the Gospel of Mark: on the road with Jesus (32) “Serving to Lead”

Mark 10:35-45

1. as we continue our journey through Mark’s gospel this morning we come to a story that reveals to us the very heart of who Jesus was – someone who came NOT to be served BUT to serve.

2. leaders are servants. I remember the 1st time I ever heard someone say this. It came from Dr. David Rambo at a retreat for student leaders at Canadian Bible College. I was the sophomore class president & knew next to nothing about leadership.

One morning Dr Rambo, our college President who later served as the President of the Alliance, gave a devotional from Mark’s gospel.

He talked about some of the leadership practices of Jesus. He described Jesus as a “servant leader,” one who leads by serving others. Up till then I had envisioned leadership as someone sitting at the top of the pile, making big decisions, and being served by everyone else.

I had never heard this before. It took a while for it to sink in. Leaders in the mold of Jesus lead others by serving others.

3. my paths crossed with Dr Rambo a few years later. I was working on my Doctorate at Asbury Seminary, summer 1992. He was on campus during his vacation time auditing a class to, as he said, ‘keep the cobwebs out.” He was President of the Alliance at this time.

We went for lunch one day. I began asking him questions about what it was like to be the President of the Alliance. Basically what I heard was this – he was there to serve the Alliance. He loved it & cared for it. He never sought to be President. But while he was there he was going to serve the people. There were frustrations & tons of travel. I ‘heard” him speak of his leadership in the same way that he had “spoken” of leadership 15 years earlier.

I realized that he was the real thing. He saw it as a calling, as hard work, as serving God by serving people & as something he was honored to do.

James & John
1. Jesus has just told his disciples that he was going to suffer & die & rise from the dead for the 3rd time – 10:33-34.

2. we read in 10:35 then…like right afterwards, soon after this, on the heels of this.

3. James & John ask Jesus a question – Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.

4. do you get the picture? James & John pull Jesus aside. They are jockeying for prestige & power. They are serving no one but themselves. They want to be 1st in line. They want the best seats at the banquet table. They want the 2 Vice-President positions next to President Jesus.

5. We want you to do for us whatever we ask. You wonder where these guys have been. How they could be so brazen. So self-serving. They see leadership as privilege and they want to get in on it as soon as they can.

6. Jesus points out how short-sighted their request is – You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?

7. and they answer we can, of course, we can. But they have no idea what Jesus is talking about & what they are agreeing to. They think leadership is glamorous.

8. but not if they are going to practice the Jesus way of leadership. The way of the One who has just told them that he is going to be betrayed, condemned to death, handed over, mocked, spit upon, flogged & killed. These guys are as dull as a 15 year old paring knife bought at the Dollar Store.

9. You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, says Jesus. Cup and baptism – what are these all about?

10. cup is Jewish expression that means to share someone’s fate. The cup Jesus will drink refers to divine punishment of sins that Jesus will bear upon the cross in place of sinful humanity.

11. in the garden of Gethsemane we find Jesus praying this before his arrest? Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will (14:36). What a contrast to the do for us whatever we ask of James & John.

12. the baptism is like the cup, a reference to his suffering & death.

13. James & John will drink the cup & be baptized with Jesus’ baptism. Both will suffer & die as martyrs of the faith. Here they agree to the cup & baptism but they have no idea what they are agreeing to.

14. same with us –
§ in marriage we agree to love each other till death do us part but have no idea what that will mean
§ in parenting we agree to bring children into the world but have no idea all that that will actually entail
§ in faith we say “yes” to Jesus as our Savior & “confess” him as our Lord unaware of what he will ask of us along the way
§ in college we decide to become a school teacher without knowing the frustrations that lie ahead with students, parents, administrators, fellow teachers & voters
§ in leadership we agree to serve as an elder or Governing Board or Children’s team or Youth staff or Women’s team leader not knowing the challenges that will arise

15. thank God we don’t always know what we have signed up for. God gives the grace & strength we need at the times we need it.

16. when the 10 found out what James & John had asked Jesus they were steamed. But Jesus used this as a teaching moment, one of his most profound in all of the gospels. We will never understand who Jesus is & what it means for us to follow him if we don’t understand what he says next.

the new way of servant leadership
1. Jesus contrasts a new & old way of leadership. You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. This is leadership as privilege, leadership as being served, leadership as coming down upon the people, leadership as “jump” & you say “how high?”

2. 30 years ago when I lived in the Philippines I saw this kind of leadership in action. Ferdinand Marcos lorded it over the people, used his position to amass power, rank & wealth – he filled banks in Switzerland & the US with millions of dollars taken from his own people.
3. last fall I observed this in Guinea, one of the poorest countries in the world with some of the richest reserves of natural resources in all of Africa. President Conti, his family, his cronies live a lavish lifestyle & keep amassing more & more wealth while millions of his people barely make enough money to eat for a day.

