Blind
Ambition, John Dean’s account as President Nixon’s counsel during
Watergate, reveals Dean’s desire for power and importance, which led him to
fall deeply into crisis. Dean had more than ambition. Dean had blind ambition.
Ambition,
from the Latin word ambitio
originally meant going around soliciting votes. One with ambition desired
honor and thirsted for popularity. Today, we use the word pejoratively. She has
an inordinate desire. He exudes pride and vainglory.[i]
Some say ambition is good. Some say,
“I did it so my family could have a
better life. … I was only thinking of us!” … In truth, we stop looking at
others along the road and become racehorses wearing blinders so we can fully
fixate on the finish line and accomplish our goals at the expense of everyone
and everything. Often when we win the race on the road of blind ambition, we
feel lousy. Outwardly successful to others, inwardly we know joy slipped from
our lives. We realize the price of earned success.[ii]
The difference between ambition and
blind ambition? Ambition is about improving and changing things in the world.
Blind ambition is about improving things for you.[iii]
Today, I examine the disciples’ blind ambition, Jesus’ teaching, and what the
Gospel might mean for us today.
Our passage occurred on the way to
Jerusalem. Jesus walked ahead. His disciples followed. … Going before or going
in front of indicated one’s relative position to others on the journey. In this
case, ‘the way’ referred to Jesus’
relationship with his disciples. He went before them as their leader, showing
the way and modeling the life to which he called them.[iv]
On the way, Jesus predicted his
passion for the third time.[v]
Again, the disciples heard Jesus’ message on the resurrection, but ignored what
he said about the passion. After his first prediction, Peter rebuked Jesus.[vi]
After the second, the disciples did not understand and were too afraid to ask.[vii]
Instead, they argued about who was the greatest. Now, James and John asked what
the glory could mean for them. Not one disciple was able to face and accept the
passion.[viii]
James and John were among the first
disciples. Like Peter, they were fishermen.[ix]
Named to the Twelve right after Peter,[x]
together they experienced the Transfiguration.[xi]
The three raised the most basic issues regarding what it meant to follow Christ
and were the vehicle for Jesus’ most challenging teaching.
The sons of Zebedee approached Jesus
with a bold request. In most cases, people modestly approached Jesus as one did
a respected teacher. No one ever demanded anything of Jesus, let alone without
indicating what he or she demanded.
Testing the limits of what Jesus was willing to do for them, the ambitious brothers
demanded Jesus give them whatever they ask of him.[xii]
Jesus answered with a question: “What
do you want me to do for you?”[xiii]
He posed the same question to Bartimaeus, the blind beggar of Jericho. Unlike
James and John, who tried to get what they wanted, Bartimaeus humbly approached
Jesus and begged for mercy: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.”[xiv] [xv]
After the brothers made known their
request, Jesus asked a follow up question: “Can you drink the cup that I drink?”[xvi]
The symbol of the cup has a rich
background in the Old Testament. The overflowing cup expressed joy and
communion with God. The cup was a symbol for someone’s lot.[xvii]
Psalm 11 referred to God’s wrath and judgment on the wicked: “He
rains down fire and burning sulfur upon wicked people. He makes them drink from
a cup filled with scorching wind.”[xviii] On
the other hand, Psalm 116 referred to the cup of salvation: “I
will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”[xix]
Mark immediately related the image
of the cup to baptism, which also referred to the passion.[xx]
Baptized with the baptism with which Jesus was baptized meant suffering the
passion He suffered. Think of baptism not so much as cleansing or purification,
but as dying and being buried with Christ.[xxi]
Think Romans 6: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried with him by baptism
into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”[xxii]
That is why Jesus said, “You
do not know what you are asking.”[xxiii]
What it meant to drink from the cup and to be baptized with Jesus was revealed
in the passion. Jesus asked James and John if they could go with him to the
passion. Now, remember, they were on the way, but they tried to avoid what
Jesus previously outlined in detail.[xxiv]
They would drink from the cup and be baptized in the way Jesus predicted his
own passion. In Acts 12, we read, “Herod … killed James the brother of John
with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to
arrest Peter also.”[xxv] In
the end, what the brothers lacked in understanding, they compensated for in
courage.[xxvi]
The other ten heard this
conversation and became indignant at the two who wanted to be above them in
glory. Their indignation masked their own blind ambition, for the brothers’
request was what each of the disciples desired to ask. James and John simply
stole their thunder.
