Calling Shotgun
November 22, 2009
Rev. Susan E. Gilbert Zencka
Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church
Texts: Revelation 1:4a-8; Mark 10:35-45
Seating arrangements can matter a lot. In 1968, the Paris peace talks around the Vietnam conflict spent roughly 8 months determining what the shape of the table would be, around which the negotiators would sit: a rectangle? Who sits where? A round table? Better perhaps. And on and on went the negotiations. Seating arrangements for weddings can be this dicey, too.
And it's not only in formal events, either. Where we sit tells us a lot about where we stand, apparently. From the moment our sons outgrew the car seats, there has been an ongoing issue over who would sit where in the car. Even now, when they are 19, 22, and 25, our boys are likely to yell “Shotgun” as we leave the house, and it has nothing to do with hunting. It's all about who is calling shotgun – that is, getting dibs on the front seat. For quite some time, there were rotating assignments by week, so that “whose week is it?” was an important arbiter of status in the Zencka car.
Classroom seating arrangements can be important in shaping the flavor of the school day – one of our sons used to tell me every time there was a change. “Mom, remember how in Social Studies I was sitting next to Dan and across from Brian? Yeah, and Megan was at the table, too. Well today the teacher moved us all around, and now Megan's still there, but Brian and Dan are at another table, and Natalie and Steve are at my table!!” I tried not to let on that I had not actually remembered.
So everyone from kindergartners to kings cares about seating – and it's true in church, too, where many people have their favorite seats, though here, the seating isn't about status!
But for James and John, it was definitely about status – they were asking to be publicly treated as the most important of the disciples of Jesus. They knew Jesus was important – and they thought that he was going to be a great leader. And they wanted to be important, too – to be his right hand man...and I guess his left hand man, too. They wanted to be #2 and #3 in the new kingdom.
Now mind you, Jesus had already spoken very clearly about how about how his leadership was going to play out – this story is right after the third time in a short period when Jesus has shared with the twelve that when they get to Jerusalem, he will be killed. It is clear that Jesus isn't expecting to become king, but his disciples are still expecting that he will, and they want important positions in the kingdom. The Jewish people had been waiting for a Messiah, and they expected that Messiah to be a king, and to get rid of the Roman army that was in their country. And the disciples are expecting this, too, and so James and John want to be leaders in the kingdom.
And the other disciples got really angry when they heard James and John talking to Jesus this way – and who can blame them? They were all working together, helping Jesus and trying to learn from him, and then James and John go to Jesus secretly and try to get to be more important than the others.
But Jesus says that for the people of God, it isn't about being in charge, or having power. Being a leader is about taking care of people. Jesus says that among God's people, the ones who are important take care of the other disciples, and those who are the most important take care of everyone. And he reminds them that, after all, he did not come to be served, but to serve. Leadership is about service. Being a leader isn't about your own importance, it's about making others important to you. It's another reminder that God's way isn't like the way things are done in most countries and kingdoms.
Today is a day we celebrate as Christ the King Sunday. Christ the King Sunday hasn't been part of the church year as long as other holidays, such as Christmas or Easter. Christ the King Sunday was started in the Catholic Church in 1925. It started because there was a new political movement beginning in Italy, a movement called fascism. Fascism is not like democracy, where each person is important, and we have certain freedoms, and everyone has a voice in the government. In a fascist country, there is much less freedom, and there is usually one person totally in charge, and everyone needs to do what that one person says. The Italian Doctrine of Fascism, an essay signed by Benito Mussolini and published in 1932, says “The Fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State—a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values—interprets, develops, and potentiates the whole life of a people.” [By contrast, the American Declaration of Independence says that all people are entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” -- that is, we have the freedom to develop the potentiality of our own lives.] The Pope created Christ the King Sunday to help people remember that following God is more important than following any person.
