Sermon: Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The Very Rev. William Thomas Deneke, rector

Have you ever been in a long line of cars stalled on the highway when someone races by you driving on the shoulder of the road, and you want to shout, Get back in line and wait your turn? Or have you ever been in a line at a restaurant when someone slips in ahead of you? These are common examples of an attitude of privilege. An attitude that believes I should be able to get what I want, when I want it, and regardless of how it affects others. I am an exception to the rules.

We encounter this kind of narcissistic behavior frequently and sometimes in ourselves. It is no surprise then to hear that the disciples, the bedrock fellows of our faith, were arguing over who among them was the greatest.

There is something about us that wants to be special. Something that wants to hang onto privilege. While passing cars on the shoulder is dangerous, it is only a symptom of something that can get much uglier. Mark points to that in today’s gospel. He quotes Jesus’ saying, The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands and they will kill him.

How do we get from cutting in line at the grocery store to killing Jesus? There are some big steps in between but privilege is a common theme. The threat of losing one’s privilege can lead us to do whatever is necessary to protect our perceived loss of power.

If you watch much television or visit shopping malls, you quickly get the message that you are special and deserve to spend a lot of money on yourself. In fact the average American is exposed to over 5000 advertising expressions daily. Little wonder that we may think it’s all about me.

Now, we hear that even the disciples argued about who was the greatest. And the Roman officials along with some Jewish authorities in cahoots with them plotted to kill Jesus. Privilege, privilege, privilege. It’s all about me!

What was so threatening about Jesus? Listen to what he said: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Jesus was proclaiming a realm that turned upside down the privileged based political system of his time. And a realm that brings into question many of our own economic and social tendencies. In the kingdom of God, who deserves access to healthcare?

Once we are lured onto the path of privilege, our perspectives change. The wisdom readings we heard this morning as well as the gospel see this as dangerous. And that is because privilege can easily transform hope into fear. Privilege by definition separates us from others. Hope, as defined by the gospel, is empowering for many and not only a few. Some times we want to hold on to privilege and resist change even when it will serve the greater good. The Wisdom of Solomon named it and so must we in our own time. For this sort of cynicism and bitterness will destroy what is hopeful without batting an eye.

Hope is not centered on entitlement the way privilege is. Hope comes from faith and trust in God’s mercy and compassion. Hope empowers us to be servant ministers, to be free to serve God.

When Jesus took a little child in his arms and said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me,” he was commiting a subversive act. Only the most privileged could represent God. Caesar, himself, was the definitive model of divinity. A child, with no privileges in the Roman world, could not possibly be equated with God. Jesus, in making such a reckless and ridiculous statement, was turning social values upside down.

When we are in a position of privilege, we are likely to find some resistance within ourselves to having social values turned upside down. But that is always what Jesus is doing. Always challenging us to see others and even ourselves through the lens of God’s Kingdom. As those baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are not free to be privileged. We are free to serve in the realm where whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.

That is more than challenging! Does it go against human nature? Only if we believe humanity is destined to be a servant of greed, narcissism, and privilege. The gospel proclaims a new humanity in Christ. And we are here today to affirm that God is transforming the world into the kingdom of grace.

I know many people here at Holy Trinity who are having their hearts changed by the power of the Spirit. People who are ceasing to think only of themselves and are identifying with the servant ministry of Jesus. People who are growing more and more compassionate and being freed of the blinders of privilege. People who are using their resources less for self-enhancement and more in service to the Kingdom of God.

The power of the Spirit presents us with another way of looking at power. What offers power in our culture is not necessarily what promises power in the gospel. Culture’s power of privilege is not the gospel’s power to serve. A big part of our life in Christ is learning the difference between the power of self-service and the power of serving others.

I hope households in our parish are discussing and praying about how to use the power of their resources for the Kingdom of God. I hope we are teaching our children about the joy of servant ministry. They will not learn this from the shopping channel, and we will never embrace servant ministry as long as we are set on protecting our perceived interests at the expense of others.

We have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to make a difference in the world. And that we can do by focusing not on ourselves but on the One who came so that all may have life and have it abundantly.

One more thing. I said earlier that there is something about us that wants to be special. Indeed, we are made special by the love of God. But that is a gift and not something we gain by privilege. Each and every one of us is special in God’s eyes, not because we’re rich or poor, black or white, Democrat or Republican, male or female, young or old, or have any particular sexual orientation. We are made special because God loves people. And that is something we can never afford to forget and never fail to teach our children.