Proper 24, October 21, 2012

Readings

So this one is missing a sentence or two that connected the paragraphs a tiny bit more that occured to me on the train ride to Brooklyn this morning. But if I don't post it now, I fear I never will remember. So imagine slightly more graceful transitions.

Also this sermon came after our major Gala fundraiser, The Spirits of Brooklyn Heights. It was a truly great occasion and Fr. John along with an extremely dedicated group of parishioners did an amazing amount of work to make it a glorious evening for all of us.

Many of you joined us on Friday evening for our very exciting, successful and delicious Gala fundraiser. One of my very small tasks on Friday morning had to do with the seating arrangements. John and Carol did most of the work, sorting out who would sit with who, and which tables were closest to the stage. I thankfully was neither at John’s left hand nor his right hand when he and Carol were sorting it out. I was happily upstairs in my office attempting to find a few quiet moments to work on this sermon. But thinking about the tables makes me feel especially qualified this morning to talk about James and John and where they wanted to sit. James and John want to be front and center. They want to flank Jesus and get some of his reflected glory. They want to be one of those two angels up there in that stained glass window—but the part they forget is the rather obvious part, at least from our perspective. We see (and I think Mark wants us to see) that Jesus’ coming glory is not exactly that glorious. In fact, the stained glass window that perhaps reflects this less glorious future is the one that  I remember Mother Nell pointing to at some point this spring. It is nearly black and white, and has Jesus upon the cross. Not pictured of course are the ones who were at his left and right, two criminals. When Jesus tells James and John that they don’t really know what they are asking for, it is because they would be asking for those two positions. On the crosses. The coming of the cross, the imminence of the crucifixion is evident because in Mark’s gospel right before our passage, Jesus tells his disciples for the third time about what is coming next. Just like James and John misunderstanding what Jesus’ future entails, so do the disciples misunderstand after each time he tells them about his coming death, humiliation and sacrifice. The disciples have an uncanny way of always getting it wrong after Jesus tells them about his death.

What does this tell us about the disciples, and more closely for us, what does this tell us about who WE are as the followers of Jesus. Well…first of all I suppose we could and do realize that the disciples did  not always understand Jesus. Especially, it seems, when he is talking about the hard and difficult realities of his suffering and death. They are the ones closest to him, spending their time ministering along side him, listening to his teaching and preaching, and yet time and time again they totally misunderstand the nature of the coming kingdom. I always find it reassuring that if the disciples didn’t get it, it is really okay if there are things I don’t get. I don’t have interactions with Jesus here on earth every day. But maybe because he is there with them, the disciples are caught up in the fact that Jesus is a leader, and forget the ways in which  his model for leadership is the total opposite of the rulers who lord it over their people. James and John want to lord it over the other disciples. And you know? So do we—there is something important about owning up to our more power-hungry,  glory-seeking selves. There is some of James and John in each of us, in different ways. And awarness of this aspect of our humanity is helpful. It is good to know and it is good to keep in check. But I think there is more to this Gospel passage than just a reminder of darker parts of our humanity.

The thing is, I think James and John get it more than they are letting on. Maybe after Jesus predicts his suffering and death they are scared. Maybe, in their fear they are concerned about their futures. They want some kind of reassurance about their status going forward, and so they ask for these prominent positions.  They ask, knowing that Jesus' death is coming, but not totally understanding the implications of the death. They ask thinking somehow, that maybe in death Jesus will embrace Glory, Power and Prestige. Their fear, their anxiety about the future leads to the corrupting of the message that Jesus has come here to bring. Jesus is talking about a revolution where the leader is the servant. The imagery of the suffering servant in Isaiah shows us that this vision of leadership is not exclusive to Jesus alone, but for us as Christians, certainly he is the primary example. The hard part about Jesus is that he comes into this world, God's word made flesh, God's love personified, but instead of being exalted by all humanity- he is humiliated and killed. This is hard because--well--look at that window. We exalt and glorify him. Our big window is of Christ in his glory rather than in his distress. THis whole church, really is about the glory of God, the majesty and power of God. The grandness of God. Don't get me wrong, God is good, God is grand. The question, I think, for us as Christians, and especially for us as the community of this particularly grand space is how do we keep in mind the leader who leads by serving rather than the leader who is depicted on our window? I think that part of that answer comes from thinking about the role of fear in the drive towards seating-arrangement glory. 

What is important, I think, is that the disciples, when they are fearful wish that Jesus were more like the leaders of the gentiles, they wish he would lord it over them. But Jesus instead is a leader in his service to his disciples, in his reaching out to those at the sidelines of society, to those who are humiliated. The fear cause the misunderstanding of Jesus' message. It makes me think about the fears in our congregation, as a community, I think it is fair to say we are worried about our future. We are worried because our finical position is precarious and because of the enormity of the task of the restoration of this church. And I wonder what effect this worry has on our ability to understand Jesus' message. Like James and John, we are worried about the gloomy-doomy future, and hope that our place, our building, our congregation has a safe future. These are good things to want, of course, and the hard work that I saw so many of you put in to our Fundraising Gala is an exciting step towards a more secure future, but also a more revitalized present. And that--the liveliness of our present--is what I found most exciting part of the event. It more than anything takes away my fear about what is to come. Because it shows to me that we can live with out fear, it shows me that we can celebrate our church.

Where I am most excited about a new reality for St. Ann & the Holy Trinity is that if we are really living with out fear (or at very least with slightly less fear) is that perhaps in this state we will begin as the Body of Christ to embody more of the servant leadership modeled in Jesus. We might be able to be less worried about our existence, and more able to serve the needs of our community.  We might be able to turn more of our attention to some real outreach projects to help those who are hungry, maybe we will work on issues of sustainability and the health of our planet, or maybe we will become interested in justice issues and campaign for greater equity. I am not sure what we might do as a community, but I am really excited to be a part of it, to be a witness to it, and to be a servant leader to you. Since I began talking with Fr. John about this job when I began he has been saying to me that one of the aspects of my ministry here should be some kind of outreach to the community. So I would like this sermon to serve as an invitation to some conversations about what energy and interests we have as a community. Some ways in which you all think that we as a church can serve as servant leaders in our community. In what ways can we help the last to be first? In what ways can we help the world we live in to reflect the values of the Kingdom of God? How might we be of greater use to those who are struggling? What abundance do we have that we can share with the world? In this way, I believe we will be not only reflecting the kingdom of God, but also bringing it about. This is a very good thing, and I give thanks and praise to God for guiding us towards greater good, towards being a servant church and towards a closer, deeper relationship to God.