Discipleship Challenges - Ambition

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then 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; 40 but 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.” 41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

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Climbing White Stork Tower

There is an ancient Chinese poem that says:

"The setting sun leans on the furthest mountains,

The Yellow River spreads into the sea.

Yearning to see a thousand miles further?

Just climb one more storey."

This poem, called "Climbing White Stork Tower" has been taught to children in China for centuries, like a nursery rhyme, teaching them the power of hard work and ambition from the cradle. They put it to music and sing it over and over because in Chinese it is only 20 syllables long. It is shorter than the first verse of Amazing Grace and yet paints a picture that has inspired generations to pick themselves up and work to better themselves. In fact, you can just quote the last line of this poem, "gèng shàng yī céng lóu" and almost everyone will understand that you are telling them to step it up a notch.

Hard work and growth is a value shared by people all over the world, from many cultures. We learn the value of hard work from both the Hebrew Scriptures and Aesop's Fables from the Greeks. However, our expectations surrounding this work can become a stumbling block to our relationship with God if we let our ambitions cloud our vision and trip up our obedience.

Thesis: Our ambitious hopes and dreams can stand in the way of the humble sacrifice God requires from us.

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Eyes on the Prize

Every sports coach, job coach, or life coach will tell you that you need to keep your eyes on the prize if you want to succeed. Sometimes that is easier said than done. I remember playing little league baseball and being so nearsighted that I could barely see the ball until it hit me. There are many times in life when the problems loom large in front of us and it is difficult to see the prize beyond the problem.

We teach and preach that in church as well. We point to the story of Peter walking on water and say, you can do the impossible if we keep our eyes on Jesus and not on the troubles around us. And there is truth in that. It is also true that I have never seen anyone walk on water and that no one did it in the Bible after Peter. It was just those few brief steps.

I wonder what James and John thought about that moment. Peter gets so much credit for being the top disciple. James and John are usually mentioned as just "also there when it all happened." Ambitions rise, tempers flare, and according to the way Lin Manuel Miranda tells history - people have been killed for less. When were James and John going to get their shot?

In today's scripture, they went to Jesus to find out.

Last week, our scripture was about a young man trying to figure out what it meant to be truly "good". This week, Mark gives us a series of comparisons about what it means to be "great". Our first comparison is between the brother of thunder, as they were known, and Jesus. James and John know that Jesus not only has the answers, but He also has the power to give them greatness. So they come right out and ask for it.

"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." Wow. They actually walked up to the Son of God and asked for a blank check. But Jesus doesn't hand out blank checks, so He gently asks them what they want specifically.

"Look, Jesus, I know Peter is getting a lot of the spotlight now, but when we finally make it to the big day, when you take over everything, my brother and I want to be your Number 1 and Number 2 guys." Apparently they thought the kingdom of God might be a "first come, first served" kind of deal. Ambitious? Yes. Arrogant? Yeah, a little. Ignorant? For sure. In fact, the kind of wheeling and dealing they are trying to do with Jesus does not sound that different from what the devil tried to do with Jesus out in the wilderness before Jesus started preaching and teaching. It makes me wonder, who had James and John been listening to, to give them this idea in the first place.

Rather than chastise the brothers for not paying attention and not understanding God's Kingdom, Jesus simply asks if they are able to do, what they are asking to do. In God's kingdom, leadership is not a privilege, it is a job, and it comes with responsibilities. They are asking for greatness right at the time that Jesus is teaching them about suffering. Jesus will suffer and die. The rich are called to give up their riches. The disciples are promised more than they will give up, and they will receive suffering as well. James and John want to gloss over all of this and just get a guaranteed spot among the greatest.

When the devil gets ahold of our ambition, he leads us to use Jesus, not serve Jesus, and certainly not love Jesus. We will shoot for the stars and not care who we mow over on our way there.

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True Greatness

True greatness means serving and caring for others. In God's kingdom, the king is a shepherd. He feeds the people and protects them. Jesus taught that a good shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep, not send the sheep to protect him. The strong take care of the weak. You are responsible for those you are in authority over. We stop leading when we say, "they can take care of themselves."

Again, this is so similar to the temptations that the devil tried to give Jesus in the wilderness.

