Karen Westerfield Tucker - Sermon Untitled (October 19, 1997)

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-	What does it take to be number one?	0:10
	What does it take to be number one?	0:15
	For some students it may mean hours in the lab	0:20
	or the library,	0:24
	sacrifices of sleep and social life,	0:26
	all to improve the GPA.	0:30
	For other students it means borrowing or buying exams,	0:35
	sabotaging experiments,	0:41
	establishing contacts and making excuses.	0:44
	For a faculty member to be number one,	0:50
	it may take innovative research, a provocative book,	0:55
	and recognition in the chosen field.	1:00
	Or negatively, it is gained by entering into heated	1:04
	or brutal competition with one's peers and colleagues.	1:08
	For an athletic team,	1:14
	it may mean keeping squeaky clean and playing by the rules,	1:16
	all of the them on and off the field.	1:22
	Or, it may require loopholes to get an advantage.	1:27
	For a university to be number one it means	1:34
	having the best research facilities, the largest endowment,	1:38
	a well published and grant-laden faculty	1:44
	and the brightest students.	1:48
	Or becoming number one may come with the sacrifice	1:52
	of the fundamentals of education and human resources.	1:57
	What does it take to be number one?	2:03
	This question seems to be asked more often these days	2:10
	as individuals, groups and even communities	2:15
	seek to slake their thirst for prestige and power.	2:20
	We all want recognition, we want respect.	2:25
	We want the big bucks.	2:30
	We may not however want the responsibilities	2:34
	that come with having such power.	2:38
	We want to have our cake and eat it too.	2:42
	Our gospel lesson deals today precisely with the question	2:48
	of power, of being number one.	2:51
	In this account Jesus's two disciples, James and John make	2:57
	a power play.	3:02
	They ask that when Jesus comes into His glory,	3:05
	that they may be permitted to sit in the places of honor.	3:09
	One at His right side, the other at His left.	3:14
	Why did they make this request?	3:20
	These two brothers certainly	3:22
	had not distinguished themselves previously	3:24
	in Mark's gospel.	3:26
	It may have been their desire to receive recognition	3:29
	after a long day on the road going up to Jerusalem.	3:32
	Or it may have been a move by the two to upstage Peter,	3:37
	and Peter's bid to become number one.	3:42
	In any case,	3:47
	Jesus made no promise to grant their request.	3:49
	Instead, the power play by James	3:54
	and John becomes an opportunity for Jesus	3:57
	to teach His disciples a new definition of power,	4:01
	and the true nature of discipleship.	4:05
	The central message of the gospel that Jesus preached,	4:11
	was that the reign of God was a hand.	4:15
	The old world was passing away.	4:18
	God was ushering in a new order and a new reality.	4:21
	God's new order was going to be radically different	4:27
	from the way things had been.	4:30
	God was choosing what was foolish in the world	4:33
	to shame the lies.	4:35
	God was using what was weak in the world	4:38
	to shame the strong.	4:41
	God was taking what was low and despised in the world,	4:44
	things that are not to bring to nothing,	4:48
	the things that are.	4:52
	Those who are powerful in the old order,	4:55
	would be powerless in the new.	5:00
	And the meek, not the strong, would inherit the Earth.	5:04
	Only by being brought low	5:10
	could one be raised up.	5:13
	This meant that under the reign of God,	5:19
	there was a whole new definition of power.	5:22
	If anyone wished to share in the glory of Jesus,	5:27
	they first had to humble themselves and follow after Him.	5:30
	So Jesus tells James and John that they really have no idea	5:37
	what it is that they're asking.	5:42
	He asks them,	5:45
	"Are you able to drink the cup that I am drinking?	5:47
	Or be baptized with the baptism with which	5:51
	I am being baptized?"	5:54
	Naively perhaps, the disciples answered yes,	5:57
	that they are able.	6:01
	But could they really know that to assume Jesus's cup	6:03
	and His baptism, would mean to take part	6:08
	in Jesus's rejection, and His humiliation.	6:12
	That it would mean to participate	6:16
	that they would participate	6:18
	in his mission and in His ministry.	6:20
	James and John could share in Jesus's glory,	6:25
	but only because they would share in carrying His cross.	6:31
