Mark 10:35–45

Gospel:

³⁵And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." ³⁶And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" ³⁷And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." ³⁸Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" ³⁹And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, ⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." ⁴¹And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. ⁴²And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The disciples just couldn't get it right! Over and over they kept putting their foot in their mouth. Now Jesus had just told them that he was going to die in Jerusalem. "See," he said, "we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him," and all they could think of was their own honor, prestige and power. It would seem that after what Jesus had just told them they would have been depressed and heartbroken. Honor, glory, and fame just don't seem to fit with condemnation, mocking, flogging and death.

But it appears that James and John didn't get the gravity of what he had just said. They came to him with a request: "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." They were clueless. They didn't get it. And Jesus told them so when he answered, "You don't know what you're are asking."

Nor did they understand what Jesus was all about. Instead of being interested in God's glory, they were seeking their own. Instead of worshipping and glorifying God, they wanted to glorify themselves. Instead of building God's kingdom, they wanted to build man's kingdom. Just like the first time Jesus told them that He was going to die, when Peter rebuked Jesus, but Jesus told Peter, "You are thinking the things of men, not the things of God." Here too, they were thinking the things of men not the things of God.

So they came to Jesus and prayed: "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you...Grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left." Now if ever there was a selfish prayer, this was it. "Do whatever we ask of you." "Give us glory, honor, prestige and power." "Give me! Give me! Give me!" "Be in my service, at my command, at my beckon."

Actually, this sounds a little familiar. Not much different from the way we often pray. Stop and listen to your own prayers. How often they sound like a Santa Claus list: give me this, and a little of that, and do whatever makes me feel good and happy. Make me successful. Make my business grow. Make the stock market go back up so my 401K will grow. Give me more. Make my life easier and more comfortable. Take away my pain, my suffering, my inconvenience. The prayer of James and John is an example of how we often get it wrong. It is an example of our selfish prayers. It is an example of not praying for the things of God; but for our own self interests.

It is also an example of a lack of love for neighbor. The indignation and anger of the other apostles shows clearly that they understood James and John to be asking selfishly for themselves and not taking the rest into account. This is not the prayer of one who loves his neighbor as himself.

Jesus' own reaction to their prayer also shows that Jesus understood them as wanting to set themselves above others: "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. but it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all." They hadn't comprehended who Jesus really was or what he was all about. Jesus explained, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

So then, how should we pray? Isn't prayer asking for the things we want and need? It just so happens that on another occasion the apostles did ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. Maybe that's a good idea for us too. So Jesus taught them the Lord's Prayer. Here, in this most perfect of prayers, we also are taught how to pray. As we go through the chief parts of the Catechism in our sermon series, we ask today, "Just what does Jesus teach us in the Lord's Prayer?"

It is my thesis in all these sermons of the parts of the Catechism that the real purpose of the Catechism is to teach us how to be Christians; what it means to be a believer; a follower of Christ in the world today. We learn that in the first two words: "Our Father." To be a Christian is not just knowing something or believing a set of propositional truths; it is having a relationship with God. It is fellowshipping with him; communion with him; living IN him and him living IN us. In our baptism we are made one with Christ in his death and resurrection. Faith in Christ is oneness with Jesus, oneness with God; it is being AT ONE with God. That is where the word "Atonement" was derived. Ever notice it is spelt "A-T-O-N-E-ment?" It is literally "at-one-ment." We are in a personal relationship with the living, all powerful God of heaven and earth. "Our Father." We are his children, and if he is King, then we are princes and princesses. Heirs to the throne. And we will one day sit on thrones in heaven, on the right and left hand of Jesus Himself, King of Kings. But, as Jesus said, who shall sit there is not His to grant, but the Father's who chose us before the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Our Father speaks of a close, loving relationship with God. For a close relationship with someone, we have to be together, talk to each other. That is exactly what prayer is; being in communion with God; a heart-to-heart conversation with God; our Father who is sits in the heavens. It is a relationship; not a mere email, text messaging, or instant messaging, but it's a real, live, personal relationship with our most exalted Father.

