Sermon: The Kingdom of Non-Sense

10/18/09 Sermon by Griff Martin: The Kingdom of Nonsense
“If the Lord is indeed our shepherd, then everything goes topsy-turvy, losing becomes finding and crying becomes laughing. The last become first and the weak become strong…if the Lord is our host at the great feast, then the sky’s the limit.” ~ Freerick Buechner


Mark 10:32-34
• Jesus explains that He will die, the final time they are walking down to Jerusalem
• We avoid dealing with death because it hurts

Mark 10:35-37
• James and John are yearning to ask Him something
• How do we react to this great request
• Do we pray for “ourselves”?
 Protect me
 Fix me
 Make my prayers come true
• Maybe we get angry with that request
 Perhaps because we feel that is our place
• Every time that Jesus talks about death, he also talks about denial
• Maybe the disciples don’t understand because they were expecting an earthly king
• We cannot judge because we do not know everything
• Maybe we were sad because of the faith they had and the courage they had

Mark 10:38-40
• Our Jesus Christ of love and grace doesn’t rebuke them
• Maybe Jesus Christ see their faith too
• Jesus then asks, “can you be like me”
• Jesus listens to the questions, asks a question and they says “yes”
• Perhaps its empathy in His voice
• Love will do anything form hurting someone they love
• His answer is that they will have to suffer, but yet the choice isn’t His to make

Mark 10:41-45
• Jesus Christ says they are asking for power in a powerless world
• Power isn’t good, we shouldn’t be involved in it
• We have worked hard to get somewhere, and then realize that is a treadmill we are one, since we have to work harder and harder to keep going
• The powerful one’s are the ones whose names we do not know
• To be like Jesus Christ is to be a salve
• God didn’t come into the world to be served, but to serve

“This much is for sure: whether we can make sense of it or not, serving is how we will transform the world, not from top down, but from bottom up. The ultimate trickle up effect. Our leaders can be servants, and the best ones will be, but we must never surrender our power to the powerful. The power of God has given us is the strongest stuff in the world, the power to serve.” – Barbara Brown Taylor

• May you let go the need for power
• May you see that real power is found in service
• May you see that the way of the Lord is not the way of this world
• May you be called to a life of serving, a life that will make a difference, a life of the Servant
• May you go and serve, and in serving, find life and love

We can either go home, or Follow Jesus Christ
Pastor Griff Martin