Proper 24 - Year B - James and John ... or The Office?

In a recent episode of “The Office,” long time sales representative Jim Halpert gets promoted to be the co-manager of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton, PA. Now for those of you unfamiliar with the program, Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) is the perennially clueless yet narcissistic boss and Jim Halpert is more of the quiet and thoughtful type. When Jim gets promoted to be the co-manager in charge of day to day operations and Michael is given charge of the “big picture,” there is immediate squabbling about what constitutes day to day versus big picture. This gets especially complicated when the CEO tells them they only have a small amount of money for raises this year and as co-managers they have to decide who gets raises and who doesn’t. Interspersed with their difficulties in cooperating and their bumbling process of deciding who will get a raise and who won’t is the egomaniacal sales rep Dwight Schute who is out to destroy Jim for getting the promotion he felt he deserved.

While this show is a satirical look at the foolishness of inter-office relationships and politics, it seemingly echoes today’s gospel reading about James and John’s request to sit at Jesus’ right and left when he comes in glory … and the response of the other disciples when this request for a “promotion” is discovered.

In the past few weeks, we’ve been hearing about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Beginning with our reading on September 13th (Proper 19) where Jesus tells the disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” After this, we hear of the disciples bickering about who would be greatest in the kingdom after Jesus tells them about his impending persecution, death and resurrection. Jesus tells them in response, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Jesus tells the rich young man to sell everything he has, give the money to the poor and then come follow him and ends that teaching with, “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” And today’s reading follows Jesus’ third prediction of his being handed over to the authorities, condemned to death, killed and on the third day rise again. Clearly, Jesus is painting a picture of discipleship characterized by giving and serving others rather than acquiring and lording power over others.

But, Mark consistently portrays the disciples … well … as clueless as Michael Scott! In spite of what Jesus is telling them about the real meaning of discipleship, today we hear about James and John taking Jesus aside to ask for a place of honor at his right and left hand when he comes in glory. Jesus immediately tells them they don’t have a CLUE what they are asking! They are seeking traditional positions of honor and power while Jesus’ mission and ministry are the opposite of their cultural understanding of these terms. Jesus in essence asks them if they are able to step up to the plate and go through what he is experiencing and will experience. They reply that they are ready … but we are left wondering if they really know what they are getting themselves into! Jesus promises that they will receive the same cup and baptism, but he is unable to promise them the positions at his right or left – evidently there are even some things that are out of Jesus’ “pay grade.” Interestingly, the only other place where Mark uses the terms “on his right” and “on his left” is when he refers to the position of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus. Perhaps even glory looks very different from what James and John envision.

When the disciples hear about what James and John have requested, they get angry. I’m not convinced this was some sort of righteous anger as much as it may have been jealousy – “Who do they think they are asking for a promotion?” I can imagine they were kind of annoyed that they hadn’t thought of asking for this first. Jesus responds to this indignation with a definition of divine greatness: “… whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Life is not about the acquisition of power to rule over others – it’s about right use of power to serve others.
One of the things that make this story so uncomfortable is that we can see ourselves in it. The desire to get ahead, to get the promotion, to climb the ladder of success, to acquire possessions and fame and glory are as much the values of our secular world today as they were in the first century. It’s the stuff of the rat race and, as someone once said to me, “No matter how long you run the rat race in the end … you’re still a rat.” Jesus, in his teaching about true divine greatness, offers a way out of the rat race – give it up and serve others. But how do we even begin to give it up?

I believe the answer begins in one word: love. Our service to others needs to begin and end in love. As you seek to answer God’s call to serve in the days and weeks ahead, check your motivation. Is it love, or something else? Divine servanthood is always motivated by love.

When we ground ourselves in God’s love we can be intentional in noticing God’s call to serve through even the most ordinary of tasks. Whether it is fixing a meal for your family, raking the leaves in the yard, or doing laundry – all can be acts of loving service to others and so can be divine service blessed by God. Seventeenth century Carmelite monk Brother Lawrence captured this ideal in his treatise The Practice of the Presence of God. He found that the shortest way to go straight to God was by a continual exercise of love and doing all things for God’s sake – whether that was peeling potatoes or caring for the 100 pairs of sandals worn by the brothers. Every task, no matter how great or small, is to be done for the love of God.

Finally, individual acts of loving service need to be brought to the Church in order for it to become a servant community. Karl Barth spoke of the Church as a “herald of the gospel” – a servant community which proclaims by word and deed the saving acts of Jesus Christ throughout the world. A servant community goes out into the world and serves others for the sake of God’s love for the world, not for the sake of itself. Being a servant church can only happen when we commit our time, our talent and our treasure to being a herald of the gospel.

This all may seem a bit overwhelming to us; after all, if James and John who were with Jesus and heard his teachings firsthand didn’t get it, how can we possibly live up to the measure of divine greatness through servanthood? Fortunately, Jesus’ message ends with hope: “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus came to give his live as a ransom and free us from our captivity to the secular world’s values of selfishness, greed, and abusive power. In Christ, we are freed from this rat race for a life of loving service to others and although we may fall short in our efforts, Jesus’ death on the cross redeems us all. Amen.