“Service”
Mark 10:35-45
21stSunday after Pentecost
October 21, 2012
By Rev. Richard K. Kamanu
I was watching on Netflix the other night, a 1993 comedy TV movie produced by and for HBO. It was The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom. It starred Holly Hunter, Swoosie Kurtz and Beau Bridges. It is based on the true story of Wanda Holloway of Channelview, Texas, a woman who tried to put out a hit on one of her daughter's classmates (and the girl's mother) to advance her own daughter's middle school cheerleading career. Wanda Holloway wanted her daughter Shanna, 13 at the time, to be picked for the high school cheerleading squad. Her rival for this honor was a girl named Amber Heath.
Wanda Holloway was the organist at the local Baptist church. She was a respected member of the community. However, that did not keep her from going to extreme measures to try to get her daughter on the cheerleading squad by eliminating her chief opponent. The first year, Ms. Holloway tried to have Amber disqualified from the competition on a technicality. The second year, she showed up at school and handed out promotional pencils and rulers imprinted “Shanna Harper, cheerleader.” This was a violation of school rules which got her own daughter Shanna disqualified.
If only she had stopped there, she would not have made national headlines. But her obsession only deepened. In 1991, Wanda Holloway attempted to murder Amber Heath’s mother just before the tryouts. She figured that, if her mother were killed, Amber would be too grief-stricken to compete in the cheerleading contest. Holloway had asked her ex-brother-in-law to arrange for a hit man to perform the murder, but he went to the police instead. He told the police Holloway toyed with the idea of killing both mother and daughter, but couldn’t afford the $7,500 fee.
It was then that Wanda Holloway became nationally known as the “Texas-Cheerleader-Murdering-Mom” and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The school principal, James M. Barker explained it this way, “After all, it’s the American way. We all want our children to achieve. There is a part of Wanda Holloway in all of us.” That’s probably true, but, hopefully, Ms. Holloway is an extreme example.
James and John, the disciples of Jesus, are more typical of you and me. James and John had dreams. They had ambition. Jesus called them “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). I am not sure what that means, but my guess is James and John were never shrinking violets.
There is one occasion told in Luke 9 that may give us a hint as to their character. Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus sent some messengers into a nearby Samaritan village to get things ready for him. But the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. Jerusalem was sacred to the Jews and that meant it was despised by the Samaritans, so the people of the village rejected Jesus’ representatives. Luke tells us that when James and John learned about this, they asked Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”
That seems to be an extreme reaction to a simple rejection, don’t you think? Jesus rebuked James and John, of course, but maybe this is why he called them the “sons of thunder.” James and John had been fishermen when Jesus called them. They were probably strong, courageous men. Fishing wasn’t a sport to them, it was their livelihood. And it wasn’t an easy way to make a living.
James and John were among Jesus’ first disciples, and they were closer to Jesus than any of the other disciples, except for Simon Peter. The three of them Peter, James and John were definitely the inner circle among Jesus’ disciples. They are mentioned on five separate occasions as accompanying Jesus for significant events when the other disciples were not present.
They were the only witnesses to the raising of the Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 9:18–26). And it was they who were chosen to go with Jesus up to the mountain top for the transfiguration, where Jesus was shown in the company of Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:1-9). Later they were with Christ in the garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers took him to be tried and then crucified (Matthew 26:36-56).
Maybe it was because of their status as part of Jesus’ inner circle that caused them to be a little proud. At least they seemed proud in light of the request they made of our Lord. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” Uh-oh, those of you who are parents know that some kind of mischief is afoot. Beware when your children ask you to grant them something without specifying what it is. “We want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
Jesus probably let out a sigh before answering, “What do you want me to do for you?”
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
I’m sure Jesus anticipated their request, and at the same time I’m sure he was disappointed in James and John for making it. “You don’t know what you are asking,” he said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Their answer was probably sincere. James and John were quality individuals. They didn’t always understand Jesus’ mission, but they were loyal to Jesus and Jesus knew that. We don’t know as much about James as we know about John, but we do know this: after Christ’s resurrection and ascension, when Herod wanted to send a chilling message to the church, he did it by having James beheaded the first of the disciples to die a martyr’s death.
John, on the other hand, probably lived out his full life. But remember, it was John to whom Jesus entrusted the care of his mother. That shows his confidence in this one disciple who is often called “the beloved disciple.”
That is probably why Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” It’s important to note that Jesus didn’t chastise them for their ambition. They were misguided, but he appreciated their drive and their courage.
The rest of the disciples became indignant when they learned of James and John’s request. Jesus, however, used it as a teaching moment. He called all of his disciples together and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We all want to be Number 1, don’t we? We want it for ourselves and, those who are parents want it for their children.
There was an article put out by the Associated Press about a pregnant woman in West Palm Beach, Florida. Thewomen made the newspapers because she had doctors induce labor six days early. Why was it important to move up her child’s birth? It was so that her newborn son could beat the September 1 state enrollment deadline for kindergarten a few years later. Now that’s planning. When this mother realized six more days in the womb for her son could mean an extra year of preschool for him, she told her doctor to give nature a push. “Giving birth a few days early is worth it to me and my husband,” she said before the birth. “It will mean a lot in school if my child has the necessary skills and maturity of other children his age.”
