“Come! Be Crucified! We’ve Got a Cross for Your Back Too”
Mark 10:35-45
Have you ever seen a church sign that read, “Come! Be Crucified! We’ve got a Cross for Your Back Too!”
And yet Jesus was this up-front.
You can’t accuse Jesus of false advertising.
When James and John come up to Jesus and say, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask…
…Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory…”
…Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush.
He’s not mean about it, but He’s transparent—truthful.
I think that sometimes we do God, other people, and ourselves a terrible disservice when we try and sugar-coat the Christian journey.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
The number one best decision I ever made, and I only made it by God’s grace getting me to a place where I could make it, was to give my life to Christ.
It literally changed me, transformed me.
I have not been the same since, and I cringe to think of where I would be without it.
But, at the same time, it has not been easy.
There have been times when it has been down-right excruciating.
And, the reason for this is my own stubbornness, selfishness, and my own unwillingness to truly give EVERYTHING to Jesus—or at least my tendency to TAKE things back after I have given them to Him.
But, it’s a journey.
It’s a learning experience.
If I hadn’t made so many mistakes, I would probably have an ego the size of the Empire State Building.
God knows what He’s doing.
Our passage for this morning comes on the heels of what we studied last week—the rich young ruler who came up to Jesus asking: “What must I do to inherit eternal life.”
And Jesus told him straight out as well, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor…and then come, follow me.”
Then, Jesus predicts His death for a third time: “We are going up to Jerusalem…
…[I] will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.
They will condemn [me] to death and will hand [me] over to the Gentiles, who will mock [me] and spit on [me], flog [me] and kill [me].”
But the disciples just don’t get it.
I wonder if we get it.
“Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
Jesus replies, “You don’t know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
The road Jesus is walking is a road that leads to torture, to death on a cross.
The cup that Jesus is to drink is the cup of His horrible death.
The baptism that will drown Him is the baptism of his death as He suffocates on the cross.
When Jesus asks James and John if they can drink the cup He drinks and be baptized with the baptism He is baptized with they respond, “Sure. We can do that! No problem.”
They are clueless as to what this means, and I think many of us are clueless when it comes to what being a follower of Christ really means as well.
As Deitrich Bonhoeffer so eloquently put it: “When Christ calls a person he calls that person to come and die.
But in doing so, he is calling them to live.”
Jesus told the disciples that in Jerusalem He would be arrested, condemned to death, mocked, spit upon, flogged and killed.
But He added, “Three days later [I] will rise again.”
Can we drink that cup?
Can we be baptized with that baptism?
Will we be resurrected with Christ?
To share in the death and resurrection of Christ—there is no greater hope, there is no greater life.
It is the grace and mercy of God to allow us this privilege.
And yet, do we know what is involved?
No.
Probably not.
And I suppose that can be a good thing, unless we think it’s gonna be easy.
If we think this, we may drop out before we begin the race.
When the other disciples find out what James and John have asked for, they become angry.
And this provides Jesus with another opportunity to teach His disciples what it means to follow Him.
Jesus says to them, “You know that those who are considered to be the rulers of this world abuse their authority and take advantage of those under them, but not so with you.”
“Instead, whoever wants great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
For the [I] didn’t come to be served, but to serve, and to give [my] life for as a ransom for many.”
Christ-followers serve.
Christ-followers learn to humble themselves.
Christ-followers consider the needs of others above their own, and are bold enough and confident enough to take on the role of a servant.
Christians don’t push other people around.
We don’t demand our way and we don’t demand that the world give us special treatment!
We don’t demand our rights if we feel the world is marginalizing us.
We don’t get in people’s faces.
We don’t judge.
We don’t condemn.
We don’t criticize.
Do the truly humble do these things?
Do servants judge those whom they serve?
We are to love!
We are to love unconditionally, even those who treat us badly…
…not tolerate, but truly love.
And we do not shrink from persecution or complain about it or sue people over it or demand that we have Christian Country or whatever!
Being a Christian is completely radical.
It is completely self-giving.
It goes against the grain of our nature.
It is hard.
And that’s why so few of us actually live it.
And that’s why we have such a bad reputation and why the church is in decline.
Oftentimes, in the modern Church, the Gospel is presented as a self-help program or even a get-rich scheme.
“Looking for meaning in life? Jesus has got it for you!”
“How about a sense of serenity in a demanding world? Jesus has you covered!”
“Having trouble with your finances? Come to the Almighty Accountant!”
Some church growth gurus will suggest, “First find where people itch; then find a way for the church to scratch that itch.”
And Jesus is the Way, but not in the way we often think.
James and John saw Him as a ticket to glory; a way to make it to the top!
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
Jesus is not a Genie in a bottle.
He’s not a slot machine or a lottery ticket.
He is God.
And God is humble.
God serves.
God suffers
God dies for those He loves.
And if we are going to be His followers we are going to do the same.
Jesus asks James and John, “What do you want me to do for you?”
And they answer, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
James and John are thinking that Jesus’ glory involves worldly power and they want in on it.
They want to be number 1.
And in many, many ways—if we are honest--we are no different than they.
And that is why we need Jesus.
We need Jesus to teach us.
To correct us.
To lead us.
And to transform us.
Before He was arrested Jesus said to His disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you must love one another.
That is how people will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
How are we doing with this?
Is there room for improvement?
Do the people in this community know us by our love?
Please don’t get me wrong.
I know this is a difficult message.
This church is loving its community in many, many ways.
But truly seeking to be servants in all we do.
Are we willing to be slaves of all?
Will we give our lives for our neighbors who don’t know Christ?
It all comes down to love, does it not?
Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and love your neighbor as yourself.
All the Law and the Prophets hand on these two commandments.”
In other words, this is what it is all about and Jesus has come to show us what it looks like, and not only that, He has called us to follow Him and do it ourselves.
Jesus also said that He has not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.
And Paul tells us in Romans 13:8-10, “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself…love is the fulfillment of the law.”
It’s sounds that simple, but it is THAT hard!
And this is because TRUE love, God’s love goes all the way.
It stops at nothing in order to serve and save the other.
In Matthew Chapter 25 Jesus informs us that when we give a drink to another person, when we help another person, when we love other people in tangible ways we are loving Him.
That is how, in solidarity, Jesus Christ is with humankind.
What we do for one another, how we treat one another is how we treat Christ.
Imagine, if we Christians were to live into the great calling to serve Christ through selflessly serving others.
Imagine if this is how we were known in the community.
We are to be a city on a hill.
We are to let our light shine before others so that they will see our good deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven.
And that’s because it’s all about Him.
It’s not about us.
How freeing is that?
Will they know we are Christians by our love?
Let us pray:
Lord God, we are all like James and John.
We all want to be number one.
We all want the accolades and praise of other people.
But that is not what brings true happiness, true peace, true joy and lasting peace.
Our ways are not Your ways.
Please work in us to that our ways WILL be Your Ways.
Have Thine O Way, Lord.
Have Thine O Way.
In Jesus’ name and for His sake we pray.
Amen.
