Proper 24 year B

Mark 10:35-45

Longbottom

‘When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.’ When Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words in his book The Cost of Discipleship, he had come to understand that which James and John would only come to understand after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus – that following Jesus is about giving up our very lives in service to Him.

In our Gospel this morning, James and John reflect in their words a belief that Jesus is to be the conquering and ruling Messiah and that their association with Him would bring glory and honor to themselves. So, of course, they desired seats of honor to share in glory of His Messiahship.

In a culture of self-promotion, branding, and celebrity, it is hard for even pastors and priests to see that following Jesus is about our disgrace, our sin and ultimately our own death rather than our own gain. It is about being a servant to all. The call to follow Jesus then is truly ‘a call to come and die.’ Die to the world, die to ambition, die to self.

Jesus’ response to James and John in their desire to follow Him is also His response to all of us, ‘Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.’ James and John sought a place of honor and ultimately received it. But they received it not as the world offers it, they received it only after they left their hopes and dreams for themselves behind and lived for Christ.

The question we must ask ourselves then is this: Are we serving Christ or are we serving ourselves? If we are serving ourselves, our life and ministry will inevitably degenerate into a desire for self-seeking gain and failure. If we are truly serving Christ, we will continually die to our own self so that Christ may live. So, then I leave you with these words of Jesus to consider. Words not from this Sunday’s Gospel reading, but words from Luke 9:24, which offer the essence of our Gospel and challenge us with the truth of following Christ, ‘For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.’

– Rev. Robert Longbottom is the rector of Church of St. Luke & St. Peter, St. Cloud