Living in an Upside-down World – Mark 10:35-45

You may have heard people speak about the need for the church – as a body – to be counter cultural.   Being counter-cultural has been interpreted in diverse ways. Sometimes it has been seen as taking whatever position is contrary to the accepted position relative to any subject. This interpretation has led to confrontations both within and without the church. It certainly stirs up emotion but does not necessarily achieve a positive outcome. Positive outcomes that have been interpreted as counter-culture are those which take up a cause that is seen as unjust. And, of course, we have to realize that anything that does not support or promote the current accepted cultural view will be marked as counter-cultural.

I give this as an introduction to today’s message because the passage from Mark’s gospel tells us of a request made by two of Jesus’ disciples. Their request is something that would not be unexpected.  Any leader of a group would want to have trusted people in positions of authority to help them keep the group on the right track and ensure that the leader’s vision would not be corrupted. John and James also knew that if they were granted special privileges, this would raise their status in the group and show them to be the ones to succeed Jesus.  If their request was granted, it would show that James and John  were more favoured by Jesus and they would expect their suggestions and ideas to carry more weight than anyone else’s. After all, the most trusted advisors of a king could always be found by his side. So why would Jesus - who would be king in the kingdom of God - not need such advisors and give to them a place of honour so all the others could see how important and valued they were.

Of course, the path to that kingdom had a few challenges of which James and John as well as the other disciples were not yet aware. They had no idea that the very life of Jesus would have to be sacrificed and that death would have to come before glory. They had experienced the baptism with water as a sign of their commitment to turn away from their old path and move in the path that was being revealed by Jesus, but they had yet to experience the pain and persecution that would symbolize that second baptism to which Jesus alluded – the baptism of sacrifice – of death and resurrection.

Jesus tries to explain to James and John that they will indeed drink the cup that he will drink, and they will experience the baptism with which he will be baptized but the decision about who will sit closest to him in heaven is not in his hands but the hands of the Father.

The reaction of the other disciples is certainly understandable. All of them had left behind family, friends, employment, and comforts to follow Jesus. But Jesus’ response to the request of James and John and the anger of the other disciples is to remind them of something that they had likely forgot or had not fully comprehended.

The way, the truth, and the life that Jesus had been revealing to the disciples through teaching and healing was not like the way or the truth or the life of the world into which they had been born and raised. They lived in a time when rulers truly lorded it over people subjecting them to unfair taxes and burdens and not valuing the lives of those whom they ruled. They had   experienced rulers who were tyrants punishing people in horrible ways for not agreeing with or following all of the laws they enacted. That may be the world that they were familiar with but within this group, the world is different. In this group, the goal was not to be first in all things by insisting that your thoughts and your decisions and your will be followed by the rest. The goal is to be first by being the servant.  Of course servants are spoken of often in the Bible. There have always been people who served others but those were not important people.  In the eyes of the disciples, Jesus was a great Teacher, a Healer and certainly one day would be a king.  No way would someone like that ever be expected to be a servant.

Yet this is the very image that Jesus chooses to describe the true nature of a leader in his world. In spite of the fact that he was the Son of God, Jesus knew that the leadership required of him was one of true servanthood. His life was to be lived and given as a ransom for the freedom of all people – that they might come to God and receive the gifts of God’s mercy, love, forgiveness and a place in the kingdom of God.  As Paul declares in Philippians 2: :Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.

This account in the gospel of Mark is one of the moments when the disciples come to understand a little bit more what it means to follow Jesus. They discover that the world and the world view they have been guided to live is bringing them into an upside-down world. The rules and the laws governing their life together are radically different from the world that they have come from. Following the way of this new order will result in conflict with the world order around them. They will be criticized, persecuted, and even suffer death for believing in this new world order; but it is this new world order that will lift up people and give them hope and peace. It is this new world order that will convince people that each of them has value and that each of them is loved by God.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul tried to communicate this same message about living in an upside-down world. He told them that no part of the body is more important than another. In the same way, those would take positions of leadership in the community were not to think themselves to be more able or more powerful or more worthy of praise than anyone else. The gifts of God were not given to individuals so they could show others how great they were. The gifts of God were and are given to individuals for the building up of the community of faith.

What we are asked to be is a community of servants seeking for the welfare of each other and listening to and respecting one another.   It’s not easy to keep living in an upside-down world when the world around us is living the opposite way; but it is for us to keep our focus and ever seek to live in the world around us as Jesus did.

AMEN