You may be seated.
Good morning.
My name's Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today.
A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good,
they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it,
which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.
We're continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark.
You'll remember that the Gospels tell the story of Jesus and His life and His death and His resurrection.
And in the first half of the Gospel, we were asking this question of who is Jesus,
and that reached its climax in many ways in the middle of chapter 8
when Peter finally recognizes that Jesus is the Christ.
He is the one that they've been looking for for thousands of years.
And now as we continue in the Gospel, they're following Jesus quite literally on His way to the cross,
and so we're asking a different question, which is what does it look like to follow after Jesus?
In the last few weeks as we've looked at Jesus' teaching,
we've seen the way that the kingdom operates is very different than the way of the world.
There is an upside-down quality to the cross,
and yet the disciples are still functioning by worldly principles.
And so we looked, first of all, at the worldly view of marriage and sex, which Jesus corrects.
Then the worldly view of children, which Jesus turns upside down.
Last week, the worldly view of money.
Jesus isn't done yet, though, and so this week we're going to see Him address the topic of power, success, glory, and fame.
And we'll see the approach of the Christian is very different from that of the world.
And so I invite you to turn with me now to Mark chapter 10, starting at verse 32.
You can turn in your Bible.
You can turn in your worship guide.
You can turn on your phone.
Remember that no matter where you turn, this is God's Word.
And Proverbs 30, verse 5, tells us every word of God proves true.
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 32.
And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them.
And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
And taking the twelve again, He began to tell them what was to happen to Him, saying,
See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes.
And they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him over to the Gentiles.
And they will mock Him, and spit on Him, and flog Him, and kill Him.
And after three days He will rise.
Verse 35.
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Him and said to Him,
Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.
And He said to them, What do you want me to do for you?
And they said to Him, Grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory.
Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?
And they said to Him, We are able.
And 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.
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.
Verse 41.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.
Our Father in Heaven, we praise You again that we're here together this morning,
and that You speak to us, to our hearts by Your Word.
We confess that we have hungry hearts that love and run after many things.
We ask that You'd be at work by Your Spirit, that we would love one thing, that we would love You.
We ask this morning now, as we look at Your Word, that You would cast a spotlight on Jesus,
that we would see His glory and His beauty and His holiness and His love,
and that You would grow our love and affection for Him,
our reverence and our awe for Him,
that we would follow Him and love Him and obey Him.
We ask all these things in His mighty name. Amen.
If this passage feels familiar at all, if it feels like a deja vu from previous sections in the Gospel of Mark,
that's because, in fact, it is.
Mark is famous for having three different passion predictions,
three different places where Jesus tries to teach His disciples about what is to come later in His ministry,
and this is the final of the three.
The disappointing thing is that it was a repetition not just in His prediction,
but in the failed response, the inappropriate response of His disciples.
Remember in chapter 8, Jesus first told them about His future,
and it was Peter who rebuked Him,
and Jesus had to tell him,
Get behind me, Satan,
because Peter did not understand the true nature of Jesus' purpose and mission.
But then it happens again in the next chapter.
In chapter 9, Jesus tells them again that the Son of Man is going to suffer and die,
and remember at that point, they are afraid to ask any more,
so they instead choose the very smart strategy of immediately arguing amongst themselves about who is the greatest.
It's at that point, you remember that Jesus tells them,
Mark chapter 9, verse 35,
If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.
And so here, as we come to chapter 10,
we would expect the disciples would have learned something.
They would have made some improvement from chapter 9.
They would have understood that glory is not what they should be chasing after.
Instead, here we see that they have learned something.
It's just the wrong thing.
There's a similar response here.
They long for greatness, but James and John have finally gotten their act together.
They have a better plan and strategy than they had before.
Last time, all of them were arguing about who would be the greatest.
They decide this time they're going to take matters into their own hands.
The rest of the disciples are chumps.
They don't understand what actually needs to happen,
which is to make the grab for power that will set them above everyone else.
They don't need to argue with anyone.
They can skip all of that and take matters into their own hands
and ensure that they are actually the greatest,
because they're going to sit next to Jesus.
