Scripture: Mark 12:38-44
How do we determine the value of a person? I doubt any of us have really thought about this question, yet we each have our own system to determine it. Is it the amount of education that one has, or possibly what they do or can do for us? Is it as shallow as their attire or as deep as their philosophy? Along with this question could be how do we measure success? Every situation holds different criteria for us to answer. My other job has a measure based on the amount of apprehensions I make in a month. It is really the only real way to measure the success of someone in my position, but there is a drawback to this measure. I could have fifty stops in a month and only save our company $100 or I could have two stops and save the company $1000. The value and the measure do not always show the measure of success or worth of a person.
So how do we value those around us? In this scripture we are introduced to a couple of different people: the scribe and the widow. To fully understand this passage we should probably have some back ground information on the culture. Firstly, a widow in this culture is probably the most impoverished person in the ancient Jewish culture. Unlike today women had a very specific role in society, they were to manage the home. This basically meant the rearing of children, meal preperation, clothing manufacturing, and many other household duties. Women in this point of history did not work outside of the home, if they earned an income it was only through domestic service. A woman’s value to the society was determined by her husband and adult children, I am not saying that this is the correct view of women only that it is how history tells the story.
A scribe is the exact opposite of a widow. Only men could become scribes and they had a very specific role in society. They could read and write, so they were well educated. They were employed to read and compose documents for others. Because of this they were often regarded as legal counselors or lawyers. These were the highest-ranking secular office holders in a culture. Not to say that they were secular only because many of these men were very religious, but they were not of the clergy or priestly order. They were teachers and interpreters of the law. Scribes were found among the Pharisees as well as the Sadducees in the Jewish culture. There were also scribes among the Romans, and in the Herodian dynasty. Any official office or order had scribes.
So we have in this scripture a view of two opposing sides of the social spectrum: the educated and the ignorant, the wealthy and the destitute. As you consider this passage I want you to again consider how we value the people around us as well.
Jesus says, “Beware of the scribes…” Beware! Beware? I just said that these were respectable members of society, not just respectable but necessary. They were the teachers, legal consultants, and leaders within the culture, yet Jesus says beware of the scribes.
“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplace.” Jesus begins with a warning but goes on to clarify the warning. The scribes are people of high status and rightfully so. They deserve their wages and respect because they have earned their positions. Jesus is not demonizing the wealthy in this passage, though I have often heard it interpreted as such. He is warning us about pride. It is not wrong for people to earn wages, it is not even wrong for them to have power within a group, nor is it wrong to have influence over people. What Jesus is saying is beware of the scribes, those wealthy people, who flaunt their success for all to see. Those people that walk around the dingy, dirty streets in long flowing robes of fine fabrics. Clothing is a necessity in most cultures, and is often a sign of status. When I was a student the brand of jeans one wore would sometimes determine who would interact with tem. If I were to wear wranglers then I would fit in with the cowboys and the FFA crowds, but was not widely accepted among other groups. If the jeans were purchased from the mall then a different group of peers found someone acceptable. I did not fit in either group, even though I purchased my jeans at the mall it was not because I wanted to accepted in a group I was just a weird size and Wal-Mart never carried it, and I thank God that I am finally average. Cultures have not really changed that much. The long flowing robes of this first century culture were the name brand jeans of their day. The scribes that Jesus spoke about were the ones that wanted people to view the tags of their clothing and realize that they had money, enough money that they could freely spend it on designer garments.
This goes one step beyond clothing. These people, Jesus warns, also demand respect. If you were to come across them on the street you were to treat them with honor. I do not know how these first century greetings would have been, but today there are people who have special titles. If you are a judge, you have the title of your honor. Many cultures have an aristocracy with titles of nobility like Lord, Duke, Prince, or Queen. There are doctors who have obtained that title by virtue of education and then there are people who have been given titles like President or Governor. Titles set people apart from others; many titles elevate people over others. Some deserve the title because they obtained it through hard work; others gained the title because they were born into it. Either way the title in some way says to everyone around, “I am better than you.”
