Ask Not
(Mark 10: 35-45)
On January 20, 1961, newly elected President John F. Kennedy delivered his inaugural address in which he announced that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.” He wanted his address to be short and clear, devoid of any partisan rhetoric, and focused on foreign policy. He called upon Americans to combat “tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself” and urged the American citizens to participate in public service, and less than six weeks after his speech, on March 1, he issued an executive order establishing the Peace Corps that he envisioned as a pool of trained American volunteers who would go overseas to help foreign countries meet their needs for skilled manpower. Later that year, Congress passed the Peace Corps Act, making the program permanent. In his inaugural speech he observed: “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forbears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.” He observed that if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. He continued: “Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.” He then closed his brief remarks with the famous line for which he is most remembered: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” And for the fellow citizens of the world, he said: “ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
And in a sense, this is what Jesus is saying to James and John in our scripture reading for this morning. Don’t ask me what God and I can do for you but ask what you can do for me and God. Mark tells us that James and John, sons of Zebedee, two of his disciples from the very beginning came up to Jesus and said: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” This seems somewhat presumptuous and a little bold, indicating to me that they might have been feeling entitled. Jesus replied: What do you want me to do for you? They said: “Allow one of us to sit on your right and the other on your left when you enter your glory.” At that time in history, to be seated at a king’s right hand was to take the position of most prominence; the person seated at the left hand ranked just below that. James, John and the other disciples could see Jesus’ ministry taking shape and were beginning to buy into the prophets of old’s prediction regarding the coming of the Messiah who would free Israel of their enemies and restore the nation. But the disciples, like most Jews of the day, had the wrong idea of the Messiah’s kingdom as predicted by the Old Testament prophets. They thought Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom that would free Israel from their Roman oppressors. Matthew reports in his gospel that James and John’s mother came to Jesus with her sons in tow and made the request. What you’re seeing here is a mother and two of the disciples jockeying for position, looking ahead for what’s in it for them. Mom is probably thinking that they left the family business to follow this guy all around Galilee and that they should get something for their trouble. Jesus doesn’t get mad and rebuke them for their self-centeredness. He replies: You don’t know what you are asking! Can you drink the cup I drink or receive the baptism I receive? To drink the cup and be baptized are veiled references to the suffering and death that awaited Jesus, a suffering and death they could not see coming and only understand it upon Jesus’ resurrection. When they respond that they could, Jesus doesn’t tell them to be careful what they ask for because it might come true. Instead, he responds: You will drink the cup I drink and receive the baptism I receive, but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom it has been prepared. This was a sort of foreshadowing for what lies ahead. Although they did not suffer the same level of spiritual agony that Jesus did, James would soon be executed by Herod Agrippa I, and John would be the last apostle to die, being exiled for a while on the island of Patmos. He was persecuted greatly and had to witness the deaths of more Christians than probably any of the other apostles. Not the cups and baptisms they expected.
Well, this little power play didn’t sit too well with the other ten disciples when they heard about it and we’re told that they became angry with James and John. We aren’t told so we don’t know for sure if they were angry because the request was out of line or because they were one-upped by James and John. Nevertheless, Jesus called them over and said: You know that the ones who are considered the rulers by the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. Whoever wants to be first among you will be the slave to all, for the Human One didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.
Many people. Serving and liberating. Imagine that. Jesus uses this opportunity to teach all of his disciples that they should give up selfish ambitions to become great people of high status. They must reverse their priorities and learn to serve others. James and John are only showing their humanness. Afterall, they had put in the hard work and only wanted honored places when the kingdom came into being. But Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world; it is not centered in palaces and thrones, but in the hearts and lives of his followers. The disciples dd not understand this until after Jesus’ resurrection, and to be fair, who could have seen that coming? They were thinking in the immediate. They thought Jesus’ life and power would save them from Rome; but Jesus said his death would save them from sin, an even greater slavery than Rome’s. Jesus had to remind them again about the price of greatness in God’s kingdom.
What Jesus is calling us to be is his Peace Corps. As a people he wants us to combat tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself and participate as citizens of heaven in public service to the least of his brothers and sisters. He wants us to be that pool of trained volunteers, disciples of Jesus Christ, , who will gladly go where we are needed from Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth for the transformation of the world.
President Kennedy was right. The world is very different now than it was two thousand years ago. We now hold in our mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and at the same time the power to wipe all forms of human life from the face of the earth. But our core beliefs are still the same from when this country was born into freedom, the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. Hands that God inspires through the Spirit to sacrifice, to put others first, to serve and not be served.
And here we are 63 years after President Kennedy gave his inaugural address and the trumpet summons us again. While some believe we are being summoned to bear arms for a call to battle, we aren’t. Followers of the Way of Jesus Christ are being called to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself. We must remember the president’s closing words that “With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.” Let us not ask what God can do for us, but ask what we can do for God.
Let us pray.
Take up thy cross, the Savior said, if thou wouldst my disciples be; deny thyself, the world forsake, and humbly follow after me. Yes Lord, your disciples we long to be and we pray for your strength as we come to that decision in our lives where we focus outwardly on service, asking not for the things we desire, but asking how we can fulfill your desires for your creation. Move us to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. Guide us in our struggle against the common enemies of your children: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Ask Not
Don’t ask me what God and I (Jesus) can do for you but ask what you can do for me and God.
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