Two Kingdoms, One Choice

Transcript

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[0:00] Good morning. We're going to start this morning in a very intervarsity way. I have a little icebreaker for us. Yeah, yeah. And our icebreaker question is, what was the most expensive thing you bought this past week?

[0:22] And was it worth it? Have a think about it. And share with the people. Oh yeah, let's just go for it. Come on, Craig. Flowers for a wedding. Flowers. Yeah, I'm not sure. Was it worth it? We'll see. We'll see. Yeah. Any other big, or even not that big. Like when I ask this to students, it's always like, food. Was it worth it? Not really. You know, wasn't that good. Any other things people have bought? Yeah, Brian. Radio controlled airplanes. Whoa. That sounds kind of cool, actually. Yeah. We bought plane tickets. We've been buying plane tickets. And plane tickets always kind of feel too expensive. But then, you know, when you arrive at the place, and then you're in the place that you wanted to be, with the people you wanted to be with, you kind of forget. So I guess that's it. Yes. Plane tickets are worth it.

[1:24] Yeah. So we're actually going to spend some time in Mark chapter 10 this morning. And we're in a section of Mark where Jesus is teaching on the economic and power realities of society. So through chapter 10, Jesus is challenging his audiences about how they measure people's worth. And I almost entitled this sermon, Money, Power, and Slaves. But I thought that would actually make it really hard for like Ellen and Yuki to pick the music. So I didn't do that. But in chapter 10, Jesus actually starts by teaching on divorce. So he's actually, if you look closely, addressing the status difference between men and women.

[2:09] We see the disciples try to stop people, mostly mothers, from bringing their children to Jesus. And Jesus rebukes them and says, Let the little children come to me. So children back in the Greco-Roman world, they were particularly vulnerable. Mortality rates were very high. And they had absolutely no status. So the disciples were trying to shoo them away. Like Jesus is too busy for you. You're not worthy of Jesus' time and attention. And Jesus says, No. Let the little children come to me.

[2:43] And then right after that, Jesus meets with the rich young ruler. The rich and the noble, they had high status. So no one shooed him away. And the disciples were shocked to see Jesus at the end of the conversation kind of send him away empty. Right? And then right after that, yeah, status, power, and money gave a person the kind of value that gave them access. Access to power and money. And in Jewish understanding, it gave you access to God.

[3:20] So Jesus has been working with his disciples to challenge their assumptions about money, power, status, and access. And then right before the text that we're going to look at in my sermon today, in verses 32 and 34, he says, Look, we're going to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. And they will condemn him to death. And then they will hand him over to the Gentiles. They will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days, he will rise again.

[4:01] So this is kind of like the teaching journey that our disciples have been on. And right after that, we have our passage for today. This is Mark chapter 10, starting at verse 35. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, What is it you want me to do for you? And they said to him, Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.

[4:38] But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I do? And they said to him, Do I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They replied, We are able. And then Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized. But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.

[5:12] When the ten heard this, they began to be angry. For they thought Jesus was a man who would destroy the world and destroy the world. For they thought Jesus would destroy the world and destroy the world. For they thought Jesus would destroy the world and destroy the world. For they thought Jesus would destroy the world and destroy the world. For they thought Jesus would destroy the world and destroy the world.

[5:35] For they thought Jesus would destroy the world and destroy the world. For they thought Jesus would destroy the world and destroy the world. the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

[5:56] Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for your word. Holy Spirit, open our ears and our hearts to receive from you what you want to teach us today. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, some of you know that I love sci-fi, and Star Trek in particular.

[6:21] Live long and prosper. And Star Trek loves to play around with alternate realities, okay? The lead crew members are always being transported into another time or another reality of the multiverse, loves multiverse. And in these alternate realities, they get to experience life. And they're living in a different system, where different rules are in play, or relationships between the same people look different. What we're actually seeing in this conversation between Jesus and his disciples is two different realities, two different realms, or in the language of Mark, two different kingdoms in conversation. Two different systems where different rules are in play and relationships between the people are different. And they're probably not the two kingdoms that James and John and the disciples thought they were dealing with. In their thinking, the kingdoms in question are Rome on the one hand and Israel on the other. The Gentiles and the people of God, as the disciples understood it. But Jesus here is showing them that God has a much bigger picture.

