serving church

Scripture: Mark 10:32-45
Back on the road, they set out for Jerusalem. Jesus had a head start on them, and they were following, puzzled and not just a little afraid. He took the Twelve and began again to go over what to expect next. “Listen to me carefully. We’re on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Romans, who will mock and spit on him, give him the third degree, and kill him. After three days he will rise alive.”
James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came up to him. “Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us.”  “What is it? I’ll see what I can do.”
 “Arrange it,” they said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left.”
Jesus said, “You have no idea what you’re asking. Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink, of being baptized in the baptism I’m about to be plunged into?”
“Sure,” they said. “Why not?”
Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized in my baptism. But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. There are other arrangements for that.”
 When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.”

Observation:

This is the second time Jesus has told his followers that their trip to Jerusalem is a mission that ends with his death.  He knew the danger he was in.  He knew that his work and words and way of living had attracted a lot of negative attention and resistance from the insiders--both political and religious.  They do not like his use of power to lift up the outliers, the poor and dispossessed.  They do not like that he uses power to empower and set free those who are the victims of injustice.  Or that he accuses the ruling class of misusing their power for selfish gain and oppression.  Maybe because empowering a large majority is threatening to the privileged minority.  When the 99% realize their potential, their value, and their own power to claim justice, the 1% will fall. 
But the disciples still don't understand that his mission involves his assassination.  They are dreaming of corner offices and seats of power and privilege.  They are vying for elite status as his campaign team, anticipating royal treatment.  Jesus response is that those who want to be great and first must become servants and slaves.  His own status and power were put to use to serve others.  He puts himself in the place of the victim, receiving the unjust treatment he seeks to destroy.  Maybe by doing so, he mocks them and reveals their weakness.  When one goes willingly to the cross, your oppressors have no power over you.  He is the example for them and for all who might follow.

Application:

The first mark of discipleship is service.  Disciples of Jesus, Christians, do not use their power for selfish gain or for recognition.  We use power to serve others, to heal and feed and endure suffering alongside our neighbors.  Christian witness is not first about worship or prayer or or sacraments or doctrinal belief systems or morality.  It is service.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  This is the commandment by which our love for God is made known in the world. Churches that do not serve the poor in their communities, that do not tend to the sick, the incarcerated, the underprivileged, they do not follow Christ.  They follow their own lord.  American Christianity has ignored the call to service on the streets and neighborhoods around us. We have isolated, insulated, and preserved ourselves while our neighbors suffered.  No wonder churches are dying.  The pulse of Christian community is service.  Without exercising our heart, the heart of Jesus for the poor, we die.  
The church of Jesus is first a serving community, characterized by humble hospitality.  That's what Peter's Porch strives to be---a community of servants offering hospitality to our neighbors. We offer it freely, generously, without expectation or reward.  We do it because it is right to share God's abundance with others. We do it because serving is its own reward. We do it because Jesus came as a servant and not an Emperor. 

Prayer:

Lord, you came not to be served but to serve.  Raise up a serving church with humble hearts and healing hands and hospitable arms reaching out with generosity.  Amen.