First Baptist Church: Sermon

Text: Mark 10:35-45
Message for March 3, 2002
by Pastor Glenn Layne

March 17, 2002

Fifth Message in the Series:
THE FREEDOM OF THE CROSS

The Fellowship of the Forgiven

Perhaps you've seen the video. Martin and Gracia Burnham, American missionaries held in jungles of Basilan Island in the southern Philippines, obviously exhausted, nearly broken, Gracia on the verge of tears, the hostages of Abu Sayyaf, a radical Muslim group with connections to Al Qaeda, the butchers behind the September 11 attacks.

I suspect that they never planned on this-who does? Obviously they need our prayers. This is the same brand of insanity that led to the brutal killing of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl.

We in our comfy pews and our clean facility here in Southern California are a world away, in more ways than one, from the world of Martin and Gracia Burnham. Tired, dirty, desperate, disoriented-in danger of execution every moment. Is this what you get when you sign on to follow Jesus?

How now do we live-as forgiven people?

These last few weeks we have considered together the freedom of the cross. We are the heaven-touched people-the people in who the Spirit of God dwells. The cross of Jesus, the point at which this world most fully was convinced that Jesus and all He stands for was defeated, ironically becomes the point of His grandest victory. Peter Kreeft, my favorite Catholic theologian, wisely says that the cross was divine judo-using the opponent's strength against him.

We are now the fellowship of the cross. The fellowship of the reborn. The fellowship of the Spirit. The fellowship of the Savior. The fellowship of the forgiven.

Forgiveness-God's forgiveness-made us new, and, as we walk in the power of Jesus in us, is making us new again and again. In a world stained red by sin, we are the ones drawn into the realm of gleaming white forgiveness, into the realm of joy.

We are the people living in the power of 2 Peter 1:3-4:

3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Now that's power!

Yet there are daily decisions to be made.

It seems that basically there's two ways to go:

1. The Jesus way
2. The "reasonable" way

It is unreasonable, so it seems, to seek holiness. It is unreasonable, the world says, to deny pleasures. It is unreasonable, we find ourselves saying, to serve Jesus if it means low pay, danger, being despised and being considered foolish.

The Jesus way turns everything upside down. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that the Jesus way takes a world upside down and turns it right side up. The stark choices are highlighted in a passage in Mark. Jesus blew up the little, reasonable, foolish, shortsighted, ambitious, beguiling plans of two brothers: the apostles James and John.

We have three choices before us all the time:

1. Between selfish ambition and sacrifice

q The most selfish prayer of all time (vs. 35-37)

35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." [THAT'S OUTRAGEOUS! That's childish!]
36"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
37They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." [Oh, that's modest! "Kindly, Make us Executive Vice-Presidents of the Kingdom of God!"]

There's ambition, and there's this kind of selfish ambition that's kind of sickening. But these guys don't seem to even understand what they sound like. It seemed like a reasonable thing.

That is, if you measure your life by the honors you achieve.

q How do you measure your life?

In the animated movie The Prince of Egypt, the story of Moses, there's a wonderful song called "Through Heaven's Eyes." Reuel, the priest of Midian, welcomes Moses, who's lost everything when he fled Egypt. Reuel shows Moses what really matters in life. (Don't worry, I won't sing it, but here are the words:)

A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shine,
will never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design.

And a stone that sits on the very top of a mountain's mighty face-does it think that's it's more important that the stones that form the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth, where your value lies? You can never see through the eyes of man, you must look at your life, look at your life, through heaven's eyes.

A lake of gold in the desert sand is less that a cool fresh spring;
And to one lost sheep a shepherd boy is greater than the richest king.

If a man lose everything he owns has he truly lost his worth, or is it the beginning of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man, in wealth or strength or size?

In how much he gained or how much he gave?

The answer will come, the answer will come to him who tries;
to look at his life through heaven's eyes.

And that's why we share what we have with you, though there's little to be found; when all you've got is nothing, there's a lot to go around.

No life can escape being blown about by the wind of change and chance, and though you never know all the steps you must learn to join the dance, you must learn to join the dance!

So how do can you judge what a man is worth, by what he builds or buys? You can never see with your eyes on earth. Look through heaven's eyes-look at your life, look at your life, look at your life-through heaven's eyes.

q The Jesus way (vs. 45)

At the other end of the spectrum is Jesus' way-the way that measures a life from heaven's perspective-down in verse 45:

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus says He's come to give His life away-to serve, not be served. He came with the desire that His life be measured by the Father's standards-that all be seen through heaven's eyes. This would not include riches or power or even fame as we think of it. Can you imagine an attitude more opposite than that of the request of James and John?

Another daily choice:

2. Between power and service (vs. 37)

They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."

q Sitting on thrones!
q The Roman way…the way of the Herods (vs. 41-45)

Roman coins were often struck with both the image of the Emperor and the words, "He who deserves adoration."

Herod the Great and all his descendants, who ruled over Israel for about 100 years had that same kind of self-aggrandizing attitude. After all, they didn't call him Herod the Great for nothing!

