Years ago, I fought for a seat next to famed Episcopal preacher Barbara Brown Taylor. At a small conference where she was the keynote speaker, a group of us hatched a plan to eat lunch with Barbara — a women-only table. The flaw in our plan: no one told the men, eager to sit with Barbara as well. We women went through the buffet line, trailing Barbara carefully, staying close so we wouldn’t lose her, as our pack leader guarded six seats around one round table. But as soon as Barbara set her tray down, two men swooped in. “May we join you?” Barbara, of course, said yes, while the rest of us exchanged eyes full of daggers, resenting these men for intruding on “our” seats. I’m embarrassed by this memory now, the seating game we adults play that harkens back to the school cafeteria, the place we all learned the rules. Where you sit and with whom matters. James and John should have been embarrassed, too. Their ambition got the best of them as they ask Jesus for special seats next to him in glory. Matthew and Luke rework this story from Mark, perhaps attempting to make these disciples look better. In Matthew’s version, the mother of James and John requests the honor on behalf of her sons (Matthew 20:20). Luke avoids specifics, boiling the story down to a “dispute” among the disciples (Luke 22:24). No matter the version, these disciples should know better, and Jesus says as much. “You do not know what you are asking” (Mark 10:38). Jesus isn’t interested in who is great and who will be glorified. He wants to know who will serve humbly, and who will sacrifice for the good of God’s people. This passage in Mark reminds us of Jesus’ purpose: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). Beyond personal sacrifice and humility, Jesus preaches a gospel that counters the “rulers” who “lord over” others and the “great ones” who act as “tyrants.” In his book Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination, Walter Wink writes about this young carpenter from Galilee who “revealed to the world God’s domination-free order of nonviolent love.” ...
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