Sermon, "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Disciples: Service," Mark 10:35-45

Sermon 2/16/2014

Mark 10:35-45

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Disciples: Service

“As members of the body of Christ and in this congregation of The United Methodist Church, we will faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our service.” Today as we continue in our series on the seven habits of highly effective disciples, we’re looking at the vow we make to participate in the ministries of the church by our service. We started by looking at our purpose, our reason for being as ourselves and as a congregation. And then we moved to talking about each supporting area – prayers, presences, gifts, and now service. Service can be tricky – how is it different than gifts, exactly? Of course, as Laurel shared with us last week, gifts certainly connects to our financial giving in particular, our stewardship, our generosity, and Laurel helped us think about a life that we share freely with others, as we share everything that we have, remembering that what we have is just entrusted to us by God. Isn’t service the same thing? Using our spiritual gifts, perhaps? Sharing our gifts of time or using our talents and abilities in giving time and energy in the life of the church?

            I think, though, that service can mean so much more. My first district superintendent, when I was pastor in Oneida in the Mohawk District, was Rev. Carl Johnson, and I really admired his deep wisdom. I remember in particular how much one word irritated him – volunteer. He hated it when people referred to participants in ministries of the church as volunteers. There’s no such thing as volunteers in our journey to follow Jesus, he would say. There’s disciples. Students of Jesus who have committed to learning more about him, learning how better to live like Jesus. But there’s no volunteering in discipleship, as if we elect to bestow an hour here or an hour there in the journey with Christ. I certainly think service has a deeper meaning than volunteering. Volunteering is so – optional – isn’t it? Something we can choose to do or not to do. But I don’t think that’s what service is all about.  

            I’m continuing to chug away at writing my Doctor of Ministry paper. The main theme of my Doctor of Ministry research is how to help us think about our Outreach ministry more as the work of justice, less as acts of charity. In our research sessions, I explained one of the key differences between charity and justice like this: charity is optional, and justice is required. When it comes to charity, those of us with financial means are the ones in control. We can choose to give, or choose not to. When we do give, then, because it is optional, a choice, we, the giver, are considered benevolent and generous. But although the scriptures mention individual acts of charitable goodwill, what God demands for the downtrodden, the oppressed in the scriptures is not charity, but justice. Justice, as we’ve talked about, is when what happens in the world is set right, set in line with God’s vision for the world. And things are not set right when people are poor and hungry and abused and alone and hurting. And God’s justice isn’t optional or up to us to control. Certainly, sometimes justice is slow to unfold, as sinful humankind acts unjustly toward one another. But justice is God’s and it is required, because God’s vision for our world is inevitable. And that’s a vision we want to be a part of, so we’re trying to teach ourselves to long for and work for justice, rather than settling only for charity and patting ourselves on the back for it. When I think about charity versus justice, I think about volunteering versus servanthood. Volunteering is something we can add on in our spare time as we see fit. But servanthood is a way of life.

            Our gospel lesson today comes from the gospel of Mark. Just before this, a man approached Jesus asking what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus talked to him about the commandments, which the man said he kept, and then Jesus told him he should sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor and then follow Jesus. And the men went away grieving, since he was very wealthy. Jesus then talked about how difficult it was to enter God’s kingdom, and the disciples wonder how anyone could enter the kingdom. Jesus tells them that with God, nothing is impossible, but that the last will be first and the first will be last.

            Somehow, just after this, apparently not absorbing the previous conversation, we encounter James and John saying to Jesus, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus presses them, asking if they could really handle all that is implied – if they could face what Jesus will face in order to claim those honored seats – and they insist that they can. Naturally, their claim to seats of honor causes a fight among the twelve, who are mad at James and John. But Jesus says to them, ““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.”

            “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.” Well over half of the times that you read the word “servant” in our modern Bible translations, the actual Greek word means slave, not servant. The word servant conjures up for me a maid or a butler, someone lower class serving someone upper class, but still, a person who receives a wage, who is working maybe not as their dream job, but still an option that could be chosen, even if the other choices were not as good as choosing to be a servant. But slave implies something different, doesn’t it? A slave is not getting a paycheck, or time off they can spend with their family. A slave belongs to the master. In Jesus’ day, both slaves and servants – those who might fill one specific task – had less freedom than the maids in a good Jane Austen novel. They were not in charge of the course of their own lives. What happened to them was up to the master of the household.

            I can understand why translators opt for “servant” instead of “slave” in many cases in the scripture. It sounds better, doesn’t it? Does God want us to be slaves? With our own country’s horrifically abusive system of slavery as part of our history, with the ways that the horrors of slavery still leaves its mark, its pain on our society today, we’re right to hesitate, at least, when we encounter the word slave, to question what exactly is meant. So let me be clear, that when we encounter slavery in the Bible, I do not believe in any way that God intended for us to practice such a degrading, dehumanizing system of refusing to see others as created in the very precious image of God. There’s a history of people using the Bible to condone the system of slavery, and I believe God weeps when the gospel is used in such harmful ways. So that’s what I don’t mean by drawing our attention to this language of slave and servant that weaves through the New Testament.

