St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN
Year B - Proper 24 - October 21, 2018
Isaiah 53:4-12
Psalm 91:9-16
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45
It's a really nice thing to be around a polite person. You know the type… the folks that let you ahead of them in line because you only have 2 items and they have 50. Some of you have experienced the courtesy of another opening the door for you, or even saying please or thank you.
Most of us in the south were brought up to say yes sir, no sir, yes mam, and no mam… It becomes part of our DNA, it’s genuine and sincere. With the world the way it is today, it always causes me to take notice politeness in society. It immediately makes me think about the way I respond to others.
I have always tried to be a polite person, using those “good” words that I learned as a child… such as please and thank you. Yes, Sir and Yes, Mam. After all, it’s the right way to be, but occasionally, I forget.
Instead, I find myself reverting back the barking that I learned to do when I was in military school. You know, those times when we make requests of others that sound much more like military commands, rather than respectful requests.
Such as, “While you’re up, get me something to drink” or “make me a sandwich.” Does it sound familiar? Sometimes the way we come across to others is also so much a part of who we are, that we don’t even realize how harsh it sounds. It makes others want to come back with that horrible question, “What do I look like, your slave?” Or sometimes you just get back that "look" that will burn a hole right through you.
I have had that said to me… I know that probably some of you have too… Whenever someone says that to me, I feel extremely bad… I regret that I did not choose a kinder way to ask. And the word “slave” itself generates a very negative and guttural feeling in me… Having the word “slave” thrown into a conversation makes many people very uncomfortable and a bit nervous.
Sometimes I am on the receiving end of that word, but sometimes I’m the one saying that word in another direction. Many of you may think it’s not a big issue, but that’s not the issue that I want to debate here this morning. Rather, It’s just a description of how I personally feel when I hear the word. I think we can all agree that our words matter. Words have a great impact, power, and lasting presence.
And we need to take a minute and realize that they can hurt others as much as they can heal. That’s why it’s so hard to listen to today’s Gospel lesson from Mark. Jesus says, “whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” Slave of all... what in the world does that mean? We hear the word “slave” and immediately we conjure up the images of American Chattel Slavery... A world of mistreatment, abuse, degradation, despair, hardship, and sometimes even death.
And when Jesus says that slavery is something we need to embrace and even model ourselves after, it gets more than a little confusing. In what ways are we to be slaves? What exactly does God expect of us? It’s important to remember that all language has limitations… Our words, phrases, idioms, analogies, metaphors, and even the stories themselves (such as the parables that Jesus uses) are never perfect representations of the meaning behind them.
And so, in this case, we must understand that Jesus is affirming SOME aspects of being a slave FOR others, but there are probably other aspects of slavery that Jesus would not and could not support, nor would he ask us to condone or embrace. So, what aspect of being a slave is Jesus asking us to live out as his disciples?
Well, we’ll probably never really know exactly. But I’d like us to take a look at one aspect of slavery which might be helpful to us as we walk our journey of faith. We often think of slaves as simply taking orders from others, doing whatever the task-master asks. However, in the ancient world, it was so much more than that. In many ways, the slave did not live separate lives apart from of the household they served. Their life was not their own. Rather, their life was fully immersed in and completely overlapped with that of the family they served.
The family’s concerns were their concerns. Their well-being was that of the family’s. The family’s needs were their needs. And whatever the family requested, the slave provided if he or she was able --- usually, with no questions and no conditions.
This sort of overlapping of lives is something many of us just don’t do. We like to keep our distance. We have this bubble around us that we like to live in. We like to pick and choose who, what, when, where, why and even how we will love. We help others and care for them only when it’s convenient, or we give, and sometimes only when we have something to gain.
And if we just don’t feel like it, well, you know what happens then. We just sit on the sidelines, detached, leaving others to fend for themselves. My guess is that when Jesus encourages us to be a “slave” for others, in part, he is asking us to resist the temptation to stay uninvolved and unconcerned.
Rather, he’s asking us to enter into --- in a very real way --- the lives of those around us.
In today’s Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, we heard, “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” Jesus entered into our world… God became one of us, and as a result, God knows first hand what we’re going through.
If only we could do the same --- if we could only enter the world of others --- and share in their struggles and joys, their hopes, their fears, and even possibly their dreams. Truly serving others requires that we carry some of their burdens, take on some of their pain, and help them work through some of their difficulties and struggles. Imagine if we all truly acted that way…
Imagine if every “I need you to . . .” was replaced by, “Let me know how I can help.” Imagine if every expression of sorrow was followed up with an offer to listen and an attempt to understand. Imagine if every admission of guilt was given the response, “I forgive you.” And imagine if not one person had to journey through this life feeling alone or abandoned.
I think that this is the sort of “slavery” and service that our Lord calls us to. And the good that we do for each other is a good thing in and of itself. Of that we can be assured. But it is actually more than that.
When we are truly present to one another… the bonds of love and relationship between us grow a little stronger, our understanding of the another becomes a little clearer, and the walls between us begin to be torn down. Mistrust and misunderstanding turn to appreciation, suspicion turns into hope, and indifference turns into true caring. All of that can be a reality.
But, staying in our own tiny little, isolated world, this bubble, that we create for ourselves is not how we are supposed to live. It is beneath who we are as children of God… God entered our world in the person of Jesus Christ, and become one of us… and the world was changed forever. If we are willing to step into the world of another… step in all the way… who knows what might happen?