When I was growing up, I'm the youngest of three sons,
and so my brothers and I came up with this brilliant concept,
which we called the magic number.
The magic number was the number three, because there was three of us.
And so this especially applied to desserts that were left in the house.
If there were three pieces of cake left,
we would tell our parents,
look, it's the magic number.
The conclusion is obvious.
What must you do?
You must make sure each of your three sons gets a piece of cake.
And of course, I think our parents realized with some amusement
that it was probably better for our metabolism than for theirs.
And so this proved to often be a winning strategy.
We just needed to point out there's only three things left.
You have three sons.
Do I need to help you figure this out even more?
Here we have the same thing going on.
There's a magic number.
There's James and John.
There's two of them.
They also are brothers.
And guess how many sides Jesus has?
Jesus has two, a left side and a right side.
So we don't have to compete against each other as brothers.
Instead, we know there's the exact number that we need.
We'll leave it up to Jesus to decide who's going to be on the right side
so we do not have to compete.
Either way, we're both going to get great seats.
And yet the irony is thick here because we see verse 32,
Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem.
He is literally walking towards the cross.
He is literally telling them about his suffering.
And what is it that James and John have on their mind?
We have stock options with Jesus.
We were smart enough to get in on the ground floor.
We knew Jesus before it was cool.
We know as he's heading towards Jerusalem,
this is going to be his big moment.
This is when he's going to do everything we know that the Christ is supposed to accomplish.
He's going to become powerful and glorious.
He's going to overthrow the Romans.
And so before it's too late,
we need to ensure that we cash in everything we have.
Jesus is about to get really big.
And we'll get big too.
There's only two slots and there are 12 disciples.
We need to make sure we're the ones who ask first.
We made the smart move.
We got in on the ground level.
It has certainly earned us something.
Finally, where dreams will come true.
And at the same time, Jesus has been trying to tell them he is revealing more and more
how bad it is going to get the level of suffering they will experience.
They are obsessed with glory, but Jesus has just told them,
verse 33, it's going to get really bad.
He's going to face death.
And it's not just that he's going to face death,
but there are some Jews who are going to go so against the norms of God's people
that they're going to hand over another Jew to the Gentiles of all people.
And not only are they going to hand him over the Gentiles,
those Gentiles, verse 34, are going to mock him, spit on him, whip him, and kill him.
And if it couldn't get any worse for the disciples,
remember how last week's passage ended, verse 31,
the first will be last and the last first.
In other words, it would be challenging for the disciples to look any more ridiculous
and tone deaf than they look here.
Brothers and sisters, we are also tempted by power and glory
and forget how tone deaf and ridiculous we look.
We want, when we speak to people, for their ears to perk up,
for things to happen, for people to act and change and listen.
We need or want others to know how strong and smart and fast
and wealthy and beautiful we are.
We want and need others to recognize the cars we drive,
the toys that we have, the restaurants we can visit,
the experiences we can afford.
We want a more prestigious job,
not because it's an opportunity for us to do more good for God in this world,
so that we can prove something to ourselves and others.
I'm finally worthy.
I finally proved I have a right to exist in this world.
This desire for greatness,
it drives the desire and the need for affirmation on social media,
for likes and comments.
We want our kids to behave not because it's for their good,
but so that other people would see that we're the parents
who have it all together.
And they would praise us and admire us and look up to us.
And yet, our children can't be fooled,
and they know the truth and resent it.
We have the desperate insecurity that's revealed by name-dropping.
We know someone who matters,
and therefore, we must matter too.
Because greatness is about others recognizing us,
serving us, deferring to us.
And yet, it's all so transparent, so easy to spot.
We think we can hide from other people
the things we wear on our sleeves.
And so Jesus speaks into that mess here in verses 42 through 45
when he tells them there's actually a different paradigm to operate by.
You are looking to be like the Gentile rulers,
verse 42,
who receive all these great things,
but in fact, the opposite is what you should be aiming for.
Verse 43,
whoever would be great among you must be your servant.
You must change your entire way of thinking about yourself,
your identity,
an entirely new definition of greatness.
You need to reorient your values and aspirations and ambition.
