A sermon based on Mark 10:35-45, Oct. 17, 2021
If your home was anything like mine, there was more than one sibling spat about who got to sit where. I grew up with brothers, and we would regularly compete for the best seats at the table, in the car, or even in church–where no one wanted to sit close to either parent because then we could get away with distracting ourselves from the boring preaching.
It turns out that arguing about who gets to sit where is nothing new. In today’s gospel reading, two disciples, James and John, approach Jesus with a question. On one level, their question is about securing a place in eternity—whatever that meant for them. Sitting on the right and left was understood to be a sign of honor, favor and acceptance. They wanted to be great in God’s kingdom, and they thought that happened by staking their claim on the best seats in God’s house.
Last week we heard a passage about a rich man who wanted a guarantee that his greatness was secured through his wealth and his ability to follow the laws. He wanted to know for sure what it would take to secure a place in heaven. Jesus invited him to consider how greatness might actually be achieved through releasing possessions and perceptions and letting go of the burden of doing all the right things. Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first, Jesus said. Greatness on God’s terms has more to do with humility, service, and embracing suffering.
James and John must have been poking at each other or otherwise distracted during that speech, because in today’s passage they’re pushing Jesus to guarantee that their seats of greatness will be saved for them… that they will indeed be first in the way they defined and understood ‘first’. I imagine Jesus rolling his eyes and saying to himself, “didn’t we JUST talk about this?” and then…again…redirecting the conversation to a journey of discipleship that is marked by humility, service and sacrifice rather than by glory and greatness. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, Jesus asks, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? That’s a question about discipleship, not about eternal destination. Jesus invites James and John to let go of the need to secure their seats in glory, and to reflect on the road ahead of them…the daily stuff of following him and participating in the work of God in the world. The disciples were asking about how they could guarantee getting into God’s presence, but Jesus reminded them about the ways God had already come into their presence. Don’t get so concerned about being in God’s presence in glory that you miss the daily presence of God in your life today, Jesus seems to be saying.
So there’s something else going on in this passage besides the question of greatness. Last week you were invited to consider the importance of letting go of baggage…those ideas, perspectives or opinions that burden and weigh us down and make it hard for us to pass through a season of transition as we participate in the new thing that God might be doing in our midst. Whether it’s a camel trying to get through a small opening in the wall around Jerusalem, a rich man struggling with letting go of his wealth, or a church processing the many changes brought on by circumstance or environment, letting go of baggage and stepping into new space and time is hard…impossible, even. But what is impossible for us is possible with God. In our own strength, we will hold on to that which is safe and comfortable and familiar…even if it’s weighing us down and making it hard to move forward. We will only make changes that we can guarantee will ultimately be for our own benefit…as we understand and define benefit. In our own strength, we will obsess about making sure our seat hasn’t been taken, moved or changed.
I have spent the last 10 years of ministry working with and on behalf of children and youth in the church, as well as talking with congregations about articulating a vision for their future. Almost every time I ask a congregation about what they’d like to see in their future, they talk about more children and youth. That’s the way they will know that they’re a ‘great church’—children and youth will be attending worship. But as we talk about this vision, it becomes clear to me that for many congregations, wanting youth in worship does not always come with a willingness to let go of or release attitudes, expectations or experiences that might be keeping that from happening. They’re focused on the outcome…more youth in worship so their congregation doesn’t close at some point in the future…but they’re not really interested in the discipleship journey that is marked by service and sacrifice in the here and now. They want the quick fix. But they don’t really want to give anything up or change anything in order to impact their community or context.
I visited one congregation that had invited me to come and spend time with their leadership to talk about their future. They saw themselves as an ‘aging’ congregation and wanted to consider what they could do to guarantee they had a future. I went into the sanctuary and sat near the front, because that’s where there was an empty seat and that’s where I feel comfortable. Someone came and sat down next to me and started talking to me. My first thought was to be surprised and impressed by their hospitality and welcome. But it didn’t take long for this person to tell me that I was sitting in a seat that they usually sat in, and that they could almost guarantee who was going to be sitting where in the rest of the space. That’s how they knew who wasn’t in church on any given Sunday.
