' and sat down to write in his diary: 'Very dark everything seems. Still, God knows best.' Quickly came the reply: 'Rejected on earth. Accepted in heaven. Dad.'" In later years, Morgan said: "God said to me, in the weeks of loneliness and darkness that followed, 'I want you to cease making plans for yourself, and let Me plan your life.'" Rejection is rarely permanent; as Morgan went on to prove.

We must cease making plans for ourselves as we enter this holiest of weeks. We allow God to plan our lives. We must not see ourselves as victims. For even in this life, circumstances change, and ultimately, there is no rejection of those accepted by Christ.

Whether we see ourselves as gifted or geek, indispensable or inadequate, depends entirely on the frame of reference we choose. From God’s frame of reference—the life’s work he has chosen for each of us—no one is as perfectly endowed as us.  If that seems like soppy idealism, we have not thought it through. If we do so, it will become a treasured source of strength and inspiration.

We can choose any person and fill volumes with what he or she cannot do or is hopeless at, but that’s of no more concern than the fact that a video recorder cannot fly, quench thirst, tie shoelaces, and prevent tooth decay. Besides the endless list of things a video recorder cannot do, many of the things it can do, it does poorly. It’s an inferior paperweight, straightedge, and bookend. We could use it as a fly-swatter – once.  Such lists miss the critical point: anything skillfully designed is ideally equipped – and usually solely equipped – for the specific and commendable purpose for which it was made.

Of course we cannot do everything. That was never God’s intentional design.  But to imagine that our Creator will not fashion us with perfection for our reason for existence, is to accuse God of impotence and incompetence. Let’s face facts: everything God does is impressive. For the exact role that he created us, we are superbly endowed. Like Jesus, all we need do is yield to him.

On this Passion Sunday, it is important for Jesus-followers to remember that we know the end of the story and view the whole through an empty tomb. This realization checks our impatience with those who walked with him from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. But this realization is also a burden, a burden of knowing. How solemn and heavy is the joy of being admitted into the circle of those who now understand, at least in part. "To whom much is given, much is required."

Therefore, Jesus’ triumphal entry is perhaps the defining moment of Jesus’ ministry. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" The defining moment of our ministry may afford us blessing, but also leaves us feeling rejected too. It comes when we, like Jesus, realize we are near the end of our journey; and we finally face up to evil, bringing nothing in our hands but what he had: peace and truth and love.

 Let’s ask ourselves some closing questions as we deal with rejection in our own lives:

·        How has God led us to this point in our lives?·        How do we handle the rejection our culture places upon humility and suffering?·        How will we grasp eternity by allowing God to make plans for our lives?This Lenten season, however reeling from rejection, we tell ourselves that through the power of Christ’s indwelling presence; we can identify with Jesus’ suffering and humility.  We have the power to handle rejection.   We have been accepted by Christ. As we live the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have much to teach us about the journey from sacrifice to celebration.  We tell ourselves we can handle rejection!

 

Prayer for Passion SundayChrist-empowered Savior: Shallow and inadequate is our love for you, blessed Lord, compared with the height and depth and length and breadth of your love for us.  From the perspective of  Passion Week we see you entering into the energy and fatigue, the challenge and crisis, the dignity and tragedy of the human struggle.  Apart from you our lives are empty, a chasing after the wind, a meaningless accumulation of years.  We confess that, in the pressures of the daily grind, we allow the demands of the moment to take priority over knowing you and making you known.  We come to you to reorient our thinking, that we might not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Though we can never be worthy of your gift of mercy, teach us to be thankful, and empower us to live in attitude and action that our thanksgiving might be expressed, not only in word but also in deed.  In the face of rejection you endured the cross to say you also need us, that your life, as ours, finds its highest fulfilllment in serving one another.  You come to us on this Passion Sunday as the world’s liberating Savior and saving Liberator.  Help us to face rejection knowing that by turning to you in faith, we turn away from doubt and fear, from negativity and shame.  Thank you for washing us in your blood, for setting us free.  Amen.

Service: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the surprising power to attain greatness not by social success but through exercising a humble spirit of servanthood. 

 

This Lenten message series continues to focus upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark.  Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God.  It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal.  The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower.  The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use.  The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living.  The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!

We’ve been immersed in “March Madness”!  The NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion will be crowned tomorrow evening.  We even have a local team in the Final Four: UCLA.  So here are some terms that may evoke strong emotions in us: rivalry, assertiveness, competition, comparison, first place, victor, and winner.  How we feel about those words most likely depends on our self-image and how we measure true greatness in our society.  If we see ourselves as winners, we probably admire the qualities they represent.  They might make us feel proud, satisfied, and a bit superior if we’re convinced that rugged individualism, survival of the fittest, and self-determination are important virtues and necessary components of all achievers.  We view television programs entitled “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” and “American Idol.”  However, if we see ourselves as runner-ups, or losers, such words may make us feel threatened, inferior, and exposed.  We feel cheated, ill-equipped to succeed in life like the winners do.  We might as well identify with a television program entitled “Lost.”  We might also feel resentful of society’s cruel system of rewarding the powerful with even more possessions, prestige, and power at the expense of the little people in society.