It's to help us remember that we are people of God more than Americans or Italians or Chinese or Tanzanian – and that it's more important to serve other people than to get power, because that's the kind of king that Jesus was – the kind who took care of other people and made them feel special.
And the life of service that we are called to is not a small or unimportant life. I want to share two great words with you, that Prof. Paul Wadell of St. Norbert's College used in talking about this passage: magnanimity and pusillanimity. Magnanimity is living large – a magnified life – one that becomes large through investing generously in others. As we care for others, as we serve one another, as we serve God through serving others, our lives become larger because we're not just about ourselves and our own possibilities, but magnanimous people see the possibilities in others and in a shared life. Pusillanimity is a great word, but it is about small living – as Prof. Wadell describes them, pusillanimous people “...lower their sights and regularly opt for whatever is easier, more pleasurable or quickly attainable. Not willing to devote themselves to discipline and sacrifice, the foster puny ambitions and thus deny themselves the joy and meaning and satisfaction that come from transcending themselves in love.” Pusillanimous living is small, puny, stingy living Great people care about more than themselves alone.
When I was in 3rd grade, almost 8 years old, on this same date, November 22nd, the President of the United States was killed. One of the things President Kennedy is remembered for is the speech he gave when he was inaugurated – the day he became president. He said, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.”
I wonder how our lives as disciples would be different if we took that approach to our faith – what if we said, “What can I do for God today? How can I serve someone today? Who needs taking care of? How could I help someone?” t's hard to think that way – we're born as “me first” kind of people. After all, look at James and John – they knew Jesus and had been working alongside him; yet it can be hard to change from “what about me?” to “How can I take care of you?” And so we need God's help.
It's the change Jesus call us to embody, and as we do, the kingdom is here, among us and within us. Almost every week, we say the Lord's Prayer together, and we say “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” As we live this prayer with our lives, instead of just our words, the kingdom of God is, indeed, on earth – we answer our prayer with our own service to God. In the words of President Kennedy, we are “...asking God's blessing and God's help, but knowing that here on earth, God's work must truly be our own.” Amen.
Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church
Texts: Revelation 1:4a-8; Mark 10:35-45
Seating arrangements can matter a lot. In 1968, the Paris peace talks around the Vietnam conflict spent roughly 8 months determining what the shape of the table would be, around which the negotiators would sit: a rectangle? Who sits where? A round table? Better perhaps. And on and on went the negotiations. Seating arrangements for weddings can be this dicey, too.
And it's not only in formal events, either. Where we sit tells us a lot about where we stand, apparently. From the moment our sons outgrew the car seats, there has been an ongoing issue over who would sit where in the car. Even now, when they are 19, 22, and 25, our boys are likely to yell “Shotgun” as we leave the house, and it has nothing to do with hunting. It's all about who is calling shotgun – that is, getting dibs on the front seat. For quite some time, there were rotating assignments by week, so that “whose week is it?” was an important arbiter of status in the Zencka car.
Classroom seating arrangements can be important in shaping the flavor of the school day – one of our sons used to tell me every time there was a change. “Mom, remember how in Social Studies I was sitting next to Dan and across from Brian? Yeah, and Megan was at the table, too. Well today the teacher moved us all around, and now Megan's still there, but Brian and Dan are at another table, and Natalie and Steve are at my table!!” I tried not to let on that I had not actually remembered.
So everyone from kindergartners to kings cares about seating – and it's true in church, too, where many people have their favorite seats, though here, the seating isn't about status!
But for James and John, it was definitely about status – they were asking to be publicly treated as the most important of the disciples of Jesus. They knew Jesus was important – and they thought that he was going to be a great leader. And they wanted to be important, too – to be his right hand man...and I guess his left hand man, too. They wanted to be #2 and #3 in the new kingdom.
