Give Your "I" to God

St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Scripture Passage

Mark 10:35-45

Worship Video

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"> </span>

Worship Audio

Sermon Script

Jesus summarizes the purpose of his life:

For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

He came to restore the essence of life.

We are at our best when we put others first. Life comes alive and flourishes when we do that.

This applies to all of your relationships. Whether it's your marriage, friendships, workplace, community or geopolitics.

US President John F Kennedy had a famous line:

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

Joonie played house league baseball this past summer. He had a great experience. Because coaches were willing to offer their time for the kids.

All busy (with their work and family lives) but put in time to develop the kids. Summer was so much fun.

Joonie had fun and improved so much that they put him on a rep team.

Joonie's cousin also played house league baseball, but had a terrible experience. Because no one was willing to serve as coaches. Practices, games, useless.

Church thrives because people willing to serve. Thanksgiving lunch. Fall Fridays (food prep, praise team, clean up, etc). Praise team, teachers, etc.

When people are willing to serve and put the interests of others at centre, life thrives. When people don't, life diminishes.

Today's story begins with James and John's request to sit at Jesus' right hand and left hand in glory.

It sounds so selfish and greedy! Why would they ask that?

But I take a more sympathetic view of them.

James and John were among the very first disciples to follow Jesus. This is how their journey began:

As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:19-20)

They just followed Jesus! They dropped everything to follow him. They didn't ask any questions. How remarkable!

They remind me of Abraham. Like Abraham, they didn't ask questions, they didn't try to find out more, they didn't equivocate. They simply followed.

That is faith!

They followed Jesus when he was unknown. When he was still a nobody.

There was great risk in what they were doing, because no one knew Jesus and what would happen. I admire what James and John did.

James Choe and John Chung were our first elders in the ESM. Their willingness to serve paved the way for many others to serve as elders. I admire James and John!

More people need to be willing to serve and put the interests of others. That was not James and John's issue.

So what was their issue?

They were there from the very beginning. They were part of Jesus' inner circle.

Fidel Castro and Mao Zedong: leaders of Cuba and China. Remarkable how they came to power.

Small guerilla forces starting in a tiny section of the country. But somehow survived, went on March and gathered momentum and power on their journey toward the capital against all odds.

I think the disciples were feeling something similar.

Those who were with them from the very beginning got into positions of power. They jockeyed for positions closest to the leaders. You see similar dynamic at play here.

James and John's were among first disciples. They were always part of Jesus' inner circle.

But when you think of disciples, who's the most famous disciple that comes to mind?

Peter!

Peter was the first. He was always the most prominent. Even being called, Peter was the first.

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark your 1:16-20)

James and John were renamed by Jesus as Sons of Thunder.

No one else was given a new name – except one: Simon > Peter.

Wherever they went, they were overshadowed by Peter.

This must have got to them. It must have made them insecure and uneasy of where they stood.

Jesus' calling to think of others took a back seat as their I became insecure. The I started to take centre stage.

When people mutually put each other first, life is beautiful. Life flourishes.

Problems begin when the I begins to take over.

We often put our I at the centre because we're afraid of losing ourselves. We're insecure. We want to preserve ourselves.

I think this is what happened to James and John.

A strange thing happens: the more you put the I at the centre, the less secure the I is.

It is less at peace. More insecure. More anxious. More concerned about how others respond to you.

The I gets set off more easily and gets in the way. Putting I at centre becomes contagious.

Other disciples upset because they too wanted to be at centre.

I that feels unworthy. That too becomes a barrier.

In any relationship, the I becomes the barrier to true connection. It becomes the barrier to truly serving the other. It becomes the barrier to harmony and community.

It gets in the way of a flourishing life. For life to come alive, the I has to take a back seat.

Jesus did that. His I took a back seat.

Even when he could see what was going to happen to him, he was calm, confident and resolute.

We see this right before our passage today:

They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the gentiles; they will mock him and spit upon him and flog him and kill him, and after three days he will rise again. (Mark 10:32-34)

Jesus was not a doormat. He carried on with God's will, even when he knew what lay ahead.

How was he able to put God's will and others ahead of his I ?

He gave his I to God. Completely entrusted his I to God.

You see this most clearly on the cross. On cross, everyone had abandoned him. He even felt abandoned by God.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

But even there, entrusted his I to God.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

Following Jesus is to give your I to him and follow him. That's what it means to deny yourself.

Denying yourself is not being a doormat and losing who you are. It's giving your I completely to God.

You give your I to God so that it no longer drives your life. When your I is not at the centre, you are free.

You can see God's will more clearly. You are led by God's wisdom. You can put needs of others first without being afraid of losing yourself .

When you give your I to God, you become truly yourself.

My friends, give your I to God. God will take care of you. God will provide your I what it needs.

That should be part of your regular prayer and spiritual life. Give your I to God. Find peace in God's presence. Hear God's affirmation. Entrust your I in God's merciful hands.

Jesus entrusted himself completely to God, even to death on the cross.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death
even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

But God exalted him.

Therefore God exalted him even more highly
and gave him the name
that is above every other name,
so that at the name given to Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

That is what God will do for you too.

God will protect you. God will crown you with glory. God will make your life around you will thrive.

You will be a blessing.

The post Give Your I to God appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.