“Beware of the Scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!” There is a reason Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Pride gets to people. And other people want to be close to someone famous. It does not matter what the title is to be honest. We want to impress our managers at work and we often treat them different than our other coworkers. If we were to go to a dinner where a certain celebrity was going to attend we would dress differently than if it were just a meeting with friends.
“They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance they say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” There are people that demand honor and people that have earned respect. They devour…this speaks of how people obtain their wealth. Those that devour gain what they have by unjust means, and have been unsympathetic to the needs of others. Devour is a term of consumption. It speaks of greed and selfishness. The widow is the most vulnerable person in the community; they have no say or ability to change their status and are living at the mercy of others. As a result they are taken advantage of. They sell what they have so they can survive another day, taking whatever is offered because they have little choice. Yet those that devour their houses, or purchase the property for a devalued rate, stand before the community saying long eloquent prayers even though they themselves are rotten to the core.
How do we value people? How do we measure success? How do we measure? “Beware of the Scribe, who…” Not every scribe in Jesus’ day was like this, many were quite the opposite. They deserved honor because they were gracious to people. In the Old Testament book of Ruth we meet an honorable “scribe” named Boaz who saw the widow named Ruth and made sure that she had plenty to gather in the fields. In the New Testament we meet people like Joseph of Arimathea who was a wealthy man yet gave his property to honor Jesus. What Jesus is speaking about is simplicity and humility.
To be an educated person requires some responsibility to society. A medical doctor has earned their title but to receive the honor they must apply what they learn to the helping of others, and they receive wages. Not all medical doctors are the same. Some serve graciously and others devour. An attorney is similar they rightly deserve honor for their position in our society; they earn a wage for their service to others, yet some devour. Jesus does not condemn the pursuit of knowledge or honorable careers but we need to be honest about who we are and live simply within our place.
To live simply is to be honest about who we are and from where our value comes. In many societies the measure of success is found in the amount of currency one can earn. But do you know what the true value of currency is? The true value of a twenty-dollar bill and a ten-dollar bill is actually equal. The true value is the amount of heat it can produce when it is burned. Currency is only a tool to operate within a society. It makes the exchange of goods and services easier and more uniform, but it actually has very little real value. If we are determining the value of a person based on the amount of money they have we are misplacing honor. Currency can be gained in many ways, honorable and dishonorable, but the value of that person is ultimately found inside.
Jesus took his disciples to stand across from the temple treasury and they watched as people gave their offerings. They observed the wealthy and the poor placing their offerings into the collection. Some put in vast amounts of currency and they observed a widow place in two copper coins. I learned that these two coins amounted to around an 1/8th of a day’s wage. The stewards of the community were probably observing this as well, making note of the larger sums and overlooking the small ones. But Jesus said that the true value of the coins was greater than the others. We wonder about this but it comes back to value and honor. Who do we value and what do we honor?
The widow had nothing she lived at the mercy of the community. She did not know what she would be able to eat or how she was even going to survive. And the wealthy gave out of their abundance. Who is more important to the community as a whole, the scribes or the widows? How we answer that question tells us a lot about who we are and what we value. The money we earn through our labor is a tool of trade. It can be traded for goods and services in our nation. Currency does not determine our value, because the trade value changes and can ultimately become worthless. With that being said, the basic needs for survival are the same for everyone. We all require similar amounts of food to survive; we all require shelter, and transportation. The cost of these are the same no matter what income we earn, so in that sense we are equal no one is better or worse than another person. Yet the amount of our income that these consume differs dramatically.
