Good morning.
And please, if you would turn to our passage this morning.
! I think in your Bibles, page 825, Matthew chapter 20 and verse 17.
If you would keep that open in front of you.
And let me pray before we hear God's word.
Our heavenly Father, not my words, but your eternal word.
Not our understanding, but your Holy Spirit.
Not our knowledge, but your wisdom and what you would reveal to us.
For your glory alone. Amen.
The ability to pay attention would seem a vanishing commodity.
I know it's getting harder and harder in my life.
It's probably the same for you.
In fact, it's getting harder and harder that people are even writing books about it.
And in his book by Matthew Crawford, The World Beyond Your Head,
which on reflection I decided was probably a pretty good title for this sermon.
He quotes from a commencement speech given by the writer David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College some years ago.
Who was commenting on the problem faced by most human beings of being too wrapped up in themselves.
He began thus.
He said,
A huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to automatically be certain of,
it turns out, is totally wrong and deluded.
In particular, everything in my immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe.
He went on,
What needs to happen is to somehow alter or get free of my natural hardwired default setting,
which is to be deeply and literally self-centered,
and sees and interprets everything through this lens of self.
And he concluded that he desires not to be deluded,
not lost in abstract argument inside my own head,
instead of paying attention to what is going on right in front of me.
And that is a problem, isn't it, of modern life,
paying attention to the wrong thing,
not paying attention to what's going on right in front of us.
It's essentially not a problem of failing to pay attention whatsoever,
but failing to pay attention to the right thing,
and paying attention only to ourselves,
the world inside our own heads, we might say.
But this is not a new problem.
In our passage, and in fact the preceding chapters,
2,000 years ago Jesus gave a sermon on what the kingdom of God was like,
about what true greatness was, about what it was like.
But the people, the disciples who heard it,
could only concern themselves with how great that they could be.
They were only concerned about their kingdoms.
Jesus spent the previous two chapters,
from verse 13 of chapter 19,
if you quickly glance down,
that famous passage of the children coming to Jesus,
summarizing the character of the coming kingdom.
And it's summed up in those,
a verse that is repeated,
a very famous verse,
but many who are first will be last,
and the last will be first,
and then verse 16 of chapter 20,
it says, so the last will be first,
and the first will be last.
Why it's swapped around,
I couldn't tell you.
It's probably something significant.
But certainly that it was repeated,
was because Jesus wanted to tell something to his disciples,
and he wanted them to know it.
Our passage also begins with Jesus talking about
how he was going to die a painful and humiliating death on a cross.
But this isn't the first time he's said this to the disciples.
It's the third time in Matthew's Gospel.
And just finally, just so that we will pay attention,
because I think God is trying to say something in this passage,
for the reason is that this is repeated both in Mark and in Luke,
almost verbatim, the passage that we have today.
You'd think he's trying to tell us something.
And it's not just that the prophecy of Jesus' death, as I say,
is the most important aspect to focus on here,
because it bookends the passage that we have.
In between teaching about spiritual ambition
is about Jesus' death.
And that's why I want to talk about attention today,
because it's more than just an example of poor taste
or crass insensitivity on behalf of the disciples
and James and John's mother.
What's really at the heart of the verses here
is not the disciples or us,
but it's about Jesus.
But the Jesus that we're asked to pay attention to
is not an easy example.
Verse 18,
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
to be mocked and flogged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day.
Jesus had been talking about his kingdom,
the kingdom of God.
And for the disciples,
and in fact any Jew listening,
a kingdom would have been just what they wanted to hear about.
Any kingdom, as long as it wasn't a Roman kingdom,
which they had been under for quite some time.
But then Jesus here talks about
not only being killed and put to death by the Romans,
but also being condemned to death
by the Jewish authorities also.
Jesus' words make clear
that this would be a total rejection of him.
So that even if there was a Jew,
the Jewish authorities,
who would be the establishment of the day,
they are going to reject him too,
as well as the Romans.
So there's no glorious triumph
as far as the disciples are concerned
here in this death of what's going to happen.
It was a humiliating death.
And one more that was going to happen
in Jerusalem itself,
on the eve of them going up
in the city of God,
the centre of the Jewish religion and nation.
It's a bit like
Serena Vigman when she first took over
the England women's football team.
I don't know if they've won.
I don't know if it's still going on at the moment.
But let's just imagine the scene.
She goes into the dressing room,
disappointing results,
and she says,
right, I'm going to take you to the World Cup final.
And she says,
I'm going to teach you a bit about football
and skills and stuff like that.
But really, the crux of what I want you to learn,
you're going to learn by coming to watch me
every week
clean out a public toilet.
And it's that kind of
incongruency
that kind of
just doesn't make sense
that Jesus' death represents here
for the disciples.
It should, as that kind of death,
even shock us now,
even though we're very familiar with the cross.
