October 22 sermon Special Seat mark 10:35-45

October 22 sermon Special Seat mark 10:35-45

Sharing The Faith . . .
There was a barber that thought that he should share his faith with his customers more than he had been doing lately. So the next morning when the sun came up and the barber got up out of bed he said, "Today I am going to witness to the first man that walks through my door."
Soon after he opened his shop the first man came in and said, "I want a shave!" The barber said, "Sure, just sit in the seat and I'll be with you in a moment." The barber went in the back and prayed a quick desperate prayer saying, "God, the first customer came in and I'm going to witness to him. So please give me the wisdom to know just the right thing to say to him. Amen."
Then quickly the barber came out with his razor knife in one hand and a Bible in the other while saying, "Good morning sir. I have a question for you..........Are you ready to meet Jesus?"












What do we do with James and John?? In our scripture today, they seem so selfish, so arrogant, so out of touch to go up to Jesus and ask for the seats of glory and honor. Mark, the writer of this book, does not put them in good light, although he does not put any of the disciples in a good light most of the time.

The brothers come to Jesus and say “give us anything we want.” That’s kind of brash isn’t it? It’s a little more forceful, but the same idea of saying “Jesus, I have a favor to ask of you.” I can see it now. Jesus roles his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“What do you want?” “Let one of us sit on your right and one on your left in your kingdom.” Matthew gives a little more information than Mark in this story. Matthew in chapter 19 shows us that Jesus tells the disciples that “when the renewal of all things happens and the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.”

That adds just a little more light to the story. Jesus tells them that they will sit upon thrones in the new kingdom and then right after that, James and John ask for the seats of honor. They wanted to sit at the head of the table with the king. That’s where the glory and honor are. Not just plain fishermen, but noblemen.
But here is the worst part. They still didn’t understand what Jesus was here for. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with my baptism?” Like a kid in a candy store who will agree to anything just to get a piece of candy, they immediately said “Oh yes, we can do that. Whatever you say.”

Just before this request by James and John, Jesus (for the 3rd time) predicted his death. The 1st time he predicted his death, Peter chastised him (can you imagine, chastising God), but in that famous line Jesus said “Get behind me Satan”. The 2nd time he predicted his death, right after that the disciples began arguing about who is the greatest. Then he basically said “these little children are greater than you.”

And now this time. James and John come up wanting a special seat in the house. It’s like all the disciples were sitting in the back of the church the whole time they were following Jesus.... Jesus speaks up where all the disciples can hear him. “I’m sorry but that seat is reserved for someone else. But as a consolation prize, you will drink the same cup and be baptized the same way.” Oh that’s not good.

John tells us Jesus wasn’t kidding. Look in Revelation 1. John says there he is on Patmos Island as a companion in the suffering of Jesus. When the other 10 disciples heard what the two did, they were mad.


Not because James and John would be so rude and inconsiderate to ask for this privilege, but because they didn’t think of it first. You see, society then was actually a lot like society now. It’s a lot of show. There had to be some substance behind your show, but what mattered most was what others thought of you.

When I was working at Enterprise Rent-a-Car years ago, there was a lady who had to bring in her Ford Taurus in multiple times to be worked on. It was a Taurus SHO. The SHO part is like the GT on the end of Mustang or LX on the end of the Accord. When she came in to get a rental car though, she had to have a SHOW Taurus to drive around as her rental. Nothing else would do except a SHOW Taurus. Keep up with the Jones, right.

Jesus, in his normal way, turned everything upside down. He said “The Roman rulers oppress the people under them. High taxes, exploitation, terrible stuff. But not with you.

"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 did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (10:45). If you want to be great, you have to be a servant.

Someone asked me about my newsletter article the other day. The first thing they asked about was the building. I said “If you want the building you can have it because the church is the people who come together to worship God inside the building.”

What does that mean? That means this beautiful old building is a great building, but what really matters is the people inside. If this building ever went away, this would still be a great church because it’s the people who make the church. The people gathered here matter most.

They asked me about spiritual gifts next. Every Christian has at least one Spiritual Gift. Wisdom, knowledge, Faith, Healing, prophecy, Discernment, and others. Many different gifts and many different people, but just one body. This body, this church is like a living organism. Each person with their spiritual gifts is a part of the body.

As we use our gifts for God’s glory, this body will grow and adapt to every situation that comes our way. As we become, and build, deeper disciples for Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will send more people to our church. And as we go out and serve and get our hands dirty, Jesus will say “well done good and faithful servant.”


The Christian life is not all about serving, but it is about being a servant. What’s the difference? A wise man once said “Prayer without action is escapism, but action without prayer is activism.” Serving to be active is futile.

A few years ago a couple in our church decided to start up a youth program. They did it not because they themselves were called by God to do it, but because no one else was doing it. That was a big mistake. It went well for a few months, but soon collapsed in like a star that runs out of gas and implodes.

That’s what serving can be like. On the other hand, to be a servant is to take inventory of your gifts, the needs of those you will be serving, and where you fit in with God’s plan. Here is an example. You look out among the community you live in and see foreclosures up 20% and revolving credit debt up 30% and many people not making it.

What can you do?? You can’t finance everyone. You think back to that time when you were living paycheck to paycheck. You were referred to a financial class called “Financial Peace University” and with the advice you got in that class, you pulled out of the problems you were having. Maybe you could facilitate a class like that.


The servant uses the gifts God gives them to make this world better than it was before. Jesus came to serve and to be a ransom for all. A "ransom" liberates someone at the payment of a price. In secular antiquity, a prisoner of war or a slave, for example, could be redeemed by paying a ransom price.

In the Hebrew Old Testament the kopher is a sum of money paid for release and reconciliation, as in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. As the understanding of who Jesus was and what he did emerged, central to them all was this idea of ransom—the conviction of early believers that Jesus was not a hapless victim, a failed sage who over-played his hand, or a rabble rouser crushed by Rome, but one who offered himself to God to redeem humanity.

You say “Great Pastor Sean. What does all this mean for me?” You are a wonderful and much needed part of the body of Christ that makes up Sardis United Methodist Church. As you learn what your gifts are, God’s direction for you and for this church will become clearer.

As we come together, we will be filled in this base station (or fire station) and then go out in service to the world as God directs us. Not for glory, not for honor, but for Christ. We are transformed so we can transform. We will be servants because the service we render to others is really a measure of the service we render to God.
As the apostle John says “now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” Go….be blessed…..serve.