[7:44] Not a much bigger picture. Not a much bigger picture. sit one at your right and one at your left in your glory and Jesus has just told them he's going to be captured and executed so talk of like completely dissociating from from what Jesus has just said to them let's skip over all of that about dying and focus on the positive he is leading us into his kingdom right right like Jesus has talked a lot about the kingdom of God that's where he's taking us and he's going to be the king so let's get ahead of the curve let's take initiative and throw our hat in the ring for the top spots on his right and on his left some would say that's a good strategy right they put themselves out there they took initiative in the reality that James and John were living in their access to God depended on their status and their close connection to the center of power and they had the gumption to ask for it I would never have done what James and John did because that is just totally not me I would have been with the ten who when they found out what James and John did you know they were mad they were angry who do they think they are to be entitled to the top spot I mean how do they know Jesus is alive and they're not going to ask me to do that right I'm just a righteous and

[9:42] patient enough to wait for the Lord but that's me living in the same reality right the ten were no different I don't think to James and John they were just mad because James and John got there first James and John were up for more power than me the places of power were there James and John got there first and because they have the gumption to go grab them I feel mad because I might have missed out all twelve disciples lived in the same reality where money and power means status and status means access and if I'm honest that's my reality too so let's look at Jesus response in his reality first he responds to James and John James and John asked to be at Jesus right and left in his glory and as we've seen they have this vision of what glory is supposed to look like power and wealth and status and Jesus responds with are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am to be baptized with and James and John say yes and with their idea of glory one commentator suggests that we think we are basically basically basically that they could have been thinking about a cup of celebration.

[11:12] And there was also this idea of baptism as a sign of God's renewal in anticipation of the coming kingdom. But of course, you know, we've got the 2020 vision of hindsight where post-Holy Week has happened, and we can see that Jesus was talking about the cup of suffering and his baptism as one of death.

[11:37] In baptism, we go down into the waters of death, and we're raised up to new life, right? James and John would, in their lives, drink this cup and share in this baptism, too. All the 12, well, except for Judas, died as martyrs. But that's not what they could see at this point. And of course, when Jesus says, there are those for whom the seats at my right and my left have been prepared, he's talking about the two thieves on the cross, right?

[12:09] Jesus' moment of glory is his crucifixion. His moment of glory is his death on the cross. Jesus' cup is suffering, and his baptism is death. I did a bunch of reading before the summer about the theology of atonement to prepare to teach our intervarsity staff. And one thing that I hadn't quite comprehended about crucifixion, was that it was a mode of execution, the goal of which was the person's erasure.

[12:46] The only reason why we have heard of Jesus, a man who was crucified, is because of the resurrection, right? If Jesus had not risen from the dead, he would have just been another one of the thousands of nameless, faceless people who the Romans crucified over their sins.

[13:22] Not a man who would have gameplayed the gameplay gameplay gameplay gameplay gameplay gameplay gameplay gameplay gameplay reality. Now let's look at Jesus' response to the ten. You know that among the Gentiles, those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them. Their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant. And whoever wishes to be first among you must be a slave of all. For the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So here he becomes really express about the two different realities. He's talking about rule and kingdom, right? The kingdom of the Gentiles. And of course, in his context, he's talking about Rome. So I'm going to reference this from now on. The kingdom of Rome. And in that kingdom, their rulers lord it over them. Their great ones are tyrants. But Jesus is, actually, I don't know if with the disciples he's being gentle or he's actually being really pointed. Because he's kind of saying, guys, in your pursuit of power and status, the way you've just been coming after me, you're behaving like the Gentiles. Actually, you're no different to the people.

[15:00] You're no different to the people of Rome. In your head, my kingdom is going to look like Rome, except it'll have a different name and it'll be a different group of people in charge. This is the kingdom that you're looking for. But it must not be so among you. Jesus is saying, guys, you follow me and I'm living in a completely different reality where if you want to be great, you have to be a servant. And if you want to be first, you have to be a slave.