And it's important to note here
that Jesus is not giving some sort of leadership hack.
Because what he says here is a sort of thing
you might hear from all sorts of leadership gurus,
whether they're Christians or not.
But the worldly advice would go like this,
a humble servant,
that's the way you get into the record of great leaders.
That's the way people will remember you and give you glory.
And Jesus is saying here,
no, this is something different.
Getting into the book of great leaders and people is irrelevant.
There's a completely different mental model paradigm
for what is important in life.
The world will tell you,
become great by being humble.
That's the trick.
And Jesus says,
becoming great in the eyes of the world isn't the goal.
It's not the aim.
Instead, it's to take on a different position.
Verse 43,
servant.
Verse 44,
slave.
And so we see the same principle that we talked about
when Jesus gave similar instruction in chapter 9,
that there is this principle of the gospel
that's opposed to the principle of the world.
The principle of the world is that we push others down
so that we can lift ourselves up.
And Jesus comes and flips that and says,
no,
the gospel,
we lift others up and push ourselves down.
There's a different way,
a different path for the Christian,
and it's the way of Jesus.
That we don't evaluate others
based on how they advance our goals
or meet our needs,
based on what they can do for us.
If we're concerned primarily about honor and status,
then we will evaluate other people
on how they relate to that.
In fact,
we stop the constant need,
the drive for the approval
and admiration of others,
and instead we start exalting others
and lifting them up,
even when,
especially when,
it doesn't advance our personal goals
or ambitions.
In fact, how we treat
those who have less power than us
reveals the most about our character,
whether we actually understand
and follow Jesus.
And it's more than simply acts of service.
It is giving up entirely the obsession
with personal glory and power and honor.
Remember two weeks ago
when the disciples tried to be great friends
to Jesus by blocking the children
who are coming to him.
The reason they did that
is because those children
had nothing they could offer
to advance Jesus' mission
and his purpose.
They had nothing to offer the world,
and so therefore,
they must have nothing to offer Jesus.
Jesus interrupts them then
and says,
that's the point.
I'm interested in those
who know they have nothing to offer.
That same idea,
that same principle
is reinforced here.
Christians follow Jesus
by offering things
to those who have nothing to offer.
We show whether we understand
and follow Jesus
by how we treat those on the margins.
But the haunting question is for us,
why is it so hard?
Why is it that success and glory
and power and fame
are so alluring and attractive?
When I was in college,
I had a professor who had this sign
in her office that said this,
success is the best revenge.
And I asked her one time about it,
and she indicated,
in broad terms with no details,
that there had been a time
where there were those
who had hurt her and opposed her,
and she had realized
this was the way
she was going to make it all right.
Success is the best revenge
seems like a great motivational line
until you think about it
and you realize
how incredibly sad
and bankrupt
that line is.
Because if success
is the best form of revenge,
it means that you are still
controlled and dominated
by the perceptions
and beliefs
of that person
who hurt you.
And it helps us understand
why success
is so attractive.
all of us have
hurts
and wounds
that we're trying to patch
and heal
and success
seems like
an incredibly attractive option
to do that.
Do you know
the hurt
of your own heart?
Do you know
the hunger
of your own heart?
Maybe the bullying
that you experienced
as a kid
still travels with you
and you believe
that if you accomplish enough,
you can make
those words
untrue.
You can prove
that you're somebody
that you have worth.
maybe you've come
to the sobering
realization
that your spouse
finds his work
much more fascinating
than you.
But if your kids
can just achieve enough,
then somehow
it will be all
okay.
maybe it's
your father's
yelling
or perhaps
more confusing
his distance
and his silence.
It's not a coincidence
that so many
ambitious
and powerful men
have absent
fathers.
your body
can go
without food
for a few days
but the heart
is always
hungry.
The heart
never fasts.
The heart
always feeds
on something.
And so
success
and glory
and power
without addressing
the deep
issues
and longings
of our heart
never ends
well.
there are
many things
that we want
to happen
at our church
things that we
want to grow
and increase
and those things
will only be
dangerous to us
if we don't
address our
hearts
first.
