THE "DO FOR US" TEMPTATION by David Layman October 22, 2000

Mark 10:35-45

James and John come up to Jesus and asked "TEACHER, WE WANT YOU TO DO FOR US WHATEVER WE ASK OF YOU". They wanted to be Jesus first vice president and chief executive officer! Do we ever come into this place, not really focused upon discerning what God wants from us, but thinking instead of what wed like God to do for us?

Its not wrong to come to God with our needs. Jesus wants us to bring our hurts, troubles, anxieties to Him. He DOES care for us! He does love us. In fact, God loves us so much that he wants to give us something far more valuable than status, wealth, even health. I say "even health", because all of us, one day or another, is going to die! God wants to make us His children. God wants to give us forgiveness. God wants to give us meaningful, everlasting LIFE! Before we get to the question "Is there life after death?", God looks at us and wonders, "Is there life after birth?"

Take Anne Lamott. Annes grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. But that minister had a son, Annes father, who proclaimed himself an atheist. Anne grew up as an increasingly miserable young woman. She was a gifted writer, an intelligent young woman. Anne knew hardly anyone with a vital faith in God. She did become well acquainted with sleeping around, with drug and alcohol abuse, and downright despair. But she knew if she came to believe in God, her father, a devout atheist, would be deeply disappointed. Anne considered herself so messed up, she couldnt imagine God could love her. There are people in Richmond like Anne.

Out of desperation, Anne phoned a pastor. He was on his way out, but heard so much desperation in her voice, he stayed in his office until Anne could get there. Upon entering the church, Anne was immediately struck by the thought that this pastor was both smart and tender hearted. She wrote "He was about the first Christian I ever met whom I could stand to be in the same room with. Most Christians seemed almost hostile in their belief that they were saved and you werent." (TRAVELING MERCIES, Pantheon Books, New York, 1999, p. 43) They talked about what it meant to be saved, and the pastor explained "Its like discovering youre on the shelf of a pawnshop, dusty and forgotten and maybe not worth very much. But Jesus comes in and tells the pawnbroker, 'Ill take her place on the shelf. Let her go outside again." (p. 43)

I like this description of salvation. Every human life is worth something. All of us, for one reason or another, wind up in a pawn shop. We may be a $20 recorder, or a Stradivarius violin. But were in the pawn shop, and we cant pay the price of our redemption. Jesus comes in and substitutes himself for us, saying "Ill take your place on the shelf. Ill pay the ransom, Ill redeem you." James & John, the other disciples, came to Jesus and said "Make us powerful. Free us from pain and trials. Help us become rich and mighty." Jesus said "Boys, you just dont get it, do you? You want THINGS, you want STATUS and POWER. Everything I might give you wont do you a bit of good while youre in the pawn shop, on the shelf. Ive come to earth as Gods servant. Im making YOU my treasure. Im giving my life for you. If you really want to become something, you must become a servant, like me."

James & John came to Jesus saying "I want to get." We can understand these 2. Theyre a lot like us. Like James & John, we in the church

like to hang around Jesus. But we often come to him wanting to get, instead of give. Jesus wants to do something greater for us than buy us the Mercedes Benz Janis Joplin sang about. He wants to take OUR place on the cross, on the pawn shop shelf. When we realize hes done this for us, well be so grateful, well stop handing God a laundry list of the things we want. And well just begin to find joy in hanging around God. Well discover the best way to find fellowship with Christ is to give ourselves, as He gave Himself for us.

When the stewardship book comes around, we wont be thinking "How much will I have to give this time?", but "What a joy it is to give something back!" Well look forward to Sundays, not so much because our team is playing and might win. Well look forward to worship, where we rejoice that Gods team has already won! Well not want to stop with giving money. Well want to give God the service of our time and talents as well!

Henri Nouwen was born in the Netherlands, and ordained a priest. He taught at distinguished schools--places like Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard. Its hard to be part of such prestigious schools without beginning to think youre pretty special. Several years back, Nouwen came to speak at Earlham College. Nouwen said he reached the point in life where "success was putting his own soul in danger." To the degree we believe that we are what we have, or we are what other people say about us, we are dead spiritually! We dont have to be Ivy League educated and wealthy to be tempted by power and authority. James and John demonstrated this, didnt they? People can strut and be proud in any walk of life. Every small college has some "big men on campus". Every level of employment has some who are puffed up! You can drive through the poorest neighborhood in town and find someone strutting!

Jesus says we need to be born "from above". We need to find our identity not in what we possess, but in the God who desires to possess us, and calls us His children! We need to find our identity not in what other people say about us, but in the fact that we are infinitely loved and cared for by God. We will never leave the heart of God. God sent His own Son to be His servant, that through His humble obedience, we can become aware of Gods great love for us. And we are called upon to serve one another, as Christ was the servant of all. Nouwen left Harvard and went to the Daybreak Community in Toronto, for the severely handicapped. Nouwens job was to care for Adam, a boy who couldnt walk, talk, or care for himself. In humbly serving Adam, Nouwen was drawn closer to Christ.

God is not calling all of us to serve the handicapped, or to apply for work with the sanitation department. God IS calling upon us to free ourselves from becoming slaves to status, or to the opinions of others. It is such a joy to realize that first and foremost in life, God loves and cares for us. And that what God wants most of all is from us is something that all of us can do: to love and humbly serve Him! The happiest people I know are the ones who realize God loves them! And they find joy in serving God with whatever their talents might be.

Not too long back, I was walking through the corridors of Reid hospital, looking for one of our members who was having a test. A doctor I know saw me, and came out of the room she was in to say hello. I explained who I was looking for, and she took me to the desk, and asked where our member was. The procedure was being done some distance away, but the doctor took me there, knocked on the closed door, and got me into the room so I could visit. She did it all with a smile. Its not real common for physicians to do things like this. It has been said some physicians think the initials M. D. stand for "medical deity", but this doctor wasnt that way. This doctor is a servant of Christ, and it shows!

When Christ redeems us from a pawn shop shelf, a servant of God is born. Some of those servants may leave an Ivy League school to minister to a retarded child. Others may continue in their skilled profession with a new humility and love for service. Do we come to Jesus saying

"Do for me whatever I ask."? Or do we realize what Jesus has already done for us, and say "Make me your captive, Lord, and then I shall be free."

Rev. David Layman

1st Presbyterian Church