Mark 10: 35-45
I just love this gospel story today. It is so relatable. James and John are almost like children when they say to Jesus, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” What an audacious expectation. Imagine asking Jesus in your prayers to do whatever you ask! Dear Jesus, this is what I want you to do for me….
They want to position themselves next to him, to be close to his power. They want to improve their standing by sitting on his right and on his left. They want to be as close as possible to the Jesus mojo.
Well, I think all of us can remember a moment when we longed for access to what we perceived as power. I know I have. In school I wanted to hang out with the cool kids. I wanted to be invited to the best parties. And when I was in my twenties and met one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, I married him. I think I felt such a lack of my own power that I was outsourcing what I longed for. He was an extremely successful movie producer in the heart of Hollywood A list. People hung on his every word and sometimes elbowed me out of the way to get closer to him. We wined and dined with the super stars and traveled the world. Imagine – I went to the Academy Awards 9 times with him! He understood power and definitely lorded it over everyone, especially me. Sadly, over time his power became tyranny, and he became increasingly cruel and abusive. Our marriage became scary and soul crushing. I finally escaped after ten long years.
Intimate partner abuse is unfortunately a very common issue. In fact, 25% of relationships have power and control dynamics where one of the partners is calling the shots. This is the very essence of power over dynamics which Jesus warns his disciples about as not the way of God. Jesus tells us that whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant. Which instead of power over, is power with or power for.
The old paradigm of power over permeates the world. It is not the meek who are celebrated but the strong and victorious. The bullies of the world are often the ones in charge, making the rules and breaking them.
But we who follow Christ are called to turn this upside down. We are to align ourselves with the least not the most.
When I first started going into prisons and jails, I spent time with some lovely young men who were in formation to become Jesuits. Brother Dennis and I took them into the Los Angeles County Jails so they could interact with inmates. One day we were in a juvenile hall where Father Greg Boyle – the founder of Homeboy Industries was preaching. Now Father G, as he is often called, is a big deal, he has written three New York Times bestselling books and has had a 6o minutes segment on him. I expected the young men to be impressed with Father G and cozy up to him, but I was wrong. As they came into the chapel, without a word being exchanged, like heat-sensing missiles, these young aspiring Jesuits found boys who looked like the outcasts in the group and sat by them. They seemed to sense who needed a friend or ally. I was touched by their desire to lift up the lowly as Mary says in her beautiful Song of the Magnificat. I have seen Father G in big events with lots of power players around him, watched them jockey to rub elbows with him. He is always gracious and generous. He is patient with their desire to sit next to him. But he is never self-aggrandizing. He knows he will be back in the juvie halls again being a servant. He is the epitome of servant discipleship.
It is a lot to ask of us isn’t it? To follow this Jesus who asks us to be servants. To use whatever power we have in the service of others.
My favorite theologian is the late Walter Wink who wrote many books illustrating how Jesus stood up to and in defiance of the domination systems of the world. He says that this is in fact what led to his execution. He says that the prophetic teachings of Jesus promote a world not of domination but rather of justice and equality, more of a partnership society. Wink says that to follow Jesus we need to “abandon our preferential option for violence and replace it with a preferential option for the oppressed.” He points out that the Beatitudes are an explicit repudiation of the domination system. The meek will inherit the earth.
The teachings of Jesus are radical. And clearly, they are hard to follow. Sometimes it seems like we as Christians haven’t even started making them a reality. I mean we really haven’t created what I would call the Kingdom of God on earth. It seems like we could do more to live like a family and seek to serve rather than exploit. Imagine what it would look like if all those on the planet who identify as Christians, that’s 2.4 billion people or one third of the population, took the words in today’s gospel seriously? If every Christian made a commitment to serve others, it would change the world. Most of our problems would be solved.
I want to live in that world. I want to live in the world Jesus is inviting us into. A world where there is peace and justice, where no one goes without, a world where everyone is safe and cared for. In other words, the Kingdom of God on earth. Amen.
Sister Greta
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