4. I wonder about CEOs in our country who pull down multi-million dollar compensation packages while the rank ‘n file in their companies suffer the lost of benefits or stock options or a decent cost-of-living increase.

5. this is not the way of Jesus. Not so with you he tells his followers. Instead, instead, instead. There is another way, a better way, a Jesus way.

6. Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. Greatness is achieved through servanthood. And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. First-ness is gained through servanthood.

7. these are the most radical, revolutionary words ever spoken into the leadership arena. They turn leadership upside down. They place leadership beneath the people.

8. and then the clincher. 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.

9. are we ready for this? God our Father & Creator comes to us in the person of Jesus to serve us in our sinfulness.

10. can you imagine –
§ President Bush leaving the White House & joining the White House janitorial staff for the next administration & being assigned bathroom duty?
§ Nike’s Phil Knight assigned to clean the trash out of Autzen stadium after each football game by himself, rain or shine, sun or wind?
§ U2’s Bono working the current Sting & Police tour as a roadie, doing their dirtiest & heaviest work?
§ Multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffet volunteering the last years of his life at Thriftway counting money, reconciling funds & making bank deposits?

11. or what about this one? The One & Only of the entire universe who is eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, 100% pure & sinless, holy, just, merciful, the personification of beauty & creativity, unchanging, vast beyond measure, infinite, personal…stooping down into the muck & mess we’ve made of his world to serve us in love by taking on our flesh & blood to suffer & die in our place on the cross?

12. you can’t do that, you won’t do that, unless you have the heart of a servant. God’s heart in Jesus bleeds servanthood.

13. and we are his followers. Followers are to follow their leader. Walk in his tracks. Emulate his lifestyle. Obey his teaching. Become like him.

14. in the kingdom of God we lead the best when we serve the most –
§ setting up & taking down chairs for 3 ½ more months
§ helping out in a Summer club
§ lending your time to a summer barbecue
§ painting walls in our new building
§ giving 60 minutes of your time in the middle of the
night or day to pray
§ giving money to keep the ship afloat & to make sure the new one gets out of dry dock
§ listening to someone in pain, confusion, need
§ investing your life into an emerging leader
§ handing out food to the hungry
§ offering a new building for community use
§ greeting someone on Sunday morning & making them feel welcome

15. we pursue servanthood not greatness. We volunteer for last place not first. We live to serve not be served. And in doing so we show the world the heart of Jesus. Amen.

the Gospel of Mark: on the road with Jesus (31) “Marriage & Divorce”

Mark 10:1-12

Sermonizing is always a community experience. Every time I stand up to speak I’m indebted to a host of people whose books, articles & sermons I’ve consulted. Like today – John Piper, JC Ryle, David Garland, John Stott, David Atkinson. I owe them my thanks.

1. this October 15 my parents will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary! My dad says that he can no longer remember when he wasn’t married. They’ve been married for as long as I’ve known them.

2. my dad grew up in a strong Christian family. His father died unexpectedly when his appendix burst on an elk hunting trip when he was only 49. His mother remarried & enjoyed a long marriage until her 2nd husband died.

3. in contrast, my mom’s parents divorced when she was 11 years old. Her dad left them – 5 kids – walked out of their lives. Her mother never remarried. Her dad went on to get married & divorced 6 more times. I only met him once. He was scary to a little kid – big, 6’ 4”, stared at me & didn’t talk.

4. my mom says that she never knew what love was till she met my dad & his family.

5. marriage, both for husbands, wives & their children, is the greatest human defining relationship of all. It holds potential for the greatest good and the greatest bad.

6. does Jesus have anything to say about marriage? About divorce? Yes, in Mark 10.
Mark 10:1-9: Jesus & the Pharisees
1. in v. 2 the Pharisees are testing him Jesus – is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

2. Jesus puts the question back to them in v. 3. What did Moses command you? What does the law say about this?

3. they reply in v. 4 that Moses permitted divorce if the husband would write his wife a certificate of divorce. This is a reference to Deuteronomy 24:1-4:
§ in Jewish history, in Jesus’ time, divorce was widespread & easily secured – Deut 24:1-4 was given to regulate an already existing practice
§ done for the protection of the wife – husband must give her a bill of divorce w/c protects her from any further action by the man
§ precise meaning of something indecent has been lost – 1 Jewish rabbi said it could mean something as insignificant as over-cooking or over-salting your husbands dinner

4. in v.5 Jesus responds that there is something greater going on here – It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law. In other words, the law that you use to justify your divorce & remarriage is not the desire of God’s heart but an accommodation to the hardness of your own heart.

5. or as John Stott says of divorce, it’s a Divine concession to human weakness.

6. starting with v. 6 Jesus goes all the way back to the beginning of creation. To God’s design for marriage.

