A New Way to Lead

Not so with you.

Jesus famously said, You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

Not so with you.

In December 1993, Leanne and I arrived by bus from Guatemala City to San Salvador, which is in El Salvador, in Central America.

And we were there, it's a long story, for a couple of months in Guatemala.

We went down to El Salvador for a week because we had some contacts through my dad, through Paramata Mission, and they were doing work with what you would call, I guess, a radical left part of the church.

And we met up with these people who were into liberation theology.

And so we arrived there, and the first thing we did, we arrived at the bus depot.

And they met us there, and they took us to, I think, it was Pizza Hut.

And we met some of the team of people of the El Salvadoran church.

And I'll never forget Jorge saying to me, Jesus was a political liberator.

He said he preached that Christians should rise up against the tyrannical rulers of the day.

And I immediately thought, okay, I'm in over my head.

This is different.

This is going to be challenging stuff.

We had just been married for a year, so we really were out of our depth.

Liberation theology is a way that Christians have responded to oppressive government regimes and all sorts of oppression.

It's what Christians do.

We respond with our theology, with the doctrines we find in the Bible about what Christianity is and how we live our lives as Christians.

But it emerges out of context, and so you find theology like feminist theology and black theology, and even reformed theology, which sounds like it's always been there, is a response to a context in history.

So Jesus lived at a time when there was no such thing as a humble leader.

Did you know that?

There was no such thing as a humble leader in the historical context Jesus found himself in in that greco-roman world.

When Jesus said, You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lauded over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them, not so with you.

He was preaching a Gospel of New Beginnings.

He was teaching something truly radical and new.

And I believe if we allow the text to speak to us authoritatively today, we will find a fresh vitality in the same way.

A Gospel of New Beginnings, something new and fresh and life-changing.

The text itself is captivating.

So, let's work through it.

Verse 35, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus.

Teacher, they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

As mentioned last week, we have moved through this pivot point in the Gospel of Mark.

Around Chapter 8, things become a lot more heavy.

Jesus tells them that he's going to be arrested and he will die.

But he's going to rise again and he tells them this fact, these truths, three times over.

But it all starts in Chapter 8 and we get this idea that he's set his face towards Jerusalem, the uphill road to the cross.

So the immediate context of the text we're looking at this morning is Jesus has just told his disciples for the third time that he's going to be arrested, killed and he will rise again.

So, you just would imagine his disciples, his good mates may show some empathy, wouldn't you think?

This is the third time that they have been told he's going to carry the heaviest of loads you could ever imagine.

He has an eternal destiny on his back, on his life, a calling that no one else can do.

Jesus, how are you going?

Who's with me?

You're around the fire?

Lord, like this sounds heavy.

How are you doing?

No, that's not what James and John say.

They have other things on their mind at this poignant moment.

James and John, the sons of Jezebede, come to him and say, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

Listen to that again.

That sort of, we can become used to this line.

Teacher, immediately after you just told us that you're going to die and rise again, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

Can you imagine a less empathic statement?

Can you imagine a less present question, a more inadequate reading of the room?

They come and they basically say, we want to shine you like a genie's lamp, Jesus.

That's what we want to do.

We want to get stuff from you.

We want to ask you for what we want, and we want you just to make it happen.

You can imagine Jesus looking at them in the eyes and saying back to them, like a genie, and they would have said, yeah, more or less.

Of course, comedy is the age-old tool to communicate truth at a deeper level than people expect.

And I think Mark is honestly telling us this in some ways to just get us to raise an eyebrow and to smirk and go, what on earth?

What sort of question is that to ask?

We want you to do whatever we ask.

You get no agency in this.

You have no wisdom to offer us.

We know what we want.

You are a shopkeeper for us.

Ever treated God like a shopkeeper?

Have you ever waited, sort of, neglected the relationship that God wants with you?

Have you ever treated God like a present provider, like a magic genie?

Will you keep him in a box, in the cupboard?

Don't need him most of the time, but sometimes things get out of hand and I need you, Lord.

I think that's quite common and it's a mistake.

Amen?

It is worth repenting of that attitude.

Jesus responds to them with consummate grace.

I really love the way he responds.

I think, wow.

Verse 36, what do you want me to do for you?

