Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Mark 10:35-45
Pastor: Pastor Nathan Berg
Sermon Date:  October 24, 2021

If I wanted to talk about something controversial this morning, I’d have plenty of things to choose from. Not the least of these would be the concept of freedom. We’re not going to delve into the concept of freedom in America or in Wisconsin or any of that. That’s a different discussion for a different venue. No, as we wrap up our focused look on Mark’s gospel and specifically what Jesus values, we are going to talk about freedom in the realm of the Church. I’m going to give you two statements and I want you to decide which one is true. Here are the statements: Number 1, “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.” Number 2, “A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

So which one is it? Maybe you’re thinking, “This sounds like a trick question…” We’ll you’re right. It is a trick question. The answer is both. Both are correct. And while that may seem completely illogical since these seem to contradict each other, this is the truth we see today in Mark chapter 10. Jesus, as the Lord of all creation says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” May we strive to align our family values with Jesus as Our Family Serves the World!

So how did we get here in the first place? “James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we ask.”  Any other parents’ “spidey-senses” tingling right now? Anyone else have huge red flags waving, saying, “Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!”? If your kids would come up to you and say, “I’m going to ask you for something and I want you to just say yes,” no parent in their right mind would agree to that. Yet, that’s exactly what we see here. James and John are asking Jesus to agree blindly to whatever they ask. Of course, he knows what they are going to ask, but he doesn’t agree either. “He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.”  That’s a pretty bold ask! To sit at the right and the left were the two highest positions of honor. And I suppose one could argue that they had reason to be so bold. These two, along with Peter, had already received what some might call “special treatment,” from Jesus. They were there when he raised Jarius’ daughter, when he was transfigured on the mountain. They were privileged to have close encounters with Jesus and had no doubt noticed that they were in something of an inner circle. No doubt, they assumed this came with some special perks. 

I don’t know how this comes across as anything but self-serving. I don’t know how you put the best construction on their question. And you sense that’s how Jesus is viewing it too, in his response. “But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with?”  Did they realize what they were asking? If so, then why did they run when the cup of suffering came in the Garden of Gethsemane? And even though James would be the first apostle to die for his faith and even though John would suffer attempted murder and exile, Jesus still wouldn’t give them what they asked. As he said, “You will drink the cup that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with. But to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to give; rather, these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”  

Now, you might say that James and John got off rather easy with Jesus. He could have read them the riot act about how selfish they were being and how they didn’t have in mind the things of God but the things of men, just like he did with Peter when he said something just as foolish. They might have seemed to get away with it when it came to Jesus, but then the other apostles found out. “When the ten heard this, they were angry with James and John.” It just doesn’t feel like angry is a strong enough word here. The other ten were furious. Furious that James and John thought themselves better. Furious that they didn’t think to ask Jesus the same question first. 

Are we jumping to the wrong conclusion? Are we being too hard on the disciples? I don’t think so when we see what Jesus does next. “Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But that is not the way it is to be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all.” The way of the world is to lord it over people. The way of the world is to seek the positions of honor. The way of the world is to seek to serve yourself. And if we’re honest, we often follow the way of the world. We think and act and speak in self-serving ways. It’s what sinners do. By nature we think that we should be in charge, that we should be special. We think that everyone else ought to be serving us. And what does Jesus say to us today? “But that is not the way it is to be among you.” Very literally, “This is not among you.” Christians, this is not your reality. This is not your way. This is not just a pious wish, but a strong statement. “Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all.”

You see, if anyone could have rightfully demanded that others serve him, it was Jesus. He is God. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. And that was the kind of glory these disciples were expecting him to receive, and they wanted a piece of the action. But Jesus turns that thinking completely around. He doesn’t just call for selfless service.  He  gives it.  “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 came to serve. He could have demanded service, but instead he served. We see his example time and again. He fed the 5000, he healed the sick. He even washed his own disciples’ feet, showing them the kind of humble service that defines the life of a Christian. You see, but nature we are slaves to sin, death, and the devil. By nature we have no freedom, no choices. We can’t help but sin. But Jesus came as a ransom. He paid the price of his own perfect life and innocent death to free us from our slavery to sin. We now live in the freedom of our forgiveness. Think about what Luther said in the explanation to the Second Article: “He has redeemed (or ransomed) me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sin, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. So, what Luther said is absolutely correct, “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.” Because of what Jesus has done for us, we are free! Free from sin. Free from slavery to death and the devil. We are free!  

But why did Jesus do this? Luther continues, “All this he did that I may be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.” And so what Luther said is also correct, “A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all.” 

So what does all of this mean? Jesus has set us free. We are free from self-centeredness and resentment. We are free from having to be in charge or be the best or be served because our position is secure in the Lord. We have been given everything we need. We can’t receive any more love than what has already been given to us in Jesus. And so that means that we are not free to empty ourselves in service. We are free enough to serve. Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all.” The church is not a business where we climb the ladder of success by stepping on others along the way. The church is not an area of ambition where we seek prestige through positions of power. The church is a community of servants. Servants who seek to be salt and light in the world that more people might see Jesus. We willingly give up our preferences and our favorites for the good of others. We seek what’s best for the whole and not just what’s best for me. 

Why do we serve? It’s not for reward or recognition; it’s not for praise or pride; it’s not the way that we gain heaven. No, we serve because Christ has first served us. We serve because we’ve been served first. In fact, that’s what happens every time we come to God’s house. We come to be served by our God in Word and Sacrament. And it’s that loving service that God gives freely from his grace that fills us to overflowing, so we can go and serve not only one another, but serve the world. And what greater service can we offer than to point them to the One who has given his life as their ransom price.

Thanks be to God for the freedom he has given to us! Freedom from our slavery to sin, death, and the devil. Thanks be to God that he has set us free to serve! May we serve one another and the world with the love God has so generously poured out on us, that they may see Jesus and be saved. Amen.