Ambitions put into Perspective
Scripture Reading: Mark 10: 35 - 45
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.
37They 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.”
41When 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.”
Message: Ambitions put into Perspective
Ambitions
Jesus is not killing the ambitions of James and John here
Jesus wants to channel the initiative of these two into better channels than to be seated in honourable positions
There’s also great irony here in what Jesus says to them - “You don’t know what you are asking, Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” - because the point of being a disciple is to follow your Rabbi and do as your Rabbi is doing… here Jesus is telling them that will never be able to do what He came to do
But that didn’t mean they could not learn from Him
Jesus is basically saying to them - take your ambitions and be mindful about what you do with it… don’t just go with your own needs - like we see James and John did with their need for special recognition
Ambitions per sé is not a bad think, unchecked ambitions might be whole different story
That leaves us to consider our ambitions today…
I sometimes wonder what happened to our ambitions in the church?
Are we taking this conversations Jesus had in response to James and John’s request as “we need to know our place” and in thinking this way, kill ambitions we carry
Or has this story just become a subconscious excuse for us to do nothing?
We are currently reading through a section of the Gospel of Mark where there is a huge emphasis on the Kingdom of God
Considering our ambitions today, we could ask ourselves - where do my ambitions fit into the Kingdom of God?
Perhaps a confrontational reflection: what does my ambitions for the Kingdom of God look like today? (Is the passion still there?)
Perspective - Serve
We also need to consider that instead of Jesus killing ambition, He wanted to bring into a new perspective of serving
He wanted James and John, and everyone listening, and you and me today, to redirect their ambition for recognition into an ambition to serve
That’s why Jesus says: “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all”
And then Jesus turns back to the whole disciple idea: “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”
The message from Jesus is pretty simple: “If you want to be my disciple, you need to be willing to serve where needed”
I am going to leave you with that today…
Ask yourself: Where am I called to serve today?
We will observe a few minutes of silence in which you can listen carefully to what God awakens within you through the Spirit…
[Silent reflection]
AMEN
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