What a beautiful person he is.

They replied, let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.

So, James and John have just recently seen the transfiguration.

They have seen Jesus glorified and next to him come Elijah and Moses.

So, they have this idea of the consummation of this idea of kingdom.

And they certainly have an idea that he is the Messiah, the chosen one, the one who will usher in the kingdom through the resurrection and it will become an eternal kingdom like it talks about in the Messianic promise to David and Solomon.

And so, here they are, they can visualize it.

Jesus is come and he's in his glory and next to him, the son's a zebedee.

Don't mistake what they are asking.

They are asking for the greatest gift you could ever be given, right?

There is glory aplenty coming and we want to be right there amongst it, Lord.

James and me, James and John.

I sometimes, I don't know if you ever find this, but I find hubris, pride at a higher level, breathtaking.

Anyone find that, you know, best to see it in yourself.

Best to see it in yourself and go, whoa, that's yucky.

But, you know, I'd have to be honest, I do find it breathtaking when I see it in others where people will sort of push in front in a line.

And you just sort of, you're struck by something that makes you feel hurt for the fact that a human would do certain things.

Of course, that's just such a trivial example.

But the idea that a person truly believes they are better and more worthy than others is quite horrible, really.

It's really obvious when people that have this higher view of themselves get to take food from a communal pot.

Have you seen that?

Someone will take the soft drink and pour out, take a glass that's so big and fill it to the top.

And you think, is that an upbringing issue?

What is going on there?

It's at least something that is concerning, but it's just simple little ideas and examples that are completely the opposite of the servant-hearted humanity that Jesus is calling his disciples to.

So they are proud at this moment, James and John.

And to be honest, who finds it just weird that they would say this?

This is the third year of the Apprenticeship and these are the inner circle.

I just find it strange because I'm thinking Jesus is the best coach you could ever have.

He's had his 12 and he's had the inner three and James and John are the inner three, and this is the third year of the process and this is the best it gets.

Is anyone with me?

It's sort of just a little bit confusing.

And so then he responds in verse 38, you don't know what you're asking.

I think Jesus is actually saying to them, there's a lot going on inside you that you don't understand.

We've been looking into this with the Daily Sevens.

We act in certain ways that come from a deep place that often we haven't reflected enough on to understand why and where it's come from.

And it's probably part of what Jesus is saying to them.

You're asking something that's so filled with pride, that's so lacking awareness, that's a journey for you.

You will find out later about what's driving that question.

But I think he's also stating, you don't understand what kingship means for the suffering Messiah, excuse me.

For the servant king, can you drink the cup I drink, or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?

We can, they answered.

Jesus said to them, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.

But to sit at my right or my left is not for me to grant.

These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.

Jesus tells them that the father has not placed him in charge of the seeding arrangements in the kingdom, nor is he privy to the timing of the end.

But the cup is this metaphor for suffering which comes from Isaiah 51.

I have the text there, verse 17 of 51.

Awake, Awake, Israel says, rise, Isaiah says, rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath.

You who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger.

It's this metaphor for suffering, the cup that needs to be drunk.

And baptism is a metaphor for immersion.

So, he's saying, I am going to be baptized, immersed fully in suffering.

You don't quite know what that's going to look like or the extent of it.

But as we've looked at last week and the week before, you will actually carry a cross.

So you will taste this suffering as you follow me.

But there are two thieves who the Lord, the Father, has assigned that they will be at my right and my left in my glory.

Humble leadership in the first century was an oxymoron.

It didn't make sense.

There was no such thing as a servant king.

And even now, is Jesus truly saying that he will be crowned in glory at the cross, at Golgotha?

Is that what he is saying?

I remember preaching on this idea years ago, literally 20 years ago.

Not the same sort of passage necessarily, but the idea that Jesus is glorified at Golgotha, that he is crowned the king of kings, and flanked by on his right and left two criminals.

And I had preached this idea in a well-meaning brother, a reformed brother came to me and said, You're in error.

Jesus was not glorified on the cross.

He was glorified in the ascension and the resurrection.

And it's a fair point.

Where was Jesus glorified?

I think now 20 years on, I would hold to the fact that if the Book of Revelation calls Jesus the king of kings, the name above every other name, the Lord of lords and refers to him as looking like a lamb who was slain.