Simplicity and humility is required by God, what Jesus was showing his disciples is that the scribes were full of pride because they had the ability to earn a better wage. They thought of themselves as better than the widow because she did not have the means to earn or contribute as they did. As a result they demanded from their society honors that were greater. They wanted everyone to know that they were important. But in God’s economy every human is equal, we are made of the same stuff, from the dust we were created and to the dust we will return. Your value is not based on what you earn but on who God is. The widow knew this better than anyone else. She knew that it was God that provided her with what ever she was able to do, just as it is God that provides us with our minds to think, our abilities and temperaments to earn tools of trade. Our incomes are blessings from God. The widow gave all she had and was honored because she recognized the truth and humbly submitted to God, where the scribes hypocritically demanded honor for their contribution and as a result receive condemnation.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist denomination, is a name that many of us know. John lived most of his life as a single man, and lived a very simple life. He determined the cost of all his basic needs and that is all he lived one. John however was not a poor man, he made a significant income from the books that he published, but even as his income increased he still lived on the same amount. He gave everything else to the expansion of the ministry of the Church. He died with very little to his name, and God honored him because he had a humble and simplistic view of life. He knew that it was God that provided everything so he gave it all to God.
The widow gave all she had. The scribes devoured and gave only some of their large amounts. God honored the widow, and it was through her gift that the kingdom was expanded. It was through her witness that God will provide for her needs no matter what that the kingdom advanced. It is her witness to those struggling that encouraged them to carry on in their faith. Not the vast offerings of the wealthy.
It is a hard lesson to learn. I am sure that most of us do not want to listen to the lesson because we work hard for what we have, and we feel like we should enjoy it. The truth is what you have is a gift from God. That gift was given not so we can devour it but so that we can become a blessing to others. If we are not willing to bless others with what we are given God will take that blessing from us. This is true for our personal lives as well as the life of our Meeting. I encourage each of us to honestly look at what we have and what we need. Let us take our needs to God and trust that He will provide for us and let us step out in faith, as we become blessings to others.
Scripture: Mark 12:28-34
What is the most important thing? When I was in school my classmates and I would often ask questions of our teachers trying to learn what the minimum requirements of the class were. Many times we would spend more energy trying to figure this out than actually doing the assignments, and if we would have just done the work we would have been fine. The economy of the classroom is often that way. At times the questions were to gain clarity but all too often it was to get out of doing what we knew we should do. Our teachers knew what we were up to, probably because they had done the same when they were students. I observed something as I progressed through my education, usually I did better on my papers if I just did the work without trying to negotiate the requirements. When I would just did my work my own way the professors usually gave higher marks because of the creativity factor. On one of my assignments my professor actually wrote on the paper, “I do not know what to do with this papers because I have never had one written in such a way, but since you fulfilled the requirements you get an A.” I guess most people do not write theology papers in a narrative format.
Teachers are around to pass on knowledge. Part of our human nature is to be curious. We want to know things so we study, investigate, question, and observe. Teachers are around to assist parents with those constant questions of our youth, as we grow teachers continue to pass on knowledge even though they may not have the same titles. Jesus was one of these teachers. Many called Him a rabbi, meaning teacher, but he did not officially hold that title. He traveled from town to town teaching, preaching, showing people how to life a life devoted to God. Although He did not have the credentials of the various scribes, they all recognized that He taught with authority, just prior to this exchange of ideas there was another discussion between the teachers, like many discussions they build and grow. They observed that Jesus had some very good things to say. This discussion that we did not read today was over the deep theological debate over the resurrection.
The laws of what Christians call the Old Testament stated that if a man dies without a child his wife is to marry his brother and the first child from that union would be considered the child of the first husband. It’s quite a confusing ordeal. The questions that was being discussed was not if this law was acceptable in the contemporary time frame, but over whose wife this woman would be during the resurrection. This was a debatable issue because the issue of resurrection of the dead was debatable. Some of the teachers of the law believed that the first husband would be the primary husband and so she would be bound to him. Other teachers did not believe in resurrection at all so they did not see the point of debating the issue. Jesus was brought into this discussion and was asked what He thought, and his response was that people would not marry or be given in marriage. He did not say that there was not a resurrection of the dead, but that marriage was not part of it. This answer did not take either side of the issue totally, but was different. They recognized the uniqueness of this answer. In their debating they did not even consider that the things just might be totally different in the life to come.
