Mark 10: 35-45
Fear
In these crazy days of catastrophic
change and uncertainty with random acts of violence springing up anywhere and
anytime, countless instances of terror and terrorism both here and around the
globe, is there anyone among you who doesn’t experience fear on some
level? Or, if not fear at least
high levels of anxiety? It’s a
scarry, what if world. I am not a
grandmother yet and for as much as I desire to be one, I’m not so sure that I
want grandchildren coming into this world. I’m fearful, I have to admit. And yet, I know that I cannot live out of a place of dread
and apprehension, that I have to live into the future with confidence and faith
that when, and if ever those little grands finally appear on the Wagner family
scene they will be ok. But boy,
it’s tough!
Our reading today from the Gospel of
Mark begs us to look at fear, faith and what security might mean as a
Christian. From the 10th
chapter beginning at verse 35….
James
and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him (Jesus) 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, “Grant us
to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
But
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink
the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They replied, “We are able.” 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 grant, but
it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the
ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called
them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they
recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants
over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among
you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be
slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to
give his life a ransom for many.”
Jesus’ Tries
You know, Jesus tries so hard to give the
disciples some sense of security for the future and for what’s going to be
happening to him, that is his crucifixion, death and resurrection. But they don’t hear it. There is some kind of disconnect for
them. Whether they just don’t want
to hear it or they just don’t understand what Jesus is saying, Jesus tells them
three times what the future will hold and three times their responses are a bit
off but oh, so human.
If you remember, Jesus tells them that
he will be betrayed and killed and with that Peter rebuked Jesus. Not quite the response that Jesus was
probably hoping for. Isn’t that how we often react to information we don’t want
to hear though? We get angry at the one who delivers the bad tidings and lash
out at them. But Jesus says to
Peter ‘deny yourself, take up your cross, if you want life - loose it’. He meets Peter head on, gives him
instructions on how to live and then Jesus takes the inner, inner circle James,
John and Peter up the mountain and his transfiguration occurs.
The second time Jesus shares with them
about his future they are still up in the Galilee and he tells them that he
will be betrayed into human hands, that he will be killed and after three days
be raised up. Still, the disciples
didn’t understand.
If only they did they could prepare
themselves for their future and hopefully feel some sense of security in that
future. They might not have been
happy about it but at least they could take some measures to begin to reorder
their life post resurrection. That
reordering is important work, it give us a safety net when we feel like we are
tumbling far out of control.
Reordering allows us to decide what and who really matters to us
removing the extraneous influences that detract us from fruitful living.
And the third time Jesus and his
followers were on the road to Jerusalem and he tells them that he will be
handed over to the scribes and chief priests. He’ll be mocked, spat upon, flogged and killed. I think it’s at this point that the
disciples become a little vulnerable and shaky in the thought of their
future. They begin to sense that
there is a fly in the ointment, there is something very fishy and way off. Or just maybe they really do get it but
are flat out afraid of what the future holds for them.
Biblical Exegesis
It is out of this third attempt that
James and John – the bold and the brave – the brothers Zebedee pipe up. “Rabbi Jesus, we want you to do what we
ask you to do.” Can you
imagine? Asking, or in this case
demanding Jesus to do what it is that they want. It seems rather bold to me, there seems to be a certain edge
to what the Mr.’s Zebedee are asking.
But Jesus reaction is quite remarkable,
he doesn’t cut them off, instead he asks a question, as Rabbis do, “What do you
want me to do?” Well they want the
best seats in the house. A seat on
Jesus’ right and a seat on Jesus’ left side, right beside him in all his
glory. They went for pay dirt,
they want front row center in the orchestra pit! But it seems a bit childish doesn’t it? What if they were acting out of a place
of fear rather than what seems to be narcissistic behavior? This becomes a whole different text to
talk about.
Security is a fine thing isn’t it? I believe that is one of the top things
that we all yearn for in our lives.
Security! Financial
security, security in our home, the security of what we think a higher
education might bring, security of your health and health care system, national
security - why all you need do is to pick up a newspaper or most any magazine
and you’ll find articles on how you can make your life better and more
secure. When security is obtained
it should always be followed with a big sigh of relief.
When you have security or feel entirely
safe you have peace of mind. And
when you have peace of mind you are comfortable and stable. You are free from anxieties and
fear. All your worries have been
released or relinquished so that you can free yourself of that which might
burden you and be engaged in activities and thoughts that delight you. Everyone wants security because in this
broken world there isn’t a whole lot that you can actually count on and we are
often lured into a false sense of security and hope through unhealthy endeavors
or material things.
Fear Breeds Insecurity
Fear, as we know and maybe have even experienced,
breeds incredible insecurity. It forces us to act in the most unusual ways. Remember back 15 years ago now. Y2K? Now you don’t need to raise your hands but, how many of you
followed the Red Cross guidelines and made up a Y2K Preparedness Kit?
As I recall however, there was a fear
that resided just under the surface for a lot of people…waterless facets, empty
grocery shelves, cash registers that wouldn’t open, power outages, bank
failures, even rioting in the streets.
People were a little over the top. When you are afraid you are not secure
in your surroundings or your existence and that insecurity causes you to do or
act in ways that will help to bring you that safety net, protection, well being
and self-assurance, in whatever form it might take. It’s a human response.
But we can’t live out of fear.
We have the best security of all when it comes to what really matters
and when it come to what can truly bring us inner peace.
Jesus as our Security
We have Jesus, who through his human
and divine nature, can calm our fears and reduce the anxiety that we experience
in our lives. By his example, through
him we have faith; we can relax into the freedom from fear through God’s mighty
act in human history. Faith gives
us hope in things we cannot envision for ourselves quite yet.
Rely on your faith in the God of
comfort and love. When fear creeps
up face it head on, it will give you tremendous power over that fear. Have courage, and be resolved to go
forward no matter what the circumstance might be. It’s a mind game that your faith can win for you. And love, the New Testament tells
us that there is no fear in love, love casts out all fear. This is the deep and abiding love for
God, for yourself, for your fellow human beings that walk upon this great
earth. This love that casts our
fear will give you the inner spiritual resources that are needed to bring
equilibrium back in your life.[i]
You can master your fear. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. once said, “Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered.
There was no one there.”
Faith bests fear. And this
is the Gospel message for today.
Amen.
[i] Summarized
from a sermon, ‘Antidotes to Fear’ by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the book
‘Strength to Love’.
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