Serving our Communities with Delight (3/5)

B Pentecost12 2015

August 16, 2015

Mark 10:35-45

BLC Value #3

The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. [Glory to you O Lord]³⁵James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” ³⁶And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” ³⁷And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” ³⁸But Jesus said to them, “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?” ³⁹They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; ⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.⁴²So Jesus called them and said to them, “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. ⁴³But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

The Gospel of the Lord [Praise to you O Christ].

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are on the third Sunday in a series on Bethlehem’s Core Values – Today’s value is “Serving Our Communities with Delight.”  Since our value is to serve with delight, I’d like to give you the opportunity to have a little fun with a game during this sermon.  So if you think it would help you stay focused upon the message of service, grab that BINGO card out of your bulletin and play along.  No need to yell out “BINGO.”  I’ll take all your cards at the end – and everyone who plays will be a winner.  We can all thank Camp Calumet for the inspiration for fun and games, and family BINGO.

When we read today’s gospel, we hear something that has become very familiar because of its use in our everyday language “the first shall be last, the last shall be first”… and if we let it blow past us: well, that is clearly a part of the biblical message.  But what Jesus actually says today is about leadership – and all the relationships we have with one another.  The story is a set-up for us… James and John are more caught up in their ego, in getting top status, than in being good listeners.  At least for this moment, they are more interested in Jesus for his charisma and glory than in being molded and shaped into the kind of people, and leaders, Jesus wants them to be.  Meanwhile, Jesus is in training mode.  He’s got a limited time with these guys to give them everything he’s got about what it means to lead the church that is about to be born.  Jesus knows that their training is the raw material he has to work with when he comes back as the advocate, the Holy Spirit, to empower them to build the church.  And he’s not going to waste it.  So when James and John ask their wildly inappropriate question, but a question that any of the disciples wanted to know the answer to… Jesus brings them right back to their training. 

“whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve...”

There are a few articles floating around the business literature – Harvard Business School, Forbes, etc. all about what Jesus is talking about today.  Jesus’ definition of leadership.  They don’t state that Jesus is the originator, in fact, sometimes they may not know.  But we do. 

Here’s how the article in the Harvard Business Review says it… A quote in an article titled “Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Feirce Resolve” about Jim Collins research on good to great companies:

Collins argues that the key ingredient that allows a company to become great is having a Level 5 leader: an executive in whom genuine personal humility blends with intense professional will. To learn that such CEOs exist still comes as a pleasant shock. But while the idea may sound counterintuitive today, it was downright heretical when Collins first wrote about it [in 2001]—the corporate scandals in the United States hadn’t broken out, and almost everyone believed that CEOs should be charismatic, larger-than-life figures. Collins was the first to blow that belief out of the water.

Well, we knew that.  That is, we know that now.  After the last 15 years of financial meltdown, we might be looking for something different in our CEO’s.  We might be looking for a little more Jesus. 

The article written Feb 2005 goes on to say that HOW to become a humble and clear leader is still the next challenge to identify.  A quick google search will lead you to that…

Or you could just follow Jesus.

Because Jesus is clear, he is clear that his purpose is to serve with his whole life, to empty himself for others, to pray with them, to listen to them, to teach them, to show them God’s love breaking in with healings and reconciled relationships.  Jesus has “intense professional will” and humility wrapped up.  And as his followers who imitate him, we get to practice it too. Like when you serve your kids by showing kindness in the midst of their limit-testing, or when you serve your coworkers with whole-hearted teamwork and uplifting words.  You serve your friends when you remember them in prayer.  We serve when we stand up to the bully in peace.  In all areas of life, we serve with love... we put God’s will for the world before our own. 

And we do put God’s will of servant leadership into action here at Bethlehem!  In fact, let me tell you that there are two big questions that most every new person I encounter asks about our congregation: 1) what do you have for kids? And 2) how do you serve the community?

And I love these conversations because, Church, you have a big heart for service. You love to show God’s love. 

We serve God and each other when we show up for worship and faith formation and Bible Study – it is there that we are community for each other with mutual support – you never know who might need you in worship or at a study this week.  We serve God and each other in this congregational community with various roles in worship, leadership on Council and in committees (and I’m not just talking about the committee chairs, anyone who serves on a ministry team leads this congregation as a servant). 

And we serve the community – in such an array of beautiful ways!  We are focused to feed, shelter and clothe our neighbors.  We run our clothing store, Bethlehem’s Closet, we reach out with those clothes to Concordia Lutheran in Worcester and other places in our community. 

We feed people through donations to Food Share out on that table and with special offerings to them at our ecumenical worship services and we are about to begin stocking their shelves with produce from our very own garden!  We help keep our neighbors sheltered in our partnership with St. Vincent de Paul in Southbridge and Sturbridge.  And did you know that this congregation once participated in a local shelter called Grace House?  It doesn’t exist anymore, but the need for a leg up into self-sufficiency is still great, and so what was once Grace House is about to become a household management coaching program where you can volunteer to give a hand up, not a hand out, through teaching budgeting, grocery shopping, anything that will give a chance at dignity to our brothers and sisters who are vulnerable to losing their housing.  It’s going to be awesome.  Let me know if you want to jump on board. 

You, church, you do this well: let God use your hands and feet.  We… Serve Our Communities with Delight.  Both this congregational community, and we look outward to our neighbors, especially the most vulnerable.  And with great joy!    Maybe most of us aren't going to be CEOs of the companies, but we are leaders in our community when we serve. We can make big changes happen with our humility and focus on the will of God. Listening and acting upon God’s Illuminating Word, to participate in what God is already doing to change the world into a whole bunch of beautiful servants.

Well, now, to wrap this up… Who has a completed BINGO card?  Please pass them up…
[Have all participants give cards to me (Have one set done, just in case) - Spell out God’s Love.]

Amen!