I feel confident that it truly is at the cross that Jesus was glorified as the servant king, crowned with a crown of thorns.

The lamb who was slain, obedient saviour, suffering messiah, blood provider for the sin of the world.

James and John want glory, but don't realize the pathway to glory in the kingdom of God is downward mobility.

Do you agree?

They don't understand that in the kingdom of God, it's different to the world.

Glory is found downward, downward mobility.

We descend into greatness.

Amen?

We descend into greatness in the kingdom.

Verse 41, when the 10 heard about this, they became indignant with James and John, because they didn't get in there first.

They felt ripped off.

And then there's this conversation, and I can't help but wonder if it was hard for Jesus to rally this unruly troop together.

If it's hard enough to communicate to James and John, and of course, Peter, Peter gives enough shooting his foot to know that the three don't seem to get...

I feel like, man, it must be like a year one primary school teacher going, look at me, look at me, guys, come in here, I want to teach you something.

Verse 42, Jesus called them together and said, you know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them?

Yeah?

That's great, isn't it?

You're the boss and we're going to get to the lord?

No.

Their high officials exercise authority over them.

This is the historical cultural context.

That's why I mentioned about liberation theology.

Understanding how God wants us to live lives in a cultural context.

So, in the greco-roman world of the first century and before, people venerated the hero.

It was all about the hero.

Heroes overcame obstacles to achieve their full potential.

And for their achievement, they were given the status, honor and recognition they deserved.

Life was a contest.

And this is where the Olympic Games came from.

This greco-roman idea that everything is a competition and so the Games were a microcosm of life and even of religion, where people could strive to get to the top and receive the status and recognition that they deserved.

Cicero, one of Rome's great orators, who died about 50 years before Jesus said, rank must be preserved.

It's the way life is.

Rank must be preserved.

Your identity is where you stand in the pecking order in greco-roman society.

The context of this teaching, life was a hierarchy, and you expressed yourself in your position in the ladder in a multitude of ways.

Slaves were the bottom of the pecking order.

But if you were a slave set free, you were a freedman and you could wear a hat, so people knew you weren't a slave, you were a freedman.

And if you were a Roman citizen and just a young boy, 14-year-old, you got to wear the toga virilis and it said, I'm a Roman.

And if you were an equestrian, a high-level aristocrat, you wore the toga arebus for you.

It was a different sash and a gold ring on your hand.

If you were a senator, again, a different toga, gold ring, purple sash.

People needed to know.

It's the most important thing.

Where do you sit in the hierarchy of life?

Seating at public events was all hierarchical.

The higher up the pecking order, you sat in better seats.

You had better food.

If we had greco-roman society last night, the best seats would have been for the higher-ranking people, and the better food was for them also.

Guests of inferior rank, they were further away.

If you were inferior, you don't get to speak at a party until those up the pecking order spoke first.

Into this tightly woven world of hierarchical identity and worth, Jesus says, don't be like that.

Not so with you.

Instead, whoever wants to become great must be your servant.

And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

Isn't it interesting that James and John are the two guys making this blunder?

But when John later on writes his Gospel, think about John's Gospel.

Isn't it a wonderful transformation of what he picks up on?

He's the one who writes John 13.

He's the one who picks up on that most incredible encounter that Jesus has with his disciples in the upper room.

John writes, It was just before the Passover festival, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power.

All things under His power.

He's at the top of the pecking order.

He knew this.

He came from God and was returning to God.

There's no one higher than Jesus.

So, He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist.

And you can't help but imagine the scene in heaven, can you?

The angels are going, what's going on?

He's the servant leader.

He's the servant king.

The Son of God is coming showing them what humanity is meant to look like.

After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.

When He had finished washing their feet, John says, He put on His clothes and returned to His place.

Do you understand what I've done for you?

You call me teacher and lord and rightly so, for that's what I am.

Now that I, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should, you also should wash one another's feet.

I've set you an example that you should do as I have done.

Very truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

God is servant-hearted, amen?

Isn't he?

God, who created the universe, who gets to be anyone he wants to be, he is a servant.

It's staggering.

That's what he's like.

It's like God is love manifest in the heart of a servant.