This prompted Jesus to respond with
a mini-discourse. The disciples needed to learn what it meant to be servants to
all. Jesus’ response summed up his entire teaching on following him on the way
to his passion and resurrection. Verse 45 was Jesus’ purpose statement. Moreover,
since Jesus was going before them as their leader, showing the way and modeling
the life to which he called them, his disciples had to be not only servants,
but also slaves. If they were ambitious to be great, they had to be servants … to
all. If they were ambitious to be first, they had to be slaves … to all.
In Jesus’ day, there was a huge
difference between a servant and a slave. A servant was hired for a set of
tasks and compensated according to agreed terms. A slave was owned by a master who
may or may not compensate for the work performed.
Christians, especially those in
authority, were to think of themselves as God-chosen slaves to other Christians
and, for the sake of the Gospel, the whole human race. This meant denying
yourself, giving up any personal claim on yourself and allowing Jesus to claim
you for the mission of His Father’s Kingdom.
In his passion, Jesus fulfilled his
mission as a slave. To express this, Mark evoked a passage from Isaiah 53, the
Suffering Servant song. He made known that as a member of His Church – a Christian
following Christ on the way – you were a slave offering your life “as a ransom
for many.”[xxvii]
Still, the disciples were as obtuse
as the disheartened rich young man who went away sorrowful. To illustrate what
it meant to follow Jesus on the way, Mark completed this section with the
healing of Blind Bartimaeus. When called, he threw off his cloak, symbolizing
his old way of life, and when he recovered his sight, he joyfully followed his
Master on the way.[xxviii]
Before I get to what the passage
might mean for us, I ask if you ever considered seriously the divine call to be
God’s slave. Have you ever met a slave? Possibly, but you were probably not
aware that the person cooking in the kitchen, manicuring your nails or mowing
your lawn was a slave.
Now, let me tell you the inspiring
story of my friend, Minh Dang, and her struggle and challenge. Minh founded an
organization to end human trafficking and slavery. In spite of the fact that
slavery is illegal in every country, there are 27 million slaves in the world.
800,000 people were trafficked across US borders last year. There are hundreds
of thousands of slaves in America, and 83% are American citizens.
Last year, after President Obama
recognized Minh as a Champion of Change, she said, “It’s really bitter. I’d love to get an award for having invented the
iPad. I’m getting an award for telling my horrendous story. … I’m really glad
to be recognized, but that recognition doesn’t fill the hole where my mommy
doesn’t love me or the hole of my wounds.”
You see, Minh’s mother stopped
loving her at age 10. Her mother and father forced her into slavery for 12 long
years. In short, they were partners in crime. They were criminals. Seven years
after she broke free from her parents, Minh became a doctoral student at the
University of California at Berkeley.
Professional, punctual, perky,
pretty and polite, Minh was her Los Altos High School teachers’ delight and
coach’s dream – an overachieving academic athlete. In college, she shocked
everyone when she revealed that since the age of 10, her parents enslaved her
for 12 years for financial gain.
I mention Minh because slavery is
alive and well in America today. The FBI reports that people are beaten,
starved and forced into dehumanizing situations, working grueling jobs in
restaurants, factories or as domestic servants for little or no pay. When they
outlive their usefulness, they are dumped or murdered.
Human trafficking is organized crime
at its worst, and it is very much alive in America’s heartland. The FBI regularly
arrests people in Midwest cities and across the United States for trafficking
human beings. Think about that the next time you are in a restaurant, nail
salon, classroom, factory or order lawn care or a new roof. Are these people
trafficked?
When we hear such stories on the
news, it makes us uncomfortable. Sometimes the Good News makes us
uncomfortable. Minh’s story and the plight of 27 million people are uncomfortable,
not uplifting. Few slaves will experience freedom. None will turn out to be
doctoral students or White House awardees, but all are God’s children and we
have a mission to them and their captors – to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus
Christ for the salvation of their souls and the freedom to live with dignity. Called
by Christ to be useful servants and slaves of His Father’s Kingdom, that is our
radical mission.