After hearing this discussion an eager scribe thought that this man might be able to answer some of his questions. In essences he asks, “What is the most important thing?” This man is a teacher of the law, and he devoted his entire life to learning and following the law. Through all of his studies he had learned many things, there were laws, interoperations of the laws, and a life to build around each. These teachers and lawyers would determine how best to pursue this life and teach it to those around them. These teachings were often called the yoke of the rabbi, used in this way because it was a burden to bear. There were expectations that needed to be met, so people would constantly be asking how best to live.
He asks this question both to test Jesus’ commitment to His faith as well as to answer his own personal desires. To live a disciplined life takes hard work. It truly is a burden. What must I do? It is a question that many of the scribes and several others have asked. By his question he was asking a multitude of things, firstly he wanted to know how his teaching compared to the teachings of Jesus. The answer Jesus gave was, “’Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe was excited to hear these words being uttered from the mouth of this teacher. He answers back by saying that Jesus had answered wisely and that these were things more desirable than all the sacrifices and offerings.
There is no other commandment greater than these. The wording of that sentence is a bit odd. Jesus gave two sets of commandments yet he says there is no other commandment greater than these. There is a singularity in the plurality. The two parts cannot be separated. In another gospel Jesus says that the second part is like the first. I have often wondered about this wording, not that I do not agree with what is being said but how it is worded. To love God is to love your neighbor and to love your neighbor is to love God.
You can attend meetings for worship everyday, you can give more half your income to the church as an offering, you could even go to the farthest reaches of the globe to show your love and devotion to God, but if you do not love your neighbor He does not even see it. You could also feed thousands, house the homeless, educate those without the ability to pay for an education, and show the greater love for your neighbor than anyone else but if you do not do it out of love for God then it is nothing more than empty hope. Jesus taught about these things several times. The rich young ruler went away from him because Jesus said that to inherit eternal life he would have to sell all he had and give it to the poor. For that man, he showed the greatest devotion to God, he kept the commandments to the letter but he did not love God with everything he had, because he loved his money just as much as God if not more. When it was said that to have eternal life all he would have to do is give it all away, he could not make that sacrifice and instead turned his back on Christ. Jesus also taught about people that came before him claiming to have healed many and spoken prophetic words in his name, showing grace and mercy to their neighbor, yet he also turned these people away saying, “I have never known you.” They loved their neighbor but did not love God.
James the brother of Jesus in his letter spoke of faith and works. James challenged those that listened to him to show him their faith without works, and he would show them his with. Our faith, our love for God is shown by what we do for others. Our love for others also should be done with praises to God that we have the opportunity to share the blessings He has given us.
Love is greater than all the offerings and sacrifices we can give. Love is a choice and an action; it is not an emotion, although it can stir emotions within us. To share what we have with others stirs within us a strong emotion of thanksgiving and grace. To receive a gift from others also stirs emotions of inadequacy and grace. Each aspect starts with a choice and an action. To give, to receive the emotions of thanksgiving we first choice to share our blessings with someone else and then we follow through with that choice. A gift and a meal must also be accompanied with an equally intentional choice of accepting the generosity and receiving the gift. This is why so many of our strongest memories are around holidays where we give and share gifts and food with our relatives and our friends, like we will do next Sunday evening here at Willow Creek, and like we will do in a few weeks with our relatives.
Jesus looked at this scribe and said something that he rarely said to the religious leaders around him. “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” I often wonder who this scribe was, could it have been Nicodemus who came at night to ask questions of Jesus, could it have been Gamaliel who was not part of the group but did not wish to persecute the followers of Jesus? We do not know for sure who this scribe was but we do know that he knew something of the light. He knew through his studies of the law and of the prophets that God was more concerned with living the intent behind the law instead of performance and keeping up appearances. He knew that the relationships with God and those people around you are more important than the religious activities one can perform.
