To Go Up, Climb Down - 2009-10-18

“To Go Up, Climb Down” October 18, 2009 Mark 10:35-45

Job 38:1-7, 34-41

Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c

In 1972 a movie that would be come a classic, “The Poseidon Adventure,” was released. “The Poseidon Adventure” cast included 15 Academy Award winners including Ernest Borgnine and Gene Hackman and was a fantastic success. In the story, the cruise ship, the SS Poseidon, is struck by a tidal wave at sea and rolls over, trapping the occupants inside of the slowly sinking ship. A small group of survivors attempts to make their way to the bottom of the ship so that they can be rescued and their adventure in doing so, and the obstacles that they must overcome, becomes the rest of the story. In the story of “The Poseidon Adventure” the heroes of the film must go down in order to go up, because in the upside down world in which they find themselves, ‘up,’ is the new ‘down.’ We talk a lot about going up. We all know people who are climbing the corporate ladder, we sing the old hymn about climbing Jacob’s ladder, we have sayings like “Onward and upward,” and there are many more examples if you think about it for a while. When we talk about the Christian life though, we have often said that God doesn’t do things the way that the world does things. I have noted before that the way Jesus did things turned ‘normal’ on its head. This morning we are reminded of a story when Jesus once again turns the world upside down. (Mark 10:35-45) 35

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." 36

"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.

37

They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."

38

"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" 39

"We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." 41

When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus seriously disrupts that status quo in just a few sentences. Every Jew for generations had been praying, dreaming, fantasizing, wishing and hoping for a king that would come to set them free and make their nation great once more. Every servant in Israel and around the world hoped that one day they would be something more than a servant. Even if a servant might never be the master of the house, they hoped that one day they might at least be master of themselves. What Jesus was asking was radically different that the accepted social order and radically different that what everyone had expected. 1

Dr. Martin Luther King addresses this same subject in his sermon entitled the “Drum Major Instinct.” Dr. King’s messages are far longer than mine so we won’t attempt to read it here but I want you to hear a couple paragraphs. Dr. King said, “Now very quickly, we would automatically condemn James and John, and we would say they were selfish. Why would they make such a selfish request? But before we condemn them too quickly, let us look calmly and honestly at ourselves, and we will discover that we too have those same basic desires for recognition, for importance. That same desire for attention, that same desire to be first. Of course, the other disciples got mad with James and John, and you could understand why, but we must understand that we have some of the same James and John qualities. And there is deep down within all of us an instinct. It's a kind of drum major instinct—a desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first. And it is something that runs the whole gamut of life. And so before we condemn them, let us see that we all have the drum major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. Alfred Adler, the great psychoanalyst, contends that this is the dominant impulse. Sigmund Freud used to contend that sex was the dominant impulse, and Adler came with a new argument saying that this quest for recognition, this desire for attention, this desire for distinction is the basic impulse, the basic drive of human life, this drum major instinct. And you know, we begin early to ask life to put us first. Our first cry as a baby was a bid for attention. And all through childhood the drum major impulse or instinct is a major obsession. Children ask life to grant them first place. They are a little bundle of ego. And they have innately the drum major impulse or the drum major instinct.” What James and John asked for was not a particularly selfish or arrogant request, it did not set these two men apart because of their particularly sinful nature. In fact, if Dr. King and Alfred Adler are right, then the reason that the other disciples were angry at James and John wasn’t because they had selfishly asked to sit at the right and left of Jesus, but because they had asked before the others had thought of it. To my way of thinking, the problem wasn’t that James and John were being selfish, but that they really hadn’t grasped what they were asking, because they hadn’t really grappled with whom they were asking. In Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c, we are given a picture of who God is, 1

Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

2

He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent

3

and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.

4

He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.

5

He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. 2

6

You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

7

But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

8

they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.

9

You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.

24

How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Praise the LORD. In the story we have been reading about Job, Job frequently demands a hearing from God but it seems that God has not been listening or answering Job’s prayers. Finally in Job 38, God answers but it’s not the answer that Job expects. (Job 38:1-7, 34-41) 1

Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

2

"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?

3

Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.

4

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

5

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6

On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-

7

while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

34

"Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?

35

Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?

36

Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?

37

Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

38

when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?

39

"Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions

40

when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?

41

Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? 3

The psalmist remembers who God is but Job forgets and I believe that James and John did not completely have this in mind when they asked Jesus if they could be second in command. Their assumption was that Jesus was going to be an earthly king who wielded earthly power but instead they were to discover that Jesus was the creator and King of the Universe who was temporarily wearing the flesh and blood of a human being. In the kingdoms of men, then as now, you climb on the backs of others to rise to the top of the heap. In the kingdoms of men, people climb corporate ladders, stab coworkers in the back, look our for number one, wield power and influence like a weapon, and do what it takes to get ahead but what we discover in the words of Jesus is that God’s kingdom is different. When we begin to see the world through God’s eyes, we discover that our world, like the SS Poseidon, has flipped completely upside down. To get ahead in the kingdom of God, to get ahead in the world the way that God intended for us to do it, we need to go down the ladder instead of up. Instead of trying to be the master, we must become the servants of those we wish to lead. In the words of Dr. King, “True greatness comes not by favoritism, but by fitness.” If we follow the culture in our upside down world, then like the survivors in the SS Poseidon, climbing up is a path that will lead us to suffering and death. In order to find our way toward God we will have to go the other way and do things differently than our culture would expect. The way of Jesus often turned the expectations of his culture upside down. The word we hear from Jesus today is this: To go up, climb down. To go up, get down on your knees and wash the feet of someone you thought was less important than you. To go up, to act like Christ, to act like a Christian, we have to become servants instead of masters. The question we must ask ourselves this week is this, “Whom can I serve in the name of Jesus?”

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You have been reading a message presented at Johnsville Grace and Steam Corners United Methodist Churches on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor of the Johnsville Parish. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Johnsville Grace UMC or Steam Corners UMC at P.O. Box 205, Shauck, Ohio 43349. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at [email protected]. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.pdfcoke.com/Pastor John Partridge All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.