Jesus teaches us to come and petition our Father. Petition him for all our needs and wants, because He alone is the giver of all good things; He alone loves us with infinite love; He alone takes care of us. As we trust Him for all our needs, we petition him. He delights in us depending and relying on Him. He delights in giving us good things.

But He teaches us to pray in the exact opposite manner than John and James. "Hallowed by thy name." Instead of praying for high positions so that people look up to us and give us their honor and esteem, we pray that God be honored and esteemed; that His name be exalted.

"Thy kingdom come." Instead of praying that our kingdoms be enlarged, our businesses and organizations grow, that our interests are served and for our success, we pray for God's kingdom to be enlarged and strengthened. Instead of praying that we might rule with him, we pray they he rule over us and in our lives.

"Thy will be done." Instead of praying like James and John that Jesus would do whatever they asked of him, we pray that we would do whatever he asks of us. Not what I want, but what you want! Not what I choose for myself, my comfort, my pleasure, my freedom from pain and suffering, but rather give me whatever is your will. This prayer takes a lot of faith because we are putting ourselves completely in his hands. It is trusting that His will is best for us, even if we don't particularly like it.

"Give us this day our daily bread." Daily bread is what we need to get us through the day, not riches in abundance, power over men and nations, a comfortable life of luxury. It is a prayer of faith asking him to get us through the day when all else looks so bleak and stark. When we think we have come to our wit's end, this is a prayer of trust in his goodness.

"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." A prayer seeking his mercy on the basis of Christ's death on the cross; his atonement for our sins. For the wages of sin is death. Sin must be punished and the punishment must be death. Blood is required for our sin. Yes, even the sin of selfish prayers, seeking our own self-interests, asking God to give, give, give what I want, for me. But just on account of our self-centered thinking, our worldly thinking and desiring the things of this world more than the things of heaven, Jesus came to serve, not to be served. Because we are selfish, he unselfishly gave himself to us and delivered himself over to death for us. Blood is required for sin, and Jesus shed his blood for our sin. Death is the payment of sin, and Jesus died to pay for our sin. Because of the cross of Christ, he teaches us to pray boldly for forgiveness.

But here he also puts a condition: as we forgive those who trespass against us. Unlike James and John whose selfish prayer lacked love for their comrades, a relationship with God produces true love for others, love like Jesus had for his enemies who nailed him to the cross, as he prayed: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing." So the love of God that lives is our hearts prays for our enemies, "Father forgive them."

"And lead us not into temptation." Having been forgiven of our sins and freed from the power of sin, death and the devil, now don't let us continue in sin. Jesus told the woman, "Your sins are forgiven, not go and sin no more." We pray that God produce good fruits of love, mercy, obedience in our lives.

"But deliver us from evil." Not like James and John who wanted glory and exaltation. Here we don't pray that God remove our crosses and suffering, but that when we have crosses to bear, when we suffer pain, discomfort, persecution, poverty, loneliness, loss, even death, that He be with us and help us to bear up under the afflictions and suffering. We pray for His strength to uphold us in our suffering and to keep us from despair and losing faith. When we are weak, He is strong!

And so He teaches us to pray, not selfishly, but for His kingdom and His will. But, like James and John, we usually get it all wrong. That is why he came to serve and give his life as a ransom for us. With his blood he ransomed us from sin; selfish prayers; self-centered lives. He came to serve us, to give his life for us, to die in our place. He was completely unselfish; giving us his all in order to wash away our selfishness. That was Christ's glory! His highest moment of glory came while he was hanging there on the cross. For God's greatest glory is that of saving sinful man and making us righteous, delivering us from sin and death and giving us eternal life. So James and John really didn't know what they were asking when they prayed, "May we sit one at your left and one at your right in your glory." Yes, there were two men who sat at his right and left at his greatest glory: the two criminals crucified with him!

So today, Jesus sends his Holy Spirit to transform our lives and make us new persons, renewed in love and faith. And while we often don't know how to pray aright, the Holy Spirit himself prays for us with groanings to deep for words. He prays right, because He prays for the saints according to the will of God.

Amen.