Matthew 20:17-28

I can remember when I worked in the Christian Bookshop, I had a mug. Out of which I drank my, all-too-many, cups of coffee. But the thing about this mug, was that it came from a company who made Christian T-shirts, and it bore one of their designs, with the logo. 'Going against the flow', the idea, of course, being that the Christian goes against the flow.  That really is what the key to tonight's reading from Matthew's Gospel is. And in one particular phrase if fact- just part of one verse, stands out from that chapter. It's from verse 26 where Jesus says to his disciples not so with you.

'Not so with you', and that's a phrase which should describe our lives, our way of thinking, our way of acting, our ordering of priorities, when we contrast them with the world. 'Not so with you'; 'Going against the flow'. That phrase, 'Not so with you' encapsulates not just tonight's reading, but the whole of Matthew chapter 20. It's a pity we didn't read it all. I suggest it might be a good idea when you get home, to get your Bibles out and read through the whole of Matthew chapter 20.

For Jesus had begun, in Matthew 20, by telling that parable about the workers in the vineyard. We're all familiar with it aren't we? The men who were hired to work in the vineyard all day, and the owner of the vineyard agrees to pay a denarius for the day's work. of course, he goes out into the market place several more times, even an hour before the day's end, and hires more men. At the end of the day, all the workers get a denarius. The ones who were hired at the beginning of the day think they are are hard done by. "We should have got much more. We've worked much harder."
  Not so with you Jesus says. That's against the Kingdom way of thinking. Because our reward in the Kingdom does not depend on how hard we've worked. We don't earn our kingdom rewards. To receive anything in God's Kingdom is by God's gift and God's grace alone. It's the principle of 'the first will be last and the last will be first' principle. Again it's the 'Not so with you' principle. In the world we are paid according to how hard we work, and if we work overtime we expect to get extra money for it. But not so with you says Jesus. Think differently. Expect differently. Get yourself different priorities.

Jesus then goes on- and now we're coming to the beginning of tonight's reading, to predict his death, to predict his passion, his death on the Cross and his rising from the dead. And really pointing out how his rising from the dead would only come through suffering and death on the Cross. Not through greatness as the world would imagine it. His final seat of glory in the Kingdom will not be because, even of his great works and miracles, not even because of his supremely  wise teaching but because he drank the cup of baptism of death on the Cross. He achieved greatness only through the utmost humiliation. And what more humiliating in the world's eyes than to be nailed to a Roman gibbet. We read in the gospels of the people who passed the Cross pouring scorn and ridicule on him

So that leads us into the heart of tonight's teaching. It starts with that request by the mother of James and John, that they be given the places of honour when Jesus comes in power in his Kingdom, to sit on his right hand and left hand; the seats which would represent power and honour. That's what she wanted for her boys and they wanted it too. You can imagine the mother saying, "Here, Jesus! I hope you're going to see my boys right! They've worked so hard for you these last three years. They've given everything up. They've left their father's business. Poor Zebedee, he's had to do without the help of his sons in the family business. They've spent three years penniless going round Galilee with you. I hope you are going to see my boys right."
  She obviously hadn't begun to understand what Jesus had just been saying about the workers in the vineyard. 'The first shall be last and the last first' She had totally by-passed all that.
  There was probably more to it. Michael Green in his commentary on Matthew where he suggests very reasonably-and I can't go into all the detail here, that James and John were probably cousins of Jesus. There was probably a bit of family-favour here, a bit of nepotism in it- jobs for the boys. That would help to explain the eanger of the other disciples. They thought they were going to miss out because they weren't "family". Why should James and John get all the preferntial treatment, all the places of honour and power?

Now Jesus takes all the disciples to one side and explains this principle to them.
Not so with you. When we think of leadership, which is what was at stake really, we think in terms of power, of authority, of status. That way of thinking has invaded the church hasn't it? I'd like to quote a few sentences from Michale Green's commentary. He says this:
How slow the church has been to learn the lesson. We are status-ridden. We talk in terms of promotion in the work and ministry of the church. Generally the clergy leave the menial taks to others, instead of sharing in and washing-up. We love honorific titles 'Right Reverend' and 'Venerable", whereas Jesus came to be seen to be the servant.
Not so with you. Here we have to compare two different sorts of model of leader or ruler.
First of all there's the world's view of the one who rules, of the one who is 'great', the one who leads, the one who has power and authority and status. Jesus says in verse 25 You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. He's probobaly there pointing to the rulership exercised by the Romans. They had power, they had authority, and they exercised that over the people.
  Anybody who's been in the military services knows what this is all about. I remember when I did my National Service in the RAF. During the basic training we had this (not very nice!!) little Welshman as one of our drill NCOs. He was a little man. Probably about 5ft 4ins. But he knew how to wield his power and authority. Although he was such a short man I certainly looked up to him. There was a distance, a realtinal distance between the one who lead and the one who obeyed.
That's the world's picture isn't it everywhere. I just took my drill NCO in the RAF as an example of a principle.
  In the world's eyes, the good leader is the one who has that relational distance. It happens in industry, in business, everywhere. Industrial leaders, business leaders have thie relatinal distance between themselves and the workers, the office staff or whetever. Without it they could never exercise that power and auhtority. They could never expect their commands to be obeyed unhesitatingly. For that in the world is what leadership is about. Other people are just objects, just pawns, to be used for their purposes.   And, of course, it's all very satisfying

Not so with you says Jesus. He's here painting the picture for the Christian leader. Not just the vicar. Maybe he's addressing anyone who fancies their chances, who would want to be 'great' in God's Kingdom. The way of being great isn't that relational distance. It isn't seeing other people as pawns. It isn't using other people. Rather, it's being there to be used by other people. It's being there to be their servant. Peter, in his first epistle picks up on this theme, and he says this, addressing those who are elders of the church:
  , I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. (1 Pet 5:1-4)
That is the pattern of Christian leadership. It is servanthood. To have power in the church is not to put people at a distance from you, and tell them what to do. It's to get alongside them. To get alongside as fellow-servants, or even as their servant. It's also to show an interest in the other person, to make them feel important.
  The other mark of the Christian leader is that he or she will put themselves on your level. Paul in Romans 12:3 says this: Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought. This is the key as to whether we can ever be a servant-leader. God's Kingdom is one where the values of this world are stood on their head. The Christian by the conversion in his or her new birth will completely rethink their values. Not so with you. Let us be those who will 'go against the flow' Do we see other people as those who are our pawns, or do we see them as fellow-servants. Fellow-servants of the one who not only said not so with you, but who gave his life as a ransom for many.
 
 

1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, `You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, `Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
7" `Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, `You also go and work in my vineyard.'
8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, `Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12`These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, `and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
13"But he answered one of them, `Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
17Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18"We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"
20Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21"What is it you want?" he asked.
She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."
22"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?"
"We can," they answered.
23Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
24When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
29As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
31The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
32Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
33"Lord," they answered, "we want our sight."
34Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.