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In the name of Jesus, amen.
Dear Saints, prepare your hearts, for we will in a few minutes stand and confess our faith. We will renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways. We will recommit ourselves to attending to the Lord’s word and the services of the Lord’s house, and we will promise before God and the angels and one another that we would rather, in fact, die than renounce the faith once for all delivered to us. We’re going to give again to the Lord our confirmation vows.
Now why? One reason is that most of us made these vows a long time ago. Some of you a long time ago, some of us took them very seriously, others like myself did not. I treated them like a child because I was a child, and these are serious things, so it’s good for us to remember. But I think there’s another reason. I’ve been thinking about it, I mean ever since I had this idea. I think it came to us as we were talking about it in Sunday school and even as I pitched it to the elders and said, “let’s on the fifth Sunday of Lent as a congregation, let’s renew our confirmation vows.” I think one of the reasons why it, in fact, makes sense is because there is a growing sense in, at least in my mind and I think also in many of yours, that the way of the world and the way of the church are departing farther and farther from one another.
There used to be a few things that the world, the culture, and the church agreed on, but those points of agreement seem fewer and fewer, and it just seems like the Christian mind and the secular mind, or the world’s mind, are growing farther and farther apart every day. And it seems like that distance is growing even faster than we can even keep up with.
Now, we’ve always known that there were differences between the teaching of the Bible and the teaching of Jesus. We’ve always known that the world hated Jesus first, and it will hate us as well. We’ve always known that, but it seems like that is becoming more and more obvious, and we know that there are consequences to it. I think we’re starting to hear, many of us, some of those stories that have come out of the history of the church, and they’re starting to sound more and more important or more and more relevant to us. We’re starting to hear of the persecution of the church, or even of the martyrs that gave their life because they confessed Jesus. And those are starting to make more sense to us.
Now, we know that the world is always set against the church, but it seems like that set against the church is becoming more and more acute. And so it’s probably time for us to remember what our fathers and mothers in the faith taught us to confess. It’s an amazing thing in our confirmation vows that we would rather die than fall from the faith? I mean, I’ve never met anyone who had that choice so clear. I mean, I’ve been studying the martyrs for years now, and so I know about how it was with them. They were brought before the pro-council, and they said, “offer the pinch of incense to Caesar, and say Lord Caesar, or else you’re going to the lions, or the fire, or whatever.” Kind of ingenious ways they thought to kill the Christians for their own entertainment, and we knew that the choice was acute back then, but I’ve never met anyone who had to make that choice, Christ or death.
In fact, I don’t think that that choice has had to be made for generations, at least in the United States and in our tradition. And yet still, every year we ask the compramands to say, “would you rather die or lose your faith?” And they say, “I’d rather die.” We’re about to say, “I’d rather die.” And as it becomes more real, as it becomes a closer possibility, we just have to remember what the stakes are.
Now, these have always been the stakes. It’s always what it meant to have a God, that we have no other gods before Him. It’s always what it’s meant to follow Jesus. It means to take up your cross and follow Him, to forsake your life in order that you might gain it. And it’s always what it meant.
So let’s turn our attention to the Gospel text and see it there. I think that the first part of the Gospel text is almost like James and John’s confirmation, although they don’t realize that that’s what they’re doing. James and John, well, we should start in the very beginning of the text. It’s the third passion prediction, and they’re going down to Jerusalem. Verse 32.
It’s kind of amazing. They were on the road. They were going to Jerusalem. Jesus was out in front, and they were all walking behind him, and it says they were amazed, and as they followed him they were afraid. It’s kind of interesting to note the fear of the disciples. What were they afraid of? Probably they were afraid of going to Jerusalem because they knew that all Jerusalem was intent on killing Jesus. Remember when it’s Philip who says, or sorry, Thomas, who said, when Jesus says, “let’s go to Bethany,” and all the disciples say, “well, why do we want to go to Bethany? Everyone in Bethany is trying to kill you,” and Thomas says, “let’s go with him. If he dies, we’ll die with him.”
