Three
Pills of Poison; One Cure
Mark
10: 35-45 October 11, 2009
Well again, this morning
in our scripture we see the disciples doing something that we think is
shameful… James and John, the sons of
Zebedee are asking Jesus for a position in his kingdom… and not just any position – but they
want the top positions; for they want to sit at the left hand and right hand
side of Jesus when he sits on his throne in glory.
And you and I can laugh at
their requests and shake our heads thinking how foolish they are to make such a
request but if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves asking Jesus to do
things for us that are just as silly.
I think it’s our human
nature that drives us to into thinking that we deserve the best of the
best. And don’t get me wrong; I believe
that Jesus wants us to have the best of the best… for Jesus said, “I
have come to give you life and life abundant…” but many times, our
picture / understanding of an abundant life is different from what Jesus has in
mind for us. And where we get ourselves
in trouble is when we start taking The Pills of Poison…
I think that’s the problem
we see with James and John; their lives were affected by the poison of POSITION…
Along with Peter, James
and John were the three closest disciples to Jesus… but they wanted the top two
positions… They wanted to get a jump on
Peter and secure the top two positions of power…
We have to remember, even
though they were wrong, the disciples thought Jesus was going to be an earthly
King… They weren’t sure how, but they
thought that Jesus was going to lead an army that would overthrow the Roman
Empire… And once Jesus had established
his empire, James and John wanted the seats of position next to King Jesus… They wanted to be seated at his right hand
and his left hand. And I’m sure if Jesus
had said OK, they would have then argued who gets to sit at the right hand
verses the left hand.
But notice how they went
about all this – it’s so sad… Because
when they made their request to Jesus, Jesus was just 5-days away from his
crucifixion, 4-days from his betrayal and trial, 1-day from cleansing the
temple, and just hours away from his triumphant entry into Jerusalem… Jesus was facing the last week of his life on
earth and the disciples were worried about claiming their position of
power.
Jesus had less than a week
left to be with his disciples… and if they were ever going to understand his
teachings, they needed to understand it now!
But that’s not what Jesus saw…
What he saw was two of his closest disciples demanding a position of
power…
And notice how they went
about it – they were sneaky… They
approached Jesus in secrecy away from the other disciples… And then asked him to answer their question
before they even asked him the question…
Notice they said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever
we ask of you.” They wanted
Jesus to sign a blank check, didn’t they?
Does that sound
familiar? Have you ever asked Jesus to
sign a blank check for you? Have you
ever prayed asking God to do something for you because you think you deserve
it? That sounds ridiculous doesn’t
it? But it’s not too farfetched because
we often ask God for things that we really don’t need; things that would just
put us in a better position.
Well, Jesus was smarter
than James and John, so he specifically asked them what they wanted him to do…
and they said, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your
glory.”
James and John wanted the
seats next to Jesus, a position of power; because they knew whoever sits in
those seats would not only have power, but they would have PRESTIGE… Prestige is our second Pill of Poison.
It’s dangerous to walk
around feeling prestigious… Because when
you act prestigious you think that you are better than someone else… and we begin to
look down on other people…
We see a lot of this in
the local churches… That’s why so many
churches bare the name “First Baptist, First Methodist, First Presbyterian,
First Pentecostal…” They claim the name of being “First” and the churches
established after them have to take another name… and the mentality to this is
that if you’re not a member of the
“First Church” then you must be second class… How absurd it that?
Well, it may be crazy but
more often than not, it’s true! Have you
ever heard of a church denying membership to a family? As sad as that is, it happens. I could name a church of another denomination
that has denied membership to a family because that family comes from the wrong
side of town… That family is too poor to
belong to that prestigious church; they don’t have nice enough clothes, they
don’t drive a nice enough car, their relatives have been in trouble with the
law… and heaven forbid that’s a racially mixed family…
Some churches are like
that… But most of the time they don’t
have to refuse you membership, they just shut you out by not welcoming you, and
not including you in their activities, and by giving you the cold shoulder… They don’t befriend you and therefore you
don’t feel welcomed… If you’ve ever visited a church and no one even spoke to
you, you know what I mean…
And it’s not just other
denominations… It’s sad to say, but we
have the same problem in the Methodist church and at the conference level.
Every year, I attend our
annual conference. At conference we wear
name badges and the badges are different colors… For example, the elders wear a blue badge and
the local pastors wear a red badge. That
way you can easily distinguish those who are the prestigious elders and those
who are local pastors. It’s a
separation.