7. 1st Genesis 1:27 – but at the beginning of creation God made them male & female. Behind the law, before the law is God’s original intent. The basis of marriage is God’s action, God’s design. God made humanity to be male & female. To be both like & unlike one another.

8. next he goes to Genesis 2:24 – for this reason [because God created us male & female with a design for marriage] a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one.

9. the leaving behind of father & mother, the becoming one flesh, the forming of a new family, is God’s idea of marriage.

10. Jesus follows this up in v. 9 with a declaration & a command – therefore what God has joined together (declaration), let no man separate (command).

11. the union of a man & a woman in marriage is something that God does no matter if God is acknowledged or not. As John Piper says in his comments on this passage, Marriage is something God does, not just man. Marriage is a work of God & gets its meaning from God.

12. to sum up Jesus teaching on marriage:
§ God designed it (Gen 1:27)
§ God described it (Gen 2:24)
§ God did it/does it (Mark 10:9)

Mark 10:10-12: Jesus & his disciples
1. Jesus & his disciples are behind closed doors. They ask the question again. Jesus answers in vs. 11-12.

2. v. 11 to the man who is thinking about divorcing his wife to marry another woman Jesus says, anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.

3. v. 12 to the woman who is thinking about leaving her husband for another man, and if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.

4. these are hard words to hear. So black & white. The question can be asked - doesn’t Jesus know that his words will hurt people who have been divorced & remarried? Doesn’t he care?

5. well Jesus knows. Jesus cares. There are few things in life more painful than the break-up of a marriage. Divorce is far more painful than the death of a spouse – divorce is a living death.

6. in fact, the word used for divorce is related to the word for cutting down trees or cutting off heads. A severing of what was once a living union. Divorce is a kind of amputation.

7. vs. 11-12 are not just a word of warning. They are meant to be words of prevention as well. For Jesus the essence of love is to help people live by God’s design, to live in sync with the original intent of creation.

8. If you can still turn back, turn back. If the marriage still has a 1% chance of being saved, don’t give up, go for it.

are there any biblical grounds for divorce & remarriage?
1. much has been written on this question. There are biblical grounds for divorce & remarriage in the case of…

2. unfaithfulness: when one’s spouse is guilty of sexual immorality & is unwilling to repent & be faithful – Matthew 5:32 & 19:9

3. desertion: when a Christ-follower is deserted by an unbelieving spouse – I Cor 7:12-15.

4. what about cases of abuse where life & health are seriously threatened – physical assault, verbal, emotional abuse, sexual perversion, uncontrolled rage, unethical behavior.

5. I counsel the innocent party to separate. Reconciliation is always the goal but is not always attained. In these kinds of situations, one needs great wisdom from God. One needs to rely upon biblical principles for dealing with hardships that may not be specifically addressed in Scripture.

6. with all serious marital disruptions, outside help is called for. Pastoral & marital counseling. Seeking biblical guidance. Finding emotional support. And prayers upon prayers upon prayers.

7. divorce should always be viewed as a last, last resort.

8. and when failure occurs, when marriages break-up, God’s grace is sufficient – to forgive, to heal, to restore.

Steps to strengthening marriages
1. I want to close by sharing 1 thing you can do to strengthen your marriage – memorize, practice & pray your marital vows.

2. to have & to hold from this day forward – you belong to each other & only to each other!

3. for better for worse – we have no idea what this will mean when we say “I do” to each other. No idea. To stay together through the good times & bad, the easy & difficult, darkness & light.

4. for richer for poorer – most couples argue about money & it doesn’t matter how much or how little you have. Money should not determine the success or failure of a marriage
5. in sickness and in health – again, we have no idea what this will mean when we get married. My brother-in-law John has taken care of my totally disabled sister, now, for 25 years. My dad is taking care of my mom. A few years ago Heather had to take care of me. One day I may have to take care of her. And that’s a marriage.

I have a friend in the Philippines whose sister was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident - paraplegic. Her husband went out & found a mistress & had 2 children with her. That’s not a marriage. And she forgave him. That’s a marriage.

6. to love & to cherish – the word that stops me in my tracks here is cherish. Value, prize, appreciate, treasure, hold dear. Easy to do in the first few weeks, months, maybe years. But it gets harder. But it’s not impossible.

7. till death do us part – this reflects God’s intention for marriage from creation. 1 man, 1 woman, 1 union. Till death do us part.

8. I have 3 goals for my life. Everything boils down to these 3 things. If they are in place when I die, I will have lived my life well.

1 – to love serve obey worship God my whole life long.

2 – to remain faithful to Heather & love her as Christ loves the church.

3 – to love my children, be a good example to them & not do or be anything that would turn them away from loving, serving, obeying & worshiping God with their lives

9. when I’m laying on my death bed, those are the only 3 things that will matter.