Having grown up with a father from the Mennonite tradition, I was treated to all sorts of quaint idioms and expressions of the Pennsylvania Dutch.  Dad would say things like, "Throw mama down the stairs a blanket," or, "Give me a little schnitz of your apple."  One of my favorite expressions came from a young Amish girl telling a train conductor, "You’re early of late; you were behind before; now you’re first at last."  "First at Last" is the title of our message for this morning, although we are not talking about train schedules.

Most of us aspire to be first in a lot of ways: first in line, first in our class, first and foremost.  Nobody aspires to be last.  And yet that is precisely what the Bible in general and our text in particular encourages us to be.  So often the Bible turns our normal worldview upside down, and that is certainly the case today.  In our Call to Worship we read: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).  Put the other person first and yourself last for a change.  Be the first one willing to take the last place.  Be "First at Last."

You may have noticed that we have been focusing on the Gospel of Mark for the past several weeks, specifically chapters 8 through 10 in order of appearance.  However I have decided to skip over the text assigned for today and preach the one assigned for next Sunday instead.  Why?  Because the text assigned for today is about the rich young ruler and is a perfect text for Loyalty Sunday when we kick off our stewardship campaign.  But Loyalty Sunday is next week, so I decided to swap the texts so that we will get to them both but in reverse order.  As the Amish would put it, I am "early of late."

The text we will be considering next week concludes with these words: But many who are first will be last, and the last first (10:31).  In the kingdom of God many roles will be reversed.  Those self-centered souls who always had to be first in this life will be last in the life to come, whereas many who are now the last and the least by worldly standards will be first and foremost in the kingdom of God.  Apparently some halos will glow a little brighter than others in heaven as certain good and godly souls stand out from the rest.

But apparently Jesus’ teaching is falling on the deaf ears of his disciples as evidenced by a conversation they are having with him in our text.  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him.  "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask" (Verse 35).  Sometimes that is how we approach prayer, is it not?  We want Jesus to do for us whatever we ask. We see the purpose of prayer as bending Jesus’ will to our own, rather than bending ours to his.

James and John probably felt a little privileged because of their family connection to Jesus.  In Matthew’s account of this story the mother of Zebedee’s sons comes to Jesus on their behalf.  Her name was Salome, and tradition has it that she was a sister to Mary, the mother of Jesus, making James and John first cousins to Jesus.  That should certainly count for something.  Already they are part of his band of 12 disciples, but they have something more in mind.  So they come to Jesus privately to discuss their proposal.

"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.  They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory" (Verses 36-37).  Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem.  They have won over the multitudes, and now they are going straight to the seats of power and glory in the capital city of their nation.  Jesus has tried to tell them about his coming arrest and crucifixion at the hands of the authorities, but all that talk has completely escaped James and John.  They see glory on the horizon, and they want to share in it.  More, they want to sit at Jesus’ right hand and left hand in his glory—they want to be first and foremost among all his followers.

"You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said.  "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  In the Bible, the cup is symbolic of our portion from God.  Just like we set a "tippy cup" before our children when they are small, so God sets a cup before his children.  Sometimes it contains food to feed our hunger.  The Psalmist writes, …my cup overflows (Psalm 23:5), testifying to the overflowing blessings that come from God’s hand.  But you will recall how Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, prayed to God "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42).  Here Jesus is referring to a cup of bitter medicine he was being asked to swallow.  Ultimately, it would result in his resurrection to glory.  But first it would require pain and suffering.

The same goes for baptism, which may also be understood in two ways.  There is a baptism by water and a baptism by fire.  John the Baptist said "I baptize you with water.  But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16).  Fire serves a refining purpose in the Bible.  By burning gold ore, the dross--or waste--is burned off leaving the pure gold behind.  Peter, writing to Christians suffering trials of many kinds for their faith, says: These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (I Peter 1:7).

To tie all this up, Jesus says to James and John: You do not know what you are asking.  You want to share in my glory, but you do not see the connection between the cross and the crown, between the bitter medicine and the wellness it brings, between righteous suffering and the refinement of your faith.  "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  "We can," they answered.  Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with…." (Verses 38-39).

As it turned out, James was the first apostle to be martyred, whereas John, who endured many years of persecution and exile, was the last apostle to die.  But that was later, after they became exemplars of the faith.  In our text they just don’t get it—they don’t get the connection between the cross and the crown.  Neither, we might add, do the other 10 disciples.  When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John (Verse 41).  Why indignant?  Because they were all "glory hounds" and resented the other two trying to get a jump on them.

So, Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Verses 42-45).

I am so glad that our Moderator, Peter French, does not use his high position to "lord over" me.  Our Moderator is the highest elected position in church where the government and authority is vested in its members, as you just read from our Code of Regulations as printed on the cover of your bulletins.  To put it another way, the Moderator represents the congregation in a congregationally governed church.  I am not like the pope here, or like a bishop or even like a priest.  I have about 850 bosses in this congregation, and the first and foremost is our Moderator.

Like I said, I am so glad that Mr. French does not "lord over" me.  So when he asked me if I might show up at 7:00 AM this Thursday to help set up for Nutcracker Sweets, I expected him to take "no" for an answer.  I’ve got a lot of good and legitimate reasons for saying "no."  I am actually a very important person--a V.I.P. if you will—in the kingdom of God.  I am always on a mission for God.  I really don’t have time to do the grunt work of ministry.  That’s your job.  My job is to wax poetic from the pulpit and such.

Well, "Lord Peter" was just not getting it.  He was not ready to take "no" for an answer.  He said, "Let’s take a few days to think about this and revisit it then."  In the meantime, I am swapping titles & texts for the reasons previously stated, and beginning to ponder our new title for today:  "First at Last."  As I was pondering that title, the thought of doing the grunt work of ministry kept popping into my head.  I hate it when that happens.  I hate it when a message I am intending for you gets intended for me.

Oh well, I signed up for the 7:00 shift carrying vendors’ displays and wares into the church for Nutcracker Sweets.  It’s not like it’s my cross to bear, my bitter cup to drink or my baptism by fire.  It’s just a chance to be "First at Last" for a change.  Already the decision has resulted in a little personal glory.  Mr. French emailed me that I have become his favorite Senior Minister.  I emailed him back, "Ahh, Peter, I’m your only Senior Minister."  But it’s better than the alternative.