The technical phrase for this phenomenon is social stratification—“a stacking process that ranks us according to predetermined standards.  The word stratification comes from the field of geology, where it refers to layers of rock formations.  Social stratification is like a social staircase and is seen in every area of life.  There is a cultural ladder system whereby all citizens know exactly where they are slotted with regard to social class.

Can we imagine being a camp counselor for a dozen robust, adolescent boys?  For three years, without a break?  Or how would we like to be a Boy Scout leader for a group of virile young men, all competing for the highest awards during a three-year Jamboree?  It couldn’t have been a whole lot different for Jesus.  We tend to think of Jesus’ twelve disciples as a contented band of aesthetically and religiously oriented graduated choir boys, romping over the hills of Galilee and occasionally going to the big city—all the while overflowing with a  spirit of peace, harmony, and mutual love and admiration.  It wasn’t that way at all!

We will discover in the text of this message, how Jesus uses an event with his disciples to address the issue of social stratification.  Some of us would give anything to be able to step back in time when Jesus casts his shadow on earth.  How great it must have been to sit back as one of the Twelve and soak up all those truths Jesus practically lives out.  They must have really learned how to serve, to give of themselves.  Right?  Wrong! 

SERVICE MEETS SENSATION —MARK 10:35-45
³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."  ³⁶ "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.  ³⁷ They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." ³⁸ "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  ³⁹ "We can," they answered.  Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, ⁴⁰ but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."
⁴¹ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. ⁴² Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark continues to demonstrate an action-oriented Jesus.  In these verses Jesus edifies his disputing disciples with a hands-on lesson in servanthood.  James and John implore Jesus to give them the places of honor at his right and left in his kingdom.  Matthew reports that Salome, the good Jewish Mother of James and John, makes the request for her boys. But either way, “When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.”  Jesus gives the Twelve a short exercise on kingdom leadership, stating that greatness is directly related to service, not celebrity status; to responsibility, not selected privilege.  In effect, Jesus says, we are not saved to be a sensation; we are saved to serve!
Seeking Spiritual Stratification

When Jesus speaks to his immediate followers about kingdom leadership and servanthood, there are several observations we might make about spiritual stratification, particularly as it applies to discipleship and the attaining of greatness. 

Let’s observe a few insights:

1.  The request

³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."  ³⁶ "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.  ³⁷ They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."

James and John dream of high positions in Christ’s coming kingdom so they make a request to Jesus that they may sit at the right and left of Jesus in glory.  It’s clear from Mark’s use of the word “then” that this incident follows immediately after Jesus’ prediction of his death.  Something else is clear too of this request.  The disciples, especially James and John, don’t really “hear” Jesus—because their thoughts are filled with plans for their own future. Such an open-ended request is presumptuous under any circumstances, but Jesus is willing to listen. 

The request is similar to children coming to their parents asking them to do for them whatever they ask.  Like Jesus, most wise parents will respond by asking, “What do you want us to do for you?”   Before they grant the request, they will want to know the nature of the request.  Wise parents will not allow a wish to their children that in some way they will not be able to grant.  Perhaps even refraining from allowing a request that they know will not be needful or productive for their children. It would be like young children asking for a $150 pair of basketball shoes at Christmas so they can soar like Koby Bryant. Or it may be like teenagers asking for a Lamborghini for their first car on their 16^th birthday. All too often as Jesus-followers this is what happens to us.  We’re so busy with our own thoughts and dreams that we simply don’t listen, care or ask for things that are really needful and best for us.
A lust for greatness lurks behind the request of James and John.  Jesus has a right to be impatient or angry with them, but instead, he recognizes their progress in open questions and inch-by-inch understanding.  James and John are thinking about social stratification—the Jewish standard of rank—when they ask for seats on the right and the left hand of the reigning Jesus.  Although their brotherly request assumes that either James or John would be satisfied with either seat, the fact is that a fierce battle would rage following the granting of the request because the right-hand seat is the place of highest honor.  There is an old saying: God pickles the proud and preserves the foolish!
The first important insight is: self-ambition directs us to foolish desires.
2.  The restriction
³⁸ "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  ³⁹ "We can," they answered.  Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, ⁴⁰ but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."

Jesus responds to James and John by saying they don’t know what they are asking.  Jesus does not deny the standard of rank as a measure of greatness in the kingdom of God.  However, Jesus does not have the authority to allow this request.  Jesus leaves the prerogative for positioning to God, the Father.  Without diluting his deity in the slightest, Jesus takes himself out of the decision because he is too close to the situation. 

