Leadership, it seems, is quite the buzzword these days. In just about every field of work and study, focus is often on developing strong leaders. We all know a good leader when we see one; we can all identify the great leaders in human history. And I think each of us can name at least some of the traits of a good leader. In fact, let’s take a moment and identify some of those leadership traits. What is it you admire in a good leader? Perhaps we value honesty and integrity; or dedication; a good leader is open and fair, though perhaps at the same time assertive. A good leader might be creative and have a sense of humor. Like Martin Luther King Jr. or Steve Jobs, a great leader might be valued because of his great vision.
Indeed, there are many traits we revere in a good leader, but we also often lift up the person, don’t we? A good leader is put on a pedestal, either literally or figuratively. We fully expect that a good leader will get a promotion, or at least a raise. And many of us, myself included, are often motivated by such rewards; we work hard because we want to make more money, we strive to be a good leader so that we can get a promotion, we want to be recognized, praised, and rewarded for what we do. The reason? Well, quite simply, it makes us feel good; we’re kind of a selfish race, and we like it when we do good things and people praise us for it. But here’s the thing; selfishness isn’t a trait we celebrate, is it?
So we come to this morning’s text from Mark’s gospel, and the request of James and John. To put it quite plainly, these guys are acting selfishly; fairly typical human behavior, but shameful nonetheless. In fact, the behavior is so shameful that Matthew and Luke try to soften their accounts of this request by having James’ and John’s mother approach Jesus with the question of giving her sons places of honor in the coming kingdom. Here are two men who have given up everything to follow Jesus. They have left their work, their homes, their families and friends—everything—in order to be disciples of Christ. They have been following Jesus around listening as he teaches the crowds, helping as Jesus heals people, and even going off and doing some teaching and healing of their own. Now, they feel, it’s time for their just rewards; it’s time for some payback for all that they’ve sacrificed; it’s time for some recognition for all their hard work; it’s time for a little promotion in the kingdom, and they feel, as we always do, that they should receive whatever they want. So they tell Jesus that.
Did you notice that in the passage this morning? When James and John approach Jesus, the first thing they say to Jesus is, “We want you to grant us whatever we ask.” They thought they could outsmart Jesus, they thought they could get a promise of their reward before actually asking for it. It’s almost like they knew what they were asking wasn’t really very appropriate; particularly for a couple of disciples of this new and surprisingly different prophet named Jesus. What’s funny, though, is that even though they seemed to understand that maybe their request was a little “over-the-top,” they had absolutely no idea just how off-the-mark it was. I mean, I think we all have at least a little inkling of guilt when we are acting out of selfish motives, and I think that’s what James and John were feeling too. But, as Jesus himself said, they had no idea what they were asking. In making this request of Jesus, the brothers were indicating a complete lack of understanding of who Jesus was and what he was about.
To get an idea of just how misguided James and John were, we need only look at the beginning of this morning’s passage. Here, Jesus predicts his passion; his trial and crucifixion. “Look!” he said. “We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the legal experts. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles. They will ridicule him, spit on him, torture him, and kill him. After three days, he will rise up.” The only thing Jesus doesn’t do as he predicts his looming death and resurrection is say, “I.” And because he doesn’t make that very plan connection that he is the Son of Man about whom he is speaking, the disciples don’t make the connection either. Jesus has described in vivid detail how he will be tried, tortured, and killed before he rises again, but it is not enough for the sons of Zebedee. They have a singular focus, a “one-track-mind,” if you will, and they want to cash in on Jesus’ glory, forgetting that the path to glory goes through the cross.
So it is that, as Jesus gently guides the two ambitious disciples back to reality, we all get a pretty sober lesson in what it means to be great; what it means to be a true leader. “Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“Sure we can!” the brothers replied. They thought Jesus was paying them a compliment. To them, it seemed as if Jesus was admiring their abilities and calling them to the next level of leadership in preparation for their ultimate glory at the throne of Jesus. They thought that not only were they going to get to sit with Jesus in his glory, but they were going to share his glory from that point on. But oh, how wrong they were. The disciples still didn’t understand, none of them; not at all. Jesus was indeed calling them to a new level of leadership, but this wasn’t any promotion.
And suddenly we begin to see Jesus, in essence, calling the traits of good leaders out of his disciples. There’s no pushing yourself to the top, here, no assertiveness and aggression in this kingdom. Instead, if you want to move up in this new world, you sink to the bottom first. This isn’t like those pagan nations, Jesus says, in my kingdom, you don’t push people around and Lord yourself over others because you are a great leader. You sacrifice more, everything; you humble yourself and serve the people you think ought to be serving you. You love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, because there will be persecution. You make yourself less than the least. And ultimately, you give even your life. Those are the things that Jesus is teaching his disciples when he tells them they will share in his cup and in his baptism. This is great leadership, he is saying to them; this is the path to the glory you so desire.
It doesn’t sound all that great, does it? There’s nothing about this path that lifts us up on a pedestal; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. But ultimately, the glory we will know will be far better than we could have ever imagined, precisely because we followed Jesus all the way.
My senior year in college, I had a Music Education Methods Course. There were only six other people in the course besides myself, and we were all very close friends; we had shared four years of classes and ensembles together by then. And the course was taught by a favorite professor of mine, a true mentor. Now, this was just a few years after the school shooting at Columbine, so one day we spent some time talking about what we, as teachers, would do if something like that happened in the school where we were working. Dr. Hicken just asked the question. He looked at us solemnly and said, “What should you do if a shooter comes into your classroom?” That’s not a question that anyone wants to answer, much less think about, so there was silence around the room for a long time. Finally, one of my friends in the class spoke up and said, “Protect yourself; hide under a desk.” Dr. Hicken shook his head, and then there were a few more moments of silence. Another classmate spoke up very softly, “You get between the shooter and your students.”
“That’s it." Dr. Hicken said. "That’s what you have to do. Those students are your responsibility.” That lesson in teaching was not unlike Jesus’ lesson for his disciples on that day so many years ago when James and John approached him with a special request. If you’re going to do this right, you have to go “all-in,” even to the degree that you are willing to give your own life. We have to humble ourselves to the point that we truly understand that we are no greater than any other person; nor is there anything we can do to make ourselves greater. The kingdom of God is not of this world; nor is it like this world. Jesus presents a stark contrast to the disciples', and our, perception of leadership and status. "You want to be first?" Jesus says, "Then humble yourself. You want to be a great leader. Then become a servant."
Christians don’t push other people around. Christians don’t demand their own way. Christians are the best leaders of all. Christians give their lives for the sake of others. If you want to know how to have life, if you want to know how to be great, if you want to be whole and complete, take a look at what Jesus has done, how Jesus has lived. "I haven’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many."
Let us pray in the words of St. Francis of Assisi: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
