REMEMBER HOW TO SERVE
Mark 9: 30-37
Scott Memorial UMC
October 25, 2009
Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton
You’ve spent a year celebrating 100 years of ministry. You’ve looked back and feted your namesake. An Ebony Bishop, Isaiah Benjamin Scott was elected to the episcopacy in 1904 after serving the church and the world as a distinguished theologian, educator and journalist. You’ve looked back at the founders Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Henson. From its infancy as a house church, Scott Memorial became a citadel for our God. You’ve looked back at the trials and tribulations of this Religious Centenarian noting that John Newton was right. “Through many dangers toils and snares I have already come. ‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.”
You’re not just looking back. Scott Memorial is looking forward. Your theme boldly claims the words of the prophet Jeremiah. “For surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for your harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Hope abounds at Scott Memorial UMC. You have vital worship. You have excellent lay and clergy leadership. You have ongoing programs that reach out to the community. And you have a vision to be “a progressive church, committed to winning souls, and the revival of personal commitment to Jesus Christ.” No one need convince members of Scott Memorial UMC that God can make a way out of no way.” You believe. It’s clear. However, a storied past and a hope filled future does cry out for a reminder extant in Mark 9:30-37. “Remember how to serve.”
In Mark 9:30-37, our Lord’s words and actions suggest that his own disciples are having memory problems. Listen. Following the Transfiguration, a teaching moment about the prophet Elijah and expelling an unclean spirit from the body of a little boy, Jesus begins telling his disciples what will happen to him. In Jerusalem, he will experience betrayal, crucifixion, death and resurrection. It is the second time he has said as much. Later, Christ will say it a third time. Like parents, when Jesus starts repeating something a second time and third time, it means listen and learn. What Jesus says is important. What Jesus says has vast implications for himself, his disciples, the world and his Father. But like children, the disciples do not always understand what Jesus says to them over and over.
Let me explain. Our Lord reveals what will happen to him in Jerusalem repeatedly to remind them of his main purpose. Christ comes to earth as the Messiah. In short, he is to deliver humankind back to God through his role as God’s Suffering Servant. Our Lord hammers this point home to the Twelve. Apparently, his disciples believe that following Jesus is more about power and prestige than servanthood. Who can blame them? No sooner than they respond to the call of “Follow Me,” the Twelve see their Master doing things no one has ever done. He breaks the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law and heals leprous hands. He exorcises evil spirits from men, women and children and sets the prisoner free. He stands up to the religious hierarchy and admonishes Roman soldiers who strike fear in the heart of most Jews. He is a distinguished teacher and a miracle worker. Crowds follow him. His entire being and presence opens the way for new life, new times of a future with hope not seen by the people of God. Who would not have been proud to have been among the Twelve? Christ who is a mover and shaker in the society of his day.
Likewise, who would not have been proud to have membership in the Mother Church of Black Methodism in Detroit during the roaring Twenties? Over a thousand members belonged to Scott Memorial. Plus, Scott Memorial birthed three Methodist Episcopal Churches, Berea, Second Grace and St. Paul. Scott made a difference in church and society. Today, one hundred years later, the Mother Church, has begun a fresh resurgence. Once again, the “God of our weary years…the God of our silent tears” has allowed a fresh resurgence of hope. Once again, Scott Memorial has begun to feel like a mover and shaker in its community, in the city and/or the conference. That is a legacy of pride. At the same time, don’t let it throw you off your game.
Here, there is no wish to condemn or criticize pride in general. Not all pride is negative. People take pride in their dress, speech, caring for other etc. Thank God for that. However, there are times when pride in our accomplishments can blind us to the source of actions which led to the achievement of great things. In today’s scripture, Christ tries to open the eyes of his disciples. His ministry and great accomplishments are not about him. They are en route to Jerusalem because he is a servant on a mission. John’s gospel said as much about God’s role for his son Jesus in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” If persons took note of the last speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they heard the same note of serving God. “I just want to do God’s will,” he said.
Reminding the disciples of his servant role was a good thing. Why, you say? Instead of listening to Christ talk about the greatest redemptive act any Christian will ever know, his disciples argued over “who is the greatest? Can’t you imagine what might have been said? What had Peter done to be selected as the leader? His brother Andrew brought him to Christ. The mother of James and John tried to get them seats with Christ in his future kingdom. The others weren’t pleased. Maybe, they weren’t pleased that Judas was the treasurer. Maybe, it should have been Matthew. After all, Matthew had been the tax collector. But our lord picked Judas as he did doubting Thomas, denying Peter and the rest of them. Whatever, the disciples assumed our Lord selected them as a part of the Cabinet based on what each had done-what each had laid out on their resume- what society valued as great-what society thought made them a leader among leaders.