As a father of three terrific daughters and papa of five fabulous grandkids I have no favorites.  Perhaps my kids and grandkids may beg to differ. But each is fully loved and each is uniquely great.  Someone with a more objective viewpoint would have to judge their qualities and rank them in order.  It is equally unfair to expect that Jesus will rank order under a social stratification the disciples whom he loves and in whom he sees differing qualities of greatness.

Jesus also bases his positioning, however, on the participation of the disciples in sharing the cup of his suffering (Mark 14:32-36), and being submerged in the baptism of his death (Luke 12:50).  It is a devastating experience to share the cup of suffering and the baptism of death.  Yet James and John say they are able to go through it with Jesus.  Little do they realize what they are saying, for in later years they will indeed have their share of the cup and baptism. James will be the first of the disciples to be martyred (Acts 12:1-1) and John will experience great persecution through exile (Revelation 1:9).  Jesus knows that their request is motivated by earthly wisdom, not heavenly wisdom.

The second important insight is: self-seeking blinds us to the sacred.

3.  The resentment
⁴¹ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.

Word leaks out that James and John are conspiring for the top positions in the coming kingdom.  A power struggle threatens to destroy all the work that Jesus is doing to weld the Twelve into a unified, working body.  This false sense of attaining greatness arouses the anger of the other disciples and brings disunity to the group.  No doubt the other disciples are unhappy because they had not thought of asking first! 

There was laid a small circle of poison around a hill of stinging ants. Thinking the tiny granules of poison were food, the ants began to pick them up and carry them throughout the colony. As time progressed hundreds of the stinging ants were carrying the poison down into their hill. There was a hole in the circle of poison. Some of the poison was moving the opposite way--away from the hill. Some smaller, non-stinging ants had found this "food" and were stealing it from their ant neighbors. Thinking they were getting the other ants' treasure, they unwittingly poisoned themselves. When we see someone with more than we have, we must beware. The hunger to beg, borrow, or steal our way into what is theirs may poison us spiritually.  Resentment, even destruction, usually follows closely behind covetousness—a desire to seek after what others want.  

There is no way the other disciples are going to give up the top spots in the kingdom without a fight.  They get downright ticked off that maybe James and John might get the glory they want.  Does this “glory seeking” sound familiar to us?  We squabble among ourselves as Jesus-followers when we find out that somebody else is asking for more prestige through the standard of rank. 

The third important insight is:  self-rank causes us to dream of fame in the midst of our shame.

4.  The reflection
⁴² Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Jesus now pulls the Twelve aside and spells out the sharp contrast between his philosophy and the world system in which they live.  Jesus explains to them this truth: a standard of rank leads to a standard of rule.  Jesus needs to nip the rebellion in the bud.  Jesus talks to them about the standard of rule which the Gentiles use to determine greatness.  Touching on the tender spot of his disciples who have been ground under the heel of Roman oppression, Jesus reminds them of the Gentile rulers who “lord it over” them.  Jesus’ point is well taken.  The disciples know that they have fallen victim to the same corrupting power that they personally suffer from the Romans, and they want none of it.

In our secular system there are distinct levels of authority.  In government there is our president, his cabinet, and a large body of selected leaders who have privileges the common citizen does not possess.  In the military there are the officers and the enlisted with ranks within each.  In sports there are coaches and players.  In the business world there are corporation heads and lines of authority between managers and personnel. In the church there are pastors, leaders, and congregation.  According to Jesus, this isn’t so.  In God’s family there is to be one great body of Jesus-followers: servants.  In fact, the way to the top in the kingdom is humbly beginning at the bottom.

Jesus is in the ministry of upsetting all the accepted standards of the world.  Categorically rejecting the standards of rank and rule, he establishes servanthood as his standard of greatness.  By rank, a servant is last of all.  In rule, a servant has none.  Jesus gives them a new standard to live by.  The disciples must not seek to attain greatness through the social stratification of rank and rule, but through service.  Jesus says, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” 

"Servant" in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms. Both words denote those servants who are not at their own disposal, but are their master's purchased property. Bought to serve their master's needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the servants’ sole business is to do as they are told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a servant relationship to one's Savior (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). True service unites community, while self-righteous service separates.

