Preacher: Karen Karen
Date: 17/10/2021
Last week it was Peter, speaking for himself and perhaps for all Jesus’ disciples, who was worried about what was in it for him and them.
Look, we have left everything and followed you
Did the disciples have certain expectations because of that? They had indeed given up everything to follow Jesus, so weren’t they now special, couldn’t they now expect to be in a favourable position in whatever might lie ahead?
And this week it’s James and John putting in a bid for glory. Had they not listened to Jesus explaining to his disciples the entry criteria for the kingdom of God, God’s very different values and understanding of status and worth?
Their request is even more astonishing, or rather profoundly dispiriting, given what had happened between Peter’s outburst and James’ and John’s demand.
And that was Jesus and his disciples setting out on the road to Jerusalem, in effect the beginning of the end – of Jesus’ last journey on earth. And on that journey, Jesus had taken his disciples to one side and explained to them what was about to happen – his being handed over to the authorities, his being condemned to death, his humiliation, torture and death. And resurrection.
And following on from this account in Mark’s gospel, we have this request from James and John. Never mind about the means by which Jesus was to attain his glory, let’s make sure we are right up there too with him.
Are we shocked by that response? Had James and John not listened to Jesus earlier or been affected by what he had told them about what lay ahead for him in Jerusalem? Had their three years with Jesus not made any impact so that their first thoughts were to future proof themselves in God’s kingdom?
Or are we hiding behind our righteous indignation? Isn’t there something very human, just as there was in Peter’s response, to considering our own interests above those of others?
And so, once again, it fell to Jesus to explain God’s understanding of our relationships with one another and where greatness and power really lie.
Nothing much changes in human nature. The pandemic showed the good side of human nature, people caring for their neighbour in many different community initiatives, but it also revealed that we sharpen our elbows when it comes to making sure we get that last packet of pasta or toilet roll. And more recently the confrontations on petrol forecourts told their own story. The instinct of “me first” is still very much alive.
Jesus’ understanding of greatness in servanthood was very alien then and it is very counterintuitive today. It is a challenge to the way we order our societies as to how we reflect God’s upside down understanding –upside down that is to our instinctive human understanding – of human relationships.
It is a challenge because if we are to follow Jesus’ example of not seeking to be served but to serve we need to grow in understanding of how better to live together.
I learnt this week as the Royal British Legion celebrated their centenary with a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey attended by the Queen that their pledge is
Service, not self
And for 100 years they have done just that.
Big business might not, perhaps, be our first port of call when looking for examples of “service, not self” but that’s not the case for the founder of Phones 4 U, the mobile phones retailer, John Caudwell. That company was one of several in the Caudwell Group which Mr Caudwell sold for £1.46 billion in 2006. While he remains active in the business world, Mr Caudwell now devotes most of his time to philanthropic causes. As a signatory to the Giving Pledge, he is committed to giving at least 70% of his wealth to charitable causes during and after his lifetime and this week launched The Life Changers Circle for Major Philanthropists.
This weekend Mr Caudwell is holding the inaugural dinner. To join the Circle, members must commit to donating a minimum of £100,000 a year for ten years to Caudwell Children – that’s £1 million each to help transform the lives of children with disabilities in the UK.
In an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme this week Mr Caudwell said
It’s a hard challenge to get rich people to think differently. It’s not about amassing the most amount of money in your lifetime, it’s what you do with that money and what spiritual satisfaction you get.
We may not have £1.46 billion to use for the good of others but we each have something and this week we had an example of just that here in this place – in Watermoor Church hall to be exact, when we were treated to a lunch served by the Mothers’ Union. A lunch served to raise funds for various projects supported by the MU which raised the magnificent sum of over £300 and which will make a difference to the lives of others.
Jesus showed us by his example God’s kingdom value of service, so that, as Isaiah says
…through him the will of the Lord shall prosper
Jesus has done for us what was necessary to bring us back into relationship with God; the barriers have now been removed so that we can indeed be one with God in his mission in and to the world.
That mission is about God’s glory, making it shine in the world but it’s not about glorifying ourselves in the process – Peter and James and John and we ourselves take note! The writer to the Hebrews makes it plain that it was through his suffering, his sacrifice, that God in Christ became the means of others’ salvation.
So how do we go about living out in our world that counter-intuitive understanding of greatness, the perfection attained by Christ? That’s something we are going to have to find out individually and as a Christian community as we live life day by day.
On Friday, very sadly, we were given an example in the life of a politician. Politicians are not the first to come to mind in any popularity poll – they are often accused of being in it for themselves. But the life and work of the MP Sir David Amess who died as he held his regular surgery for his constituents proved differently.
Sir David Amess has been described as an MP who was faithful to his constituents and constituency. After almost 40 years of parliamentary service, he was proud to have earned the moniker “Mr Southend”, the constituency he represented. Sir David was a Conservative. The Labour leader said
Informed by his faith, David had a profound sense of duty that I witnessed first hand in parliament. His Catholicism was central to his political life and he was highly respected across parliament, within the church and in the Christian community.
So, how to sum up the challenge of Christ the servant? I can think of no better way than in the words of St Teresa of Avila, whose feast day also fell last Friday
Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Amen.