[15:31] And then he shares with them what we now call the ransom saying. For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Theologically, there are a lot of juxtapositions in this little sentence of power and powerlessness. So the phrase the Son of Man is a picture of enormous power. It comes from Daniel chapter 6. Daniel chapter 6, verse 7, where Daniel has a vision and he sees before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence. He was given authority and glory and sovereign power and all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. So we have this picture of huge power. And then right next to it, Jesus says, I've come to give my life.

[16:30] So it must have been really confusing for the disciples. And then this word ransom, the idea of ransom is really important. The Greek word is litron. And actually, we don't see it used anywhere else in the New Testament in this particular form that we see here in Mark. But outside of the Bible, it meant the price paid to free a slave.

[16:55] So Jesus gives his life as the price to free men and women. And then in Mark, we see that Jesus is being ransomed from slavery. And in Mark, we see that Jesus is being ransomed from slavery. The disciples were good, faithful Jews. And this language of slavery, being ransomed from slavery, it would have reminded them right away of the Exodus. Every year they celebrated the Exodus. And in our Deuteronomy text, you know, it's like a wandering Aramean was my ancestor.

[17:26] We were in slavery in Egypt. And the Lord delivered us with the gospel. And the Lord delivered us with the gospel. And the Lord delivered us with the mighty hand. It's not them. It's us. So for the disciples, literal economic slavery and deliverance from it was in their story.

[17:43] But there's also the second theme that we see in scripture. This longing of freedom from slavery to sin. Throughout scripture, we see that sin is, it's not just, oh, we do wrong things. Sin is we're trapped and we cannot break free from this power that we just keep doing the wrong thing even when we want to do the right thing. So I don't know. Some of you might remember Paul ranting in Romans chapter seven. The things I want to do I do not do. The things that I don't want to do I find myself doing. There's this image of literal physical slavery that the disciples would have understood. and then this image of slavery from the grip of sin. And Jesus here is saying, I am your ransom.

[18:38] Through my death, I will set you free from both kinds of slavery, from literal, physical, economic slavery, and from slavery to sin. I'm from a different kingdom, and my death will inaugurate the beginnings of a different kingdom.

[19:00] So we have two kingdoms, the kingdom of Rome and the kingdom of Jesus. What happens when these two worlds collide? How are these two kingdoms supposed to relate to each other? So in Star Trek, the Enterprise crew always get sent back from the alternate reality to their proper one, right? So in the space of a 45-minute episode, the rift in the space-time continuum gets sealed, and our crew gets returned to what they knew, unless you're wearing the red suit. Then it can look bad, right? But the two realities don't coexist.

[19:40] But for those of us who follow Jesus, until Jesus comes again, we do live in both realities, right? As followers of Jesus, he calls us to be different. In the midst of a world where money and power mean status, and status means access.

[19:58] So practically, what does this mean for us as Christians? I have to confess this was a really challenging passage to me, and I think it speaks a lot into our current geopolitical situation, as well as our personal lives. And so I just want to come to you and ask for your opinion. And I want to thank you for your grace, because I feel like I'm going to say some strong things.

[20:26] But I think this is where the text leads us. I want to highlight three outcomes for us as Christians. I think this passage has implications for us when it comes to power, to service, and to status. Power, service, and status.

[20:44] Firstly, power. Power is a really complicated thing. And it's a fun thing. It's a fundamentally relational thing, right? I think all of us in different circumstance, situations, we're going to find ourselves either in a position of power over someone, or in a position of weakness in relation to someone, right? So think about when we're at work. We might be over some people. We might be under some people. In academia, we see this mix of power relationships all the time.

[21:16] I want to name the very tricky situation of when we want to have power in order to achieve good ends. Because I think this is what the disciples wanted. They wanted to achieve a good end. They wanted to overthrow Roman oppression. And they expected Jesus to exert his great power to overthrow Rome through reestablishing the geopolitical nation of Israel, God's people, and the people of Israel. And they thought this nation would be good and righteous. And because it was God's, and because it wasn't Rome, it was going to be a good thing.

[22:03] But Jesus' response to them was, do not be like the Gentiles, whose rulers lord it over them, and whose powerful are tyrants. So he's saying to them, you might think that it's okay to exercise power over people. You might be able to exercise power in the same way as Rome if your goal is good.

