Monday, February 5, 2018

February 4, 2018 - Fifth Sunday after Epiphany - You’re Gonna Have to Serve Somebody

Pastor Ray preached and reassured the congregation that this congregation does serve the community and seem to have a heart that demonstrates service. He preached about the death of Jesus and said "Everyone is not called to that kind of service" which was not at the heart of the epiphany that struck at my heart as I heard today's Gospel.

Again the epiphany came at the intersection of what is currently happening in the world and what is in the Gospel. For example, today was Super Bowl Sunday. A commercial that caught my attention was Dodge Ram's Super Bowl Ad which heavily featured a speech by civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. The commercial pulls from King's speech on greatness and service, which was delivered 50 years ago on February 4. This has been called The Drum Major Instinct speech. Dr. King addressed what he called the great task of life. The task he identified was to essentially transform our ego by redirecting our desires away from selfish, competitive goals and towards our spiritual growth and service to others.

"Recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant ... That's your new definition of greatness —  it means that everybody can be great because everybody can serve," King says in a voiceover during the Superbowl commercial, which depicts fishermen, military, football players, and others on the job before cutting to shots of Dodge Ram trucks. The commercial ended with Dodge's tagline, "Built to Serve."

Many thought this undercut and co-opted Dr. King's original message. Partly they speculated that he would not have approved of his words being used in this manner since King's speech February 4 had railed on advertisers (this part of the speech was obviously not quoted in the ad). And partly it was because of where the commercial was placed. The Super Bowl in particular and football in general provide great examples of games of dominance. Competition perhaps brings out the best in us and hones skills when it is on the field. As it becomes more and more ingrained in our social fabric, our identities, and how we live our lives; a price is paid.

Before the game, during the Pastor Ray's sermon, this became a small epiphany for me as James and John essentially ask Jesus for a dominant position over others that they think will satisfy them. At times, we all likely ask God for a certain dominance in our lives. Particularly with our current culture where service to others can be considered sacrosanct at times and not truly respected at other times.

Jesus answers, "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?" He asks them if they are able to be called to the same kind of service he is called to. They say that they are able.

Jesus then proceeds with his answer "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but 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."

Jesus, in the passage just before this, predicted his death for a third time. It is after this that James and John ask this question. Meaning over meaning is overlaid in this answer as a result. With the previous prediction of death, Jesus intimately ties this to being called to his crucifixion. The drink he will be given is vinegar and baptism will become related to death in a new way. And, of course, who is on his right and left during his crucifixion is beyond his ability to grant (not that this was what James and John had in mind).

There is also a sacramental dimension to this answer, with the references to communion and baptism. Thought of in this way Jesus emphasizes what is at the heart of sacramental living. The sacraments celebrate and affirm our lives as a group, rather than emphasizing our individual identities.

Another consideration is that Jesus defines a new kind of providence in the crucifixion / call story we know so well. Crucifixion is hard to reconcile with being in God's protective care. It is no wonder that the disciples cannot understand what Jesus is predicting and telling them about everything that is to come. This is not the divine intervention they are expecting.

It is apparent James and John are unaware what they are asking, as Jesus observes. Jesus answers them truthfully and tells them about greatness in the eyes of the Lord, "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. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

The new music introduced today was Chris Tomlin's I Will Follow which opened the service.

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you


Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you


Light unto the world
Light unto my life
I will live for you alone
You're the one I seek
Knowing I will find


All I need in you alone, in you alone
In you there's life everlasting
In you there's freedom for my soul
In you there's joy, unending joy
And I will follow


This lyric made me think of about Jesus and what kind of service we are called to perform as Christ's body.

"Everyone is not called to the kind of service Jesus was called to do". What do we mean when we sing "How you serve I'll serve / If this life I lose, / I will follow you. I will follow you". Yes, this moves our hearts emotionally but is extremely challenging in reality. We talked about authenticity in our discussion of The Bigger Table on Thursdays and I reflected on those discussions together with two Bonhoeffer quotes and thought about the distance between them:

God became human so that humans could become truly human and humane.

When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

I weighed these quotes what Tomlin's heartfelt song declares that is so compelling.

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