The most common prayer of our faith is the Lord’s Prayer. We pray it in worship on Sunday, and many of us probably pray this prayer in other places and settings throughout the week as well. It was certainly part of my prayer routine from childhood. How many times have you prayed that prayer? Every time we pray it, we say these words: “You kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray, over and over, for God’s will to be done. Do we mean what we say? Of course, I hope and pray that sometimes, many times, our will and God’s will are one in the same. That, I think, is the goal we aim for in our Christian life. But sometimes, our will, what we want, is different from what God wants for us. Sometimes this isn’t just because we want something that’s wrong or bad or evil, but because God has something in mind for us we haven’t even imagined yet. When we claim the title of disciple, when we say that we’re servants, when we pray for God’s will to be done, I want us to be fully aware that what we’re saying is that God’s will is more important to us than our own. We’d rather see God’s plans carried out than ours. It is in fact the very prayer that Jesus prayed in the garden before he was arrested – if it be your will God. But not as I will, but your will be done. God’s will be done. We pray it over and over. I hope, I seek for myself and for you that we learn to live it, to embody it more fully. We are servants not because God is a tyrant over us, but because we follow this Jesus who shows us that strength and power come from humble service, and deep relationship with God is born of learning to let God’s ways be our ways.  

The difference is choice. God never forces us to be obedient, to choose to place our will below God’s will for us. But God does ask us to do so. God asks us to choose to let God’s will be the guide of our life. God asks for our servanthood. And God doesn’t ask something that Jesus doesn’t model himself. “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Jesus lives as a servant, placing our lives before his own life, obedient to God even to the point of death on a cross. Jesus chooses. He chooses servanthood. He chooses God. He chooses us. 

When we promise to support the ministries of the church by our service, we’re promising so much more than donating a few hours of our time like we might rack up community service hours for a school project. Not community service, not volunteering, but servanthood, a way of life where we continually seek to follow God’s will instead of our own and where we place others first and ourselves last. Imagine if, instead of a congregation of members, attenders, participants, volunteers, we cultivate a congregation full of servants, disciples, letting God’s will shape our direction.

O God, holy is your name. May your kingdom come! May your will be done! Amen.

Sermon, "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Disciples: Presence," Hebrews 10:19-25

Sermon 2/2/14

Hebrews 10:19-25

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Disciples: Presence

“As members of the body of Christ and in this congregation of The United Methodist Church, we will faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our presence.”

            Many of you have heard me joke before that I consider a mildly overcast cloudy day with a low probability of precipitation to be my favorite weather for a Sunday. See, in my experience, you don’t want snowy weather, of course – slippery roads always impact worship attendance. You don’t want it to be too cold or too rainy either – hard to talk yourself out from under the covers on a day like that, when instead, you can worship at Church of the Divine Mattress. But you also don’t want it to be too nice out either. Sunny, gorgeous, warm days aren’t good for worship attendance either, when everyone decides they’d rather worship at the Church of the 18^th Hole instead. No, for optimal worship attendance, a mildly overcast day – not too cold, not too warm, not to sunny, not to snowy, but just right, like porridge for Goldilocks – that’s the perfect weather for everybody to show up for worship.

            Ok, I jest, a bit(!). We’re in the midst of sermon series on the 7 habits of highly effective disciples. We’ve talked about our life’s thesis statement – our purpose statement. And now we’re looking at our life’s supporting paragraphs, the evidence in our lives that proves our purpose. Last week we talked about prayer, and today, we’re talking about presence. Not presents as in gifts – that’s next week, actually. But rather, presence – as in – showing up.

            In some ways, this seems like the easiest one of all, doesn’t it? Support the Church by your presence? Well, you’re here, aren’t you? I mean, isn’t this sermon a bit like preaching to the choir? You’ve all come today to be in this time of worship when you could be home fixing your food for the Super Bowl, or recovering from last night’s ‘Cuse/Duke game. You’re here! You showed up! Done, right? And indeed, I’m thankful that you are here, that of all the things you could be doing, what you are doing now is gathering together with a group of journeyers on the way, praising God, and trying to listen for God’s direction in your life. That’s a part of showing up that means a lot. And when we make the vow to participate in the ministry of the church by our presence, actually showing up to worship and to ministry and mission events – that’s a very serious part of what we commit to doing. But it’s more than that.

            Today our scripture lesson is from the book of Hebrews. We don’t know who wrote Hebrews, which is really more of a sermon than a letter. But despite our not knowing who authored the text, we find in Hebrews some of the most moving sections in all of the scriptures. You’re probably most familiar with Hebrews 11: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” which the author follows with a beautiful litany of how people responded to God and how we are called to do likewise: by faith, by faith, by faith.

