The strenuous call of Jesus
Commentary
There is a new wave of interest in angels that is part of the current religious smorgasbord in the American scene. Books about guardian angels and encounters with angels show up on best-seller lists. These new angels in vogue are a far cry from the awesome creatures mentioned in the biblical records. They are like haloed cosmic flight attendants who come when the call button is pushed. This current angelology centers around guardian angels and what they can do for us right now. Well, that sort of self interest and desire for a quick fix seems to have been a major reason for the interest of James and John in Jesus. "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you" (Mark 10:35).
There has always been and always will be a market for cheap faith, quick-fix religion, and a Christianity without a cross. It was so in Mark's day inside and outside the church. It is today. Here is a flash point between our gospel lesson and a human propensity that is both ancient and forever contemporary.
The way Jesus linked leadership and servanthood also is at odds with cultural values now as it was then. There was a time in our national life when there was an awareness of such a linkage. During World War II numbers of skilled executives went to work in Washington for a dollar a year. When their job was done they returned to industry and stayed there. Now such public position is often seen as a stepping stone to profit. Now one who has been on the inside of the governmental apparatus and learned all the proper buttons to press can upon leaving a federal position parlay that experience into the profitable vocation of an influence peddler and door-opener for special interests. Wheeling and dealing has been much the name of the game in recent years. For these and other reasons the gospel lesson places a priority claim on the preacher's attention today.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Job 38:1-7, 34-41
Chapters 38 and 39 of Job contain the sort of great and inspired writing that humbles the reader. Through the artistry, brilliance and inspiration of the author, the mystery, wonder and majesty of God confronts us. The writer of Job must have felt like Handel when he emerged from seclusion upon completing the Messiah and said, "Me thinks I did see the glory of the great God."
Every public reading of scripture should be carefully prepared. Delivery is all important. As a matter of fact I can envision a top grade reading of these chapters taking the place of the sermon. We humans who want to comprehend and control everything need to hear words such as these that remind us of our creaturely limitations.
Hebrews 5:1-10
To attach a low priority to the preaching value of this passage is not to detract from its value, but to face the fact that the imagery drawn from the sacrificial liturgy of the ancient temple is lost on a contemporary congregation. I once heard a sermon of this passage whose deliverer kept repeating the phrase, "after the order of Melchizidek." The blank stares of the congregation were a thing to behold.
There are portions of Hebrews more suitable for interpreting the priesthood of Jesus according to the author. One key verse is found twice in chapter 10. "See, I have come to do your will" (Hebrews 10:7, 9). Jesus offers himself and becomes for us the pioneer who shows us the way to God and whose example gives content to our own priesthood. The title, pioneer, unique to this letter presents an even more telling possibility for the preacher (Hebrews 2:10, 12:2).
Mark 10:32-45
It is important to include verses 32-34 in the reading. They are an essential prelude to the request of James and John. This is the third time on this trip that Jesus has tried to tell the disciples about the reception that awaits him in Jerusalem. They still do not listen. James and John are off in their own little fantasy land. Here they are waving their profiles in his face and dreaming of cushy jobs in some glorious kingdom. All the cross talk of Jesus does not register.
Mark consistently thumps down hard on the disciples. He has his reasons. In the pagan world of the first century there was a ready market for miracle workers and purveyors of easy assurances. Within the church there were leaders emulating the style of the pagan wonder-workers by peddling cheap faith and preaching a Jesus without a cross. Mark would have none of this sort of pious vaudeville that short-circuited the Lord's strenuous call to follow him in the way of the cross.
Jesus answered the request of James and John with a cryptic response and some strange questions. You would think they would ask him to explain more fully. If they had any questions they did not get a chance to pose them. The other disciples were furious. Color them green. Competition, ego tripping, and empire building was in the air even among the first disciples of Jesus. It was rampant in the church in Mark's day as a reading of the Corinthian letters will reveal.
Is Mark calling us through his gospel to examine the content of our gospel and the quality of our discipleship by holding both up to the measurement of the words and style of Jesus? The disciples were not listening; are we? Isn't the strenuous call of Jesus always in tension with our own ambitions, agendas, and ego needs? But behind his call is there not the assumption that we are capable of becoming sons and daughters of God? Whose invitations really dignify us: the easy promises of the purveyor of cheap grace or the cross call of Jesus?
