The Cup of Discipleship

Matthew 20:20-28

20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 21 “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” 22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” 23 Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” 24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Focus Statement

Being followers of Jesus involves giving of our whole selves to build a community of mutual blessing.

Point of Relation

I will never forget my beginning years after coming back to Christ.

I remember seeing Passion of the Christ

I remember, as a software engineer at the time, having the weird desire to create my own New Testament program...

Typing the King James Version by hand (because it is in the public domain)

At the time, I said I was doing it because I knew I could build a better Bible Graphic User Interface than others I had seen or used.

But the truth is…in order to type you have to read...

and I was hungry for the Gospel.

I remember visiting a church in the area I was living...

And being asked immediately what my position was on homosexuality...

I NEVER WENT BACK TO THAT CHURCH...

But it didn’t stop me from seeking Christ out in another Church.

I remember visiting my mom’s church, Grace United Methodist Church in Dover, and the message that day was called:

“Coming Home”on the Prodigal Son.

I remember all of these things…and more...

But what I remember most was the time I was sponsored by John Pier, a member of Vernon UMC who has since died, to go to a retreat called:

A Walk To Emmaus.

I remember being served and loved on by total strangers and...

the overwhelming feeling of inclusion that is built into that retreat.

I mean these people waited on me hand and foot…and they had no clue who I was...

They had been praying for me…they had been feeding me…taking care of all of my basic needs...

So that all I had to focus on was Jesus.

They served me…putting me and the other “pilgrims” first before themselves...

humbly putting themselves last.

Things to Consider

In many cultures, great emphasis is placed on being the first, the greatest, or the best

whether that’s in terms of wealth, reputation, status, talent, etc.

Yet Jesus emphasizes the importance of serving others and humility and essentially proclaims a reversal of this cultural message

For example just several short verses before our our passage Jesus said in Matthew 20:16: “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

It can be difficult to listen and stay focused on Jesus’ message

when the voices of the world and our culture so loudly tell us the opposite.

What Scripture Says

In this passage, we see the mother of the sons of Zebedee (James and John) make a plea on behalf of her children

that reveals her concern for their wellbeing and destiny.

She wants to make sure they are successful and powerful in the way their culture (and also ours) defines success and power.

So, she asks Jesus to declare that they will sit at the right and left hand in Jesus’ kingdom,

that they will be second in power and glory to Jesus.

Jesus responds with a statement and a question (verse 22)

that show the kind of glory Jesus (and, therefore, his followers) will have is not the same as the kind of glory the world values.

I want to remind you how last week’s sermon talked about a person’s “cup” being their “lot in life.”

In verse 22, Jesus’ “cup” will involve tremendous suffering, as well as glory.

We see this also in Matthew 26:39, where the Bible tells us that in the Garden of Gethsemane, “[Jesus] went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying,

'My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’”

The word disciple, or mathētēs in Greek (μαθητής), means both to be a student of someone

and to be an adherent or follower of someone.

It involves both learning and relationship.

To be a disciple of Jesus, therefore, means to share in the love and salvation of God

and in Jesus’ suffering and humility (servant leadership). The two g hand-in-hand.

In verse 22, Jesus is warning James and John that they may not realize what they are asking for

signing up to be a disciple means opening oneself to the same kind of persecution and suffering that Jesus himself will experience.

To further explore the meaning of costly discipleship, I would highly recommend Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship (often referred to as The Cost of Discipleship).

In it, Bonhoeffer, who stood up against the Nazis and knew full well the cost of Discipleship...

He was hung naked by Nazis in the Concentration Camp he was being held at for his part in an assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler.

Though a pacifist, discipleship led him to the very last place he ever saw himself being...

Being a part of an assassination plot in order to hopefully end what the Nazis were doing.

Even though Jesus says James and John will drink his cup,

he does not promise they will be at his right and left hand

but defers to God the Father.

The rest of the disciples are angry with James and John (likely for trying to put themselves above the others).

Jesus’ teaching that follows challenges the world’s understanding of leadership, power, and greatness.

If the disciples want to follow Jesus, they must lead by serving others, just as Jesus does.

One way to look at this is that being first, best, greatest (sitting at Jesus’ right hand) is not the goal of discipleship at all.

Rather, just as the Trinity is interdependent and mutual, we too are created as relational beings.

Out of our interdependence, we are called to care for one another and serve one another,

not as if we are better than others but in awareness that we need each other and belong to each other.

That's the love of the Spirit connecting us, empowering us to serve each other.

What This Mean for You

Let’s reframe the idea of “giving something up for Lent.”

I want to challenge you to consider how Jesus might be calling his disciples , including you, to set aside comfort for others’ sake,

or let me just ask you what else your discipleship requires you to give up in order to serve the community as a whole.

It could be time, money, presence, the feeling of awkwardness as you share a Biblical truth with someone.

Sometimes “giving up something for Lent” can be an empty exercise or it can be a way to show how good and devout one is.

What would it look like to “give up” the desire to be perceived as good and find a way to serve someone else?

What This Mean for Us

When we take communion, we are invited to share in Christ’s cup and to be sent out into the world as Christ’s one body.

Community changes us, and by our participation, we change our community.

Being servants in the community means that we run out to meet people where they are at in the community.

It means we will sacrifice comfort and even status to share what God is doing in our lives and in our community.

We sometimes struggle with wanting the security of a full church with full plates...

We want the greatness of being that church everyone attends...

Where the pews are full and we’re floating on easy street.

But Christ calls us to continue in our current struggle...

To be faithful and continue to trust that He has everything under control.

Do we trust that?

Do we believe that in Jesus, all things are possible...

and that the very few we see in here, given the power of the Holy Spirit sent to us by Jesus Christ,

Cans shake the very foundation of Newton and the surrounding areas.

That through us for the unforeseeable future,

People will be fed, sheltered, visited, uplifted, loved and included in thIs community we call the church.

Together with Christ, nothing can nor will stop us.

Let’s follow Christ…and follow Christ alone. Amen? Amen!