And none of it
matters if we
don't get
first things
right.
The matter
of the heart
Jesus knows
greatness and
success are
like wealth
they're very
dangerous.
They can
and will
shipwreck us
outside of
God's
grace.
In fact
some people
would say
that success
is more
dangerous
than failure.
That success
reveals our
character
as much
if not
more than
the obstacles
we face.
Now
everything
that I've
said to
you
pretty much
up to
this point
outside of
mentioning
Jesus and
his teaching
any secular
prophet
any sage
could have
mentioned
these things
to you.
And so
what do we
do?
What does
Jesus have
to do
with the
hunger of
our hearts
if this
is something
that's
recognized
by wisdom
teachers of
all types?
Well first
I'll point out
what's been
pointed out
by others
the same
thing I
mentioned
when we
talked about
children.
If this
seems
cliche
if it
seems
normal
in every
day
we have
to remember
that's
because
we live
in a
world
that's
been
shaped
by
Jesus
teaching.
Okay
when the
disciples
heard
Jesus
say
these
things
it
was
not
something
that
they'd
heard
over
and over
before
it was
radical.
they didn't
turn to
Jesus
and say
oh yeah
we heard
that same
thing
the other
day
on this
great
leadership
podcast
you should
listen
to it
you would
really like
that guy.
No
the disciples
were shocked
they were
shocked
that Jesus
view of
power
was
completely
opposite
that
of the
world
and so
we
recognize
as we
see
this
idea
of
servant
leadership
of making
ourselves
slaves
and
servants
if it
seems
commonplace
that's
because
of
Jesus
words
in this
passage
what
might
seem
normal
for us
was
radical
then
because
we
live
in a
world
shaped
by
this
teaching
the
other
thing
that we
recognize
is this
we
might
have
a
secular
prophet
or sage
who
recognizes
that
the heart
has to
feed
on
something
Jesus
is just
the only
one
who
gives
us
the
food
for
the
heart
that's
enough
he's
the only
one
who's
able
to
fill
what
is
otherwise
a
bottomless
hole
because
the only
thing
that can
replace
the love
of men
is the
love
of God
if you
look with
me on
the back
of your
worship
guide
you'll
see this
first quote
by a
man
named
Ryan
Holiday
and part
of the
reason
I
include
this
is
because
he's
an
agnostic
he
doesn't
believe
in
Jesus
in
fact
he
runs
a
very
progressive
bookstore
in
Texas
and by
progressive
I don't
just mean
a specific
political
position
I mean
that Ryan
promotes
and honors
things that
we would
call
truly
wicked
and yet
in the
midst
of all
this
he
understands
at least
something
about the
nature
of the
human
heart
he says
everyone
has a
hungry
heart
but how
we
choose
to feed
that
heart
matters
it's
what
determines
the
kind
of
person
we
end
up
being
what
kind
of
trouble
we'll
get
into
and
whether
we'll
ever
be
full
whether
we'll
ever
really
be
still
what
you
may
know
what
you
know
is
he's
deeply
fascinated
by
C.S.
