October 19,2003
Isaiah 53:10-11+ Hebrews 4:14-16 + Mark 10:35-45
Many people read the gospels to ask what Jesus would do. Many see the gospels as a way to look back in history, find what Jesus really said and did, and so renew their commitment as disciples.
But Mark writes to communicate with the future. His concern is not “what would Jesus do”, but “what will those do who hear the Good News?”
When he wrote this Gospel, James and John are already dead.
Recalling the story of their brash ambition is not just an excuse for Jesus to teach about greatness. It is also Mark’s method of drawing us into the mystery of suffering, service, and love. It is an invitation to wonder about how these two who could not get it right who could not stay awake in the Garden of Olives and ran away from the crucifixion ever found a place in the New Covenant.
All of Marks Gospel tells the story of how slow to believe disciples of Jesus have been. And why would he tell it that way except to hold our attention and make certain that we are included. In story after story when a miracle happens, Jesus insists that the one who is cured tell no one. Not until his hour has come, until the passion and death, is the story to be told lest anyone think that glory comes anyway except through obedience, suffering, and service.
There will be no instant miracles bringing the Kingdom of God. It will not be a matter of privilege, who you know, or what they can do for you. Citizenship in the Kingdom of God comes only the hard way; by faithfulness in love no matter what it costs.
Talk of a “cup” is Covenant Cup. It has to do with identity and mutual fidelity. There is no suggestion here that God likes suffering and is its cause.
The proposal made in this Covenant talk is that we are the cause of the suffering because of our failure to make Justice and live in peace. The suffering of Jesus Christ is not because God likes it,
but because of our failure to bring an end to the kind of behavior
that makes anyone who is innocent suffer. The news here is that God will not shy away from even that behavior, and that God will still claim as his own people like us, like James and John. The Good News is that eventually they got it right, and so must we.
The future for which Mark writes is now. Our easy ambitions and a culture of privilege are challenged by this Gospel.
Those who expect instant success and live in a culture of instant pleasure will be impatient and wander away to seek easy glory that will not last.
The issue is simple and straightforward. We have to be here for the long haul. It is fidelity in face of trouble, suffering, and disappointment that matters.
When miracles do not happen and the way seems difficult and painful, those who do not turn away from a Jesus of suffering
those who do not abandon the covenant of Blood poured out in love will be those who have their place with the Jesus of Glory.
These are the ones who will, as Isaiah says, “see light in the fullness of days”.