Ambitious?

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My focus is the Gospel of Mark, where we read, “You do not know what you are asking.”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”[1] Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

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.[2]

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.[3]

What’s 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.[4] 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.[5]

On the way, Jesus predicted his passion for the third time.[6] Again, the disciples heard Jesus’ message on the resurrection, but ignored what he said about the passion. After his first prediction, Peter rebuked Jesus.[7] After the second, the disciples did not understand and were too afraid to ask.[8] 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.[9]

James and John were among the first disciples. Like Peter, they were fishermen.[10] Named to the Twelve right after Peter,[11] together they experienced the Transfiguration.[12] 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.[13]

Jesus answered with a question: “What do you want me to do for you?”[14] 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.”[15] [16]

After the brothers made known their request, Jesus asked a follow up question: “Can you drink the cup that I drink?”[17]

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.[18] 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.”[19] 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.”[20]

Mark immediately related the image of the cup to baptism, which also referred to the passion.[21] 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.[22] 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.”[23]

That is why Jesus said, “You do not know what you are asking.”[24] 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.[25] 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.”[26] In the end, what the brothers lacked in understanding, they compensated for in courage.[27]

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.”[28]

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.[29]

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.[30]

In 2013, 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.[31]

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 the Synod is committed to “1001 Orphans” – a ministry that shields orphaned children in Kenya from slavery?[32] 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?[33] 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.[34]

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.”[35]

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?[36]

Because Christ called me to be like Him – selfless and eager to assist others – my Christian service must be consistent rather than a sporadic.[37] Because Christ called me to be a slave, blind ambition has no function in Christian fellowship or friendship.[38]

Now, you may say, “There is no human trafficking or slavery in Beaver 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.[39]

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, and when you do, may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Psalm 122

[2] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ambition

[3] http://lindahertz.com/profiles/blogs/when-does-ambition-become-blind-ambition-when-the-price-of-succes

[4] http://brandonhays.com/blog/2011/06/14/ambition-vs-blind-ambition/

[5] Eugene LaVerdiere, The Beginning of the Gospel: Introducing the Gospel According to Mark, Volume 2. Collegeville MN: The Liturgical Press (1999), 106.

[6] Mark 10:32-34

[7] Mark 8:31f

[8] Mark 9:31-34

[9] LaVerdiere, 112.

[10] Mark 1:16ff

[11] Mark 3;13-19

[12] Mark 9:2-8

[13] LaVerdiere, 113.

[14] Mark 10:36

[15] Mark 10:47ff.

[16] LaVerdiere, 113.

[17] Mark 10:38

[18] R.T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2002), 416f.

[19] Psalm 11:6

[20] Psalm 116:13

[21] LaVerdiere, 114.

[22] France, 416.

[23] Romans 6:3-4

[24] Mark 10:38

[25] LaVerdiere, 115

[26] Acts 12:1-3

[27] France, 417.

[28] LaVerdiere, 121f

[29] Mark 10:46-52

[30] https://www.endslaverynow.org/

[31] https://survivorsofslavery.org/survivorsspeakers/minh-dang/

[32] https://engage.lcms.org/children-in-kenya-summer-2018/

[33] http://blogs.lcms.org/2013/lcms-lirs-human-trafficking

[34] 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

[35] Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House (2006), 150.

[36] Mark 10:46-52

[37] Peter Drilling, Trinity and Ministry. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Press (1991), 190.

[38] Wilkie Au, By Way of the Heart. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press (1989), 155.

[39] Galatians 5