[22:27] But if you do that, you'll just become another Rome. Jesus walked the face of this earth. When he walked the face of this earth, he was still the creator of the universe, right? He had tremendous power. He was and is the most powerful being in and over all creation. And he revealed it. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world.

[23:12] He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. He's the one who's the most powerful being in the world. by his death and resurrection. So at the cross, Jesus redefines power for us. He reshapes it into one of service and of suffering.

[23:37] And so I think as Christians, we really need to grapple with this reality that Jesus has demonstrated to us. At the macro level of our involvement in the nations, right through to how we relate to our work colleagues and to our families.

[23:55] We haven't talked about Gaza much here. And all I'll say now is think about it. Run what is happening there through the grid of Jesus' teaching in this text. What types of power are we seeing exercised over Gaza?

[24:20] And what are we seeing in the world? Much, much closer to home, I do want to say a little bit more about Christian nationalism here at home, which is the merging of our understanding of this country with Christianity.

[24:32] And through this lens of this text, this is dangerous. As Christians, we cannot turn to political power to bring about God's kingdom. No matter how good our intentions are as to the result, our trust to bring about God's kingdom has to be placed in Jesus and not in our government.

[24:57] And as Christians, we have to hold our government to account when we see exercises of power that are tyrannical and oppressive to any people group, not just Christians. I'm not saying that we're all Christian nationalists. But the temptation is here. It's here. It's here all around. It's the water that we're swimming in, especially because I know we are people who want to do good and to see good come to pass. We must not be like the Gentiles who lorded over you and whose great ones are tyrants.

[25:35] On a more personal level, I'll share a temptation that I faced and that I've had to repent from actually, because in my ministry with InterVarsity, we want to raise up the phrase we use is, world changers.

[25:49] So we work with college students, grad students, university faculty, because we want to influence the influencers of the world for Jesus. Influence is just another word for power. And in my work, it's really tempting for me to think, these are people who are going to end up in positions of power and influence, and from those positions, they'll be able to change the world for the better.

[26:16] And I think that's a really important thing. But am I thinking about this in the paradigm of Rome or in Jesus' way? Am I lifting up my students into their power or am I turning them towards Christ crucified? And I've really had to think about this and grapple with this and it's kind of changing how I think and how I teach. My students cannot put their faith in this. They cannot put their faith in their brilliance or their degree from Stanford or Berkeley or wherever it is that they've gone that gives them standing or the money that they will make from their big idea. No matter how good their intentions, these are not the things that will usher in God's kingdom.

[27:04] Only Jesus by his spirit can do that. And our job is to be faithful and follow him. Service. This brings me to service. Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant. And whoever wishes to be first must be the slave of all.

[27:25] We are a church that has a real heart to serve. I love that we're filling the CSA box. I love that we support so many ministries, including InterVarsity. I love that we get to be a part of Kiara's gift. And actually I think in our bathroom project it's really exciting because it's a super hands-on way. It's a super way to serve the disabled, whom we are anticipating will join us. Like we're getting ready to receive people.

[27:55] And it's, I just really love that about our church. I think that in today's passage Jesus is turning our ideas of greatness and status and of servanthood kind of, he's turning these ideas on their heads, right, through his call to serve. So he's saying, this is the way. This is what we're to do with our power. We surrender it in service.

[28:21] I just want to say one thing about power and service. It is possible to serve in a way that preserves our own power. So N.T. Wright tells this story. It's kind of a parable actually of a group of Boy Scouts who help an old lady across the road. And it takes them a long, long time to help this old lady across the road. So their scout leader asks them, boys, what were you doing all this time? And they say, oh, we were helping this lady across the road. And he asks them, well, what took you so long? And they say, well, it took us ages to convince her that she had to get to the other side.

[29:01] Right? I don't think any of us serve like this. But as people with power, and, you know, honestly, most of us are. Years ago I read a, it's quite an old statistic now, but I heard that if you have food in the fridge and a roof over your heads, so that's us, we have food in the fridge and a roof over our heads, we're in like the richest 2% in the world.