	Power was not a status,	6:37
	rather it came from participating	6:40
	in the work of Jesus.	6:43
	It is no accident that two sacramental images are used	6:48
	as a reminder of the cost	6:52
	and the risk of Christian discipleship.	6:54
	Drinking from the cup and being baptized.	7:00
	Baptism means dying to an old way of life	7:06
	and rising with Christ to a new way of life.	7:09
	In baptism we are symbolically buried in the tomb of water,	7:13
	which simultaneously is the womb which births us.	7:19
	Paradoxically, by becoming powerless as newborn babes,	7:25
	we become infused with the power of God.	7:31
	Communion recalls sacrifice,	7:37
	suffering and ultimately new life.	7:40
	But it also provides for us continuing sustenance	7:46
	for laboring under the load of the cross.	7:50
	By partaking of the body and blood of Christ,	7:54
	we are empowered for the work of ministry.	7:57
	The way of discipleship for James and John and for us,	8:02
	is through the suffering that leads to new life.	8:08
	Christian life is life as sacrament.	8:13
	Of being baptized with Christ's baptism of responsibility,	8:17
	of drinking the cup of suffering and of victory.	8:23
	There's a tendency for us to overlook or deny the risk	8:30
	and the suffering perhaps	8:35
	of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.	8:37
	We live in a sanitized, sanforized world.	8:40
	Our everyday life denies suffering and death.	8:45
	We ship aging family members off to retirement centers.	8:51
	We deny the terror of the streets,	8:56
	til the terror comes to our own street.	8:59
	Even our food comes processed, pressed and packaged.	9:03
	But Jesus tells the disciples that they must take risks.	9:11
	That there is a cost, a place in the kingdom comes	9:16
	when one takes up the baptism,	9:22
	the cup, the suffering,	9:25
	the life of Jesus.	9:28
	Thomas a Kempis in his classic work of,	9:33
	The Imitation of Christ writes this,	9:35
	Jesus has now many lovers of His heavenly kingdom,	9:40
	but few bearers of his cross.	9:45
	He has many desires of consolation, but few of tribulation.	9:48
	He finds many companions of His table,	9:55
	but few of His abstinence.	9:58
	All desire to rejoice with Him,	10:02
	few are willing to endure anything for Him or with Him.	10:05
	Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread,	10:11
	but few to the drinking of the cup of His passion.	10:15
	Many reverence his miracles,	10:20
	few follow the shame of His cross.	10:24
	Many love Jesus so long as no adversities befall them,	10:27
	many praise and bless Him,	10:32
	so long as they receive any consolations from Him.	10:35
	Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it this way,	10:42
	when Christ calls a person,	10:45
	He bids that person to come and die.	10:48
	Now all this is a very strange definition of power.	10:54
	Power the way we normally define it certainly means we don't	11:00
	have to suffer.	11:04
	It means, we don't have to submit ourselves	11:06
	to anyone else's will.	11:09
	On the contrary, we make them submit to us.	11:12
	Jesus's definition of power turned the world's understanding	11:18
	on it's head.	11:22
	To share in Jesus's glory,	11:25
	James and John had to adopt this upside down logic.	11:28
	They had to take up their cross and follow Jesus.	11:33
	Now when the other disciples learned	11:40
	about the brothers' power play, they were mad.	11:42
	Perhaps they were angry because they didn't think	11:46
	of it first and asked that they become number one	11:49
	in Jesus's kingdom.	11:52
	Their anger came from the fact	11:56
	that they were still operating	11:57
	from the old definitions of power.	11:59
	They defined power the same way we do.	12:03
	Power means being further up the pecking order.	12:06
	It means drying the highest salary,	12:10
	being head of the department or organization,	12:13
	having more people under you to boss around.	12:16
	But Jesus gave a new definition.	12:22
	He said, "You know the ones who are supposing to rule	12:26
	over the Gentiles, lorded over them,	12:30
	and their great ones exercise authority over them.	12:34
	But it is not so among you.	12:38
	But whoever should wish to become great among you	12:42
	shall be your servant.	12:45
	And whoever should wish to be first among you	12:48
	shall be slave of all.	12:51
	For even the son of man himself did not come to be served	12:54