So they were afraid, but maybe they were afraid also of Jesus. I mean, Jesus has been doing a lot of miracles, and it’s somewhat frightful to see that divine power. But he pulls them aside, and for the third time now, he predicts his passion and his death. He took them aside, and he began to tell them the things that are about to happen. “Behold, we’re going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They’ll condemn Him to death. He’ll be delivered to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and scourge Him and spit on Him and kill Him. And then on the third day, He will rise again.”
And almost as if Mark wanted to highlight the ignorance of the disciples who just couldn’t get this through their heads, the next thing that happens is that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, together, by the way, the Gospel of Matthew tells us, with their mother, Salome, comes to Jesus, these guys, and they give this bold request. They say, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” It’s like they want Jesus to be a genie in the bottle. “Give us whatever we ask you, whatever we want. We’re not even going to tell you, just agree to give it to us.”
And Jesus, who I just will confess that I expect Him to rebuke them, doesn’t. He turns to them and says, “What do you want?” Now that’s kind of amazing, but Jesus, who knows their hearts and knows what they’re gonna ask, is setting this up because he has something glorious to tell us at the end of the passage, so he’s gonna set this up as a teaching moment. So James and John say to Jesus, “Grant us that we may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left when you come into your glory.”
Now this is an amazing thing. The disciples still think that Jesus is going into Jerusalem to become the king, to sit on a throne. And when a king sits on his throne, he’s got to have his counselors, his governors, and all those who rule with him sitting there in his chamber with him. One, the most important, on his right, and then his number two guy on his left. And so James and John say, “Make us your number one and your number two when at last you have a king, a kingdom, and you’re sitting on a throne.”
But Jesus says to them, “You guys have no idea what you’re asking for.” And then Jesus says, “Take a look at this, verse 38. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? And are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Now that cup, it’s language of the Lord’s Supper, and baptism, of course, is language of baptism. But what Jesus is talking about there is His suffering. “Are you able to suffer like I’m going to suffer? Are you able to be crucified like I will be crucified? Are you able to endure the torment that I’m going to be tormented with?” That’s what Jesus is asking them.
And they say, and this is the Confirmation Vow part, “We are able.” We can do it. Yes, we can. “Whatever you drink, we’ll drink. Whatever you endure, we’ll endure. Whatever it takes to be with you, we’ll do it.” They have the boldness that Peter also says. Remember when Jesus says that you’re all going to fall away, and Peter says, “They might all fall away, but I will never fall away.” They have a confidence in themselves, and it’s a false confidence, and in fact, it’s a dangerous confidence.
We’re all about to make a vow together, and it is dangerous to think that we can do it on our own strength. It’s dangerous to think that we can endure whatever the Lord will have us endure by our own strength. That is, it’s an unhealthy thought. In fact, I’ve realized that as I study the prophets, one of the things that keeps coming up over and over is this question: Pastor, I just think that if it was me that I would probably be so afraid I might deny Jesus. If I was staring down a lion, or if I was face to face with a leopard, or if I started to taste the flames burning underneath me, I think I just probably couldn’t. I probably couldn’t do it. I would probably renounce my faith. Or if my family was threatened or something like this, I don’t think I could hold steady.
If you think that about yourself, that’s good. It’s right to doubt yourself. It’s dangerous to think that you could endure it by your own strength. And I have something to tell you, that all the martyrs also were afraid of it. They were also afraid that at the time of testing they would fail and they would fall short, and that’s good because it’s only by the Holy Spirit that we can stand.
Jesus gives us the promise, “You’ll be brought into the synagogue, they’ll flog you, they’ll beat you, they’ll bring you into the synagogue. Don’t worry about what to say, the Holy Spirit will come and will teach you what to say.” The Holy Spirit is our helper and our only hope. Your only hope, my only hope for enduring the torment that comes to us as Christians is not in ourselves, it’s not like James and John here, “We are able.” No, it comes only from God the Holy Spirit who strengthens us and fortifies us in the faith. So if you are afraid, be comforted. If you’re comfortable, maybe be afraid.
