What is it you want?

Matthew 15:29-39

If you are like me, then you want a great many things. When I make a trip to and from the US, I get tired of sitting in a cramped seat on the airplane and my legs ache and what I most want is to be able to stretch out on my bed and sleep.

As my stomach begins to grumble I begin to think of what would be good to eat and I want something to fill my belly. When it is cold and damp, as it often is in the winters here, I want a sweater to keep warm. I want a fireplace to sit in front of. I want it to be spring with the warmer weather we have recently been experiencing.

There are times when I am lonely and want a friend to talk to. When Annie was away in the US for a month, I wanted her to come home early and be with me. There are times when I have been with a lot of people and I want some time to be alone.

I am a material person living in a material world and so there are a lot of things I want. I want a nice stereo. I want new CDs. I want new videos to watch. I want new books to read. I want new clothes. I want computer equipment. I want a camera and lenses. I want a lot of things.

If someone were to come up to you and ask, “What is it you want?” how would you reply?

It depends on who it was. If it was Bill Gates, you might ask for a sum of money or at least a computer or two. If it was a clerk at MacDonalds, you might ask for a Happy Meal with an interesting toy. If it was your parent, you might ask for the desk that belonged to your grandfather.

But if it was Jesus who came up to you, how would you respond?  If Jesus were to appear to you tonight and ask you this question: What is it you want? How would you answer?

At that point, asking for the CD you have been wanting to listen to for a long time does not seem like the likely response. Asking for a computer or clothes or a Happy Meal would not likely be the request that would pop to your mind.

If Jesus, God in the flesh, appeared to us, we would not be thinking so trivially about what it is we want. You ask the clerk at MacDonalds for a Happy Meal but you ask God in the flesh for something a bit more substantial.

In the text this morning, Salome, the mother of James and John, came to Jesus with a request. “What is it you want?” Jesus asked her.

James and John had been partners with Peter in the fishing trade when Jesus came and called them to follow him. John, along with Peter and Andrew, had been a disciple of John the Baptist. There is no indication that James had been John the Baptist’s follower, but he joined his brother when Jesus called them to follow him.

Jesus gave James and John the nickname, Sons of Thunder, probably because of their impetuousness and spirit. When Jesus set out for Jerusalem at the end of his ministry, a Samaritan village refused to welcome him. It was James and John who were eager to use some of the new power they had received as Jesus’ disciples. “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” Jesus had a problem and they knew how to fix it. Jesus had to rebuke them.

James and John, along with Peter, were the disciples with whom Jesus spent the most time. Peter, James and John were the three disciples Jesus took with him into the room where he raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. These three were present with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus was revealed in all his heavenly glory, side by side with Moses and Elijah. It was these three who Jesus asked to be with him in his agony in the garden of Gethsemane the night he was arrested. James and John and Peter were the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples.

There is also a possibility that Salome, the mother of James and John, was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This would have made them cousins to Jesus.

However it was, what we know for sure is that there was an especially close relationship between these three and Jesus. In John’s Gospel, he refers to himself several times as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and is portrayed at the Last Supper as the one who was leaning his head on the breast of Jesus.

Salome saw all this and thought about it. This incident is another example of how the culture of Jesus is much closer to the culture of Morocco than to the western world. Salome conspired for her sons because it was through her sons that she would find power. So Salome approached Jesus. It is clear that she did this after talking with her sons. In Mark it is recorded that James and John asked the question but given the culture, it does not matter who asked. They were all three in on the discussion and decision to approach Jesus.

Salome saw how Jesus seemed to favor her sons – and Peter, if she were forced to admit it. But Peter was not her son and so she pushed her sons forward to seek a position of power with Jesus.

There were twelve disciples, too many to rule with Jesus. Power would have to belong to a smaller number and Peter was a threat. Already, by personality and age, he was viewed by the other disciples as their leader. So Salome, along with James and John, decided to make a preemptive strike. Solidify the position for her sons now. Push Peter out of the picture. Establish now their future – and as their mother, her future.

Then 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.”

Remember that at this time the disciples were not thinking of a heavenly kingdom. They did not understand at this point that Jesus would die as a sacrifice for all people in all time. They fully expected Jesus to cause an overthrow of the Roman occupation of their land and to establish a kingdom in Israel like that of King David and King Solomon.

What would have happened if Jesus had granted her this favor? What would have happened to the disciples? What would have happened to the ministry of Jesus?