Minh said, “If everyone KNEW about human trafficking but didn’t DO anything to put
an end to it, then awareness would be useless. What is one thing you can commit
to doing?” Unquote.
Did you know that LWML is committed
to “1001 Orphans” – a ministry that shields orphaned children in Kenya from
slavery?[xxix]
Did you know that our Synod and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service teamed
up to create awareness in our churches and to respond proactively with tangible
forms of mercy?[xxx] They
did so because human trafficking is an attack on human life. God created human
life for a holy purpose, and we must be concerned about and become engaged in
ending a practice that takes the most vulnerable and sells them as a commodity
for unholy purposes – because Christians choose and protect life.[xxxi]
The Lord’s Supper Lenten preface reminds
us that at all times and in all places we give thanks to our almighty Father through
Jesus Christ “who overcame the assaults
of the devil and gave His life as a ransom for many so that with cleansed hearts
we might be prepared joyfully to celebrate the paschal feast in sincerity and
truth.”[xxxii]
Jesus gave his life as a ransom for us
and called us through baptism and His Supper to imitate Him so that with
cleansed hearts we can joyfully celebrate his paschal feast. As Lutherans, we
are baptized, cup drinkers of His blood.
I may think I am inadequate to
overcome the assaults of the devil manifested in human trafficking, abortion,
racism, consumerism, marital infidelity or a multitude of other sins. However, I
am aware of sin, and if I do nothing to overcome the assaults of the devil,
what good is that? I am called through baptism and the Lord’s Supper to
celebrate and share in His paschal feast – in Christ’s suffering, death and
resurrection.
I may not fully understand what
Jesus requires, but like James and John, I am courageous enough to drink from
the cup and be baptized as our Master was, am I not? I am called to discard my
cloak, my old way of life, and joyfully follow my Master on the way, am I not?[xxxiii]
Because Christ called me to be like Him
– selfless and eager to assist others – my Christian service must be consistent
rather than a sporadic.[xxxiv]
Because Christ called me to be a slave, blind ambition has no function in Christian
fellowship or friendship.[xxxv]
Now, you may say, “There is no human trafficking or slave in
Washington County.” You are probably correct, but sin exists.
Yet, if Almighty God eradicated Satan,
sin and death, one master remains – self. I put my “self” above God, above
God’s ways, and above God’s thinking. Human reason and emotion govern my faith.
Blind ambition and self-promotion glorify me, not God. Do I volunteer because
it enhances my standing among church members? Do I fish for compliments or
submit to Master Christ as a slave, working without expectation of pay or
praise?
If self-promotion is not the problem,
then perhaps it is self-doubt – that Christ cannot save me; that I am beyond
redemption or need no redemption. Until Christ conquers my “self”, I am – as
St. Paul succinctly said – a slave to sin, an addict of ego – and will remain
so until I produce evidence – fruit of the Holy Spirit.[xxxvi]
Friends, as a slave of Christ, freed
from the world, pray to the Trinity for wisdom and courage to choose wisely in
every situation, especially difficult ones, always insignificant ones in order
to avoid blind ambition. Pray in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen. … And may the
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.[xxxvii]
[i] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ambition
[ii] http://lindahertz.com/profiles/blogs/when-does-ambition-become-blind-ambition-when-the-price-of-succes
[iii] http://brandonhays.com/blog/2011/06/14/ambition-vs-blind-ambition/
[iv]
Eugene LaVerdiere, The Beginning of the Gospel: Introducing the Gospel
According to Mark, Volume 2. Collegeville MN: The Liturgical Press (1999), 106.
[xvii]
R.T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2002), 416f.
[xxix]
http://www.lcms.org/page.aspx?pid=593
[xxx] http://blogs.lcms.org/2013/lcms-lirs-human-trafficking
[xxxi]
Rev. Bart Day, executive director of the LCMS Office of National Mission.
“LCMS, LIRS work to end human trafficking,” March 27, 2013 by Jeni Miller. http://blogs.lcms.org/2013/lcms-lirs-human-trafficking
[xxxii]
Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House
(2006), 150.
[xxxiv]
Peter Drilling, Trinity and Ministry. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Press
(1991), 190.
[xxxv]
Wilkie Au, By Way of the Heart. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press (1989), 155.