But following Jesus isn’t about who sits where in worship or even about how many young people are in Sunday School—those things can often be more about self-interest and maintaining the status quo. That’s what James and John were worried about. Instead, Jesus lifts up an example of humility, service and community as essential in participating in and expressing the presence of God. And that is messy, unpredictable, and often requires letting go of the STUFF we hold onto for ourselves for the sake of coming alongside to listen and learn from others.
There is a reason to pay attention to how a community is engaging young people and how a community notices and cares for those who aren’t sitting in their usual spots in worship. God is present with and among young people, and they have something to show us about what God is doing in the world, so welcoming children and youth in worship and helping them form community is one way we can witness to that. God is present with and among those who are suffering and lonely, so paying attention to who is being left out or excluded, and ensuring that those who are sick, shut-in or disconnected find support and encouragement is a way to witness to that.
God is present where people are suffering, so if you want to be in the presence of God—which is what the disciples were asking about in their question about saving seats for themselves—then be with and alongside those who are suffering. That’s what Jesus modeled with his life. That’s what Jesus taught us with his words. And that’s what Jesus embodied in his death and resurrection. The disciples asked about sitting at his right and at his left, but it was the thieves on the cross who are described as on his right and on his left. Jesus as the fullness of God was present with those who were suffering, and in our own discipleship journey, that’s where we are called to be as well. More importantly, when we experience struggles or suffering, we can have confidence and faith that God is with us. We don’t have to stress about whether or not we will end up with God, because God comes to us. Each time we remember our baptism we receive the promise of God’s covenant. As we share the gifts of communion, we receive the promise of forgiveness and restoration. And as we sit with one another in the midst of the fear and uncertainties about the future, we receive the promise of God’s presence.
My sense is that most of us probably do not spend a lot of time thinking about which seat we will get when we get to heaven. But I do think we ask questions about where God is in the midst of uncertainty, and we wonder if there’s something we need to do to guarantee securing our future. I think I’ve always heard the disciples’ question with a tone of pride and arrogance, but I wonder if there’s also a tone of uncertainty and fear: Things are changing, they can sense it. They want to know how to be sure they are safely in the presence of God…forever. I think many of us are familiar with this feeling. When things around us are changing…like a pandemic that restructures how we live in community with one another or a pastoral transition, for instance…and so much of what we’ve come to put our trust in feels unstable, our tendency is to look for guarantees of safety and security. We want to know that we are safely in the presence of God forever, and that the beliefs, traditions, practices and structures of community that have meant so much to us will still be there for us. And let’s be honest–that usually means focusing on numbers of people and donations.
But Jesus invites us to shift the conversation. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many,” he says to the disciples. Being attentive to God’s presence is not about securing the right seats in God’s throne room. It’s not about holding on to what has been and making sure that the containers of faith and community never change. Instead, being attentive to God’s presence is about walking alongside those who are struggling, being present with those who are suffering, and letting go of the structures of power and privilege that are holding us back or keeping us from serving our neighbors well.
As the incarnated presence of God in the world, Jesus’ life was an embodied reminder that people no longer need to wonder whether or not they’ll earn right standing with God, because God had come fully into the world and was present and active in large and small ways. Today, God comes to us through faith in Christ, and comes to us again and again in the sacraments, in community, and in the midst of the messy, daily stuff of struggling alongside one another.
Messiah is in a season of intentional discernment, as you consider together who and what God is calling you to be in this time and place. This discernment is not about how you find your way to God, or how you secure a ‘successful future’ for Messiah Lutheran Church in Winnipeg. This discernment is about being attentive to the presence of God in your midst as you continue to navigate what it looks like to be a welcoming community. It’s about being attentive to the presence of God as you listen to and with children and youth. It’s about being attentive to the presence of God as you consider what resources of time, talent and treasure you have that can be a blessing to those outside of this congregation. It’s about being attentive to the presence of God that is with you in your suffering and calls you to be with others in theirs.
As siblings in Christ and members in the human family, we don’t have to argue with one another about who gets to sit closest to Jesus. We don’t have to ask Jesus to save us a seat, and we don’t have to get into spats with others who we think might get to the best seat before us. God is here, in our midst, sitting and walking alongside of us, and calling us to share God’s grace and love for the sake of others.