The cross now to us is a symbol of hope,
of life.
We make gold crosses.
We put crosses in paintings
all through our culture.
But then that wasn't what the cross meant.
The cross then meant
humiliation,
degradation,
a complete rejection,
and of course, pain.
And so even now,
it should give us pause for thought
about why this was necessary
and what was the cost.
It demands our attention.
And you would have thought
that it would have given the disciples
pause, at least, for thought too.
But instead, we have the scene
that unfolds.
Verse 20,
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee
came up to him with her sons,
and kneeling before him,
she asked him for something.
And he said to her,
What do you want?
And she said to him,
Say that these two sons of mine
are to sit,
one at your right hand
and one at your left,
in your kingdom.
Now, one partial explanation
for this may be,
it's not certain,
but it might,
it's,
a lot of scholars think
it's probable that
the mother of James and John
was related to
Jesus' mother, Mary.
And it's not unusual,
and it still isn't in many cultures,
in fact,
even our own,
to some extent,
for family to approach
those in authority
and ask them for special preferment
from powerful relatives.
It's one possible explanation.
We don't know for sure.
But whatever it is,
James and John's mother
isn't really the issue here,
because Jesus is not fooled
by her coming to ask.
And in his response,
he immediately uses the plural you
in addressing James and John.
And in fact,
as we see later on
from the disciples,
he's really addressing the disciples.
Jesus answered,
You do not know
what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup
that I am to drink?
You see,
he knew what was on their mind.
He knew that when they heard
that there was a kingdom going,
the next thing
that they were thinking was,
what's in it for us?
Just as Peter had done
earlier in chapter 19,
just as the rich young ruler
had done in that same chapter.
After all,
the disciples were,
weren't they,
the chosen ones?
They were the ones
selected by Jesus,
called by him.
They were the ones
who had given up most for him.
They were special,
his oldest followers.
What's in it for us?
And how often,
if we're honest,
do our hearts echo
those sentiments?
Even as mature Christians,
Lord, I've been good
all this time.
I've been faithful.
I've had to give up things.
Maybe a relationship.
Maybe just a Sunday.
Maybe some of my money.
When do I see a return?
What's in it for me?
I've born with people.
I've put up with elders.
I've put up with the
hymn choices
that I don't like
for so long.
And these thoughts,
these turning in on ourselves
to our own concerns,
can come,
as I say,
even when we're mature Christians.
When we might be called
strong in our faith,
just as the disciples were.
James and John's mum,
she was at the foot of the cross
when Jesus died.
The disciples didn't doubt
or have no faith in Jesus
at this point or later.
But it's that temptation,
isn't it,
to listen to,
as Foster Wallace said,
that hardwired default setting,
which is to be deeply
and literally self-centered.
It's there in the disciples.
It's there in us.
Pride,
higher position,
recognition,
status,
can overcome
even the most
resolute of believers.
Interestingly,
John Calvin,
when he was writing
on this passage,
said,
for often depraved thoughts
and feelings
come over us
in the middle of the race
and turn us off course.
Such a thought
is enough to make
any one of us despair,
perhaps,
because it's true
that we're all
as self-centered
as disciples.
But I want to now
come on
and we'll see in this passage
why ultimately
we should not despair.
Because it's not,
as I say,
about the disciples
and about us,
it's ultimately about Jesus
and how we are liberated
from this conflict
that goes on
inside our own heads
and hearts.
And we see Jesus' response,
isn't it?
It's gentle.
It's an encouragement
in many ways.
Verse 22.
You do not know
what you are asking.
Are you able
to drink the cup
that I am to drink?
And they said,
we are able.
And he said to them,
you will drink my cup,
but to sit at my right hand
and my left
is not mine to grant,
but it is for those
who have been prepared
by my Father.
Are you able?
We are able.
And this shows us
the amazing
and wonderful paradox
of the Christian life,
the yes we can
that goes with
the no we can't.
Could anyone
drink the cup
of God's wrath
except Jesus?
No, of course not.
Could anybody
satisfy God's wrath
and anger for sin
and make atonement
for our sin?
No.
But yet James and John
did suffer for Christ.
They're two of the
earliest martyrs.
We read about James
being killed in Acts 12.
John was only exiled,
but he suffered
through the course
of his life.
Both suffered greatly
for bearing witness
to Christ.
And so in a sense,
they were able
to share in Christ's cup.
And in so far
that that is true,
we are all called
to share in Christ's cup,
in Christ's suffering.
Paul in Philippians
talks of the fellowship
of his sufferings,
the fellowship
of his sufferings.
Jesus himself
has just said
in chapter 16,
if anyone wishes
to come after me,
he must deny himself
and take up his cross
and follow me.
It was a hard saying
for those who heard it then.
It's a hard saying
for us now.