Now, what does Jesus say? “Are you able to drink the cup? Are you able to be baptized?” They say, “Sure, we can.” “We can do it, Jesus. Come on. We’re the sons of thunder. We’re James and John. We’re the best, by the way. That’s why we’re applying for the job of being the best. Of course, we can do it.” And look at what Jesus says to them. Jesus said, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am to be baptized with.” In other words, Jesus says, “You will suffer for the faith.”
And we know this happened. We know that James was, in fact, one of the first martyrs of the Christian Church. James’ martyrdom is told to us in Acts chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. Herod Agrippa made a persecution against the Christians, and James was captured and he was put to death by the sword. The tradition tells us that that sword cut his head off. In fact, there’s a wonderful tradition about James, is that the person who turned him in saw James go willingly to court, saw him confess his faith, saw him humbly stand unafraid before his tormentors, and the person who turned him in, in fact, through the trial became a Christian, turned himself in with James, and also was beheaded with him, so the tradition says.
So, James would drink the cup, and James would be baptized with the baptism with which Jesus is baptized. But what about John? Of the eleven faithful apostles of Jesus, John is the only one who was not martyred for his faith. In fact, I don’t know if you know, on the window, in the center window, the twelve almond, orange almonds that go around Jesus all have indicated the symbols of the apostles of Jesus, and most of them have symbols of how they died, how they were martyred for the faith. John was not martyred for the faith.
Tradition tells us that he was poisoned. The Bible tells us that he was exiled under the persecution of Domitian, that he had to work in the mines in Patmos. Tradition also says that he was threatened to be boiled in oil, but that never came to fruition. But he ended up dying at an old age, but he also suffered. Years, in fact, a couple of generations of persecution himself, he also drank that cup and was baptized with the baptism of Jesus, the baptism of the cross, and suffered.
But Jesus says, and this is a bit of a riddle, Jesus says in verse 40, “But you’ll drink the cup, you’ll be baptized, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not for me to give. It’s for those who have been prepared.” Now who is it that sits on the right hand and the left hand of Jesus? We don’t know exactly, but I think the best way to think about this is to think about the two thieves that died next to Jesus. That’s his right hand and his left when he comes into his kingdom. One was crucified on the right and the other on the left.
Both mocked Jesus, but one saw the silent suffering of Jesus and became a Christian and prayed, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” and Jesus gives him the promise that you’ll be with me today in paradise. That’s the right hand and the left that Jesus is talking about here. So it is for us that when we follow Jesus, we’re taking up a cross. When our lives are captured by the Lord Jesus, we have the promise that they will be lives of suffering.
And not even just the normal degree of suffering that every person has living in the fallen world, that we are living lives that are under attack, that the world and the flesh and the devil hate you and are trying to destroy you in every way—your faith, your love, your hope, your lives, your families, your marriages, your children and your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren, your good name—everything. The devil is after it. And so in this life we suffer. It’s important to know that, by the way, so that we’re not disappointed. You know, Peter says it like this: he says, “Don’t think that something strange is happening to you when you suffer.” No, that’s what it means to be a Christian. We follow Jesus on the way of the cross, and we should be ready for it.
In fact, the wisdom of the fathers and mothers in the Faith says that we should be ready to forsake all, to renounce all, to suffer all, rather than fall from the faith. Now why do we have to suffer this way? The world wants to conform us to itself. Paul writes in Romans 12, “Do not be conformed to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” so that the world always is pressing us into its own mold, always trying to conform our minds and our hearts.
But Jesus comes and teaches us and shows us and gives us a completely new way to be human. A completely new way to live. We live, according to the Bible, a new life. And in living that new life, the contrast that we were talking about earlier between the world and between Christians begins to grow. Consider just this for a moment these basic questions, how the world and the church answers them in totally different ways.
Where did you come from? Where are you going? What does it mean to be a human being? What does it mean to be a man or a woman? What is good? What is marriage and family? What is the good life? Or, even this, what is the meaning of life? Or is there any meaning to life at all? The world answers those questions in completely different ways than Jesus does.