But here's Jesus' take on rank and rule and honor (jump down to vs. 41):

41When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The world, says Jesus, is always looking for advantage and position. The world craves for power. "No so with you" says Jesus-all you who follow Jesus! If you have an ambition, it should be the ambition to be a servant-even the slave of all! In so doing, you follow the example of the Supreme Servant, the Son of Man.

q In Isaiah, one image of the Messiah is that of the Servant of the Lord. The Servant is obedient to the point of offering Himself in death. Over in the book of Daniel, the Old Testament speaks of the Messiah as a powerful ruler-the "Son of Man". Jesus unites the "Servant of the Lord" of Isaiah and the "Son of Man" of Daniel (Daniel 7:13-14)-both Lord and Lamb.
q In His sacrifice, and in His example, He created a new community…the fellowship of the forgiven, with different values-values derived from His own example:

q Service, not power
q An apron in the place of a royal robe
q A basin the place of a golden throne

Our American Baptist missionaries go out under the authority of the churches delegated to the Board of International Ministries. The legal title of the Board is the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Years ago, when a seal was designed for the AMFMS, the image of a bull was placed on the seal. In the background, to one side, is a plow. On the other side is an altar of sacrifice. And beneath are these words: "Service or Sacrifice: Ready for Either." And so around the world, from Burma to South America, there are gravestones of some of the best and brightest who have gone out from among us, many of who never lived to see even their 30th birthday.

3. Between comfort and suffering (vs. 38-40)

q Consider James and John-their background

We tend to think of them as poor fishermen. That's not accurate. They were part of a well-off family business. They worked hard, but had plenty of hired men, and mostly likely they had servants at home. Their father was wealthy enough that he had a second home in Jerusalem, and the family was prominent enough that John, we are told, knew the High Priest.

So to them there was a certain logic in their outrageous request. As members of the upper crust (that is, a bunch of crumbs held together by their own dough!), they were used to privilege and power and esteem. What does Jesus say?

38"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
39"We can," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."

We need a little history lesson to get this right. If a king-say Herod Antipas-invited you to a banquet, it wasn't just a meal. It was more like William Randolph Hearst inviting you to San Simeon. Ever been there? It has two great pools-one outdoor, the other indoor.

Herod's palaces as well had warm pools-1st century AD hot tubs. It was a combination of Jewish practice-a cleansing bath-and Greek custom-a luxurious treat-that typically preceded a banquet put on by a ruler or the very wealthy.

The wine would begin to flow even as the guests, men separate from women, soaked in the hot pools.

So when Jesus says, "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" they said SURE!

q They thought: a cup of celebration, a cleansing bath of celebration
q Jesus taught: a cup of suffering, a baptism of persecution

Eventually they came to understand. According to Acts 12:2 James was the first apostle to die-beheaded by Herod Agrippa I. And John-well, he endured exile on an island in the Aegean called Patmos, where the Lord Jesus came to Him in a vision and gave him the truths that would become content of the book of Revelation.

Not exaltation-but execution and exile.

The follower of Jesus as well today has to choose between comfort and suffering. That is, it's not that we actively seek out suffering, but when the choice is between comfortable unfaithfulness and painful obedience, the choice is ours. Will I take up that cross and follow Jesus to Golgotha?

The fellowship of the forgiven today-what does it mean?

These are not just the choices of a handful of Galileans 2000 years ago. These are the choices that all who have been forgiven and set free by the cross of Jesus make again and again and again. Daily. Hourly. By the minute and the month.

q In many ways, it comes down to "following" Jesus. Following Jesus is not just a catch phrase. It's a reality. Will you follow Him-no matter where that leads? He has died for you, and he bids you come and die with Him as well. At the very least, we die to the notion that our lives are ours to do with as we please. At the most it means being marched through a jungle as six American Baptist missionaries did on their way to beheading by Japanese troops during the Second World War.
q Risking all: being part of the fellowship of the forgiven means that we have left security behind. Chet Bitterman wanted to be a translator with Wycliffe Bible Translators, but he flunked the entrance exam the first time he tried. The second time he barely passed. He wanted to go Malaysia, but was sent to Columbia instead.

Chet had gall bladder surgery just after New Year's, 1981. He was recuperating at the Wycliffe office in Bogota when leftist terrorists burst in at 6:30 AM on January 19. Their real target was Al Wheeler, the director, but he was out of town so they took Chet instead. An ultimatum came back: all Wycliffe translators had to be out of the country by February 19 or Chet Bitterman would die. All Wycliffe workers-including his pregnant wife Brenda-agreed that they could not leave. They were there following Jesus-despite the risk. This was where God wanted them.

The February 17 deadline passed. Bitterman was not executed; instead, his captors allowed him to release a letter, talking about how he shared his faith with the terrorists and passed the time by playing chess with them. But eventually time ran out. His body, with a single gunshot to the heart, was discovered in a parked city bus on March 7.

And in the days that followed, more than 200 people volunteered to Chet's place.

We are here to serve, not to achieve power.
And we have no security in this world except that of being in the Father's will. As Henry Martyn said many years ago, "I am immortal until God's work for me to do is done."

The crowd of the masses of earth will not understand it. That's OK. We're not the prisoners of the crowd, the tyranny of the majority. We are cross-captured people. We are the fellowship of the forgiven. Let's follow Him-Jesus, who died for us. Jesus, who ever lives, victorious even over death. Let's follow Him.