BaptistWay Bible Series for February 3: Disciple=servant

Posted: 1/29/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for February 3

Disciple=servant

• Mark 10:32-45

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

This is the third time Jesus has tried to tell the disciples there is going to be a fatal finish to his ministry when they get to Jerusalem. Here, Jesus describes what is going to happen to the Son of Man in more specific detail—they will mock him, spit upon him, flog him and kill him—and after three days he will rise again (Mark 10:34).

Brothers James and John are unfazed by all Jesus is saying to them. They still are lobbying Jesus for seats at the head table at the feast of the coming kingdom of God. They want Jesus to promise them that when the red carpet of the kingdom of God is finally rolled out, they will look spiritually fashionable rubbing elbows with the celebrity Christ. The contrast is striking between what Jesus says right before the dense disciples ask, “Jesus, would you do us a favor?”

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James and John may have had no clue what they were saying when they told Jesus they were able to drink the cup he drank. It is the cup of suffering that Jesus would have to drink. He would be the only one who could stomach the bitter flavor of suffering he endured on the cross. Even Jesus would be tempted to push the cup away in the Garden of Gethsemane (14:36). Jesus understands there is no other way to fulfill the will of the One he called Abba but to drink the cup of suffering.

As Jesus knows, his glory is anything but glorious. As the disciples defined what was glorious, Jesus asks them a question that suggests glory is not about usurping honor. To share the glory as Jesus defines it is to serve and sacrifice for the good of others. According to Jesus, the ones who are great in the kingdom of God are the ones who are servants, not masters. Servants are deacons who are less concerned about positional influence and more concerned about personal influence. S

eems James and John were preoccupied with positional power more associated with a hierarchical structure of a corporate power. Though Jesus could have made a claim to positional power based on his status with God, his personal influence came through humbly serving the humble, hungry and hopeless people who he met in his life.

For those who like to take control and be in charge, Jesus offers an alternative model of leadership. When we become preoccupied with our status in society or even our status in the church, Jesus offers a better way. Rather than become concerned about projecting an image of power and influence, Jesus challenges us to practice serving others so their lives can be influenced for good. When we are worried about being recognized for who we know or what leadership role we have in the church, Jesus seeks to set the record straight: Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve (vv. 44-45).

Jesus refocuses our attention on what matters most. When we settle for less than what Christ calls for, he disturbs our comforts. A 16th century prayer of Sir Francis Drake echoes the lofty call of servant leadership. It’s implications for the servants and the ones being served:

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.”

When Jesus tells us the last shall be first and the greatest shall be servant of others, he is not concerned with our comforts or our conveniences. He has a way of telling us inconvenient truths. Here are a few of them: Give to everyone who begs from you. “I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me something to drink, naked and you clothed me, sick and in prison and you visited me. … Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:35-40). “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). “Sell your possessions and give aid to the poor” (Luke 12:33). “When you give a banquet invite the poor” (Luke 14:13).

All of these texts are texts that have to do with the biblical practice of serving others and doing justice. They have to do with right relationships with God and with each other that is the hallmark of Jesus’ own practice of justice. There are a wide range of ideas about justice and it certainly would be difficult to decide on a simple definition on which all people everywhere could agree.

However, the biblical notion of justice defined as right relationships with God and each other comes closest to a definition through the ways Jesus cared for the people around him. The works that Jesus did the church is called to do. Whatever practices it takes to establish right relationships under the law of Christ’s love are practices that have to do with justice.

By his deeds of justice, Jesus shapes an entire community that gives witness to an alternative to the dog-eat-dog, me-first, materialistic assumptions of world order. Jesus was counter cultural in the way he thought and lived his life. The church is called to do the same in a way that will lead to the transformation of individuals and communities.

Doing justice in this way means we are the hands and feet of Christ in the world. Doing justice means living like God has something to say about the ways we treat people, even people who may be different than ourselves; in the ways we give witness to the kind of kingdom Jesus came proclaiming. This is the secret to greatness.