And we start to see that contrast grow in the text. I want to pick it up at verse 41. So here’s the situation: James and John had asked for this from Jesus, and Jesus says, “Okay, look, you can’t do it,” and the other ten disciples start to get mad at James and John. “Hey guys, what do you think you’re doing, going to ask for the right hand and the left hand seats when Jesus comes into the kingdom?” And what we realize is that they wanted the same seats as well. The ten were mad because they thought that they deserved those seats on Jesus’ right hand. “Who do you think you are applying for that, I’m going to apply for that job, buddy?”
When the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John, but here’s what happens. Jesus calls them all to himself and says to them, “You know that those who are considered to be rulers and the Gentiles lord it over those who they rule. Their great ones exercise authority over them,” and Jesus says in the most emphatic way, “It shall not be so among you.” You have to live a different way. The church has to look different. The Christian life has to be different than the pagan Gentile godless life.
They think that the good life comes from ruling over people. They think that life has meaning when you can exercise authority over someone else. When you have power or riches or strength or fame or whatever it is, that is not the Christian life. That is not what it means to live the good life. “Whoever desires,” Jesus says, “and this is hard words, whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant, your minister, your diakonos. And whoever desires to be first shall be your slave, doulos. Slave,” it says, “of all.” Panton doulos, slave of all. That’s what it means to be a Christian.
The Lord Jesus sets you in this life not to achieve for yourself, to gather for yourself, to get for yourself, whatever it is, the Lord Jesus has set you in this life to serve, to in fact, to be a slave. To who? Answer, to all, to everyone. That’s what the command means. Love your neighbor as yourself. But Jesus is saying explicitly in the church that that’s how the church first is marked. If you want to be first, you have to become the slave of everyone. That is exactly opposite of the Gentile mind. Exactly opposite of the secular mind, which is always clamoring for more.
Jesus says, “No, we find meaning not in gathering, but in slaving, in serving, in loving to death.” The Lord Jesus has given you and given me things like life so that we can spend it dying for our neighbor, and goods and all the other stuff, so that we can spend it in serving and loving our neighbor. That’s how it is with the Christian.
Now, oddly enough, the world hates that. The world hates that we have a mind that is different from theirs. The world hates that we have a life that is different than theirs. The world hates that we have words and confessions and truth that is different than theirs, and so it comes to destroy the Christian, and we say through it all, “God be praised.” Because we’re free, both to live and to die, and to serve, because Jesus has served us.
And this brings us to the last and most important words of the text, where Jesus says, stunningly this, “For even the Son of Man, Jesus, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
I remember years ago, I was asking some folks, I went to the Evangelical Church, and I was doing a survey, and I was asking them, “What is worship? What do you think worship is?” And I was getting all sorts of answers like this. “Well, worship is us serving God and blessing Him for who He is and for what He’s done.” It’s probably not a bad definition, except for it’s the opposite of truth. Because we think that worship is us serving God, us bringing gifts to God, us coming and offering God things, but that’s not why Jesus came.
He did not come—and this is explicit. We wouldn’t believe it unless he said it. “He did not come to be served.” “I did not come to be served,” but to serve. And it’s still true. You are here today this morning—I mean, maybe it’s afternoon. I don’t know. I’ve been going for a while. You are here today not to serve Jesus. You are here to be served by Him. You are not here today to offer Jesus something. You are here to receive from Him that which He wants to give to you, which is His body and blood and the forgiveness of sins.
You are not here to make a vow, although you will make a vow. You are here, more importantly, to hear the promise that Jesus made, that your sins are forgiven, that heaven belongs to you, that eternal life is yours. And no matter what happens, no matter what, no matter what kind of suffering, no matter what kind of trouble, no matter what kind of persecution, no matter how bad the world falls apart, no matter how much your neighbors hate you, no matter how much you suffer in this world, no matter how much pain you have in your body or in your mind or in your heart or how much affliction you have in your home and your family, no matter what, this stands true.
Jesus comes to serve you, to bless you. He gave his life as a ransom to pay the price to set you free to live and die in his name. And he has you. You are his in life and in death. And that’s our comfort. You are slaves of all, but God comes to serve you. God be praised. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
