“Ambition” Mark 10:35-45

Mark 10:35-45

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Pastor Tom Johnson, October 17, 2021

In the last weeks and chapters of Mark’s Gospel, the disciples argue about who is the greatest. Jesus takes a little child into his arms and says that when we love the little ones around us, we love Jesus and our heavenly Father. Jesus teaches that to become great in God’s eyes is to embrace our own smallness and childlikeness. Today, the disciples still do not seem to be letting go of their ambition for worldly greatness. James and John ask Jesus if they can be his first and second lieutenants in his Kingdom. They wanted a place of prominence, prestige, and power. This shouldn’t be surprising coming from these “sons of thunder” as Jesus nicknames them. And they are not alone. The ten heard everything. They are angry with James and John. So all twelve of the disciples are at odds with one another. This division among the disciples should also not come as a surprise. This is what happens when we allow competition to enter our communities of faith. It’s the result of thinking primarily about our own selfish interest and influence. It is not just James and John but all of us who are now impacted by this quest for greatness.

So Jesus calls all twelve to himself to speak to them. He reminds them of what they already know: the world is filled with leaders who lord it over their subjects; the world is filled with those who consider themselves great and abuse their power as tyrants. You’ll remember that the Hebrew people spent 430 years in slavery in Egypt. Generations were born, lived, and died under the tyranny of slave masters and despotic pharaohs. The Israelites were invaded and trafficked to Babylon. The Hebrews spent 70 years in captivity and in forced servitude. Herod’s father, called “Herod the Great,” was tetrarch of Judea and ordered the execution of all boys two and younger in Bethlehem and surrounding vicinity to try to preserve his power. At the time of Jesus and his disciples, the promised land of Israel has been conquered and is now occupied by the Romans. Jesus himself will suffer under Pontius Pilate, governor of the province of Judea. The Cross of Christ itself is Roman engineered technology designed to prolong the agony of public execution. The early church will grow and spread across the Roman empire while suffering the abuse of power from both Roman and Judean authorities. 

What is human history but the stories of tyrannical rulers trafficking in other human beings, starting wars against their neighbors near and far, and taking possession of other peoples’ land and resources. Jesus reminds the disciples that the world’s leaders lord it over their subjects and rule as tyrants so that they would not imitate the world. Jesus extends his reign into the world and he will not allow abuse or tyranny to be part of his Kingdom. 

Sadly, there is still competitiveness and jealousy in Christ’s Church. Too often it is our ambition to gain positions of influence, prominence, and power. Ambition that is self-centered and self-promoting is a cancer that Jesus does not want to spread to or among his beloved flock. We are called to be in the world but not of the world. And how do we do that? How do we as God’s people not become self-absorbed and self-promoting tyrants? How do we stop throwing our weight around and micro-managing the life and joy out of those around us? We do so by imitating Jesus and not the world. We do so by looking toward the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. We learn from how Jesus ushers in his Kingdom. He rules his Kingdom not by abuse and tyranny but by love and peace. He extends his reign selflessly and sacrificially.

“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Messiah Jesus did not come to make us all his subjects. He came to subject himself. He comes not with selfish aspiration but with selfless inspiration. He comes to be our example and our source of strength. “He gives his life as a ransom for many.” He actions align with his words that “it is better to give than to receive.” Jesus’ life of sacrifice and service is so priceless and transformative that it is more than enough to purchase the world’s redemption. That is true greatness. Jesus comes to emancipate the world not with weapons of warfare, not with clever politics, and not with gold and silver but with his precious blood—by his selfless service and sacrifice. He is far more ambitious than we. But his ambition is not for himself but for the whole world. He has come to elevate others. His joy is in seeing another soul freed from the tyranny of the world, delivered from the powers of darkness, and emancipated from captivity to our own sinful appetites and selfish gain.

Hope of the world, Thou Christ of great compassion;
Speak to our fearful hearts by conflict rent.
Save us, Thy people, from consuming passion,
Who by our own false hopes and aims are spent.