It would be tempting to say that our other reading this morning, from the book of James, was this same James who asked Jesus for a seat on his right or left in his kingdom. But it was another James, James the half-brother of Jesus, who wrote that epistle. Listen again to what we read earlier.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.  3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

If Jesus had granted them this favor, the disciples would have been split and the ministry shattered with everyone scheming to grab as much of the coming power ast they could.

But Jesus’s response indicated that there was a test coming that would take their desire for power and transform it.

“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.
23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup,

What did Jesus mean when he talked about the cup? In the garden of Gethsemane, when he prayed the night he was arrested, he prayed this: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

So when Jesus asked James and John, the Sons of Thunder, if they were willing to drink the cup he was going to drink, he was referring to the suffering he would endure on the cross.  And he asked them, “Are you willing to suffer as I am going to suffer?”

James and John had not a clue what he was asking them and quickly answered, “We can.” What a no brainer. Drink from the gold cup Jesus as king will drink from? Give us a hard question.

But Jesus knew their future. He knew what they did not know and he said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup.”

James was the first of the disciples to be martyred.
In Acts 12
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.  2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

What is the cup from which John drank? John alone of the twelve disciples died of old age. In what way did John share in the sufferings of Christ? Scripture does not tell us a lot about what happened to him but it is apparent that something transformed this Son of Thunder into a man of love and humility and this does not happen apart from suffering. James and John did indeed drink from the cup and shared with Jesus his suffering.

James and John wanted power. They enjoyed the use of power. But Jesus knew they would be tested and transformed by the testing.

And then the other disciples heard about what John and James had done.

24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.  25 Jesus 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.  26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—  28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

There is a process we go through as Christians that is revealed in this incident. Let me explain it and then try to give some examples.

We come to God with our wants. We want material things. We want power. We want popularity. We want fame. We want all these things. And then Jesus asks us to follow him. Are we willing to drink from the cup he drank from? Are we willing to share in his sufferings? Is our following him going to be a convenient, easy following that will allow us to have the things we want or will it be a following that will take us to the cross? Will we be willing to take up our cross daily and follow him?

And so God puts us to the test to see if we will follow him or give up when it becomes difficult. When we persevere in our following despite the difficulties we encounter in the process, he molds us, transforms us into his servants who become servants to the rest of the body of Christ.

Let me give some examples.

What was the driving desire in Abraham’s life? He wanted a son. He wanted an heir. He was accumulating great wealth but to what end? After he died, to whom would all his hard work benefit? God met Abram and spoke to him: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” Abram was already at an advanced age and had no children so he asked God what could he receive that would be of value since his only heir would be his servant, Eliezer of Damascus. But God promised him he would bear a son.

Abram and Sarai discussed what this could mean and concluding that Sarai was not able to conceive, Sarai suggested that God’s promise would be fulfilled by having Abram sleep with Sarai’s maidservant, Hagar. And so Ishmael was born and Abram thought that at last he had received the promise God had made to him. But then when Ishmael was thirteen years old, God revealed himself to Abram and made a new covenant with him, changing his name to Abraham, father of many. At this point Abraham and Sarah were two very old people. Abraham was no longer able to do what it took to have a child and yet he and Sarah obeyed and in a great miracle, she conceived and bore a child they named Isaac.

This child was adored, finally the true answer to God’s promise. Abraham had wanted a son and now he had a son. This son was what he wanted and in fact his adoration of his son caused him to force Hagar and Ishmael out into the wilderness to protect what God had given him.

But then came the test. God appeared to Abraham and told him:
“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

God took what Abraham wanted and put him to the test. Was Abraham willing to follow God despite the sacrifices he had to make? From the first calling of Abraham, God seemed to be putting him to the test to see if he was willing to follow him despite the difficulties. For twenty four years, Abraham persevered despite his and Sarah’s advancing years, to believe God would make him the father of many. Through God’s testing of Abraham’s wants, Abraham was transformed into a man of faith, the father of all who believe, as he is described by Paul in Romans.

What did Jacob want? Jacob, the grandson of Abraham wanted his own way, he wanted his advantage. He swindled his twin brother, Esau, into giving him his birthright and then stole the blessing meant for Esau from his father Isaac. He fled out of fear for what he had done to his mother’s family and continued his scheming ways. He met his match in his uncle Laban but managed in the end to outmaneuver even his uncle to gain his advantage.

