"No MVP’s in the Kingdom of God"

- Mark 10:35-45 -

Mark 10:45: … for the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

If you heard or read my sermon on September 24, some of today’s sermon will seem repetitive. That’s because Jesus addressed many of the same issues with his disciples in today’s text as he did in Mark 9:33-37. Please bear with me.

Years ago it was said of a certain lady in my hometown: "Her arrogance is surpassed only by her ignorance." And in that same town it was often said of a certain man, a self-proclaimed local hotshot: "I'd like to buy him for what he's worth, and sell him for what he thinks he's worth." And there is a now retired Presbyterian minister with whom I occasionally tangled - a man I admire and love, and from whom I have received much support - who was lovingly, and not so lovingly, called "the boss" by the church members and the church staff, and dubbed by some of his critics, "Sir John," due to a leadership style that was more than a little domineering and autocratic.

The above mentioned lady was basically a good person, but all too often she could be arrogant - and pushy, and bossy, and opinionated, and rude. That self-defined hot-shot wasn't evil by any means. Mostly he was pathetic. He was a cocky little banty rooster of a fellow who walked around like he owned the town, the church, and anything else he had anything to do with. I’m not sure that he ever knew that all of his egotistical strutting brought him more giggles than it did respect.

And as for "Sir John," he did a lot of good things for the church and community. He was a good, kind, and compassionate pastor. He helped a lot of people. He was always there when somebody needed him. He was in most ways an extremely positive role model for younger ministers such as I. But for all that, when he fell into his "Sir John” persona, he sometimes left a fair share of emotional bruises among those who found themselves in the way of one of his famous temper tantrums.

Why am I sharing this? Well, every presbytery has at least one "Sir John," a basically good minister who could use some sensitivity training. Every town has its cocky little banty rooster who struts around like he or she is God's favorite son or daughter. More than one church has been “blessed” with at least one “beloved saint”, male or female, whose rude, arrogant, opinionated style has frustrated and angered his or her fellow members. In the process, often undoing a lot of the good he or she has done. We’re not talking about bad people here. We’re dealing with essentially good Christian people whose sinfulness has led them to say and do some hurtful things.

And it's been that way since Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden. The earliest churches had to deal with such characters. Read Paul's letters to Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, and Philippi. Even the first twelve disciples, Jesus' handpicked inner circle of followers, were capable of being an arrogant, jealous, competitive, bossy lot. Every one of them had an opinion, usually wrong, that he thought was superior. Every one of them had a deep-down burning desire to be Jesus' right-hand man, the under boss who could strut around, give orders, and have his ring kissed. Every one of them desired the special seats at the King's table, the ones James and John actually asked for. And the ten who didn't ask were mad at James and John for beating them to the punch.

Bossiness, rudeness, arrogance - envy, jealousy, competitiveness: none of this is new to the world or the church. In a fallen world there will always be autocratic, opinionated, domineering people. Since it’s made up of sinfully imperfect people, there will always be

autocratic, opinionated, domineering Christians in the church. Sin has that much of a hold on the world. Sin has that much of a hold on the church. Sin has that much of a hold on you, me, and every other imperfect follower of Jesus.

The bad news is; that's the way it is. The good news is; Jesus loves us anyway. And somehow, some way, the work of God's Kingdom gets done not only by us, but often in spite of us. Somehow, some way, we manage to show a little bit of God's love to the world in the midst of our bossy, opinionated, pushy attempts at discipleship. Somehow, some way, we find enough understanding, tolerance, acceptance, and forgiveness of one another to overcome all the emotional bruises we inflict on one another. Somehow, some way, when it really counts, most of us manage to be at least partially Christ like.

But we still have a long way to go. Over and over again in various Presbyterian gatherings and publications we hear or read the words compassion, humility, forgiveness, and love mentioned as the necessary ingredients of renewal in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Over and over again we hear or read warnings against arrogance, hard-heartedness, rudeness, and self-righteousness.

Yet all around me, and at times within me, I continue to hear mumbling, rumbling, and muttering about beating those liberals or those conservatives at their own game in order to take back the church from those we deem to be destroying it- brash statements about winning, coming out on top, being the lead dog. Mumblings, rumblings, and muttering that is very much a normal human response to frustration, anger, and pain. Yet mumbling, rumbling, and muttering that sound more like the dictates of the dark lord of this world than they do the teachings of Jesus.

Mumbling, rumbling, and muttering that would have been well-understood, maybe even applauded, by James, John, Peter and their fellow disciples. Mumbling, rumbling, and muttering that are similar to that which probably drove Judas to betray our Lord. Mumbling, rumbling, and muttering about power, rank, and dominance: about who sits where, rules which, and controls what; about who‘s going to be the MVP in the KOG – the Most Valuable Player in the Kingdom of God. The mumbling, grumbling, and muttering of devout, committed, but all too human, disciples of Christ. The mumbling, rumbling, and muttering of those who, rightly or wrongly, feel betrayed by those whom the Church has called, hired, and elected to serve them, only to have such folks impose some sort of an agenda on them. The mumbling, rumbling, and mutterings of those of us who are probably all too easily tempted to do a little agenda imposing of our own. Those of us who might want to do a little bossing of our own.

James and John wanted to be the boss. So did the other ten disciples. But Jesus was the boss - is the boss - the one and only head of the church. And what is his style of leadership? Arrogance? Rudeness? Dominance? Autocracy? No. Jesus’ leadership style is marked by love, kindness, patience, acceptance, and forgiveness. No high horses of self-righteousness. But down-on-his-knees-washing-people's-feet servanthood.

Taking definite stands. Upholding clear-cut, unambiguous standards of behavior. Never compromising his Father's will. Never, ever backing down from political or religious bullies. Never bossed around. But also never bossy. No arrogance, but definitely no ignorance or naiveté` either. No cocky, look-how-great-I-am strut, but most definitely a purposeful walk in the way his Father led him to go. The teacher and leader of the disciples, but also their friend, colleague, and brother. And ultimately the King who claimed his crown by dying on a cross.

Christian leadership at its best is Christ like leadership: loving, forgiving, and when necessary, sacrificial servanthood. In God's Kingdom, we win by being willing and able to lose. We finish first by being willing to come in last. We triumph through a crucifixion of our selfish egos that leads to the resurrection of a more Christ like self. We cannot boss the church into perfection or bully our sinful society into submission. We can only obey God, love one another, and model, as best we're able, a Christ like style of leadership, never forgetting that there are no MVP’s in the Kingdom of God. Amen.