Mark 10:35-45
When
jumping out of an airplane, the first step is the most difficult to take. After
that, the thump doesn’t take any effort on your part. That first step can tell
so much about a person. Some who enter the US Army’s Airborne School’s three
week course think it will be no problem to jump, that fear won’t affect them.
Some stand at the door of the plane and freeze, unable to take the next step.
They return to the ground in defeat, safely aboard the aircraft. Needless to
say they don’t get the badge of distinction.
I
never gained that badge of distinction. I knew I didn’t want to jump from a
perfectly good airplane, as the saying goes. I never volunteered to go to
Airborne School. I have many good friends who did and were successful. I served
with many who did so many things that I never did. I was honored to serve with
them, these men of courage.
Two
of the disciples in particular were thinking ahead, although naively. They were
picking their seats in Jesus’ coming Kingdom. They wanted first and second
chair. They wanted to be in every picture taken. They wanted to be people who
were known as those who sat next to Jesus. They wanted to be in the ‘in’ crowd.
They were inside the beltway people. At this point they were serving as their
own lobbyist. So they took the first step and asked Jesus for the spots.
We
know the other disciples questioned their motives because they get upset with
them. And Jesus puts them all in their place when He tells them that the road
to the top goes through service and ends in service. The top spot is the place
of the greatest service to others. If only our politicians could remember that
they are public servants! They are
too often self servants. But they are
not alone in this.
The
two who request these places of honor learn that they will follow Jesus in
suffering and death. Their lives will end suddenly at the hands of injustice.
Just as Jesus chooses death to serve a higher purpose, these two will die for
their faith. They will die with the sure hope of the Resurrection. They will
die humiliating deaths. And yet they chose to stay true to what they know.
I
don’t know what your cup is. Right now Christians in Iraq are being slaughtered
simply because they are followers of Jesus. Children are beheaded. Women are
raped and killed. Men are hung. If we don’t face the reality of Islam, this
could very well be our future. Are you willing to drink this cup? Are you
willing to die for Christ?