Homily for 6 April 2014: 5th Sunday of Great Lent
(Hebrews 9:11-14)
(Mark 10:32-45)
Today’s Gospel story seems to tell of
another incident in which the disciples don’t really understand what Jesus is
saying to them. It should make us stop
and think: Do we get it? Or do we also
miss the point of what the Lord is saying?
In this story, it’s James and John who
don’t get it. Usually it’s Peter. Jesus has amazed and frightened them by
telling of His coming betrayal, condemnation, mocking, death, and resurrection.
But the only way they can react is to ask
that He will guarantee them the best seats in Heaven. This is a very childish response. It’s like when a child says, “Mommy, you have
to promise to give me whatever I ask for!”
Mothers are smarter than that. They will always say, “I can’t promise
anything until you tell me what you want.”
And often children ask for things they can’t possibly have, or that they
don’t understand, or that Mom has no power to give them.
Similarly, Jesus reminds James and John
that they don’t really know what they
are asking for. It’s a lot harder and
more complicated than they think. They
will have to suffer as Jesus suffers, and there’s no guarantee that they will
receive a special place of glory in Heaven.
Jesus tells them that He doesn’t have the power to promise that.
What about us? Do we sometimes act childishly when we are
talking with God? When we pray, maybe we
say to God, “You have to do this or that for me, because I’m a good person, and
I pray, and I go to church.” In fact, we
can’t dictate to God and we can’t give orders to God and we can’t have a
guarantee of special honor in Heaven.
We do know that Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to take away our sins. We do know that God loves us so much that
God’s only Son did this—sacrificed His own life—willingly for us.
We do know that we can’t buy or trade or
earn our salvation, because as St Paul says, works or actions are dead and God
is alive. This means that we do good and
we don’t seek our own glory and we don’t use power over other people—simply
because that’s the way God wants it.
That is the way of the Living God, who came not to be served, but to
serve—and who gave His life to save our lives.
So let’s grow up in our relationship with
God. With Jesus, we are children of God;
but we are also heirs to the Kingdom with Jesus. We are made in the image and likeness of God. We lack God’s perfection of love and
justice. We lack God’s Almighty
Power. We cannot save ourselves. But we are called to live up to our creation
in God’s image and likeness; we are called to be like our brother Jesus
Christ—humble, giving service, sacrificing ourselves for the good of others.
We have to accept the place that has been
prepared for us, and we can’t dictate what it will be. So when we pray, we should pray that God’s
will may be done, and that God’s mercy and love will bring us to accept and
follow God’s will, for we know that He is good and the Lover of All People, and
we give glory, honor, and worship to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One
God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.
