The Rev. Kristin Krantz, St. James’, Mt. Airy
Pentecost 21/Proper 24B, October 17, 2021
Job 38:1-7, Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b, Hebrews 5:1-10, Mark 10:34-45
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them;
take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.
If you were reading along on your bulletin insert it’s pretty obvious that I added some verses to the beginning of today’s assigned gospel passage. I did this because Jesus’ announcement of his imminent suffering, death, and resurrection is significant context for what we read.
To understand why this is, we have to back up even further and remember that in this section of Mark’s gospel spanning from 8:22 – 10:52 the author uses a threefold storytelling structure to drive home their point.
The three stories are bookended by Jesus’ healing of two blind men (the man at Bethsaida at the beginning, and in next week’s gospel, blind Bartimaeus), with the central theme in the middle being Jesus attempting to “open the eyes” of his disciples in respect to his death and resurrection.[1]
The way he does this is through the series of three stories where Jesus announces his coming passion, followed each time by the disciples drastically misunderstanding him, after which he responds with corrective teaching, often using hyperbole.
Now the first time through the cycle in Mark 8, Jesus rejected the power of military conquest and domination, instead taking up the posture of the suffering servant from Isaiah. The second time through in Mark 9, Jesus redefined greatness as becoming the servant of all. And now this week in Mark 10, Jesus continues with the theme of servanthood, summing up his purpose with the enigmatic phrase “a ransom for many.”
So you see why starting with the passion prediction sets the stage for what follows. After sharing – for the third time – what awaits him in Jerusalem, we see the disciples drastically misunderstanding him again. Specifically here, we see our own St. James’, along with his brother John, missing the mark.
Jesus has just shared that he will be mocked, spit upon, flogged, and killed, before rising again on the third day, and it’s as if the only thing they heard was the part about the resurrection.
In an act of spiritual hubris, James and John impetuously ask Jesus to “do whatever we ask of you” – namely they want to spend eternity sitting in seats of honor beside Jesus. They persist in seeking greatness even as Jesus demurs, drawing the anger of the other disciples. And thus, the final corrective teaching is laid out.
This is what true greatness looks like, Jesus says: it is servanthood, as opposed to the world’s conventional forms of greatness. And not only that, but this is why Jesus came: to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
It would be easy to write this ransom language off as another of Jesus’ hyperbolic statements, but here at the end of this powerful story he speaks his truth boldly.
This doesn’t mean this phrase is easy to understand though. Over time it has been interpreted as both ways to understanding the cross as a kind of ransom payment to the Devil (as in some “Christus Victor” theories) or to God (as in some “penal substitutionary theories”).[2]
But in the lead up to making this statement Jesus mentions no such need and no such payee. So what is going on here?
Let’s start with that word “ransom” itself. A ransom is something of value given for the sake of liberating a captive. And what particular ailment, what particular captivity, has been highlighted through this whole threefold structure?
It’s not captivity to demonic forces, nor is it an unpayable debt to God.
On the contrary, it’s the disciples captivity to self-centeredness, and to conventional notions of power, prestige, and greatness.[3] The thing the overall story arc has been building to all along.
Following Jesus means liberation from the self-absorption we are susceptible to, opening us up to God and neighbor in humility, generosity, and love – which is to say, opening us up to true servanthood.[4]
This is what Mark repeatedly underlines in Mark 8-10, and it offers us not only a path of discipleship, but a vision filled with hope. The hope that Jesus had that those who loved him would follow in his footsteps of servanthood. And our own hope that in loving and serving God and our neighbor we can aspire to exemplify true greatness.
Every year at this time we begin our annual stewardship campaign and invite you into prayerful reflection about how you can commit to supporting St. James’ in the year ahead. If you haven’t already, please see the usher to pick up a pledge packet.
Our theme this year is A Future with Hope.
After all of the upheaval of the last year and a half, and the ongoing disruption the pandemic is still having on our lives and here at church, it is a bold thing to cast a vision of hope for the uncertain future in front of us.
Yet our gospel tells us that hope is connected to servanthood – to caring for one another and the world around us. And this is something our community not only knows how to do, but excels at.
Just think back over the last year and a half. When the world turned upside down we cast a vision to “stay church, stay connected, and take care of each other.” Within a month we set up the Helpers Team, Grace Groups, the Tech Help Desk, and more.
Together we learned how to gather and worship virtually. And time and again we have together held up the common good, putting the needs of the most vulnerable among us first – putting the last first so to speak (something we’ve heard about a few times over the last few weeks!).
We did all of this because we had to – but also because we had hope. We had hope that God was with us in the midst of all the change, and we had hope in each other.
It’s now time to use that hope to plan for what’s next. What hopes do we have for St. James’ in 2022? And how are each of us going to step forward to make it happen?
Over the next four weeks we will have different bulletin inserts with prompts for reflection and important stewardship information. Today’s prompt is “What three things do you love most about our church?” I posted this question in our Facebook group last week and asked folks to share what came to mind. The word cloud you see on the back of your insert contains their answers – and now I extend the invitation to all of you.
Take some time this week to think about what you love about our community, and then if you’d like to, share them on our Facebook page. Every week I will be posting the prompts there on Sunday mornings with the hope that together our answers will cast a vision for our Future with Hope. Amen.
[1] Salt Project Lectionary Commentary for the Twenty-first Week after Pentecost.
[2] Salt Project Lectionary Commentary for the Twenty-first Week after Pentecost.
[3] Salt Project Lectionary Commentary for the Twenty-first Week after Pentecost.
[4] Salt Project Lectionary Commentary for the Twenty-first Week after Pentecost.