A Graduation Address

They Say: Unless you are the lead dog, the view never changes.

Ever wonder what Jesus would have to say about that? Well it just so happens that we know.

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said* to Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left." 22 But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said* to Him, "We are able." 23 He said* to them, "My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father."

24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 "It is not this way among you, but whoever, wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever, wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Matt 20:20-28 (NASB)

When a politician is misunderstood, they always appeal to context insisting that their comments were taken out of their proper context. As much as I hate to admit it, from time to time they are right. The context of this conversation is important.

After being a sovereign nation under its own king for hundreds of years Israel suffered defeat at the hands of the Persian empire. After a time they in turn were run out by the Greeks, who in time were cast out by the Romans. Although there had been brief periods of freedom (like the times of the Maccabean revolt) the Jews were under the heel of Rome and like any occupied people they wanted to be free.

Furthermore, the Jewish people expected a deliverer, a conqueror to come. Someone like David or Solomon who would run the Romans out of town and set up Israel in her rightful place as the center of the worship of God (cf Is 2, 52, & 61-66). As far as the disciples were concerned, Jesus’ resume’ placed him in the top running to be the one they had been waiting for.

We then have to ask the question, “what mother doesn’t want to secure a future for her children”? So then, believing that Jesus was going to rule in Jerusalem and fulfill their wildest dreams, she was hoping to get her sons the best seats in the house. However, the fact that she asked for preferment itself showed that she didn’t understand a thing about who Jesus was and what He had come to do.

22But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said* to Him, "We are able." 23 He said* to them, "My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father."

Jesus’ answer falls into two parts:

1. Are you really ready to reign with me?
2. I can’t grant your request.

Firstly, He asks if they are willing to “drink the same cup”. This cup is the cup of wrath that will be poured upon Him at the cross. It is a round about way of his reminding them that He did not come to establish an earthly kingdom, but an eternal one. Furthermore, it was a warning that following Jesus could be costly and indeed it was, and is. “Yes”, is their answer, but then at the Cross, these two are no where to be found. However, they will drink the cup Jesus says (more on that later).

24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 "It is not this way among you, but whoever, wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever, wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

So then, the disciples get a bit self-righteous and begin to grumble among themselves. Noticing their dissention, Jesus turns it into a teachable moment, calling them together, and settles the matter by comparing the kings and kingdoms of the world to His eternal Kingdom to Come.

In the Kingdoms of this age, people rule by force, by wrestling their way to the top. The sad truth is that while it is not impossible, it is very difficult to find our way as the lead dog AND stay on track with Jesus. That is to say that many who are great in this age most often get there are the expense of others. Christians must always be on guard at the lure of success. We have to read the fine print to be certain that climbing the next rung on the ladder will not put us in a place of spiritual compromise.

So then, what does success look like for a follower of Jesus?

Listen to Jesus again:

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 "It is not this way among you, but whoever, wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever, wishes to be first among you shall be your slave…

What we read here runs contrary to almost everything that our culture tells us about success. Remember, the world says that unless you are the lead dog, the view never changes. Yet Christ insists that if we are striving to be at the head of the pack, that we have missed the point. In fact, those who are striving with all that they are to be at the head of the pack will, in the end, find themselves at the bottom of the heap. You see, the big dogs in this life will be the bell boys in the age to come.

Now, I’ll admit this is a tough pill to swallow. Regardless it is the truth.

I mean seriously, how does someone become first without trying to get there? According to Jesus, that is exactly how it happens.

1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped , 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Phil 2:1-11 (NASB)

The apostle James puts it even more simply.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
James 4:10 (KJV)

And James is surely echoing Jesus who said:

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Luke 14:11 (NASB)

So, does it work? It worked for Jesus. It has worked for me. It will work for anyone who humbly submits to the will of God. If you offer yourself as a water boy, a hired hand, a busboy in the house of God, you will find yourself blessed in ways that you cannot imagine.

Peter once approached Jesus saying:

28 Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You." 29 Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, 30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 "But many who are first will be last, and the last, first."
Mark 10:28-31 (NASB)

We can apply this many ways. We need to be servants: in our homes, our marriages, our churches, our schools, our government, our place of employment, … This command ties directly into the greatest commandment:

'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' 31 "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:29-31 (NASB)

Remember what Jesus said:

28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

The world tells us that he who dies with the most toys wins. The Bible tells us that it doesn’t matter how many toys you have, one day you are going to die and stand before a holy God and give an account for what you did with yourself and He doesn’t care how many toys you have.

A last word:

We hear a great deal in commencement addresses about chasing our dreams, following our heart, going for the gold, and all that. While I admit that dreams are a powerful force, we have to remember that beating within our chest is a faulty compass. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that

“the heart is deceitful above all things, who can trust it’s ways?”

So, if we can’t follow our heart, and we can’t follow the world, what are we to do?

Follow Jesus.

My life verse, which is a fancy way Christians say “my favorite verse in the Bible is…”, Matthew 6:33. It is found at the end of the sermon on the Mount. After Jesus has given the Beatitudes, given commandments on how the disciples are to conduct themselves in the world, and how we are to treat each other, taught about prayer and fasting he the centers in on the needs we all have and do you know what He says? The capstone of his entire sermon seems to be this statement:

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you as well.

What are these things? Whatever you need.

You see, you may have taken my comments out of context and heard me say that if you are going to be a Christian that you cannot be successful in life. In fact, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:10 that "whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" just don't sell your soul in the process. You see: The selling of a soul is often more subtle than sudden. The transaction takes place through a series of small compromises, of saying "My will be done" instead of "Thy will be done", until one day we look into the mirror and we don't recognize who we see.  

This life is full of opportunity, but I warn you (and many of you already know) that it is full of sucker punches and raw deals. Everything changes, but JESUS is the same today, yesterday and forever… you can always count on Him.