In choosing illustrations of folk who exemplify servanthood, preachers are prone to extol figures like Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa. They are indeed shining lights in this century. But as models for us, the average pastor and church member, they can only leave us frustrated. We will not act out our lives on a world stage. But Jesus came to leave behind a community of alternate agendas and values. The little stages on which we live and the circles within which we move are not insignificant. Is it out of reach for us to reply to the questions of our Lord, "O Master, let me walk with thee, in lowly paths of service free"?
There has always been and always will be a market for cheap faith, quick-fix religion, and a Christianity without a cross. It was so in Mark's day inside and outside the church. It is today. Here is a flash point between our gospel lesson and a human propensity that is both ancient and forever contemporary.
The way Jesus linked leadership and servanthood also is at odds with cultural values now as it was then. There was a time in our national life when there was an awareness of such a linkage. During World War II numbers of skilled executives went to work in Washington for a dollar a year. When their job was done they returned to industry and stayed there. Now such public position is often seen as a stepping stone to profit. Now one who has been on the inside of the governmental apparatus and learned all the proper buttons to press can upon leaving a federal position parlay that experience into the profitable vocation of an influence peddler and door-opener for special interests. Wheeling and dealing has been much the name of the game in recent years. For these and other reasons the gospel lesson places a priority claim on the preacher's attention today.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Job 38:1-7, 34-41
Chapters 38 and 39 of Job contain the sort of great and inspired writing that humbles the reader. Through the artistry, brilliance and inspiration of the author, the mystery, wonder and majesty of God confronts us. The writer of Job must have felt like Handel when he emerged from seclusion upon completing the Messiah and said, "Me thinks I did see the glory of the great God."
Every public reading of scripture should be carefully prepared. Delivery is all important. As a matter of fact I can envision a top grade reading of these chapters taking the place of the sermon. We humans who want to comprehend and control everything need to hear words such as these that remind us of our creaturely limitations.
Hebrews 5:1-10
To attach a low priority to the preaching value of this passage is not to detract from its value, but to face the fact that the imagery drawn from the sacrificial liturgy of the ancient temple is lost on a contemporary congregation. I once heard a sermon of this passage whose deliverer kept repeating the phrase, "after the order of Melchizidek." The blank stares of the congregation were a thing to behold.
There are portions of Hebrews more suitable for interpreting the priesthood of Jesus according to the author. One key verse is found twice in chapter 10. "See, I have come to do your will" (Hebrews 10:7, 9). Jesus offers himself and becomes for us the pioneer who shows us the way to God and whose example gives content to our own priesthood. The title, pioneer, unique to this letter presents an even more telling possibility for the preacher (Hebrews 2:10, 12:2).
Mark 10:32-45
It is important to include verses 32-34 in the reading. They are an essential prelude to the request of James and John. This is the third time on this trip that Jesus has tried to tell the disciples about the reception that awaits him in Jerusalem. They still do not listen. James and John are off in their own little fantasy land. Here they are waving their profiles in his face and dreaming of cushy jobs in some glorious kingdom. All the cross talk of Jesus does not register.
Mark consistently thumps down hard on the disciples. He has his reasons. In the pagan world of the first century there was a ready market for miracle workers and purveyors of easy assurances. Within the church there were leaders emulating the style of the pagan wonder-workers by peddling cheap faith and preaching a Jesus without a cross. Mark would have none of this sort of pious vaudeville that short-circuited the Lord's strenuous call to follow him in the way of the cross.
Jesus answered the request of James and John with a cryptic response and some strange questions. You would think they would ask him to explain more fully. If they had any questions they did not get a chance to pose them. The other disciples were furious. Color them green. Competition, ego tripping, and empire building was in the air even among the first disciples of Jesus. It was rampant in the church in Mark's day as a reading of the Corinthian letters will reveal.
Is Mark calling us through his gospel to examine the content of our gospel and the quality of our discipleship by holding both up to the measurement of the words and style of Jesus? The disciples were not listening; are we? Isn't the strenuous call of Jesus always in tension with our own ambitions, agendas, and ego needs? But behind his call is there not the assumption that we are capable of becoming sons and daughters of God? Whose invitations really dignify us: the easy promises of the purveyor of cheap grace or the cross call of Jesus?
In choosing illustrations of folk who exemplify servanthood, preachers are prone to extol figures like Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa. They are indeed shining lights in this century. But as models for us, the average pastor and church member, they can only leave us frustrated. We will not act out our lives on a world stage. But Jesus came to leave behind a community of alternate agendas and values. The little stages on which we live and the circles within which we move are not insignificant. Is it out of reach for us to reply to the questions of our Lord, "O Master, let me walk with thee, in lowly paths of service free"?
