From the Pulpit: Sitting vs. Serving

James and John thought the most important place was sitting next to Jesus. Not so much, he tells them.

Preaching from the Gospel of Mark, where James and John ask Jesus for seats on either side of him in glory, the Rev. Canon Leonard Hamlin, Sr., said the two disciples got it all wrong.

It’s not about where you sit, he said. It’s about how you serve:

“John and James raised a question that was focused on sitting when Jesus tried to reshift their focus and said it was not about sitting. It’s about service.

I hope we haven’t come here today just to say we have taken a seat, but we’ve come here that we might be motivated to serve. The church is not a sitting gathering; it’s a serving gathering. Jesus addresses the drama, the posturing, the positioning, the restless ambition by telling them `Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.’

Jesus has to hit the reset button because the Christian hope, I remind you, is not a series of vague premonitions, poetic fantasies, philosophical speculations, or even political promotions that are personally focused without being communally minded.

Jesus had to hit the reset button so that they would recognize that we’ve come to serve, not be served, and any message that talks about serving self misses the mark because Christian hope is rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ.”