	but to serve and to give his life as a ransom	12:58
	in the place of many."	13:03
	The first Methodist bishop in the United States	13:08
	was Francis Asbury.	13:11
	He exercised the authority which he believed was necessary	13:14
	to spread the gospel throughout the frontier,	13:17
	and at the same time to hold	13:21
	the fledgling denomination together.	13:22
	His critics at the time said he was too bossy,	13:26
	too autocratic, but in fact,	13:30
	Bishop Asbury never asked anything of his preachers,	13:33
	that he wasn't willing to do himself.	13:38
	He called on Methodist clergy to leave the comforts	13:42
	of the cities, to ride the country circuits,	13:45
	where the cold or the winter wind was kept out	13:49
	of the worship spaces by nailing blankets in the windows.	13:52
	Some preachers complained about this.	13:58
	When someone compared Asbury to the pope, Asbury replied,	14:01
	"For myself, I pity those who cannot distinguish between	14:07
	a pope of Rome and an old worn out man of about 60 years	14:11
	who has the power given him of riding 5,000 miles a year,	14:17
	at a salary of $80, through the summer's heat	14:22
	and the winter's cold, traveling in all weather,	14:26
	preaching in all places.	14:30
	His best covering from rain often but a blanket.	14:33
	The sure sharpener of his wit, hunger from fasts voluntary	14:37
	and involuntary.	14:42
	His best fare for six months of the 12, course kindness	14:45
	and his reward, suspicion,	14:50
	envy and murmurings all the year round."	14:54
	For early Methodism, Bishop Asbury set the example	15:01
	of a new definition of power	15:05
	and leadership in the realm of God.	15:07
	So in the world, which does not recognize God's rule,	15:12
	authority means power and privilege.	15:17
	In the community of faith, where God's rule is recognized,	15:23
	authority means servant hood.	15:28
	Under the reign of God, the definition of power	15:34
	is radically changed.	15:38
	Jesus said this new reality was coming,	15:41
	in fact it was already here.	15:44
	Like the cracks in the ground just before the seed sprouts,	15:48
	the presence of the reign of God is made known.	15:54
	What does it take to be number one?	16:01
	Jesus turns all our expectations around.	16:06
	The world is to be transformed not from above,	16:11
	but from beneath,	16:15
	by a people who are a servant people,	16:18
	shouldering the burdens of the world.	16:22
	To anticipate the coming of God's kingdom	16:27
	is not to rule, but to serve.	16:29
	In this process, each person is important,	16:35
	for no matter how great or small,	16:42
	young or old,	16:46
	each one of us is called to serve.	16:50
	The prospect of such a servant life may seem overwhelming,	16:56
	may seem impossible perhaps,	17:00
	and it may be so if we think of it in terms	17:02
	of our own ability,	17:05
	our own power to live out such a radically different	17:07
	notion of power.	17:12
	But the way has already been paved for us	17:15
	by the king of kings who was chosen to reign not	17:19
	in the glamorous palaces of this world,	17:23
	but from a tree of shame.	17:26
	The son of man who came as a servant,	17:31
	also gave His life	17:36
	as a ransom for many.	17:39
	He redeemed us as a servant,	17:44
	that we might be servants of the one whose power	17:49
	is manifested in weakness.	17:54
	We worship a Christ who is exalted in His humility	18:00
	and who bids us to take up His cross	18:05
	as the way to eternal life.	18:07
	As Christians we follow the one who calls us to a life	18:11
	of sacrament, of risk,	18:16
	of servant hood.	18:20
	We may not be called number one,	18:24
	but we surely will be called	18:28
	faithful and beloved.	18:31
	Thanks be to God, amen.	18:36
	(organ music)	18:46
	(congregation singing)	19:19
-	The Lord be with you.	21:51
	Let us pray.	21:55
	Oh Lord, we have sung the songs of faith this day	22:00
	and we have born witness to the word	22:06
	that spans all generations.	22:09
	We have heard voices lift music like Heaven's angels,	22:12
	while we have found ways to worship you among saints	22:18
	and sinners on Earth.	22:21
	For the blessings of this hour we give you thanks,	22:24
	and now in this moment, we pray for your pardon.	22:28
	If we have been less than grateful for the abundance	22:33
	of your gifts to us, forgive us.	22:37
	If we have been les than loving toward our neighbors,	22:41
	or toward our family members or toward strangers,	22:45
