Gospel
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves,
and said to them on the way,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day.”
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, “What do you wish?”
She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
He replied,
“My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left,
this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Sometimes the conversation we hear in the Gospel testifies more to its authenticity by the actual words we hear disciples speak. I mean you can’t make this up. It does not serve to raise up the disciples but reflect that they are as human and broken as we are. The pursuit of position. The indignant emotions from the other 10 disciples. You would think this might even be left out. But the Gospel is a work of truth. And the disciples reflect human nature and weakness and failings again and again.
And that reflects on Jesus Christ who chose them. In the awkwardness of the telling we see that we too who are more like the disciples than we dare to believe…we too seek position when we forget humility. We deny Christ like Peter when we choose the world or sin. We doubt his words and reality like Thomas when we hesitate to follow his way. When we turn to the world and others when we suffer first before we turn to God. When we rely on only our own strength and wisdom in this life rather than give everything we do to God knowing it is foolish to believe we are in charge and control our life.
Mostly we live in fear because we think we are in charge alone. We get ourselves in jams and difficult situations and realize finally we can’t save ourselves.
We finally seek Jesus and sit with him quietly and desperately in our sufferings and brokenness and ask for help. And because the disciples were used to show us he even chose the ill prepared, he chose those who fail to always understand. He chose those who were well, like you and me. So, we know Jesus chooses us even in our sin and failings.
It is for you and me we see these awkward moments. They are only embarrassing though because deep inside we see ourselves. Struggling to love God. Seeking but failing to love others. Praying and wanting to believe we really are truly y by God.
Today we take comfort that we have a God who loves us as he finds us. Lost sheep at times. Prodigal sons at times. Rich men and women who have trouble choosing Jesus over possessions and money.
Give thanks today our God loves us so much just as we are. And turn to him first every moment and every time we fall.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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