corporate box, thanks

 

 

SERMON PREACHED AT St PAUL’S, ARROWTOWN,

and St PETER’S, QUEENSTOWN

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20^th, 2024

ORDINARY SUNDAY 29

 

 

READINGS

Hebrews 5: 1-16

Psalm 99: 1-5

Mark 10: 35-45

 

 

For those of us who are not in church week by week hearing the continuous progress of the gospel story we just need to recognise the context in the story of this little exchange between the glory-seeking disciples and Jesus. The two were not exceptional in their bad behaviour: rather it was indicative of the bad behaviour of most of us in some ways or another, and certainly most of the twelve who gathered around Jesus. But this little exchange happens just after they have heard Jesus speaking of his own impending doom. They effectively ignore him  – at the very least failing pastoral care or even friendship 101  –  and instead seek their own eternal glory and recognition. 

There is a chilling report that appears from time to time that explores a series of young people's response to a question something like “if you could take a drug that was guaranteed to curtail your life at 35 but equally guaranteed you international fame and glory before then would you take it?” Perhaps in fact it’s apocryphal but the story goes that a disturbing proportion of those interviewed affirmed that they would take this mythical drug.

Glorification. We are particularly living in an era of so-called influencers those who earn phenomenal amounts of money, disturbing amounts of fame and glory by setting themselves up often with few if any credentials or life experience as inspirational figures for those who are dare I say it easily influenced. I admit that there have always been influencers. As a teenager I looked to figures like middle distance runner John Walker along with Dick Quax and Rod Dixon, To the poetic singer-songwriters who seemed to see to the heart of civilization’s angst, to poets and prophets who offered some sort of navigational beacons for my future. But they were different. Most of these attained their high profile by dint of sheer hard work and self sacrifice, at least at first. 

The disciples as depicted in this scene were drunk on their own self importance. Jesus speaks of his own pending doom, and they speak of luxury suites in the heavenly Hilton. It is not a good look. I add as an aside that I find it somewhat humbling that these flawed human beings went on to permit their mistakes to be broadcast to the world, and, although they didn’t know it, not only across the Roman Empire but through space and time. Had I been as publicly wrong as they appear to be in these narratives I think I would have arranged a court order, an embargo on any further discussion of my fallibility. In the years after the first Easter these flawed human beings saw that it was precisely their failures that enabled the light of Christ to shine most brightly.

Mark in his gospel writing constantly emphasises that we cannot get the meaning of Jesus teachings and his life until we have seen the earth shattering significance of his death and resurrection. The disciples can be excused to some extent for not understanding that in advance.

The discourse in the passages we have in reading over these last few weeks raises again and again the question what must we as readers set aside to walk in the footsteps of these flawed but redeemed human beings? We might pause – but I’m not that kind of a speaker – to reflect for a moment on what sacrifices we have made, and perhaps more significantly, what sacrifices are we not prepared to make in the service of the gospel. You may remember my confession a week or two ago of my own determination to cling to my large library, most of which is utterly superfluous to my needs, glaring at God and declaring that those treasures will only be taken from me if they were torn from my cold dead hands. 

Actually I don't think I was quite such a drama queen when I mentioned the subject a couple of weeks ago but my case rests. Speaking strictly for me for me we all may find things in our story that we had determined not to surrender to God or to anyone less than God. Indeed I think that was the point that Dr. Townsley was making when I cited her last week, that death itself, the great leveller, is good news, for it is the point at which we all will inarguably surrender to the love and the care and the mercy of God.

Between now and then, whenever then might be,  God remains immeasurably patient with us. I sometimes picture not a stern angry God glaring at me from the celestial heights, but a benign chuckle from behind a bush somewhere, as God wonders how obtuse I am and how long it will take me to get the message that I can’t take it with me when I go. Thank God, God is patient.

The gospel passage that I read ends with the reference to Christ’s life and death as a ransom for many. The language is disturbing. The tendency to read the near-sacrifice of Isaac into any mention of ransom language has debilitated the church down through the years. You'll have to read Anne’s book Restoring the Story to discover why that is both profound and deeply disturbing and unhelpful language. I had in my last parish amongst a gaggle of clergy one who stormed out if ever the word ransom entered the church. He assured me that I was doing my best to destroy his faith in a loving cuddly God each time I used it. The God of our scriptures is loving, but not cuddly. The scriptural writers use this powerful image, this disturbing image of blood sacrifice and ransom to explore the heights and breaths and depths of the journey that our Christ would take to enter into the darkness of our lives and give birth to the hope of Easter and its resurrection. Paradoxically, incidentally, said colleague didn’t believe in the resurrection either.

God chips away at our complacency until we have nothing left. It can do no harm for us to help God in this process by doing just a little bit of a self-audit to assess what are the obsessions and possessions that hold us back in the journey towards what the Bible calls abundant life. Perhaps this coming week we can take glances deep inside our souls to see what next we need to fine tune as we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice in the service of God's love.