	forgive us.	22:49
	If we have been less than confident that you will be	22:51
	faithful to your promises, forgive us.	22:54
	Lord in your mercy.	22:59
	We pray for the people in this congregation	23:03
	who are bearing the burden of illness.	23:06
	Grant that none of the mysteries of healing	23:10
	will be withheld from them in their time of need.	23:13
	Provide their loved ones with the fullest possible measures	23:17
	of patience and courage so that even the hardest days	23:22
	will still be filled with hope.	23:26
	Guide technicians in their labs,	23:30
	physicians on their rounds,	23:33
	nurses in their touch and all other agents of healing	23:36
	in their compassion so that each will convey not simply	23:42
	the best that Earth can offer,	23:47
	but also all that Heaven can deliver.	23:49
	Lord in your mercy.	23:54
	We pray for those whose hopes have been shattered	23:58
	by promises in marriage broken,	24:03
	by systems in society that promote injustice,	24:07
	by acts of violence in the streets of the city,	24:12
	by forms of abuse at home.	24:16
	By disappointments in career or school.	24:20
	Grant that such brokenness will not be the last thing	24:25
	your people feel, nor bitterness the last thing they taste.	24:28
	Oh God, who spoke a word in the darkness	24:35
	when there was nothing but chaos and caused creation to be.	24:39
	Speak to the confusions of heart and mind	24:44
	that have turned forms of life into fragments.	24:47
	Reconcile what need not stay divided.	24:52
	Heal the wounds whose scars will linger.	24:56
	Put an eagerness for justice into our hearts	25:01
	and a willingness to build justice into our hands.	25:05
	Lord, in your mercy.	25:09
	And now by the blessing of your Holy Spirit,	25:13
	set us free to feel your power.	25:17
	Plant the foundations of faith so deeply within your church	25:20
	that no evil will topple it.	25:24
	Spread the network of your love so broadly among us,	25:27
	that healing will touch all who are hurting.	25:31
	Flood our hearts with such joy,	25:35
	that all our words and deeds will overflow with witness	25:38
	to your salvation and provide us with a peace	25:42
	that comes from trusting in you	25:46
	so that even those who grieve and feel alone	25:49
	will find you and your messengers near.	25:54
	Lord, in your mercy.	25:58
	Care for all who are in times of great transition,	26:03
	the newly married and the newly alone.	26:07
	Those who have welcomed a new child into the family,	26:12
	and those who have lost a member of the family.	26:16
	Those who are adjusting to success,	26:20
	and those who are coping with defeat.	26:24
	We pray your blessing upon them all,	26:28
	whom we now name in the silence of our hearts.	26:30
	Lord, in your mercy.	26:41
	These things and more we lift to you oh God,	26:46
	trusting in your everlasting mercy and your boundless grace,	26:49
	in the name of the Father and of the Son	26:54
	and of the Holy Spirit, amen.	26:56
-	We have heard and received the blessings of God.	27:10
	We have lifted to God our offerings of prayer,	27:15
	our burdens and our needs.	27:19
	Now in thanksgiving to God, we offer our gifts for the work	27:21
	of God's church.	27:26
	(organ music)	27:32

Item Info

Title:

Karen Westerfield Tucker - Sermon Untitled (October 19, 1997)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 0:10. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 18:39.
Preacher shows how Christ turns our understanding of power and what's number one upside down by his ministry and servanthood. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: We worship a Christ who is exalted in his humility and who bids us to take up his cross as the way to eternal life. As Christians, we follow the one who calls us to a life of sacrament, of risk, of servanthood. We may not be called number one but we surely will be called faithful and beloved.

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4rj49883

Date:

October 19, 1997

Speaker:

Westerfield Tucker, Karen B. (Karen Beth), 1954-

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Ordinary Time

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Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0876
ref9902_pnk
uachapelsermaud
duke:321299
dcrau001521
ark:/87924/r4rj49883
5d9c4b38-3114-46e9-b1da-640031094d74

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