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"WHAT
DO YOU WANT?" Readings: Job 38:1-7,Isaiah 53:7-12, Hebrews 5:1-10, Mark
10:35-45 Preached at Baldwin
Presbyterian Church, October 18th 2009
Mark 10, verse 36; "And
Jesus said to them, 'What do you want Me to do for you'? " What do we want? What do we really want
out of life? What do we want to see
happening in our places of work or within our daily routines? What do we want for our
families, our children or grandchildren, our parents, our friends? What do we want to see
happening here in this church as we meet together to worship God? What do we want for
this community of Baldwin, with its changing population, its ups and it's
downs? More importantly... how
do we set about turning "What we want" into "Something we
have"? A
good place to start would be with our prayers. Jesus said, "Whatever you ask in my name,
I will do it". In this mornings lesson we heard Him saying
to James and John, "What do you want me to do for you?" What
James and John wanted was to be better than everyone else. They wanted
positions of honor, one seated at Jesus left hand, the other at His right.
When the other disciples find out what James and John were asking for they
became angry at them. Why? Because in
their heart of hearts they wanted that sort of honor for them selves. There
is nothing wrong in trying to be the best we can be, trying to make the most
of our potential and those things God has given us. But there is something decidedly un-Christ
like in being the best we can be in order that we can be better than
everybody else! That's
why when people hear this story about the sons of Zebedee, James and John,
seeking to be the greatest they often react by saying, "What were they
thinking!" They had been with
Jesus all that time. He had spoken to
them of His immanent betrayal and the manner of His death. He had taken a
little child before them and taught them of faith. He had told them that
their salvation was a matter of God's Grace rather than their personal
merit. He had taught them that it was
in serving each other that the Kingdom could be found. Yet they still come to
Him with a plea of self interest! To
their credit … they were beginning to catch on. They were beginning to realize that if they
sided with Jesus they were on the winning side. But there is still part of
them that keeps nagging, "What's in it for me? How is this going to help
me get what I want?" And
that nagging selfishness drove them, as it drives us some times, to do
something stupid. James and John were part of the inner circle of the
disciples. They seem to have come from quite a well to do background. Maybe
they felt that it was their birthright to be destined for great things. Can
you sense a hint of supposed superiority in this question as they ask Jesus:-
"Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of you." I
am not going to knock them down for that. Because I've done exactly the same
thing in my prayers. I have spoken to
God just as stupidly as they spoke to Jesus. "Lord,
I want you to give me what I want. I want this. I want that” I
praise God that God indulges our stupidity.
That God is able to turn it around and teach us something important.
In the face of their impertinent questioning Jesus seems to respond,
"O.K John... All right James... how can I help you special people.
Listen. There seems to be almost a hint of sarcasm in His question "What
do you want Me to do for you? " And
they come straight out with it. "Oh… nothing much. It's just that when
You are King of all Creation, we'd like to be equally in charge, you know,
kind of like royalty. All we want is to be joint Presidents of the whole wide
world". A
few years back there was a Rock group called "Tears for Fears" who
had a hit song that still gets played on the radio every now and again.
"Everybody wants to rule the world." Rule the world! All that
prestige. All that power. All those
resources. I could handle it. It would be great. I DON'T think so. When
we thionk of the implications maybe we don't want to rule the whole world.
But we can still want to be the big fish in our own little sea. We still want
to be the center of our own small world. "It's a small world after
all". And
sometimes our worlds are so small.
That was part of James and John’s problem. They were so caught up in
what was going on, in being disciples of Jesus, that it went to their heads. Jesus tried to
bring them back to reality. "You
don't know what you are asking for! Are you able to drink the cup that I
drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" (Mark 10:38). William
Barclay, in his commentary on Mark, points out that the word used here for baptism is well translated as
"submerged". In Greek the
term is frequently used to describe anyone submerged in an experience. For example a bankrupt person may be
described as submerged in debt or a ship that has been wrecked will be
submerged beneath the waves. So
Jesus is asking the disciples, "Can you really bear to go through what I
am about to face? Are you prepared to be submerged in hatred, pain and death
as I am?" Of course they weren't.
That wasn't what they wanted.
They wanted a crown. They didn't want a cross. So, I return to the
question we started out with today; “What do we want?” By
our presence in a service of Worship this morning we signal that one thing we
want is the blessing of God on
our lives. It is also a reasonable
assumption on the grounds of Scripture that God wants our lives to be
blessed. That's why Jesus went to the
lengths of dieing on a cross for our sins and why He was raised to life. God wants to bless us. But
God is going to do it God’s way, not our way. And scripture gives to us a
number of pointers on how to do things God’s way. · Blessing comes when we do what God
wants, rather than seeking for God to do what we want. · Blessing comes when we, who are the
baptized members of the church, submerge our lives in the life of Christ. · Blessing comes when we stop saying
"I want" and start praying, "Lord, what do You really want to
see happening in my life right now". · Blessing comes when we give ourselves to
helping others instead of helping ourselves. So......... What do we really
want? What do we really want
to see happening in this church as we worship God? What do we really want
for this town and this community? If
those "wants" are our idle dreams for self advancement, or have the
nature of "Grant that we may sit in Your glory, one on
your right and one on your left", then we had better not bring them in
prayer to God. Why? Well…God has a
habit of turning such things around and revealing to everybody just how
foolish we are. At least that's what
happened to James and John and the other disciples as they dreamt of their
own importance. Worse still, God might occasionally let us have what we want
in order that we discover just how hollow an experience "getting what we want" can be. But…
here is the good news. Our wish list can actually be an echo of things God
has born in our hearts. When that’s the case we are free to go ahead and
dream great dreams and envision great visions. And the dreams God places in
our hearts can be built upon by undeserved grace, by active faith and with
servant courage. Jesus
asked James and John, "What do you want me to do for you?" What was on their mind was something that
would neither be good for them or was an appropriate thing to ask for. Consider this morning
the sort of things that God may want to bless your life with! By the action of the
Holy Spirit on our lives, may God
lead us to seek those things, that are the work of Christ’s Kingdom. To God
be the Glory.”
So be it" AMEN. Rev
Adrian J Pratt
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