His disciples had not grasped the gravity of the first words they ever heard from him. Jesus said, “Follow me. And I will make you fishers of men.” Christ introduced them to their primary role, following him, nothing more; nothing less. He made it clear that his role had nothing to do with entitlement. To truly follow Jesus, one must remember how to serve. Anything less, means getting off track.
It makes one wonder if the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has it right and Obama’s critics have it wrong. “He’s done nothing in terms of worldly accomplishments to deserve the Peace Prize,” many have said. But the Nobel Committee has decided that President Obama’s thinking and motives are steeped in the tradition of serving all God’s children as he has pledged to reduce the world’s stock of nuclear arms, work to ease U.S. conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthen America’s efforts in combating climate change, etc.” The President wants America to be a better servant in the world. Let me illustrate.
During the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, some of the female tennis pros were subjected to this criticism namely,” they have forgotten how to serve.” Critics pointed out the serving woes of Dinara Safina and former U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova. Sharapova and Safina lost their matches due to an avalanche of unforced errors and double faults. To remedy this situation, tennis pundits urged them to practice serving so they would remember how to serve. Like our tennis colleagues, we forget how to serve sometimes. Unforced errors and double faults creep into our ministries. That is precisely what happens to Jesus and his disciples en route to Jerusalem. Unforced errors and double faults creep into their notions of ministry.
Listen to the word. “Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them. “What were you arguing about on the way? But they were silent, for on the way they argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the Twelve and said to them; whoever wants to be first must be last and servant of all.” Nobody said a word. But his message struck home. Christ had no desire to squash his disciples’ desire for greatness. He just wanted them to remember that the path to greatness in God’s eyes was through servanthood and/or serving others.
When the history of Scott Memorial is cited, it is no accident that Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Henson are lauded. The Henson’s allowed their home to be used as a house church. Their radical hospitality allowed the kind of passionate worship to take place which resulted in the growth of Black Methodism in the city of Detroit. And the outstanding achievements of Isaiah Benjamin Scott in church and society served as a shining example to emulate and honor in the mission and ministry of this church. His devotion to God and humankind was second to none. Focused on the mission Christ had to perform in Jerusalem, one thing is crystal clear. As far as Jesus is concerned, greatness is inextricably linked to servanthood.
To attain such greatness in the 1st Century, God challenged seven churches of the Revelation listed in 1:11. You’ve heard their names, e.g., Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. You’ve heard about the compliments God made to the seven churches that possessed “A Legacy of Pride and A Future with Hope.” They had it together. Like the disciples, they had decided to follow Jesus. Where he led, they followed. Like the best trained among us, the most faithful among us, the highly dedicated among us, the most spiritual among us, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the seven churches of the Revelation were no exception.
Ephesus abandoned God as her first love. Because of religious persecution, Smyrna was afraid to hold on to her faith in Jesus Christ. Pergamum never made that mistake. But she embraced false teachings and false prophecy. Thyatira had members who disregarded the first commandment. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Sardis had the reputation of being alive. But she was dead. Laodicea had a faith that was lukewarm. God wanted to spit them out of his mouth. Not so with the church Philadelphia, she held on to her faith “though pressed by every foe.” She remembered how to serve. Her greatness was inextricably linked to serving Jesus Christ not her worldly accomplishments.
CONCLUSION
For the next hundred years, let it be said of Scott Memorial UMC. She embraced the future with hope. She refused to be cowed by the finding of a research company studying City Crime Rankings labeling Detroit “as the most dangerous city in the nation.” Scott Memorial United Methodist Church remained in the city. She acknowledged the Lordship of Christ. Along with mosques, synagogues and a plethora of churches, she helped transform the landscape, culture and people of Detroit, Michigan until it became a citadel for our God. Like Christ, she attained greatness through a legacy of servanthood. Reacting to the mother of James and John who wanted her sons to have seats of honor with Christ in his kingdom, Jesus offered a classic response. “…The Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
One songwriter put it this way. “The service of Jesus true pleasure affords, In Him there is joy without an alloy. ”Tis heaven to trust him and rest on his word; it pays to serve Jesus each day.
It pays to serve Jesus whate’er betide, it pays to be true, whate’er you may do; Tis riches of mercy in him to abide; it pays to serve Jesus each day.
Refrain: It pays to serve Jesus, it pays every day. It pays every step of the way. Tho’ the pathway to glory may sometimes be drear; you’ll be happy each step of the way.”
Amen.