We live in a time of change, an era in history where we are at a crossroad. Many believe that we just might be in the end of days, which we very may be in, but I do know for sure that we are nearing an end of an age. We look around us and we see the lowest average church attendance in generations, we see higher crime rates than we ever remember, we see poverty hitting not only “those” people but also our own family members. And we ask why? Just the other day on the radio I listened to a commentator ask what age group was the least religious and his answer was 18-29 year olds, but this same age group is seeking spirituality in a greater way than many generations prior to them. They are seeking hope because just like all of us they see the darkness and they are just as scared. What attracts those people to a church? What are they looking for?
They are looking for people that Love God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength. They do not just want religious devotion but a reality that they can experience. They are also looking for people that love their neighbor as themselves. They are looking for people that are actually believe and live according to their beliefs. They want to see people that serve in the community more than just attend worship meetings. They want to be part of a community that trusts God more than statistics. They want to be a member of a community that actually participates in miracles like the feeding of the 5000, instead of just reading about them. The people that we are so worried about the ones we are afraid will be the undoing of our society, want to love Jesus. They know what He taught and they love his message, but they do not like what His messengers have become. They love Christ but they do not trust His Church. They do not trust us because so often those in the church only live half the Gospel. We either love God or we Love our neighbor, but rarely do we love both.
I mentioned a paper that I wrote for a theology class that my professor did not know how to grade. The paper was not a technical paper; to be honest I did not know how to put the words on paper in a scholarly way so instead of trying to do that I decided to write a story. I wrote a story of a person that was facing incredible stress and as a last resort they decided to go to the church to speak to the pastor, but the pastor was busy talking to someone else. This broken person just sat in the hallway lost not knowing which direction to take, and the church janitor came by and began to talk to them. The conversation continued as the janitor continued to perform his tasks, and the person continued to speak. This simple janitor was able to pass on to this struggling person the truth of the gospel in a way that they could understand. The janitor did not have a degree in theology; he did not have a career that would make people jealous, because he was just the person that cleaned the church. But he loved the church, he loved God, he took the job because he could pray when he took a break and he could read the books of the library over lunch. And he could talk to people as they came in, he loved to greet them and wish them the blessings of God. In my story this janitor walked with this person who was unable to see through the darkness, and was able to shine some light back into their life. In the story the person never did speak with the pastor, they never received the words of wisdom from the great teacher, instead they found hope through the words of the person scrubbing the toilets. The great teacher may not have time, or they may not even have words, but the community can love.
“Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We are called to love above all things, to love with everything that we have, and everything that we are. We are called to share that love with the person sitting next to us, across the street from us, and even the person downtown. As we enter this time of holy expectancy my hope and prayer is that the Spirit of the Living God will teach us, show us, and urge us to fulfill that command here in our community.
Scripture: Mark 10:35-45
Power and Influence, this sounds like a headline out of every newspaper across the nation. It actually sounds like the topic of every chapter in every history book. Of course I am exaggerating, but the quest for power and influence is often the topic of the writers of history. It is what makes news. We know about the Jewish wars in the first century because of the quest for power and influence. The results of this quest changed the course of history. Did you know that the fact that our nation mainly speaks English instead of a form of Latin or Gaelic, could trace its roots to this war. This quest for power is really what the entire New Testament is about. We have the nation set apart to be a light among nations against a world dominating empire. It is a battle that has been fought as long as history has been recorded.
Of course like every quest for power and influence there are several different aspects to it. Many who live in the United States would be surprised that the majority of colonists did not desire the revolution. To be honest it was a small minority that actually set this quest for power into play. And most people living in the colonies were actually very pleased with their lifestyle, to be honest the in comparison to most people in the British empire the Americans were rather wealthy. Most did not want independence but influence. You see even in our own history there is a difference in the quest, or the understanding of the term kingdom, is it land or independence; or is it influence or representation within the present nation.