But James and John
and the other disciples
and countless Christians
down the century
show us that through
listening to Christ's teaching
and the work of the Holy Spirit,
we are equipped to share
in his sufferings
as well as in his glory.
As I said,
it's important to remember
both the can and the cannot
of the Christian life.
We need to understand both.
One, the can that we can
imitate our Lord
in his suffering
and in his sacrifice.
The cannot that we cannot
take his place.
too much emphasis
or teaching on the
yes we can.
Well, that can lead to pride,
arrogance,
perhaps even some sort
of Messiah complex.
Too much emphasis
on the teaching
that we can't.
It's all Jesus.
It can lead to lethargy,
complacency,
and perhaps even
a kind of despair
or spiritual depression.
We can and we can't.
It's a question of degree.
Jesus, again,
is calling us back
out of ourselves
to pay attention to him.
Only through looking to him,
learning from him,
calling on him,
are we equipped
for the Christian life
and its highs and nos.
All through this passage,
Jesus is saying,
look at me,
pay attention to me.
So I think
there's two areas
of application for us.
Firstly,
to pay attention
to each other
and secondly,
to pay attention
to Jesus.
Pay attention
to each other
because glory
looks like a servant.
Jesus teaches
his disciples,
doesn't he,
after calling them out.
But,
you know that the rulers
of the Gentiles
lord it over them
and their great ones
exercise authority
over them.
It shall not be so
among you.
But whoever
will be great
among you
must be your servant
and whoever
will be first
among you
must be your slave.
James and John
had not asked themselves
how they could build
the kingdom of God
but I hope
it's a question
that we would ask ourselves.
I hope
and I believe
we all do
want to help
build God's kingdom.
And what Jesus
is teaching here
is that to build
the kingdom
we must first
serve the kingdom.
To build the kingdom
we must serve
the kingdom.
And building anything
is hard
and dirty work.
When I was thinking
about this
I was thinking
about how I used
to commute
wearing a suit
backwards and forwards
from the city
and pretty much
every evening
you'd stop
at certain stations
the doors would open
the other people
sitting in business
attire
and suddenly
the construction workers
or the builders
would come on.
And they looked
very very different.
They were covered
in dust
hair was everywhere
they had clothes
and boots
that were all
worn away
or dusty
or whatever.
Nails were all chipped.
They're the worst
dressed people there
but they have to
get filthy.
It's part of the job
in all weathers
and they have to work.
They have to be prepared
to hit their thumb
with a hammer
get splinters
or stand in a trench
full of water
digging.
but more than that
they need to be prepared
and the way they look
shows that they are prepared
they need to be prepared
to work
within the physical realities
of the site
that they're
working with
and the materials
that they have to use.
To be a good builder
requires to be
in some sense
a servant
of the physical environment
that you find yourself in
and working with that.
and so too
the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God
is synonymous
with the people of God
the church.
Jesus says here
that to build
particularly in a position
of leadership
in Christ's kingdom
is to be a servant
a slave
to the human material
that makes up the church
the men and women there
in the place
where you are.
And to do that
we have to pay attention
to others
if we are to build
the kingdom
and be like Christ.
We are called
are we not
to serve others needs
above our own
and to that
we need to know
what their needs are
what the needs
of the church are
we need to pay attention
to each other.
And while Jesus
is talking primarily
about leadership here
it applies to us all
but particularly
in leadership
leaders need to be
not so wrapped up
in their own self image
or their own welfare
or glory
or reputation
that they become
unaware of those
over whom they have
authority.
They above all others
need to pay attention.
Practically
it means two things
I think
one we are not
above anybody
whatever our role
we are called to
in the church
even those in authority
are to think of themselves
not even as equals
but as servants.
And secondly
that we are not
above anything
all service
however menial
is service.
In fact
the more ordinary
the more necessary
it often is
and often
the less noticed.
Paul sums this up
in Philippians
chapter 2
do nothing from
selfish ambition
or conceit
but in humility
count others
more significant
than yourselves.
secondly
we are to
pay attention
to Jesus
because glory
authority
looks like Jesus.
Glory and authority
looks like Jesus.
and when we say
we should act
in humility
we can be a servant
and yet we still
recognise
that we are
totally prone
to being inward looking
and thinking
only of ourselves
that can be
a daunting thought
surely if my heart
is so prone
to sin and pride
if I achieve
even humility
won't these things
just become
another source
of pride
another way
to put myself
above others.
We probably know
some Christians
who can show
some of that tendency.
Humble is a very
overused word
these days
I've noticed.
Most people
talk about
being humbled
but I'm not sure
they mean it
and most of them
don't appear
very humble
for very long.
The truth is
that on its own
teaching about
being a servant
or being humble
is impossible
for us.
Impossible.
And this is where
I want you to
remind you of
what I said
at the beginning
this passage
is not about
the disciples
or us
or even
the disciples
mothers
but it's
about Jesus.
