21st Sunday after Pentecost, B
United Methodist Laity Sunday
October 21, 2012
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| Graphic courtesy of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. |
Foreword: Every third Sunday of
October, The United
Methodist Church
celebrates Laity Sunday, which is a celebration of the ministry of all
Christians, especially the laity. This is part of a larger context called “A
Season of Saints”, which begins on World Communion Sunday, a celebration of the
unity of all Christians at the Lord’s Table. The season covers Clergy
Appreciation Sunday (second Sunday of October), the Feast of St. Luke (October 18), Laity Sunday, Reformation Sunday
(Sunday nearest October 31), and finally ending on the Feast of All the Saints
(November 1 or the first Sunday of November).
Introduction
Today we celebrate Laity Sunday, which is a celebration of
the ministry of all Christians, especially the laity. The theme for this year
is: “Disciples Transforming the World: Through Service and Witness” (Filipino: Mga Alagad na Binabago ng Daigdig: Sa
Pamamagitan ng Paglilingkod at Pagsaksi). The yearly themes for this
quadrennium come from four (now five) of the promises made in our Baptismal
Covenant: Disciples Transforming the World: Through Prayer (2009), Through
Presence (2010), Through Gifts (2011), and finally, Through Service and
Witness. (The fifth one, Service, was added by the 2008 General Conference
being an “outward” action in addition to the other four which were seen as
“inward” actions.) The main theme was adopted from the mission of The United
Methodist Church: “The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus
Christ for the transformation of the world” (The Book of Discipline, 2008,
¶120).
In today’s Gospel reading, we see that people do not always
want “service and witness”. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, asked Jesus
for the right and left seats in the kingdom
of God. This made the
other disciples angry; but in the end, Jesus gave them—and all of us—an example
to follow.
I. Leadership is what
everybody wants.
According to the Gospel of Mark, it is James and John, the
sons of Zebedee (Zabdi) who asked for the left and right seats in the Kingdom.
In the Gospel of Matthew (20:20-28), it is their mother (not named in this text
but traditionally identified as Salome) who asks Jesus for these places.
James and John asked for the
places of honor at Jesus’ side—“Grant unto us that we may sit, one on your
right hand and the other on your left hand, in your glory” (10:37). In other
words, they wanted to be prime ministers in the Kingdom of God!
The word “sit” here is from the Greek word καθιζω
kathidzow, which literally means ‘to
sit (on a throne)’. That is, “that we may be enthroned”!
II. “Followership” is
not what everybody wants.
When the other disciples heard of
the request of James and John, they became “indignant”: “When the ten heard
about it, they began to be indignant with James and John” (10:41).
“Leadership” is a buzzword in many businesses in the world
today. It has even become a buzzword in the Church. One
evangelistic/discipleship model has a “leadership course” to train people to be
leaders of small groups. Perhaps one word would never be a buzzword in the
world, and that is the word “followership”. Everybody wants to lead but not
everyone wants to follow! Nobody would want to attend “obedience
training”—that’s like a training course for dogs!
III. Jesus is the
model for “followership”.
Jesus “called his disciples unto
himself” (10:42) and laid down two models of leadership: a) the leadership
model of the world (v. 42) and b) the leadership model of servanthood. He uses
two words for servanthood: a) διακονος
diakonos which means ‘servant’ and δουλος doulos which means ‘slave’. Everyone wants to be a ruler (αρχος archos, ‘chief’), a great one (μεγας
megas), or first (πρωτος protos) (the leadership models of the world) but not everyone wants
to be a servant (diakonos) or a slave
(doulos)!
Finally, Jesus set himself as a
model of servant leadership: he came not to be served to but to be served, and
give his life as a ransom for many (10:45)
Conclusion
Jesus is a model of transforming the world “through service
and witness”. Service: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve”.
Witness: “gave his life as a ransom for many”.
The service and witness of Jesus was indeed a model of servant leadership for his disciples. And Jesus sends his disciples into the world to continue that service and witness. As that happens, they will also meet the same reaction Jesus faced: mostly rejection and persecution. As Jesus says in Mk. 13:13, "you will be hated by all for my name's sake." So Jesus' model will engage the world but not transform it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. Has Jesus transformed the world? If we look at his life, we can say he was a failure because he was executed on a cross. It does not end there; there's the resurrection. But look around and we can see that Jesus has indeed transformed lives and even civilizations. Is he a total success? Maybe not--yet. But then, there is his coming again when he will make all things new.
ReplyDeleteJesus indeed transforms lives, but I don't see transformed civilizations. I think Jesus' new kingdom of heaven (the kingdom of God) is made up of his faithful disciples in every nation, disciples whom Jesus says will be hated by every nation. The kings and kingdoms of earth are a contrast to Jesus and his kingdom of disciples; Jesus' way is narrow and few find it. Because Jesus and his kingdom expose and oppose the evil ways of the world, the world reacts against them. Yet, as you say, for Jesus and his kingdom, there's the resurrection. And when he comes again, there will be a new heaven and new earth (the old earth will pass away).
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