In the ancient Jewish culture of the first century there were several camps, some wanted independence while others just wanted to insure influence in the areas important to them. Power and influence, independence and representation this is usually where the lines of the battle are drawn. In the minds of the Disciples of Christ they were somewhere between these extremes. At the beginning of this passage we see an interaction between Jesus and a couple of very bold passionate members of this group. James and John are called the sons of thunder; this is one of the reasons why. They were right in the middle of an argument, often times hedging their cards to be on the winning side. Here they ask a question that upsets the other ten men in the following. “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
Bold, is the term I use to describe these two men. We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. This is one of the boldest of all questions to ask of anyone. Have you been asked one of these questions? To most of us this question is attached to something we do not particularly want to agree to. Do you trust me, is a similar question. Usually the answer to this question is, “I did, but now I’m beginning to reconsider it.” You probably understand the position that these two guys put Jesus in. They were making a demand of Jesus. Of course we ourselves would never be like these two saintly sinners, because we have learned from their mistakes.
“What is it you want me to do for you?” This is really the only response Jesus could give in the context of his ministry. Jesus always seems to be open to the needs and requests around him. It empowers the person posing the question. They have the attention of their closest friend and whom they believe is the messiah. They ask that Jesus grant them the premier seats in a physical kingdom. This speaks of what they believe is going on in the current quest for power and influence. They envisioned and imagined that this man Jesus was going to bring into existence a separate and independent nation, that he would be the king. They wanted power and influence over people; they wanted control, honor, wealth, and success. In their minds everything they were doing going around the territory of Palestine gathering support was for a military conquest, and they wanted to be the second in command, the chiefs of staff or aides de camp.
Jesus looks at them and states something seemingly simple. “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” These men have lived with Jesus for a couple of years now. In their mind they have been living this. They were most likely disciples of John the Baptist before they began following Jesus, they witnessed when John dunked Jesus under the waters of the Jordan. They too were probably dunked beneath the waters that separated the land of the wilderness and the land of promise. They left their careers, and families to follow this man saturating every waking moment to his ministry and teachings. They ate what he ate, walked where he walked. They eagerly said yes we would do this.
They truly did not know what they were asking. Most of us do not fully understand either. The first statement or question Jesus presents is to drink the cup that He drinks. For many of us when Jesus says these words our minds immediately get transported to a room in Jerusalem, where the followers of Jesus are sharing a meal celebrating the Passover. But that meal has not yet been shared. The baptism that most of us imagine is the one that occurred at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, I mentioned it already. So we have one item that is yet to occur and one that is already past. Jesus does not talk about these as past or future, but as present. The drink I drink, the baptism that I am baptized with. I drink. I am baptized with. Both are currently happening. He is actively drinking and being saturated with whatever He is talking about.
If these are things that are current in the life of Jesus it brings a totally different meaning to the sacraments of the Eucharist and Baptism than what many of us imagine. But Jesus does not give them much time to really consider what the deeper meanings of these are. He goes on to tell James and John that they will experience these things, but position and power are not things that Jesus can grant. By this time the others have heard enough of the conversation and are beginning to express their own opinions. If this is a position available for the taking it is only natural to want to know if they were qualified. They were submitting their resumes to be vetted, but Jesus then begins to teach about leadership.
He says, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
This teaching goes deep into the history of Israel. They began as a one man being called out to become a light to nations, but soon they became slaves, then they were brought into the land. After some time they wanted a king because everyone else had kings, eventually they did not like their king so some of the tribes broke away dividing the kingdom. Then the kingdoms grew further apart from each other and further away from their God. Eventually they were consumed or conquered by other nations. After a while they return to their home but they are not the same, they have a short time where they are again an independent nation but soon they are again subject to others.
