The Hard, Good Road
Pentecost 18, Proper 21
Fr. Tim Nunez
October 17, 2021
Today’s gospel is the third of three incidents that Mark shares where Jesus tells his disciples about his impending suffering, crucifixion and resurrection. You’ll recall the other two; Peter’s confession followed with “Get behind me Satan,” and after the second time the disciples argue amongst themselves about who is greatest.
Jesus again tells them in verses 10:32-34 what is to come. This time, it is the brothers James and John. Mark tells us (in Chapter 3) that Jesus calls them “Sons of Thunder.” That tells us they were loud, boisterous types.
There are two primary lessons to learn from this passage.
First, there is an order of operation in Christ’s ministry that applies to us. Yes, we have assurance that once we’ve committed ourselves to Christ, he has us. We have won. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Likewise, we know Jesus’ victory was already assured, as we sing, from the foundations of the world, as Paul notes in Ephesians 1:4. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.”
This affirmation that Jesus and his Kingdom are assured from the foundation of the world is repeated in many places. But he still must go through the betrayal, the trial, the beatings, and the crucifixion to get to the Resurrection. This applies to us, too. It would be nice to get a free pass to the Kingdom. James and John don’t really understand what that Kingdom will be, but even so are mentally leaping to the future they do envision.
But they don’t get to bypass all the sorrow, pain and hard work ahead for each of them. The Book of Acts records that James will be executed by King Herod Agrippa. John will live to a ripe old age, writing his gospel and teaching Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna to carry on the faith.
We don’t get to bypass it either. Think of this in connection with intercessory prayer. We tend to come to God with a list. It may be written or it may be mental, but we lift people or ourselves up before God and ask God’s healing, comfort or direction. We may say or intend sincerely from our hearts that our intercessions are under the mantle of “Thy will be done,” but there is also an element of desire that, “…we want you to do whatever we ask of you.” We’d probably put it more like, “Git ‘r done!”
But are we able to drink the cup that he drinks? Are we prepared for the baptism with which he was baptized? Consider this scene in light of John’s account of the Last Supper, when Jesus said, “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution [tribulation]. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33)
Are we willing to submit our wills to God the same way Jesus did, with absolute assurance of the victory and steadfastness through the difficulties we and those we love face every day? That is an important guide through the hardships we do face. The light, the beacon of victory gives us direction, but Christ’s own suffering acts as a sort of handrail we can hold when we falter and grasp when we need to get up.
The second lesson to draw from this passage has to do with how we are to live and lead. Hierarchies are built on a mix of our talents and abilities. It isn’t all about power per se, the captain of the team may or may not be the best player, in any case he or she will have a mix of leadership qualities to which the team responds.
But when a hierarchy is established politically and economically, it will inevitably gain power and use power to preserve itself. A pecking order is established and becomes a thing unto itself, quite apart from the goals and objectives it is trying to accomplish. Over time those structures fade or fail, there is a revolution of technology or an actual revolution and new hierarchies form.
That is in one sense civilization, but the hierarchies don’t value people the way God does. Here, when Jesus talks about “the Gentiles” he’s not referring to non-Jewish people. The word is ethnos, the root of our words ethnic and ethnicity, and it means literally peoples or nations and is used for Gentiles. Here, Jesus is using it to distinguish His way, the Kingdom of God, from earthly hierarchies.
Leadership in His hierarchy doesn’t look like royalty or vice presidents, or generals. It looks like Jesus. He had nothing but the clothes on his back. He gave everything of himself, including his precious body and blood, as a ransom for many. It looks like our Kairos team bringing Jesus and cookies into Avon Park Correctional this weekend. It looks like our Thrift Shop volunteers engaging people day by day. It looks like our backpack feeding ministry volunteers packing food for homeless children at Polk Avenue. It looks like our children and youth ministers teaching our kids and their friends about Jesus. It looks like our breakfast teams, our social hour servers and Wednesday night gatherings that feed body and soul in fellowship. All these and more.
Jesus’ hierarchy fills in the gaps where God’s children are underserved, bypassed or crushed by human structures - civil, corporate, political or economic.
Whether it’s persevering through our own suffering or serving others, it’s a hard road but it’s a good road. It’s God’s road. And it’s good to have good company on it.
AMEN