Acts 6:1-6 and Mark 10:35-45; Clarity Crumbles

"Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2 And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait at tables. 3 Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4 while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.' 5 What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephan, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith."

Then, the familiar passage from Mark 10: 35-45,

"James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, 'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.' 36 And he said to them, 'What is it you want me to do for you?' 37 And they said to him, 'Grant us to sit, one at your irhgt hand and one at your left, in your glory.' 38 But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am batpized with?' 39 They replied, 'We are able.' Then Jesus said to them, 'The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.' 41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, 'You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.'"

Introduction--The "Standard" Reading

These two texts were linked not in the lectionary but by the preacher this morning, a very bright, diligent retired IRS agent who had taught himself Greek so as to be able to exposit the New Testament more accurately. His exposition was, as usual, peppered with helpful references to the original text, especially his observation that the word "diakonia" (translated "service" or "deacon") was used to describe both the ministry of preaching and, as the NRSV says it so infelicitously, to "wait on tables." The latter is an unfortunate translation because it suggests images of harried servers rushing back and forth with orders of rissotto or crepes. The fact that the word "diakonia" describes both activities of preaching and waiting means that ministries are not hierarchically arranged; they are all, really, part of the same "service" to which all are called.

After making several other useful exegetical insights, such as the importance of leadership's recognition of needs and the centrality of spiritual equipping for even seemingly mundane tasks, the message became what I will call the "standard" exposition of this passage--that service is an important trait for the modern church and, when combined with Mark 10, service performed with humility and genuine self-sacrifice is what is at the heart of Christian discipleship.

While not disagreeing with any of those points, I had the sense, both during the message and immediately thereafter, that this was far too boring and, seemingly paradoxically, too abstract. It was boring because it simply reiterated what was on the surface of the texts without possible awareness of subtleties or of the problems inherent even in surface observations. I will get to the subtleties below. An example of a problem inherent in surface observation would be its failure to come to grips with long-standing criticisms of Christianity's concept of servanthood as not simply baptizing the status quo but of contributing to the disempowering of excluded groups. The abstraction of the concept of servanthood is that, once you begin to think about it for a moment, it has no determinate content. I have no idea how to "be a servant" as I leave worship. Does that mean being nice to people? Not cutting them off in traffic? What if I live most of my life (as I do) in a solitary fashion? What can the concept of servanthood mean when I spent the day writing, learning languages, washing the clothes and tending the garden?

So, I left this morning feeling that I had ingested a standard dose of a standard bromide, tinged with etheriality, and that I felt no different for the administration of the dose.

We need to take this one step further...in the next essay.

4373