"Take care of yourself."

"Trust that God will catch you."

"Let's skip all the suffering and get to the good part."

But you cannot separate Jesus from God. And Jesus will not let the devil get in between Him and His disciples. This is not our way. Other families may have other traditions and ways of doing things, but ambition, set free like a rabid wolf, will maim and kill, and never be satisfied. It has no place in God's house, or in God's family. In this family, we see others as better than ourselves. True greatness, is in finding the Spirit of Jesus at work in those around us, and in bringing it out to the full potential of Jesus.

While that might sound like a great appeal to education and helping everyone grow in their own strengths, it is not the same thing. As I have been discipled by mentors and teachers, coaches, and friends, it is not my own personal gifts and strengths that have been developed. When our goal is to grow more like ourselves, we don't change. Our personal talents may increase, but our places of weakness and brokenness will grow right along with them. Jesus did not turn Peter into a better fisherman. He turned a fisherman into a disciple-maker who would help take the gospel message across the world. Peter was transformed. James and John were transformed.

As Jesus told Peter, the rich young ruler, James and John, and all of the disciples... As Jesus led by his own self-sacrificing example... To be a disciple means to lay aside our ambitions, our hopes, our dreams, our worldly goals and let Jesus lead us. This is so important because we are the Church. We are the family of Jesus. As Scot McKnight reminds us if we cannot or will not put our ambitions aside and follow Jesus here, how can we expect our denomination to do it for us? How can we expect our local, national, and world leaders to do it when it is our responsibility to show them what it looks like to serve and love like Jesus.

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Enough

I cannot truly teach you how to avoid the trap of ambition in a sermon. I can't do it in a bible study. It takes real-life relationships, doing real-life together to pass on that to you in a way that changes your life. The disciples had Jesus to watch, and the day He died on the cross was the day they finally realized He really meant what He said. The day they claimed victory over the tempter in their lives was the day Jesus rose from the dead.

I wasn't there with Jesus 2,000 years ago, but I have seen disciple-makers put aside their own ambitions, hopes, and dreams, and follow Jesus into places they would not have chosen on their own. I had a classmate in college who grew up in a town even smaller than my own hometown. She was part of one of those churches that have very strict doctrine, and they don't really consider you a Christian at all unless you belong to their church. She got along with everyone though, always friendly, always excited, and she was part of a small prayer group that met every day before classes started.

She was an excellent student and could have studied anything, but I think she landed somewhere in the psychology or social work area, along with several other hobbies she minored in as well. When she graduated, she had the incredible blessing of having her school paid off - no debt at all. She had connections for work, friends in cities all across the Midwest, she could have gone anywhere and done anything, and been successful at it. What did she choose to do with that incredible gift? She chose to serve in China as an underground missionary. That meant 6 months to learn a new language well enough to go and teach others English and learning how to introduce people to Jesus in Chinese and help them become disciples as well.

It is usually a 2 year kind of program that young people do after college, before getting on with the rest of their lives. The idea is to travel while you are young and do this hard work while you don't have lots of family obligations. In her context, it was especially challenging because there were political disputes going on, and several times when she was trying to jump fences and avoid armed guards. Her sacrifice of those important years of her life, giving, serving, and loving those for Jesus, was an inspiration to us all.

Then she did the unthinkable. Her time was up, she was set to come back home and start her real-life back here in the U.S... and she decided not to come back. She moved into the mission field permanently. She met a man, started a family, made her home with them. She decided that real life in China was enough for her. It was a life she never dreamed of, a life that her ambitions would have kept her away from. She worked hard, studied hard, did everything to be successful, and climb up that ladder to see 1000 miles. Then she put it all aside and let Jesus put her where He wanted her to be, and she continues to inspire us to do the same.

If I had one word to give you today, to help you overcome the tempter's snare of ambition in your life, it would be this: Enough. That word stands at the border between your ambition and your faithfulness to Jesus. Where is that border for you? What is enough? When you go to Jesus, do you go asking for a blank check or do you go telling Him that He has given you enough and you are willing to follow where He leads? I want you to take a moment right now, before you come to Jesus, to come to yourself, as the Prodigal Son did in the pig field, and ask yourself: