Year B, Pentecost 22 October 20, 2024 I have a confession. I am slightly obsessed with a reality show called Love is Blind. The premise is that single people go into this experiment where they date people without seeing them. They only see the person after they have fallen in love and gotten engaged---all in a few short weeks. After that they have one month to plan their wedding and figure out if love is really blind. It’s fascinating. Anyhow, I am on the 7th season and finally a couple had a conversation about whether they wanted their wedding ceremony to be religious. Both individuals in the couple had been raised in religious households. One said that she wanted it to be spiritual, but she had to be front and center, not God. The other person said that he was still Christian, but didn’t feel the need to actually practice Christianity. He figured if he went to heaven, God wouldn’t judge him for that-- God would not judge him for having questions. I have preached plenty of times about why its ok to have questions and doubt, but I struggle when people seem to just give up and stop trying to look for the answers.
Since
the beginning of our faith, there have been questions and confusion. One of the
debates of the early church was how to describe Jesus. He was born as an infant, like all children
are born, except he was born to a virgin, which made his birth unique. He
declared himself to be God, but he was also human. He got hungry and thirsty. When it was hot, he sweat. If he was cut, he bled. The early Christians really struggled with how
he could be both human and God.
In
the Greek culture, gods sometimes came in human form. They were called
demigods. They were part god and part
human. Some people assumed it was the
same with Jesus—he was part god and part human. Maybe he just went through the
motions of being a human but didn’t really suffer as a human. In the end, the
church leadership described him as fully divine and fully human. That meant that he suffered in the ways
humans do, but didn’t sin as humans do.
Unfortunately
this was all determined and described after Jesus lived, died and was
resurrected. While the disciples had a
close relationship with Jesus, they didn’t fully comprehend who he was. It was hard for them to see Jesus as a God who
would have to suffer. The Gospel of Mark in particular shows the confusion of
the disciples unabashedly. Between
chapters 8 and 10 there are three passion predictions. A passion prediction is when Jesus describes
that he must suffer, die and then be raised again.
The
first time he told the disciples about his death, Peter pulled him aside and
told him he must be wrong, there had to be another way. Jesus then used the infamous line, “Get
behind me Satan.” The 2nd time Jesus described his death and
resurrection, the disciples started arguing about who was the greatest
disciple. This time Jesus didn’t respond sharply, he simply said, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of
all and servant of all.’ Our
reading for today comes after another passion prediction. This time, he is a little more specific: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be
handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to
death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him,
and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will
rise again.”
How did they
respond to this 3rd passion prediction? James and John asked for
preferential treatment. They wanted him to promise them that they would have
places of honor in his glory. At this
point, you might think Jesus would be getting just a little annoyed. He has explained this three times. He has to suffer and die---then rise
again. He never said anything about
glory. But instead of reprimanding them
like he did Peter, he simply told them that they didn’t know what they were
asking. So he asked them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Jesus was speaking metaphorically. The cup represented life and experience. The baptism wasn’t baptism in the way we do
baptism, the Greek word literally meant to be submerged. So Jesus was asking, “Do you really want to
experience what I have to experience and suffer in that way that I will have to
suffer?”
Here is the shocking thing: they said they do. You see, at that point in the conversation, I
would have been slowly backing away hoping that we could forget this whole
conversation ever happened. Many assume
that they simply didn’t understand what he meant and they were still just
wanting to share in the glory. He didn’t
really have to suffer. Or if did…it was going to be really quick. Surely James and John had no idea what they
were signing up for and were just acting like entitled brats. And who knows…who knows what the truth is,
but I have a theory.
The disciples were not looking good at this
point. First Peter had argued with him
and tried to tell them there was an easier way---acting like he knew better
than Jesus. Then they argued about who
was the best disciple. Now they wanted the spots of honor. None of this makes them look good. But here is the thing…they were not giving up
on Jesus. Despite Jesus’ predictions of suffering and death, despite Jesus’
lack of popularity with the religious leaders of the time, despite the fact
that none of this journey had been easy at this point—they had all left their
families and homes to follow this man who kept talking about suffering and
death. Despite all of that, they were
still with him.
Many had witnessed Jesus’ miracles and
compassion. Many had heard him teach.
Many had come to follow him. But
most had left when things got too challenging.
These disciples who were confused and tended to blunder their way
through all kinds of things, were still committed to being with Jesus. Yeah, they wanted positions of power and
honor, but they were committed. And I
think that is why Jesus didn’t get that upset with them. He didn’t promise them positions of honor,
but he also didn’t castigate them for their foolishness. Jesus saw their ambition and instead of
shaming them for it, he offered redirection and redemption. He could see that they were trying, they were
making an effort and that means something.
I think that the challenge the church is now
facing (and has been facing for many years) is not misplaced ambition, but
complacency. Our God is a God of love
and forgiveness. And maybe that guy on
my favorite show is right. Maybe he will get to those pearly gates and God will
say, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t care
that you ignored me the majority of your life, it’s all good.” I really don’t pretend to know how we will be
judged. But I do believe this, God cares
about our effort. God wants to know us and God want us to know him. And we can’t know God if we stop trying. God will forgive our misdirection and our
mistakes as long as we seek God’s forgiveness and keep trying to know God.
James, that confused disciple who was desperate
for honor was beheaded because of his belief in Jesus Christ. He was one of the
first martyrs of the Christian faith.
John lived a long life, but also suffered for the sake of the
Gospel. They never gave up on Jesus. They followed him to the end. We all have to decide what path we will take.
Will we give up or will we keep trying to follow Jesus, no matter where it
leads. I make mistakes all the time. I
watch reality TV when I should be reading the Bible. I get distracted by silly things and spend
way too much time worrying about what will upset people. But I always return to the words of Jesus and
I know that in the end, his life, death and resurrection will save me. I won’t give up no matter how much I mess
this up and I hope you won’t either.
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