Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church
of Seventh-day Adventists
October 5, 2013
(Communion Sabbath)
Then they began to argue among
themselves about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus told
them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their
people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among
you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should
take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is
more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves?
The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am
among you as one who serves. “You have stayed with me in my time of
trial. And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant
you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you
will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke
22:24-30 NLT.
Our New Testament reading today takes
us to an upstairs room in ancient Jerusalem. Jesus was eating with
his inner circle, a group of twelve men. They didn't know it, but
this would be their last meal with the Teacher before his
crucifixion.
While they were at the table Jesus
warned the group that one of them was going to betray him.
The disciples
began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.
Luke 22:23
It was inconceivable that any of them
could sink so low. They questioned themselves then looked around at
each other wondering. Who could possibly do such a thing? Their
bewilderment about which of them might have such a fatal flaw quickly
morphed into a debate over which of them was number one. Who was the
best man among them? Who was furthest from such ignominious betrayal?
Who deserved first place among the twelve?
Jesus stopped them.
“In this world
the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are
called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be
different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the
lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more
important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The
one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among
you as one who serves. Luke 22:25-27.
Jesus' words set his disciples up for a
bit of clear-eyed analysis: Were the kings the disciples knew about
really “friends of the people” or “benefactors” as other
translations put it? Did the disciples really imagine that kings made
war and levied taxes in the interest of the public welfare? Hardly.
Jesus pushed further: In contrast to
what you know is the norm among people of privilege and power, in my
kingdom, service really is the supreme value. In my kingdom status is
determined by one's willingness to engage in the most challenging
service.
Jesus barely gave the disciples time to
digest before he through a surprising curve at them. He had cautioned
them about the seductiveness of status. He had declared that in the
kingdom of heaven one's honor was based on serving not on formal
status.
Then Jesus makes a startling
announcement:
“You have stayed
with me in my time of trial And just as my Father has granted me a
Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my
Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.” Luke 22:28-30
Status can be seductive. Yes. Jesus
warned against fooling ourselves that protecting the prerogatives and
privileges attached to our formal status is anything other than
self-serving. But Jesus does not direct the disciples to deal with
the risks of seduction by avoiding status. Jesus throws them headlong
into the risk. Jesus makes them kings.
As Christians, we, too, are called to
service. We are to use every ounce of status and influence we possess
to mend the world, to serve humanity.
The Bible repeatedly highlights the
spiritual status of Christians. We are to understand ourselves as
royalty in the family of God. We are forgiven. We are called. We are
honored. Part of our worship is an affirmation that we are God's
special people. No matter our family of origin, no matter what we
have been told by parents, teachers, lovers, spouses, children,
preachers. We are the prized children of the Almighty.
Then we are called to take our special
status and touch others with its wonder.
We have status in our secular lives.
Nearly all of us have American citizenship. Something that at least
half the world would covet. We are privileged. We are called to use
this privilege as a platform for service.
Most of us have an education. There are
places in the world where education for women is prohibited. There
are terrorist groups that are attacking children and teachers for the
offense of getting a non-Islamic education. There are fundamentalist
groups here in the United States that actively oppose education
beyond high school for women. If we have a bachelors or graduate
degree, we are enormously privileged. The challenge that comes from
Jesus is this: how are you using the advantage of your education to
serve humanity?
Within the church community some of us
have positions of influence. What guidance do the ideals of Jesus
offer for how we operate in these positions?
One of the more dramatic features of
the conversation around the table that even was the juxtaposition of
Jesus' clear-eyed acknowledgment of the disciples defects and
weaknesses and his affirmation of their potential.
Jesus announced that one of the group
was going to betray him. Another in the group was going to deny him.
The entire group had problems with the seductive allure of status. In
spite of all this, Jesus said, “I'm turning over the management of
the kingdom you. You can do it. You are going to do it.”
The work of these guys turned out to be
epic. Their response to Jesus changed the world. I think it was
Jesus' confidence in them that created their ability to do what they
did. It was Jesus' faith in them that allowed them to exercise their
world-changing faith in him.
This is my model of church. We empower
one another by trusting each other. We know we are ordinary people
with the ordinary range of human strengths and abilities and the
ordinary range of weaknesses and defects. We are ordinary people. But
we are working to build an extraordinary culture. We are practicing
cultivating a culture of trust, a culture that pays more attention to
potential than defects and failure.
Here we practice looking at one another
with the eyes of Jesus. We are not naïve. We know the people around
us. We deliberately minimize their failings and celebrate their
goodness. We do this because it was modeled for us by the founder of
our religion and is enshrined in our most sacred ritual—the Lord's
Supper.
We eat together, celebrating a family
connection that reaches far beyond our circles of amiable friendship.
Our table welcomes all of God's children and makes of them our
brothers and sisters. When we eat the Lord's Supper together we
remind ourselves that “I” have no special claim. Rather our
highest privileges and prerogatives belong us as members of a global
family.
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