Mark 10:35-45
- Then Jesus said to them, "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able."
Cups themselves and their settings convey meaning. German beer steins set out on the table say something very different from a pair of delicate fine champagne glasses, decorated with a pink ribbon. You invite me to your home, to share a glass of tea. And I know I'm invited to be a friend - to share some part of your life. But the solitary person at the end of the bar -- holding a single shot glass tells a story of isolation - of sorrow and pain.
Some cups spell victory: the World Cup, Ryder Cup, Stanley Cup, America's Cup. Team captains hold the victory cup over their heads while they circle the stadium on the shoulders of team-mates.
That's the cup of victory James and John can taste, as Jesus and the disciples turn toward Jerusalem.
The Zebedee boys left all behind -- but now they imagine the payoff. Soon the champagne corks will be poppin' at Pontius Pilate Stadium. The visiting locker room - marked Galilean Gospelers - will be filled with commemorative goblets. They are already printed up - World Rulers - AD 30. The Jesus Team (Co-captains - James and John)
We can hear them: "Soon," -- Jesus said so, -- "Soon, ----- there will be glory. The good guys will rise again. I think he said it would only take three days. We want to parade through the streets of Jerusalem -- riding the shoulders of followers. --- Holding high ---- the cup of victory. Then we'll sit at the right and at the left. Yes Jesus! We can drink from the cup you drink. We are able!"
Most of us, at least some of the time, if we are honest with ourselves, stand with James and John. Let's make a deal God! --- When's the glory part? --- What's in it for me?" Then, as he often does, --- Jesus turns our whole world upside down.
The question for Jesus is not "what's in it for me?" - but rather, "What's in me for others?" Jesus says to James and John - and to us, "You want to be on my right and on my left? You don't know what you are asking."
A few days later he would lift up his cup. "This is my cup. In this cup is my blood -- of the New Covenant. This blood is shed for you and for many -- and for the life of the world. For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve."
The cup that Jesus shares is the cup of his life, a life literally poured out for us.
Jesus says, "You don't know what you are asking." When the places on the right and on the left were assigned - the places of honor were filled by two robbers as three crosses silhouetted against the sky.
By the time Jesus is raised up on his throne of pain, James and John have hightailed into the hills.
Jesus' baptism - into which we are baptized --- is, as Paul tells us, a baptism into his death. Not baptism of water - but of blood and tears. Tears shed in the Garden of Gethsemene as Jesus begged his Father --- "let this cup pass." Blood shed as blood and water flowed from his side on the cross.
"You don't know what you ask." said Jesus. "Can you drink from the cup I drink?"
We might choose to follow Jesus for the beauty - the joy - and the peace flowing from that relationship. But not every day with Jesus is filled with joy and peace. We cannot be followers of Christ - if we will walk with him in Bethlehem and Galilee, but not in Gethsemene and Calvary.
True discipleship results in a costly pouring out of one's life for another. For an aging parent, a sick spouse, a special child, a member of the congregation or community in trouble.
It may be taking a stand that puts us at odds with powers that be, -- or our friends. --- or our family.
It is recognizing that Jesus flips our whole notion of leadership upside down. If the church has an organizational chart --- it is inverted. Leaders are at the bottom. If you want to follow me, -- become a slave for all around you.
It goes against our nature. It was hard --- even for Jesus --- to take the cup. So how do we do it? What gives us the courage and strength to walk in Jesus' footsteps?
- A well-known TV magazine reporter wanted to do a story on Mother Teresa.
The nun from Calcutta wouldn't do the interview unless the reporter worked a
week in the hospital first. The reporter agreed. It was back-breaking
work --- lifting children and mothers twelve or more hours per day. The
stench was nasty - the conditions appalling. Each night she went to bed
exhausted.
After a short night -- mornings began with the Eucharist. Though our reporter loved people, she didn't feel comfortable with all the God stuff. She was not even sure she believed in God. So she hung around the fringe, hoping no one would notice.
At the end of the week, she got her interview with Teresa. "It's been very rewarding," she said. "I've been doing the lowest kind of work - for the least of all people. Yet, I've never felt as important or appreciated. I don't think I've ever felt so valuable or so spiritually alive as this week.
But I must admit -- I'm completely exhausted. I don't understand how you and your nuns can keep up this pace. I'm going on a well deserved two-week vacation. I'm 40 years younger than you, and much stronger. But you just keep going. How do you do it??"
Teresa said matter of factly, "It's simple. You don't take the Eucharist. Neither could I make it, . on my own. I need God's ongoing food for the body and soul. God supplies my strength!"
He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, yet now by his bruises we are healed. The blood of Christ is the cup of salvation. Eucharistic prayer B tells us, "Come to this table for strength -- not for solace only." The cross - the surest sign of death - has become a symbol of victory and resurrected life. The cup of sorrows -- filled with blood and tears -- has become a cup of joy.
James and John were never rebuked by Jesus for their lack of understanding. They fled, but eventually returned and followed. Strengthened by the Spirit - fed by Christ's body and blood - they did drink from his cup - and were baptized into his baptism. Jesus accepted them as they were -- but firmly pointed them in a new direction. To follow the cross --- wherever it led.
Their relationship with Jesus and motivations of their hearts were not perfect -- but their relationship is unbroken. They don't just walk away like the rich man last week.
That's good news. Jesus doesn't excuse us - when we miss the point - or ignore the point. But neither does he reject us --- instead he calls us ever forward --- out of sin - into righteousness -- into the path of a disciple.
We can identify with the Twelve - with James and John. We, like them, stumble along the path. We may be shaky servants of the Lord. -- But we are servants.
Another John wrote in his epistle, --- "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down out lives for the each other... Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
"Drink from my cup. This is my blood offered that you may have life. Live your life for others. --- Whoever wishes to be great -- must be a slave to all."
(With large credit to Nouwen, Can you Drink This Cup?)
St. Mary's Episcopal Church