Richard Foster in his best-selling classic, Celebration of Discipline, speaks candidly concerning the “discipline of true service”:

Self-righteous service comes through human effort. True service comes from a relationship with the divine God deep inside.
Self-righteous service is impressed with the "big deal." True service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service.
Self-righteous service requires external rewards. True service rests contented in hiddenness.
Self-righteous service is highly concerned about results. True service is free of the need to calculate results.
Self-righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve. True service is indiscriminate in its ministry.
Self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims. True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need.
Self-righteous service is temporary. True service is a life-style.
Self-righteous service is without sensitivity. It insists on meeting the need even when to do so would be destructive. True service can withhold the service as freely as perform it.
Let’s note the following example between self-righteous service and true service. In the spring of 1883 two young men graduated from medical school. The two differed from one another in both appearance and ambition. Ben was short and stocky. Will was tall and thin. Ben dreamed of practicing medicine on the East Coast. Will wanted to work in a rural community. Ben begged his friend to go to New York where they could both make a fortune. Will refused. His friend called him foolish for wanting to practice medicine in the Midwest. "But," Will said, "I want first of all to be a great surgeon...the very best, if I have the ability." Years later the wealthy and powerful came from around the world to be treated by Will at his clinic...the Mayo Clinic.

Jesus explains to his disciples that greatness in his kingdom isn’t found in high position, but in servanthood.  Kingdom leadership is granted only for the purpose of serving, not for personal aggrandizement. If we want to become truly great, we set aside thoughts of ourselves, and think first of others.  Jesus does not intend to establish a new hierarchy by inverting the social ladder (stratification).  Jesus dismantles hierarchies altogether in the simple form of service.  Serving others is not to be viewed as a stepping-stone to greater power and position.

The fourth important insight is: stepping-stone service is out of step with our Lord.
Reflecting the Servant Image
Achieving the corporate culture of the kingdom of God is more demanding of its servants.  Because the goals of the kingdom are eternal and so very special, greatness of servanthood cannot be judged by the world’s standards.  Service in the kingdom of God is not attained through professional status, economic success, or natural ability.  It is exercised through a humble, self-less spirit of servanthood.  There are characteristics in the life of Jesus related to servant image.  Paul shares three categories in Philippians 2:5-8…
⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
1.  Absolute Honesty.  Jesus openly does not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.  He takes on our dispositions!
2.  Transparent Humanity.  Jesus voluntarily makes himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  He takes on our expositions!
3.  Genuine Humility.  Jesus willingly humbles imself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross.  He takes on our inhibitions!

In Jesus we as Jesus-followers stand on level ground.  This is one reason why regular observance of the Lord’s Supper is so important within the church body.  Whenever we examine ourselves in light of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, we are called to the cross and to the level living it implies.  Calvary was a hill and the cross was its pinnacle, but the ground at the foot of that cross was level and still is, so all who are there are brothers and sisters. 

The Lord’s Supper is an equalizer, a reminder that we are members of one flock led by one Shepherd who commands a unity that allows for no people-imposed distinctions.  The words of Jesus set before us the commitment to service. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." A ransom is the price paid to release a slave from bondage.  Jesus often tells his disciples that he must die, but here he tells them why—to redeem all people from the bondage of sin and death.  The disciples think that as long as Jesus is alive, he can save them.  But Jesus reveals that only his death will save them and the world.  So Jesus wants to know today if we identify with his death.  He calls us and asks us to become his servants.  “Deal or No Deal?”

Let’s ask ourselves some closing questions as we focus on the level ground of service:
·         How do we look for ways to minister to others’ needs, rather than our own?
·         How do we appreciate others’ work, realizing that we’re not above any job?
·         How do we take the initiative when we see something needs to be done?
This Lenten season, however restricted by society’s stratification of rank and rule, we tell ourselves that through the power of Christ’s indwelling presence; we can uphold the standard of service.  We have the power to attain greatness.  That greatness is in the form of servanthood.  As we live the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have much to teach us about the journey from sacrifice to celebration.  We tell ourselves we can attain greatness!
Prayer for the Fifth Sunday in Lent
Christ-empowered Savior: You have brought us to this time and place on our journey of faith.  When we were wandering far from you in our worldy attempts to attain greatness, enslaved by our darker passions, you gave us an example of servanthood.  Confidence in your desire to ransom the lost, you gave us the courage to take steps toward true service.  No matter how much is yet unresolved in our lives, no matter how many loose ends still dangle, we are learning to rest in your presence.  Because all things begin with you, we can let go of our need to be in control.  In the midst of rank and rule, we can turn over our lives to your care and keeping, knowing you have given us the gift of grace in Jesus Christ.  You have brought us this far by faith.  As we serve a broken world, take us farther still.  Help us grow beyond our unhealthy dependencies and incriminating inconsistencies that bind our spirit.  Remind us that growth occurs not through increased power, but through deeper surrender in service to you.  May we learn that any experience can serve a good purpose if we trust you in the midst of it.  Therefore, help us to look out for the needs of others rather than our own.  Empower us to take the initiative when we see something that needs to be done.  Let us not forget to thank you for each role we have been given to play.  Show us that we are not to be served, but to serve. Amen.