Now mind you, Jesus had already spoken very clearly about how about how his leadership was going to play out – this story is right after the third time in a short period when Jesus has shared with the twelve that when they get to Jerusalem, he will be killed. It is clear that Jesus isn't expecting to become king, but his disciples are still expecting that he will, and they want important positions in the kingdom. The Jewish people had been waiting for a Messiah, and they expected that Messiah to be a king, and to get rid of the Roman army that was in their country. And the disciples are expecting this, too, and so James and John want to be leaders in the kingdom.
And the other disciples got really angry when they heard James and John talking to Jesus this way – and who can blame them? They were all working together, helping Jesus and trying to learn from him, and then James and John go to Jesus secretly and try to get to be more important than the others.
But Jesus says that for the people of God, it isn't about being in charge, or having power. Being a leader is about taking care of people. Jesus says that among God's people, the ones who are important take care of the other disciples, and those who are the most important take care of everyone. And he reminds them that, after all, he did not come to be served, but to serve. Leadership is about service. Being a leader isn't about your own importance, it's about making others important to you. It's another reminder that God's way isn't like the way things are done in most countries and kingdoms.
Today is a day we celebrate as Christ the King Sunday. Christ the King Sunday hasn't been part of the church year as long as other holidays, such as Christmas or Easter. Christ the King Sunday was started in the Catholic Church in 1925. It started because there was a new political movement beginning in Italy, a movement called fascism. Fascism is not like democracy, where each person is important, and we have certain freedoms, and everyone has a voice in the government. In a fascist country, there is much less freedom, and there is usually one person totally in charge, and everyone needs to do what that one person says. The Italian Doctrine of Fascism, an essay signed by Benito Mussolini and published in 1932, says “The Fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State—a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values—interprets, develops, and potentiates the whole life of a people.” [By contrast, the American Declaration of Independence says that all people are entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” -- that is, we have the freedom to develop the potentiality of our own lives.] The Pope created Christ the King Sunday to help people remember that following God is more important than following any person.
It's to help us remember that we are people of God more than Americans or Italians or Chinese or Tanzanian – and that it's more important to serve other people than to get power, because that's the kind of king that Jesus was – the kind who took care of other people and made them feel special.
And the life of service that we are called to is not a small or unimportant life. I want to share two great words with you, that Prof. Paul Wadell of St. Norbert's College used in talking about this passage: magnanimity and pusillanimity. Magnanimity is living large – a magnified life – one that becomes large through investing generously in others. As we care for others, as we serve one another, as we serve God through serving others, our lives become larger because we're not just about ourselves and our own possibilities, but magnanimous people see the possibilities in others and in a shared life. Pusillanimity is a great word, but it is about small living – as Prof. Wadell describes them, pusillanimous people “...lower their sights and regularly opt for whatever is easier, more pleasurable or quickly attainable. Not willing to devote themselves to discipline and sacrifice, the foster puny ambitions and thus deny themselves the joy and meaning and satisfaction that come from transcending themselves in love.” Pusillanimous living is small, puny, stingy living Great people care about more than themselves alone.
When I was in 3rd grade, almost 8 years old, on this same date, November 22nd, the President of the United States was killed. One of the things President Kennedy is remembered for is the speech he gave when he was inaugurated – the day he became president. He said, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.”
I wonder how our lives as disciples would be different if we took that approach to our faith – what if we said, “What can I do for God today? How can I serve someone today? Who needs taking care of? How could I help someone?” t's hard to think that way – we're born as “me first” kind of people. After all, look at James and John – they knew Jesus and had been working alongside him; yet it can be hard to change from “what about me?” to “How can I take care of you?” And so we need God's help.
It's the change Jesus call us to embody, and as we do, the kingdom is here, among us and within us. Almost every week, we say the Lord's Prayer together, and we say “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” As we live this prayer with our lives, instead of just our words, the kingdom of God is, indeed, on earth – we answer our prayer with our own service to God. In the words of President Kennedy, we are “...asking God's blessing and God's help, but knowing that here on earth, God's work must truly be our own.” Amen.