Can you drink from his cup?
(10-18-2009)
Our readings for this Sunday certainly emphasize the role of service; not for glory, but out of humility with reminders of just Who is in control. As a priest, I get lots of doses of humility with reminders of just Who is in control. One early lesson took place the first time I celebrated Mass at a convalescent home in Los Angeles. Some of the elderly were brought into the community room in wheel chairs and placed in the front row before the make-shift altar. Some of the persons were bright and alert others nearly comatose. At homily time, I began talking about the gospel and getting into it and a woman who seemed to be asleep through most of the Mass suddenly jerked her head toward her neighbor on the right and in a loud voice asked: “who put this on…what channel is this!”
Humble service, which is what Jesus tells the disciples today. Don’t be looking for glory and reward if you want to follow me. However, like some of the disciples, we can claim Jesus; want to be a Christian (but only to a degree), and we want some rewards for it—expecting something in return. That is what James and John wanted, and that is what many of us want. Like the two disciples we can find ourselves understandably asking for a piece of Jesus—his recognition and his reward for good service. But are we willing to pay?
The disciples may tell Jesus they are able, but when it comes time to face the cross in Jerusalem, all but one abandoned him. They ran, as I would have.
What it means to be a disciple is the hardest teaching of Jesus for us to accept. But, in spite of the continued misunderstanding of the disciples, Jesus never gives up on them— or us. His response to James and John is compassionate. He gently re-interprets the call to discipleship and sends them out. And the measure of their success, their achievements, comes through surrender to God’s will of equal love, which is certainly not the human way of rewarding success. There is a price for asking to be a disciple; a required humility in service outside our comfort zone.
In our gospel, Jesus also asks; can you be baptized in my baptism? He is not referring to the baptism performed by his cousin John in the Jordan; it is the baptism of crucifixion and death for the salvation of the human race. His questions about drinking from his cup and entering into his baptism are answers to James and John—their glory must involve a share in Jesus’ cup of enduring trials, temptations, suffering and in the service for the salvation of everyone.
It is the same for all who live Christ; paraphrasing something I heard long ago: we cannot have the glory of the hereafter without the suffering in the here and now. AND—how many times does life teach us that?
Jesus also tells us that service to others—even in our suffering does not have personal gain. One recent example happened after celebrating Mass at the critical care section at the Meadows. I went over to the Atrium residency in response to a woman who called me from Texas because she was worried that her friend of 70 years had not received anointing in a long time. He is 95 but filled with joy over his life and faith. Jokingly he spoke about how he cautions his neighbors about the danger of aging at the Meadows.
“Don’t ever doze off in any public area here, the next thing you know is they’ll throw a sheet over you and call for the coroner.”
He became more serious and had tears in his eyes when he spoke of what he used to be able to do, as he put it “to help Jesus.” Each day that he gets up with more pain than the day before, he offers his day of pain to God to ease the suffering of his neighbors. When he has a good day, he goes over to the skilled nursing center, visits people and sings to them—simple acts of Christian love and compassion in serving others.
There are endless ways we can offer service in Christ that don’t have to be heroic—like the service of holding one's tongue. Not simple because it is so easy to criticize instead. One day I had stopped at a red light, my windows rolled down, the light changed and the car behind me comes screeching to a halt, and I hear a voice shout: "What are you trying to do kill me?" I cannot repeat the choice words I heard next as he drove past me and used a certain hand gesture. Mother Teresa was asked how she measured the success of her work. She looked puzzled for a moment then replied, "I don't remember the Lord ever speaking of success. He spoke only of faithfulness in love."
Blessed humility, Fr. Gordon
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