[29:23] So in relation to others, we all have a measure of power here. Most of us have power. So as people with power serving from power, we need to be careful that we're not serving in a way that holds onto our power. That is always a temptation. So when I work with students, it's really easy for me to tell my students what they need and what, you know, and just give it to them. Right? It's really easy to hold the power close to my chest.

[29:49] But my job is not to do that. My job is to empower them to serve through giving them the power to be ministers of the gospel and on their campus amongst their peers. Right? My job is actually to make myself redundant.

[30:08] And I'll be honest, this is a hard thing for me. I'm an upfront kind of person. I like to talk. Make a lot of noise. I'm not going to talk about this. We are to steward our power through service. And even in our service, we need to be willing to lay our power down.

[30:27] And finally, status. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus came to set slaves free. And other texts of scripture, like Philippians 2, actually go so far as to say, Jesus, in his incarnation, took on the form of a slave. Jesus became a slave.

[30:54] What does it means that Jesus came as a servant and a slave? It means that those who are slaves, those who are not seen, those who the powerful are trying to erase, Jesus came to them first. He didn't set them free. He came first for the children who had no status in the Roman Empire.

[31:21] He's present first in the babies who are dying in Gaza and Sudan. And I'll be honest with you, I had wrestled with this truth because I think about that and I find myself doing what the ten disciples did. And I say, but he came for me too, right? He talked to the rich young ruler too.

[31:43] But this is the reality of God's kingdom. Jesus is reversing power and he privileges the poor. This is part of his challenge to the rich and to the powerful. To realize that this is not where our true power and our freedom lies.

[32:02] And for the poor and for the unseen, hope comes from knowing that Jesus has come to them first. For those of us with more than most, our hope comes from letting go of what we have and grabbing a hold of Jesus, the only one who can save us.

[32:26] So we've been talking about power and wealth and status. And I do theology of work with my students. And in our world of work, we've reduced people to economic units. We talk about labor markets. We talk about human resources.

[32:46] Human capital. People are talked about as workers. Economic units. And the longer I reflect on work and hold it up to scripture, the more I'm convinced that work in economics is the locus of some of the places of the deepest consequences of the fall. Because in the world of work, this is our relationship. Our relationship with provision.

[33:14] What we need to live. And it's about our relationship with meaning. Is my life worth anything? And so much of our society revolves around decisions that we talk about in terms of money. National GDP. Our federal budget. But really what these decisions are about is who is worth what.

[33:38] At the national level, our government has just passed a law that says, we have to budget that economists say is unprecedented in the way that it makes the poor poorer and the rich richer. It is unprecedented.

[33:53] So in the name of cutting spending, it's placed higher restrictions on Medicaid and food stamps. Medicine and food. And it's allocated $9.7 billion to immigration enforcement. Who is worth what? Who is worthy to receive food?

[34:17] Who is worthy to receive medicine? Who is worthy to live here in peace? This is what every budget is answering. Right? My students are always asking themselves, am I worth it? And the pressure is on them. To answer the question in terms of their grades and their earning capacity.

[34:48] In this reality, people are economic units. But the son of man came not to be served but to serve. And to give his life as a ransom for many. So what is a slave worth? What is a refugee worth? What is a tech worker in Silicon Valley and an undocumented person who harvests our food in Salinas worth?

[35:21] And what are you worth? What am I worth? We're worth the life of God. That's what we're worth. So Jesus measures us so differently. Right? Every person is worth his time and his attention. His coming and his very life.

[35:49] So I want to close by just giving us a few minutes of quiet with God. To just let you have a listen to what he wants to draw your attention to this morning. Does he want to speak to you about power and weakness?

[36:11] Or about service? Or about what you're worth? Your understanding of who you are and who others are? Let's just have a couple of minutes of silence and then I'll close us in prayer. For we are a ministry which we think we are worth our worth. For we are a ministry which we think we are worth our worth. For we are a ministry which we think we are worth our worth. For we are a ministry which we think we are worth our worth. For we are a ministry which we think we are worth our worth.

[36:56] For we are a ministry which we think we are worth our worth. Holy Spirit, would you settle your words in our hearts? Just make what you want to say to us sure and clear. In Jesus' name, amen.