A Sermon preached on Sunday 22 September (Pentecost XVIII) at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden and Mainz
Jeremiah 11:18-20, James 3:1-13-4:3, 7-8a, Mark 9:30-37
May these spoken words be faithful to the written word and lead us to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
You sometimes get the feeling that Jesus did not choose his disciples for their intellectual capabilities: they can be pretty obtuse at times! In the Gospel today, we heard what we call Jesus ‘ second (some commentators call it the third) Passion Prediction, we heard the first one last Sunday and you may recall that it led to Peter being rebuked by Jesus. In between, we have a semi-Passion prediction immediately following the Transfiguration, when Jesus says that it is “written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt.” (Mark 9:12) And today, Jesus again speaks very clearly about what awaits him: his betrayal and death, followed by his rising again. The reference to him being betrayed into human hands (9:31), which is new, is quite poignant, when we remember that Judas, the one who will betray him, is one of the twelve listening to his teaching.
Anyway, the message may be clear, and as I said this is second (or even third) such prediction, and yet “they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him” (9:32) Why were they afraid to ask him? They were probably afraid to know more, and as I said last week, were afraid of the consequences and content of Jesus’ call. And Jesus’ reaction to Peter’s challenge may even have made them reluctant to question him. None of us likes being rebuked in public by someone we love or admire. We can be sure that they did not get the message by the argument that follows! Arguing about who of them was the greatest, who would have the most important role to play in the kingdom, is exactly the opposite of Jesus’ call to “deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (8:34)
This is a problem for Jesus. The NT Commentator William Barclay writes that Jesus wanted to write his message on the hearts of his chosen disciples. Rather than simply leave behind a set of propositions, his intention was “to leave behind him a band of persons on whom these propositions were written.”[1] And this was a very important proposition, the idea that “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (9:35) It is a message that Jesus keeps on coming back to, in all of the gospels, in lots of stories and parables. It is at the centre of the reading from John’s Gospel (13:15-16) that we hear every year on Maundy Thursday, the account of the foot washing when Jesus says: “I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.”
In the Gospel passage we just heard, Jesus illustrates his message by taking a little child. In Jesus’ day, children had no status or privilege or rights (as an aside: Friday was Weltkindertag/World Day of Children in Germany and the focus of that day is all about protecting children’s basic rights, still an issue today). Welcoming a child means seeking out and welcoming someone who is helpless, someone for whom we can do things, and not as is usually the case someone with influence and power who can be useful to us. John F. Kennedy famously paraphrased Jesus’ teaching in his 1961 inaugural address with the words: “Ask not what your country can do for you... ask what you can do for your country.”
Our ambition, Jesus is saying, is not for position or power or privilege, our ambition is to serve, just as he “came not to be served but to serve.” (Mark 10:45) We call this servant leadership, and this church has been and is blessed with many servant leaders. In my time with you, I've had wardens who have been willing put their own strongly held views behind them to follow the path it was best for the whole community. I've had wardens who have focused not only on leading the church, but on reaching out to those in need, both within and outside of our community. I've had wardens who stepped forward when I had to step back, and I’ve had wardens who have helped us take God’s call to care for creation seriously. Every single one of them, 6 in total so far, has put the needs of this community and our mission of service to the wider community and world first. And not just the wardens and the other vestry officers and members. In some way every single group at this church is about serving and supporting others.
There is also a danger in the last line of today's gospel reading: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Welcoming the child, as a symbol for those who need our help, is to welcome Jesus, and to welcome Jesus is to welcome God the Father who sent him: Embracing a child results in the presence of God. We could however easily misunderstand this as a requirement, and God’s presence therefore as the consequence or the sole reason to reach out to those in need, in order to gain a reward. And that would be very wrong. Reaching out to those in need is our reaction to God having already reached out to us, by sending Jesus to teach us, serve us, suffer for and with us, die for us and live again for us.
It is also simply the best way to live, it is good for us. When I googled the phrase “servant leadership” I discovered a whole secular management theory of that name that I knew nothing about that. And I studied management! Robert K. Greenleaf first popularized the phrase servant leadership in "The Servant as Leader", an essay published in 1970. In his theory, a servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power, the servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.
Later researchers have defined key 'functional' attributes of servant leadership such as vision, honesty, integrity, trust, service, living by example, appreciation of others, and empowerment! I hope Mr Greenleaf paid royalties to the Holy Spirit for his idea, it sounds suspiciously scriptural!
Servant Leadership is not therefore some illusory unrealistic idea, but a viable, successful and effective methodology. Traditional, power-based leadership is in the long run only good for the leader, never the led – we only need to look at countries with such leaders for proof and empirical evidence. In the end both to serve is a gift and to be served is a gift. In the words of the Servant Song[2]
Brother, let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.
Amen.
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