We can understand that. We live in a competitive world. That’s the nature of our society. They’re not playing football games all over our nation every weekend this fall just for the exercise. Winning is important to us. Pride is important to us. Prestige.
Two archaeologists, a Greek and Egyptian, were arguing over who came from the most advanced ancient civilization. The Greek bragged that it was obviously his country. He said, “While digging in Corinth, we found copper wires buried under the village. This proves we already had telephone wires in the sixth century BC!”
The Egyptian replied, “Well, we dug under one village that dates back at least that far and found no wires at all. This proves we had already gone wireless.”
Countries want to be number one, colleges want to be number one, individual people want to be number one. That is one of the most natural instincts that God has given us.
Maybe you remember the song from the Broadway musical, Annie Get Your Gun: “Anything you can do I can do better. I can do anything better than you.” And the retort: “No, you can’t!” “Yes, I can!” “No, you can’t!” “Yes, I can! Yes, I can!”
We live in a competitive world. Companies compete. Colleges compete. Hospitals compete. Individuals compete. We turn all kinds of things into competitions.
I understand that, in 2002, German citizens celebrated the first ever Extreme Ironing World Championship. I’m not making this up. The goal of this competition is to perform the mundane task of ironing clothes, but in extreme locations and under extreme conditions. The five required locations were “Forest ironing, Water ironing, Rocky ironing, Urban ironing, and Freestyle ironing.” Participants carried an iron, an ironing board, and a piece of clothing to various locations. Then they were timed how long it took them to successfully iron their particular fabric under extreme conditions.
We live in a competitive world . . . and that’s not all bad. The desire to get ahead, the desire to rise to the top, the desire to be number one has driven many people to live productive lives.
Our society is based on a healthy level of competition. Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs were both very competitive. That is why we have two of the greatest technology corporations in the world. That is why we enjoy many innovative products. Many people have made major contributions to society primarily because they were hard driving, ambitious people.
Dr. Rachel Remen tells the story of a highly successful company’s CEOwhose name was George. George came to Dr. Remen’s office six months after he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
George’s company manufactured a medical device that he had patented. For George this had no particular significance. He was a business man. His goal was to make money. But now he was facing his own mortality. He told Dr. Remen he had wasted his life. “I have two exwives and five children,” he said. “I support all of them, but I don’t know any of them. I do not think they will miss me. I’ve left nothing behind me but a lot of money. What an old fool. A stupid old fool.”
Ironically, another of Dr. Remen’s patients at the time was a woman named Stephanie. What was ironic was that Stephanie used the device that George’s invention had made possible. That medical device had changed Stephanie’s life. Before, she was almost housebound. She was unable to work, unable to do much more than manage the symptoms of her medical condition. After she was fitted with this device, she had gotten a job, gotten married, and had a child. She had, in effect, been given another life.
Dr. Remen asked Stephanie if she would be willing to write George a letter about her experience. Stephanie did better than that. She invited George to her home for dinner. Stephanie’s whole family -- parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins were present, as well as many of her friends and neighbors. They each shared their perspective on Stephanie’s life. George cried most of the time while this was going on. At the very end, Stephanie came to George and said, “This is really a story about you, George. We thought you needed to know.”
George said, “And I did. I did.” George’s life was a mixed bag, Dr. Remen admits. He had made many mistakes. But in his drive to reach the top of his company, he had also made a significant contribution.
God would not strip us of our ambition. Blind ambition can be destructive. Ambition under God’s control can be used in a powerful way.
If you really want to be number one, says Jesus, be number one serving God and your neighbor.“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,” Jesus said to his disciples, “and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Author Max Lucado tells about some people in his church that he calls “The Society of the Second Mile.” In one book he describes one of those secondmile servants. “By profession he is an architect,” says Lucado. “By passion, a servant. He arrives an hour or so prior to each worship service and makes his rounds through the men’s restrooms. He wipes the sinks, cleans the mirrors, checks the toilets, and picks up paper off the floor. No one asked him to do the work; very few people are aware he does the work. He tells no one and requests nothing in return. He belongs to the Society of the Second Mile.”
“Another secondmiler serves in our children’s ministry,” writes Lucado. “She creates crafts and takehome gifts for fouryearolds. Completing the craft is not enough, however. She has to give it a secondmile touch. When a class followed the theme ‘Walking in the Steps of Jesus,’ she made cookies in the shape of a foot and, in secondmile fashion, painted a toenail on each cookie.”
What an ambitious undertaking! We have ambitious servants like that in this church. They also are achievement-oriented people, though they probably would not call themselves that. The achievements that they seek simply grow out of their desire to serve. Of course, they serve because Christ first served them.
I like the way Bishop Fulton J. Sheen once put it. “Our Lord was not a superstar,” said Sheen, “He was a Super-scar.” He showed his disciples his feet and his split side and he said to them: “As my Father sent me, so also I send you.”
Jesus wants us to be number one. He wants us to serve our community and our world like no church or any community service organization has ever served. Then we will look over our lives with no regrets, but only satisfaction.
Someone once put it like this: “Life is a lot like the game of tennis. Those who don’t serve well end up losing.” And that’s true. It’s all right to be ambitious, but make sure you’re ambitious about the right things. Be number one at serving God and serving your neighbor, then you’ll never come to the end of your life and say, “What a waste.” Neither will the Master say, “What a waste.” Instead he will say, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.” Amen.
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