Jesus says
to us
I know
this is hard
I know
that better
than you do
but if you
look to me
to my example
you'll be able
to do it.
And verse 28
tells us this
even as the
son of man
came not to
be served
but to serve
and to give
his life
as a ransom
for many.
Jesus is
our example
in this
and it's
worth noting
what the end
the results
of his
service
is
isn't it?
To give
his life
as a ransom
for many.
Christ gave
his life
as a ransom.
He's lived
a life
of service
and he died
on a cross
to liberate
his people
to set us
free
and that's
what service
does.
When we serve
others' needs
in a sense
we do
liberate them.
It's a question
of degree
I'm not saying
as I said
before
that we
can liberate
them like
Christ
but it
works in
the same
way.
It is
similar
to
it is
like
when we
serve each
other
we liberate
them.
Isn't that
a wonderful
thought?
And even
though we
know the
depth of
our pride
and self
centredness
it's not
really one
of the deep
desires of
our hearts
to join
with Jesus
in building
his church
and bringing
freedom
to his
people.
Our
service
like Christ
frees
others.
Which
brings us
back to
where our
true
motivation
and the
source
of our
power
comes
from
that
enables
us to
follow
in
Jesus'
footsteps.
I've
talked
about
paying
attention
to
Jesus
but
really
we
want
to
love
him
don't
we?
And
to
love
him
is
to
pay
attention
to
him.
We
pay
attention
to
the
things
that
we
love.
Or
too
frequently
it's
ourselves
but it
holds
true
in
anything.
It's
about
this
passage
how
Jesus
is
and
how
wonderful
he
is.
It's
about
paying
attention
to
him
something
the
sons
of
Zebedee
and the
other
ten
were
failing
to
do.
And
as I
said
attention
is
very
close
to
love.
In
fact
it
goes
with
love.
Iris
Murdoch
in
the
essay
God
and
the
good
said
this
about
overcoming
negative
influences
or
experiences
in
her
life.
Where
strong
emotions
of
sexual
love
or
of
hatred
or
resentment
or
jealousy
are
concerned
pure
will
can
usually
achieve
little.
It's
a small
use
telling
oneself
stop
being
in
love
stop
feeling
resentment
be
just.
What
is
needed
is a
reorientation
which
will
provide
an
energy
of a
different
kind
from
a
different
source
the
acquiring
!
of
new
objects
of
attention
and
thus
of
new
energies
as a
result
of
refocusing.
We kind
of
know
this
when we
want to
get out
of the
rut
of
something
we need
to
replace
it
with
something
else
to
get
new
objects
of
attention
that
give
us
new
energies
as a
result
of
refocusing.
The
disciples
could
not
live
as
Jesus
called
them
in
this
passage
in
their
own
strength.
They
needed
to
look
outside
of
themselves
to
Jesus
a
reorientation
away
from
the
normal
patterns
of
their
human
hearts
new
energies
as I said
to use
Iris
Murdoch's
phrase
from a
different
source
outside
of
themselves.
We
pay
attention
to the
things
we love
to the
people
we
love
but
looking
unto
Jesus
paying
attention
to
Jesus
it
takes
us
out
of
ourselves
it
takes
us
out
of our
preoccupations
with
pride
and
status
and
position
that
are
so
natural
to
us
love
of
Jesus
enables
us
to
focus
on
someone
outside
of
ourselves
to
see
him
in
his
death
and
resurrection
as
our
model
and
as
our
savior
and
so
as
Christians
to do
this
we
read
his
word
we
reorientate
our
affections
in
worship
on
the
Lord's
day
we
see
his
body
the
church
as
ours
to
serve
all
of
these
things
some
of
them
are
called
the
ordinary
means
of
grace
what
we
do
every
day
to
take
us
out
of
ourselves
and
we
pray
we
pray
don't
we
pray
to
pray
!
pray
!
pray
!
pray
!
properly a petition, it's not a list of requests. Prayer is simply attention to
God which is a form of love. We pay attention to the things that we love, to
Jesus. I've talked a lot about attention. The word attention is interesting, it
doesn't mean, well the root of it doesn't come from a narrow focus or blocking out
everything else and concentrating on one thing. The Latin root is tendere, from
where we get our word tension and it means to stretch, to take out and to
stretch. So I think it's quite helpful in terms of thinking of paying attention to
God that we think of God, of Jesus, as that attachment point for our hearts and
our minds. That we attach to him and it stretches us out of ourselves. And this
is the power of the Christian life for us, even of humble service or even of
suffering. It's the same Saviour whom we love, who we see, who we attend to and he
draws us out of ourselves, out of that internal conflict with ourselves and sets
us free. And as we come to the table now we have another opportunity in a different
way to pay attention to God, to love him, to pay attention to whom we love. And God
grant that as we love him that we pay attention to him who we love and become more
like him.