God is servant-hearted.

God himself supports and provides for and celebrates his creation, acting for them and on behalf of them and under them, day after day after day.

Hallelujah.

God is a servant.

I wonder if you lead anything.

When we all lead ourselves, self-leadership comes with the territory of being human.

But a lot of us lead teams.

You might lead a business, a family.

Jesus taught a new way to lead, servant leadership.

He modelled how to and taught how to lead from underneath.

Instead, he says, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all, for even the son of man didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

This is the first time that Jesus states this idea that he's giving his life as a ransom for the sin of the world.

What would your life and my life look like if you did a servant overhaul?

A servant-hood overhaul.

In every arena of life, as Christians, we're called to be salt and light, aren't we?

And we do this through the medium of servant-hood.

When the Bible says in the Sermon on the Mount, you are the salt of the world, the light of the world, it's calling us to a vocation, isn't it?

Servant-hood.

That's how it's done.

Because Jesus died on the cross and showed us how, and sent his spirit when he rose again from the grave, to fill us up and empower us to be servants, that's how we are the light of the world.

We lead not top-down, but bottom-up.

Amen.

What would your life look like if you did a servant-hood overhaul?

Do you see yourself as a servant in the workplace, or are you mainly spending time looking to defend your rights?

That's not a bad thing.

But are you a servant in your home?

Is that your identity?

I am a servant.

In your significant relationships, are you a servant preeminently?

Today, are you a servant in this room, in this church service, in this gathering?

In the life of this church, would you call yourself, I'm a servant at NorthernLife?

Or are you the one that gets served?

Did you come to be served, or to give your life in serving?

Do you volunteer to serve, or are you the object of service?

James and John had that horrible request at the start, but they weren't even aware of what was driving that request.

I don't know what it was driving it.

Was it pride?

Could well have been.

Was it people pleasing?

Was it basic competitive desire?

Was it a sense of identity built around external validation?

Who knows?

But a lot of those things are going on inside of them and us.

What are you asking God for?

Do you ask God, can you help me find my next assignment to serve?

Or is it different what you ask?

Is the thing you're asking God for reflective of a servant's heart who is aligned with the values of the kingdom?

Or is it reflecting something a little less pure?

One thing's for sure, I think, Jesus was not primarily a political liberator, as Jorge in El Salvador had assumed.

Neither was Jesus a leader in the predicted way of the first century at all.

Who was Jesus?

He was a radical, love-saturated, truth-marinated, revolution of grace that turned the world upside down, and has been agitating the powers ever since.

Amen?

Christianity is an agitation.

That's how we're salty.

We keep serving and loving, and we keep coming underneath and supporting from this way up, rather than that way down, because it's the way of the master.

And of course, as we finish, the greatest example of servant leadership actually wasn't John 13, though that was mind-blowing.

It's Philippians 2, isn't it?

It's Philippians 2, where Paul writes, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Don't jump in the front of the line.

Don't do that.

Rather, in humility, don't jump the line because you're valuing others above yourselves, not looking out for your own interests all the time, but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, because this whole idea of servanthood is played out in community.

In your relationships, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, remember, he came from God and he is God.

He didn't consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.

Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.

Note that he became a servant before he went to the cross, didn't he?

It was his vocation.

He took on the nature of a servant made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself.

No one else put him on that cross.

He went there himself.

He chose it because he's the suffering servant.

He was obedient to death, even death on the cross.

And God loves this heart.

And he wants to honor and give power and greatness and prestige and status and honor to the one who descends into greatness.

Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

And every tongue acknowledged that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

There is a new way to lead the servant leader.

Now, we just have to keep our eyes on Jesus at every moment and keep remembering how would Jesus respond in this situation.

Lord Jesus, we honor you as we hear the story again of your servanthood.

Of the glory of your obedience.

Of your other person focus.

And Lord, I pray that you might hear our requests for forgiveness and for some our repentance.

And you might restore us to an attitude that gives you pleasure.

To put the smile on your face, because we can live the way you want us to live.

Abiding in the vine.

Lord, we thank you that you've given us your spirit to empower us to be the church you've called us to be.

To be salt and to be light as servants.

Would you lead us this week?

Help us to lead in the New Way, as servant leaders in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

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