Quick show of hands – who among us have ever had that moment where you’re making a purchase of some sort, and there’s been a legal contract drawn up, such as when you take out a loan for a new car or sign on to a new cell phone company or something like that, and the person who hands you the paperwork says something along the lines of, “Oh, you don’t really have to read all that fine print, it doesn’t matter” or they summarize the fine print for you – or at least they claim they’re telling you what it says, and suddenly you feel like you need to take even more time reading over that fine print? I imagine that Jesus felt that way when James and John come up to him today and say, “Teacher, we want for you to do for us whatever we ask.” Don’t look at the fine print. Don’t ask questions. Just do what we want.
And because Jesus is Jesus, he doesn’t just come out and say, “not happening.” He gives these disciples a chance to make their request. And we know that Jesus knows their request is going to be somehow misguided, right? This conversation is placed just moments after Jesus reminded his disciples of his coming death and resurrection. Jesus has made it plain that the path ahead is going to be hard. There’s going to be trauma along the way. And now it seems that James and John are concerned about pecking order when Jesus comes into his own glory? Guys, read the room!
And it gets a bit awkward, doesn’t it? Because Jesus doesn’t just say, “no.” Jesus kind of asks them if they know what they’re getting into by asking that question. And they say they do, but they really don’t. And Jesus essentially tells them it’s not up to him – that to be at his right and left hand was determined well beforehand. And that might be the end of it, but the other disciples hear what these sons of Zebedee had asked Jesus. And they aren’t happy.
And let’s be honest – we understand why the ten wouldn’t be happy with the two. Because at the least, James and John were being presumptuous. Jesus hasn’t said anything about putting together a hierarchy among the disciples, so why would James and John think they could jump the line to get prime billing? You can understand why the other disciples would be mad about that. It’s like when you’ve had a great relationship with a coworker, but suddenly you find out they’ve been trying to get in good with your boss so that they can get a raise or a promotion ahead of you. You feel a little betrayed. Or maybe you’re just mad you didn’t think to do it first.
And maybe that is where the disciples’ gripe really lies, because we have heard them throughout the gospel of Mark argue over who is the greatest. Jesus has repeatedly had to remind them that it’s not about being great. And here he is again, not long after revealing his own fate – that his disciples are more than happy to ignore – having to tell his disciples once again that it’s not about being great. The kingdom of God that Jesus is preparing is not a kingdom that exists because of the power that one person has over another.
That’s a really strange thing for us to hear, though, isn’t it? Because so much of our world revolves around hierarchy. So much of who we are and what we’re about as a society revolves around this idea that there are a couple of key decision makers. And there are a lot of times where we’ve wanted to be that decision maker. We thought that we could do it better. Guaranteed, James and John thought they would be the most qualified to take the lead when Jesus wasn’t going to be around to guide them any longer. They didn’t think they were better than Jesus, but between the two of them, they probably thought they could do a pretty good job – thus the reference to being at his right and left hand. Together, they could fill any gap left behind.
But sometimes, it’s good not to be the boss too, right? How many of us have had to deal with a difficult client and we’ve been happy to tell that person, “hold on, let me get the manager for you,” or something like that. There are times in our lives where it’s good to know that the buck doesn’t stop with us. And as Jesus explains what it means to be great in the kingdom of God that he is bringing about, we begin to understand. If we want to be first, we must first be willing to serve. If we want to be great, then we must be willing to lower ourselves. Not to make ourselves look good, but because when we all act out of mutual love and service, the burdens that come upon us are shared. The buck doesn’t stop with one of us, because all of us seek to support one another. The struggles of one are the struggles of all. And being first doesn’t matter nearly as much as being in community together. Because as community together, there is no first and no last. There is no self-serving for the sake of power. There is only the kingdom of God. There is only common purpose and common service.
And that’s something that is hard for us to hold onto right now, isn’t it? Because we live in a world where we’re told is “us vs them,” where we’re told that to be great we must be the ones who hold on to power over and above other people. We have politicians who tell us they can make us great if we give them power, and other politicians who say those other guys weren’t that great to begin with. And we are told we need to pick a side in order to really become great ourselves. We are told that those people over there – or maybe even right next to us – are suddenly the enemy that we need to defend against. And somewhere in our national discourse on greatness, we lose the plot. We lose the ability to discern what it really means to be great in ways that truly matter. Because life – real life, a life worth living – isn’t a horse race. It isn’t a popularity contest or a battle of strategy to eke out 270 electoral votes. Real life occurs when we are willing to live into the baptism into which we are baptized – to be a body of Christ for the sake of the word and not just ourselves. A real life worth living isn’t found in conquest but truly is found in serving one another.
Because the kingdom of God that is still coming into the world? It doesn’t look like a vision of electoral dominance. It doesn’t look like a world where retribution and self serving are the primary ways leadership is expressed. No. It is not so among us. Because God’s kingdom is a kingdom where all are one in purpose – to love and serve God and neighbor so that the community that Christ establishes is grounded in his love and truth above all other motivations. And in Christ’s love revealed in us, the kingdom of God is revealed as the one kingdom where true greatness can be found.