This past June at
conference we had a commissioning ceremony and all the pastors were asked to
wear their black robes, but only the prestigious elders could wear their
stoles. Again, a
separation between the prestigious who have the credentials of being an elder
and those without the credentials who are local pastors.
What would Jesus have to
say? What would he think? Jesus is not an elder of the Methodist
church; I wonder what color name badge they would give
Jesus and would they allow him to wear his stole…
And what would Jesus say
about the church that refuses to receive a family in membership because they’re
not good enough?
And what would Jesus say
about us when we look down our nose at people?
When we get to thinking that we’re better than someone else…
The truth is, we may have
a bigger house and a newer car, a better job, newer clothes, and a bigger bank
account than someone else… but when you get right down to it; butt naked and
side by side, none of us are better than anyone else.
What would Jesus say? He would tell us the same thing he told his
disciples… Look at verse 42, Jesus said,
“You
know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants
over them. But it is not so among you;
but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever
wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.”
Jesus is saying, in the
world you have hierarchy, you have rulers and officers and prestigious
positions of power…
but not in my kingdom. If
you’re going to be in my army and follow me, there is no hierarchy – it’s a
level playing field – we are all the same.
There is no hierarchy in
God’s Kingdom. Why is this? Because God is love! And love
does not conquer, it serves. And the
sooner we learn this the better off we’re going to be. Love
does not conquer, it serves.
Prestige is a pill of
poison. James and John wanted a
position. They wanted prestige. But the third thing they wanted was POWER… And power is the third pill of poison.
James and John thought
that if they could get Jesus to grant their wish, they would have power over
the other disciples. They were trying to
get the upper hand on the other disciples… and verse 41 says, “When
the ten other disciples heard about this, they began to be angry with James and
John.”
Well of course they were
angry – because James and John were trying to obtain power and authority over
the other disciples. None of us like to
be overpowered… You don’t like it and I
don’t like it… So why do we do it?
Well, James and John
needed a reality check, they needed this picture of power to be put into
perspective… and
that’s what Jesus did! In his own words,
Jesus gives his disciples and us a new perspective on the true meaning of
power…
Let’s go back and read
what he said one more time, but this time let’s read all of it… Jesus said to his disciples and says to us;
those who are his followers and a part of his kingdom, “Whoever wishes to become great
among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must
be slave of all.” And then he
gives us the ultimate example! For he continues saying, “For the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Did you hear that? Jesus in service to all mankind is going to
offer his life as a ransom. What a
powerful idea… A ransom would be paid!
Do you know what a ransom
is? It’s a price paid to release someone
from captivity. You and I are held in
captivity to sin and we need to be freed…
Sin has us trapped… Sin has caused our suffering… Sin has separated us from God…
James and John have
misunderstood! They had swallowed the
Three Pills of Poison… They thought
position, prestige, and power is what they needed… But what they really needed was a
Savior!
A Savior! That’s what we need! We don’t need to swallow the pills of poison
– we don’t need to be searching for position, prestige, and power… We just need a Savior… Someone who is willing to pay our ransom,
free us from our bondage to sin, and restore our relationship with God… And that’s what Jesus Christ did for us on
the Cross… Jesus is our Savior!
And he calls us NOT to
power and prestige; he calls us to be slaves, servants to others…
Illus: I was looking for a story to close my sermon
with and the exact moment that I started looking for a story I received an
email from my brother… I read it and
said, “Thank you Jesus…” Here’s what the
email said…
“A Holy man was having a
conversation with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what
heaven and hell are like.” So the Lord
led the holy man to two doors. He opened
one of the doors and the holy man looked in.
In the middle of the room was a large round table… In the middle of the table was a large pot of
stew which smells delicious and made the man’s mouth water… But the people sitting around the table were
thin and sickly looking… They appeared to be famished…
They were holding spoons
with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and they each found it
possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful… But because the handle was longer than their
arms, they couldn’t get the spoons into their mouths…
The holy man shuddered at
the sight of their misery and suffering.
The Lord said, “You have seen hell…”
They went to the next room
and opened the door and it was exactly the same as the first one… There was the large round table with the
large pot of stew which made the man’s mouth water… The people were equipped with the same long
handled spoons, but here the people were will nourished and plump, laughing and
talking…
The holy man said, “Lord,
I don’t understand…” “It’s simple,” said
the Lord. “It requires but one
skill. You see, they’ve learned to feed
each other.”
The greedy think only of
themselves… When Jesus died on the
Cross, he was thinking of you!
May we learn to share our
spoons with each other…
Let us pray!