But then God put him to the test and met him at Peniel. He had escaped from his uncle Laban, having taken advantage of him and he was about to face his twin brother, Esau, who he had swindled. He was afraid and God met him at Peniel where he struggled with the angel of the Lord and refused to give up until God blessed him.

This test transformed Jacob and God gave him a new name, Israel. The name change is significant because his name changed from one who grasps, seeking his advantage, to God strives. From this time on, there is a different Jacob portrayed. All his life Jacob had schemed to work things out to his benefit and now it was God who strove for Jacob to bring him blessings.

What did Joseph, the son of Jacob, want? He wanted the limelight. He was his father’s favorite son and he gloried in that spotlight of favoritism. He enjoyed telling his brothers about his dream in which they all bowed down to him. He wanted to be the center of attention and then he was put to the test. He was sold into slavery, accused and convicted of attacking his master’s wife, put in jail and forgotten about until God pulled him out and put him in the center of attention. All those things that Joseph wanted he received. His brothers did come and bow down before him. But Joseph had been put to the test and transformed in the process and he was a different person. He became a servant to his family and nation.

It was at this point in my study that I discovered a very interesting thing. What Joseph wanted, he received. He wanted to be in the limelight and at the end he was indeed put into the limelight. But he had been transformed by his testing and he became a servant to his family and nation, able to help them in his position as the number two man in Egypt, just under Pharaoh.

Abraham wanted a son and after his test he had a son. He had not only a son and the physical descendants of his son but he became as well the father of all who believe in Jesus by faith. He truly became the father of many.

Jacob schemed to get what he wanted for himself and after his test, he ended up with God who worked for him to get what he needed. He strove for himself and then God strove for him.

James and John wanted power. They wanted to rule alongside Jesus in his kingdom and while we do not know exactly how it works in heaven, I would not be surprised to see these two in prominence, powerful for God in the kingdom of heaven.

We come to God with our wants. God puts us to the test. Will we follow him and drink from his cup? We are transformed by that test and we receive what we wanted but because of the transformation that has taken place we are servants who in humility are able to serve others as God gives to us what we wanted.

Wanting to be powerful or wanting to have a family or wanting to have what is best for ourselves, wanting to be in a position of leadership – none of these things are bad in themselves. But selfish, sinful people take these wants and others are abused through them.

It is when we are transformed by the testing process God gives that we are able to take these wants and be servants to God and the body of Christ.

Because God loves you, he will take what you want and put you to the test and it is his desire that you will be transformed in the process to become his servant and a servant to the rest of his body.

So here is the question for you this morning. What is it you want? At your deepest level, what is it you want?

And then the question Jesus poses to you is, “Can you drink from the cup I drank from?”

Is your following of Jesus an easy, convenient following? Do you follow Jesus because it helps to get you what you want? Or are you willing to follow Jesus even when it will cost you something to do so?

The church is and always has been full of people who follow Jesus because it is easy to do so or because following Jesus serves their interests. The church is and always has been full of people who follow Jesus because doing so helps them get what they want. Following Jesus may be good for business. It may be a good place to meet people with the influence you need when you get into trouble.

But when persecution comes, those who follow because it is easy, convenient and profitable fall away to the side leaving those who have chosen to drink the cup Jesus drank. This was true in the first centuries of the church and the persecution here in North Africa, it was true in the persecution of Christians in this country in the middle eighties and it will be true when persecution comes in the future.

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. Jesus prayed in his high priestly prayer when he was praying for his disciples and for all those who would choose to follow him through the ages. They will persecute you also.

I believe that persecution will come and when it comes, will you be one who perseveres and drinks from the cup of Jesus, sharing in his sufferings? Or will you be one who slides off to the sidelines in a denial of Christ?

Jesus comes to you this morning to ask you what it is you want and then he asks you, Can you drink the cup from which I drank?

This morning we have the privilege of sharing with Christ in the communion meal. We will eat the bread and drink the cup, remembering when we do so that it is the body of Christ that was broken for us and the blood of Christ that was shed for us.

This is a meal in which we are bathed in the love of God expressed in the death of Jesus for us. When you come forward, I want you to do so as an expression of your willingness to drink of the cup of suffering. I want you to come forward as an expression of your intention to follow Jesus, even when it becomes difficult to do so. I want you to come forward as an expression of your willingness to sacrifice what it is you want so that God can transform you into his servant.

Make your coming forward this morning a moment of decision. Jesus asks you this morning, What is it you want? And then he asks, Can you drink the cup from which I drank?