Hope of the world, O Christ, o'er death victorious,
Who by this sign did conquer grief and pain,
We would be faithful to Thy Gospel glorious.
Thou art our Lord! Thou dost forever reign!
          (“Hope of the World” LSB 690 vv. 1 & 5) 

“Out of the mouths of babes” —Psalm 8; Mark 10:2-16

Psalm 8
Mark 10:2-16

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Pastor Tom Johnson, October 3, 2021

If the sun was the height of a grown person and was on the beach just past Du Sable Lake Shore Drive, the earth would be the size of a grape. 1.3 million grapes could fit in that 1.5 meter diameter beach ball. If I were to hand you a photograph of our solar system, you would see a point of light in the middle which would be our sun. The planets would be so tiny and dim that they would not even show up as a speck of light. It has taken 35 years for Voyager 1 to travel to the outer rim of our solar system. It is traveling at 38,000 miles per hour. If Voyager 1 would continue its journey to the nearest star, it would take 73,000 years to get there at that speed. If our solar system were the size of a quarter, the nearest other solar system would be two football fields away. To get a feel for the size of the milky way, which is our galaxy, it would be the width of the United States—about 2,500 miles—filled with between 100 and 400 billion stars or quarter sized solar systems. Astronomers tell us that there are 2 trillion observable galaxies in the universe—that is 2 million million. I hope you have had the opportunity to look up one night at a clear, moonless, unpolluted sky—and away from light-polluted civilization. You don’t need a telescope or any of this science to be overwhelmed by the Milky Way. Like the writer of Psalm 8, we look to the heavens, the moon, and the stars. We see the courses God has set them on. Such vastness and wonder makes us question our own sense of reality and significance. “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, O God? Why should you even care about our little lives?” 

Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton says that such humility is good for our mental health. For thousands of years the night sky, mountains, canyons, oceans, prairies, lakes, forests, deserts, volcanoes, and glaciers gave us a sense of awe and finitude. This fear and respect for the natural world gave us a sublime sense of smallness. De Botton recommends that we regularly visit places that remind us of our smallness. He laments that we moderns have lost our connection to the natural world. “We are now in the era of the technological sublime,” he says, “when awe could most powerfully be invoked not by forests or icebergs but by supercomputers, rockets, and particle accelerators. We are now almost exclusively amazed by ourselves.” “Nature puts us all in our places,” he says. “Our egos…may even be relieved to find themselves finally humbled by forces so much more powerful than any human being could ever muster.” 

The Psalmist’s ego is conquered by the night sky. The disciples’ ego is conquered by Jesus’ words naming the hard-heartedness of the people of God and his insistence on gathering and blessing the little one. Our callousness of heart leads to the erosion of marriage and bonds of love. It led to the disciples’ harshness toward those who wanted to bring their little ones to be blessed. Our scriptures today encourage us to be tenderhearted, humble, and embrace our smallness. This opens us up to receive God’s work in us. “Out of the mouths of infants and children your majesty is praised above the heavens.” “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” We do not become little children. That is who we are—whether we admit it or not. It may help for us to stand at the precipice of a mile deep canyon or drive a few hours away from light pollution to see the milky way. The most awe-inspiring thing we can witness is the vast love Jesus has for little children. This is what Paul prays for us in Ephesians chapter 3 [vv. 18-19], “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

We will have no room in our hearts for wonder for God if we are full of our own self-importance. We will not understand the grace of God which is undeserved and cannot be earned if we think God is impressed by us. No, it is only through tender-heartedness and childlikeness that we are gathered into the arms of Christ for his blessing. It’s why little children were not forgotten on the day of Pentecost—the birthday of the Church and first Christian sermon. Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children” (Acts 2:38-39). Infant baptism epitomizes how God works through the Word, water, and Holy Spirit. Babies come to the font helpless and needy—with nothing to offer but their tender-hearted and vulnerable selves. And that is how we all come: as God’s children.

Years ago I was officiating the baptism of an infant child. The older brother who was about three years old kept mispronouncing the word baptism. He kept calling it BATH-tism. “Out of the mouths of babes…God has ordained strength.” The family, the congregation, and I all learned that day. He increased our joy. It was another reminder that we as a community need to listen and pay attention to the little, tender-hearted ones. As the prophet says, “A little child shall lead them” (Isa 11:6). Even the eternal Son of God did not come to us in great glory the first time around but as an infant child, wrapped in swaddling cloths in a manger, under a night sky and wondrous star. Out of the mouth of this babe comes the assurance we are accepted, the forgiveness of all our sins, and secure love in his eternal arms.