They have a history of influence, power, slavery, wandering, power, influence, and again as subjects to others. The cycle continues but one thing remains through it all, God. Through the history of Israel God was unchanging, but the attitudes of the people did. As they drew closer to God they gained power and influence but only through and after suffering. Abraham the father of the nation, left his home to wander, he suffered because of this. He left all he knew for something that was unsure and risky. For a century he lived the life of a nomad with the promise that he would be the father of a great nation only to add years but no children. He did eventually have a son Isaac, and Isaac had two sons, and one of those sons, Jacob, had twelve sons. Then these twelve sons eventually moved to Egypt where they lived as guest and eventually lost favor and were made into servants. Again suffering. They did gain influence and power even through the suffering. It is a cycle of suffering and influence. But in it all there is one message. The Lord is their God and they are His people.
There is a difference in other nations. Who are people we remember in history? Genghis Kahn, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, Ivan the Terrible, Nero, Washington, and Lincoln; nearly every great leader in history is seen as both a liberator to some and possibly a tyrant to others. They were military and political leaders. On one side of the story people loved them on the other people hated them. Some we remember fondly, while others we wish history would forget. Power and influence in the world is often gained through force or manipulation. Sure people that loved them put some into power, others took that power. Where the people of God received their power and influence was not through military campaign or politics. Israel was the strongest and had the most influence when they were out of power. I know it sounds crazy. They had the ears of emperors when they lived in slavery. Daniel was one of the most influential people in the world, yet he was basically a slave living in exile under the rule of Babylon and Persia.
This brings us back to the drink and the baptism. These are terms of suffering; they allude to sacrifices not in campaign. The drink offering is an offering of wine, perfectly good wine just dumped out on the altar. Paul said that his life was a drink offering poured out before God, Jesus at the last supper said that the wine was his blood shed for the world. It is about losing yourself, losing everything that might possibly buy influence over people. Dumping yourself out, and being saturated in something else.
Israel was influential when they lived in communion with God. When they were walking with God, being lead by God, not worrying about them as a nation but fully focused on God. When they were pouring their own lives out as a nation not out of their own benefit but for others. Daniel was powerful when he focused on God and served where he was. Abraham was powerful when he followed God and poured his life into the relationships he built along the way. We will have influence and power over the world around us not by trying to legislate morality or standing for our rights but if we live following God and pouring all that we have into the people around us, suffering for them. That is the true drink and baptism symbolized in the sacraments practiced throughout Christianity. As Friends we do not practice the ceremony for a reason, we recognize that all the ceremonies in the world would not matter if we were not living the reality behind it.
James and John did suffer in life. They live a life fully saturated in the life with God. Every moment of their lives was lived 100% for God after they realized what their teacher and Lord was saying. Saturated and filled. Devoted not to their ambitions but to serve those around them. For James this lead to death, for John exile, both lost everything yet they gained even more, they lost their lives but God gave them a new life. They suffered they poured their lives out before God and man. They did not seek honor or wealth, when they realized what the truth behind the word of their Lord meant they embraced it, and encouraged others to do the same.
What is it we desire? What are we living our lives for? Are we boldly going to God through Christ asking him to give us whatever we ask or are we willing to take up the drink and baptism he drinks and is baptized with? We ask for things but we do not ask correctly, we do not ask in the mind of God yet we wonder why things are not going the way we want. It is not about us, it is about God and the people that He love, the people that He sent His son to live with and for, to sacrifice His life for and to give eternal hope to when He rose from the grave. God wants us to live saturated and fully for Him, pouring out our lives so that those around us will give praise and honor to Him. I began today speaking of power and influence and how most colonist in America did not seek independence but influence in their own government. What do we live for? Power will morph into tyranny, unless we willingly submit to God and live lives devoted to building relationships and pour love into others. As we enter this time of open worship let us consider if we are truly willing to drink the drink of Christ or to be baptized in His baptism.