But here in this section we find the author reminding us that because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we are able to draw even closer in relationship to God. We are able to come into God’s presence without a barrier, without a curtain that keeps us separated, as did the designs of the temple in Jerusalem that kept people away from the holiest place where it was thought God would dwell. Because of Jesus, we can claim the gift of being invited into God’s very presence. The author goes on to tell us how we ought to come into God’s presence though: by seeking to have a clean heart and a clear conscience, by holding fast to our faith, “provoking” one another to good deeds and loving actions – I love that language, that idea of provoking each other to do good – not normally how we try to provoke one another, is it? – and by meeting together, encouraging one another as we prepare our hearts and lives for God’s kingdom.

The scriptures attest to the gift of God’s presence. I think particularly of the recurring theme of thankfulness for God’s presence in the Psalms. Psalm 139 in my bible is titled, “The inescapable God.” I love that. The psalmist asks, “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.  If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night’, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.” In this case, the psalmist’s tone lets us know that sometimes he wishes he could escape God’s presence. But it isn’t possible. God is always with us. I’ve tried to stop in my prayers asking for God’s presence, because that’s a given, unchangeable; and instead I’m thanking God for God’s presence.

            In Jesus, we find the one who is God’s presence embodied, God-in-the-flesh. God, already ever-present, becoming one with us, because we still didn’t seem to get it – God’s inescapable presence. In the gospels we see Jesus demonstrate the power of being present. Yes, Jesus’ ministry was about his preaching, teaching, and healing. But I think one of the most powerful things Jesus did was spend time with people. He spent time with all kinds of people that most went out of their way to avoid. And in these instances, it isn’t always the content of the conversation between Jesus and the person that the gospel writers viewed as significant. It was the very act of Jesus spending time with others that was powerful. It was Jesus eating dinner with Zacchaeus. Jesus spending time talking to women as equals. Jesus spending time in regions filled with Gentiles. Jesus eating meals with Pharisees and sinners and prostitutes and tax collectors – Jesus honored them all with his presence, with his time, with conversation, with relationship, and made them feel, maybe for the first time ever, worth it. His presence was powerful. And so is ours! Giving someone the gift of your presence is just that – a gift you have to offer. A gift we too often withhold, intentionally or unintentionally.

I think of that commercial – I wasn’t sure even what product it is for and had to look it up to find this image (bad job commercial!) but I knew the “plot” of the commercial well. Schoolchildren are putting on a concert for their parents, singing, while the parents, with iPads and smartphones and cameras and other devices try to get the best shots and recordings of their kids performing. They get closer and closer and push and shove, all to capture the special moment – all of them, except, of course, the smug parents who have the cool technology that allows them a high-quality zoom without leaving their seats. The question I’m left with, though, is: was anyone actually listening to the concert? Don’t get me wrong. I love photography – it is an art form. But if we’re honest, most of us aren’t really photographers. I encountered this commercial coming to life when I attended Sam’s kindergarten graduation last year. Everyone, me included, was busy trying to record and photograph the graduation. I wonder how much we missed in the process! I mostly remember being frustrated with the kid who kept standing in front of Sam on the risers, blocking my good picture. It definitely isn’t just teenagers. And it isn’t just technology. Our dependence on our technological devices is just the current way we avoid being really present. Just the current way we put up a wall between us and everyone else. Everywhere you go, you see people who are at an event, with people, but they still aren’t really present. Their attention, their minds, their spirits are somewhere else entirely. There, but not really there. Are you present in your own life? Are you present here? In your relationship with God?

In my last Doctor of Ministry class, the one I took over the summer, the professor had us start each class by rating ourselves – in our notebooks, not out loud, but just for ourselves – on a few questions. And the first question was always, “On a scale of 1-10, how present am I today?” It was a helpful question to ask. Some mornings I was ready to go, excited. Some mornings I didn’t feel very present at first. But just asking the question reminded me that I wanted to be fully present to my classwork. Why would I bother spending money and time to take a class for a degree that I don’t have to have, unless I was going to be fully present for everything I was meant to be learning? I wanted to be present. And asking the question helped me remember that.  

            This week, I want you to ask yourself that same question. Not just at the start of the day, but several times a day. On a scale of 1-10, how present am I? You can start right now, in the quiet of your mind. On a scale of 1-10, how present are you in worship right now? And then ask yourself that question all week long. How present are you at work? At school? How present are you when you’re driving? When you are at the store? How present are you when you speak with your children or your parents or your spouse or your friends? How present are you at meetings? At church? When you volunteer? When you walk down the sidewalk? When you interact with a cashier? How present are you when you talk to God? When God is trying to talk to you? How present are you in your life?  

            Ask yourself that question, and see if you can figure out if you are showing up to life. What areas of your life do wish you were more present for? Can you start making sure that you are really present with your family? With friends? With those in need? In the life of this congregation? In your relationship with God?

            God is here. God is always here, and here is always wherever you are. And everything God does is an attempt to get us to show up too, to realize God’s presence, to be fully present ourselves, to invite others to start showing up too. God is here. Are you?

            Amen.