Lewis
many
of his
writings
are
informed
by that
great
Christian
thinker
and so
he
is
trying
to do
what
many
others
are
which
is
to
have
the
kingdom
without
the
king
to
have
the
fruits
of
Christianity
without
its
root
he
has
a
piece
of
the
truth
but
not
the
whole
thing
he
knows
the
problem
he
just
doesn't
know
the
full
solution
and so
we
can
say
yes
there
are
many
secular
sages
and
prophets
and
preachers
who
remind
us
of the
need
to
fill
the
hunger
of
our
hearts
and
it's
Jesus
alone
who's
able
to
give
us
what
we
need
to
turn
away
from
the
allure
and
temptation
of
power
and
glory
and
honor
and
success
it
is
Jesus
who
allows
us
to
replace
the
love
of
men
with
the
love
of
God
I've
been
telling
you
for
weeks
now
that
the
heart
must
have
something
to
feed
on
if
we
take
away
one
thing
we
have
to
replace
it
with
another
and
there
is
only
one
replacement
that
is
great
enough
that
is
powerful
enough
that
is
glorious
enough
to
take
away
this
temptation
it
is
the
food
and
the
love
and
the
knowledge
that
we
are
secure
in
Christ
a
woman
named
Rebecca
McLaughlin
says
this
if
God
himself
has
died
for
you
what
more
do
you
have
to
prove
if
the
creator
of
the
universe
loved
you
enough
to
give
his
life
as
a
ransom
for
yours
how
precious
does
that
make
you
Jesus
sacrifice
for us
can breed
humility
if we
will only
let
it
we
won't
need
to be
recognized
by
others
if we
know
we
are
seen
and
known
and
deeply
loved
by
the
king
of
all
the
universe
himself
we
can
unclench
our
grip
on
status
if
we
know
we're
held
in
Jesus
hands
we
can
kneel
down
if
we
are
sure
he
will
one
day
lift
us
up
Jesus
love
is
the
only
thing
secure
enough
great
enough
to
release
to
release
to
release
on
to
point
out
that
crucifixion
is
for
slaves
but
Jesus
receives
it
as
a
king
ransoms
are
paid
for
kings
not
by
kings
and
yet
Jesus
comes
as
the
only
king
to
pay
a
ransom
for
slaves
and
so
the
love
of
the
world
is
replaced
by
the
love
of
Jesus
that's
what
he's
telling
us
here
in
verse
45
for
even
the
son
of
man
came
not
to
be
served
but
to
serve
and
to
give
his
life
as
a
ransom
for
many
when
you're
secure
and
safe
in
the
love
of
God
glory
and
power
and
honor
will
not
be
tempting
to
you
that's
the
only
thing
powerful
enough
in
2013
the
football
team
at
Olivet
Middle
School
in
Olivet
Michigan
came
up
with
a
plan
and
the
students
did
this
behind
the
backs
of
their
coaches
and
behind
the
backs
of
their
parents
no
one
knew
it
was
going
to
happen
until
it
did
they
ran
a
play
to
intentionally
not
score
they
decided
they
would
get
as
close
to
the
goal
line
as
possible
but
they
would
stop
there
they
would
not
cross
it
why
because
they
wanted
their
teammate
Keith
to
have
the
first
touchdown
of
his
entire
life
Keith
was
a
student
with special
needs
who
struggled
with social
and learning
disabilities
and so
they stopped
right there
at the
goal line
and at the
next play
all of the
players
surrounded
Keith
and made
sure that
as they
rushed
he was in
the middle
with them
holding
the ball
they
decided
they
decided
instead
of
pushing
others
down
to
lift
themselves
up
they
would
push
themselves
down
to
lift
someone
else
up
they
went
from
looking
for
their
own
glory
their
own
opportunities
to score
to become
servants
and
slaves
for
Keith
their
wide
receiver
justice
Miller
admitted
that
it
wasn't
his
idea
because
all
he
would
think
about
is
himself
and
his
friends
but
after
what
they
did
for
Keith
it
has
changed
the
way
he
looks
at
the
world
he
just
needed
someone
else
to
suggest
it
brothers
and
sisters
we
can
only
lift
others
up
if
and
when
we
believe
our
spot
our
place
is
secure
and
it
is
in
Jesus
Christ
we
can
only
lift
others
up
and
look
out
for
them
when
we
know
that
no
matter
what
we
have
a
place
on
the
team
and
we
do
because
Jesus
died
for
us
whoever
would
be
first
among
you
must
be
slave
of
all
for
even
the
son
of
man
came
not
to
be
served
but
to
serve
and
to
give
his
life
as
a
ransom
for
many
let's
pray
our
father
in
heaven
we
praise
you
this
morning
that
we
are
safe
and
secure
in
your
love
that
nothing
can
threaten
that
you
have
showed
us
our
value
and
our
worth
in
Jesus
and
his
sacrifice
his
death
for
us
we
ask
that
you
would
make
us
secure
and
safe
in
that
we
would
know
it
and
so
that
we
would
be
able
to
take
risks
to
offer
it
and
give
it
away
to
others
we
ask
these
things
in
the
mighty
name
of
Jesus
Christ
and