Riding Shotgun

Mark 10:35-45

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Let us pray. Father, may your will be done. Jesus, may your word be proclaimed in spirit. May your work be accomplished. In us, we pray.
Amen. Well, peace be with. You know, in my generation, one of the most cherished places that you can gain is to be sitting shotgun in the front seat of a vehicle. This is what happened growing up, when my mom, who wouldn't take us to school very much, would have a free morning to take my sister and I to school. I don't know what it is about riding shotgun.
I don't know what it is about the front seat of a vehicle. Maybe it's the access to the radio or the glove box, which is kind of like no big deal, but for whatever a child is a big deal to have access to that glove box for some strange reason. But my mom would take us to school, and if we had our wits about us, first thing in the morning, we would be the first one to go to mom and say, mom, can I sit in the front seat? And of course, if you're the first one. She said, of course.
And immediately, once I got the affirmation from my mom that I could sit in the front seat, I would look over to my sister, who was still trying to wake up, and I would yell, shotgun. And she would move from this little face of waking up and this little stupor to indignant jealousy all of a sudden over the fact that I beat her to the punch. I get a ride shotgun on the way to school, and this is a big deal, because it feels when you're riding shotgun as if you're going to be the first one to arrive at the destination. I know it just is a few inches of separation between the front seat and the back seat. But for whatever reason, we always wanted to ride shotgun, especially because my mom would always take us to the grocery store on the way to school, and behind these glorious glass doors would be all these pastries.
And we got to select any pastry we wanted, and we get to eat it on the way home. And so you just feel, riding shotgun, that you're the first to the glass doors and you're the first to pick out the biggest pastry, because that's what I would do. I wouldn't go with, like, the chocolate little tiny donuts. You pick out the biggest muffin. I wasn't even a muffin fan.
It was just the biggest muffin. And I would get there and grab it and eat it on my way home. But there is something about riding shotgun that exists in all of our hearts and our minds. We always want to position ourselves better than everybody else or we aspire to be in that situation all the time of riding shotgun. And we love beating people even to the punch when it comes to like my sister telling her, hey, I get a ride shotgun.
And this is exactly what James and John are doing in this gospel lesson. This morning they are on their way to Jerusalem. We are told this just a few verses before we get into our gospel lesson. The importance that Jesus in Mark chapter ten is now, we're being told, heading to Jerusalem and even Jesus own position as he's now in front of his disciples. For whatever reason, Mark wants you to know that Jesus is in front of his disciples and now they're heading to Jerusalem.
Because in Mark chapter eleven, we've been walking through this for the last few weeks. In Mark chapter eleven, Jesus will ride on a donkey and he'll be worshiped as king as he goes into Jerusalem. And where do we know, and what do we know about Jerusalem but that he's going to die? That's the sober reality of what is taking place. Matter of fact, this gospel lesson comes right after Jesus for the third time, telling his disciples what is going to happen to him as king, and they ignore it three times.
A couple weeks ago I walked you through Mark 8910 because Mark reiterates this fact that Jesus teaches his disciples that he's about to go and die and offer himself up and they don't get this. And that we understand that they don't get this because of what takes place immediately following Jesus telling them, hey, I'm going to be dying soon here. James and John, as they're walking to Jerusalem, catch up to Jesus. And the first thing on their mind after Jesus just told them he's going to die for the third time is, hey, can I sit to the left and to your right when you enter in your glory? And this is very telling because it tells us exactly what the mindset of the disciples is all about.
It's still very jewish, it's still very worldly. They believe that as they're walking into Jerusalem that somehow Jesus is going to fight his way and usher in his kingdom. This is what they understand, that he is the one that's going to be like David and bringing in this kingdom, that like David, he's going to conquer all his enemies. David was a mighty warrior. So here comes Jesus.
Maybe Jesus is about to enter into Jerusalem and his kingdom is going to come and he's going to take it by force. This is in their mind. And so if Jesus is enthroned as king. When they come into Jerusalem, what's in their mind is, hey, Jesus, can we sit to the left and to the right when you're enthroned as king? And what's even more interesting is that Jesus kind of calls them out and says, no, no, no, no.
You guys are still not understanding. That's not how you enter into the kingdom. That's not how the kingdom is going to enter into this world. I'm not going to do it the way it's always been done. I'm going to do it differently, and it's going to be better and it's going to be everlasting.
And he doesn't chastise James and John for asking for these prominent positions in the kingdom, but he says something to us that helps us understand what those positions in his kingdom represent and who they are prepared for. And he asks James of John. He goes, are you able to drink the cup that I'm going to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I'm going to be baptized with? And that kind of might be lost in translation to us, but we can remember Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane when he prays to his father, let this cup pass from me, but not my will be done, but your will be done.
See, the cup represents the suffering that Jesus is about to go and endure. The baptism that he's about to endure is the baptism into death that he's going to drink the cup of the wrath of God for the sins of the entire world, and then he's going to be swallowed up in death to put those sins in the grave, to be done once and for all, for all mankind and for those who would believe in him. And he looks to James and John, he says, that's what those seats represent in my kingdom is the ones who suffer in this life, the ones who forfeit their life in this life. That's what those seats are reserved for. You want to ride shotgun, but you got to sit in the back seat in this world, because those seats are prepared for those who do what I do.
And he does give James and John a little glimpse that they probably don't understand. He says, you will drink the cup that I drink and you will be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with in death. His disciples do not know this, but they will be martyred for the faith. And it's through the giving of their lives that the church grows and prospers. And Jesus even demonstrates and models what it is to live this backseat life in this world that if you want to be great in the kingdom of heaven, then you got to take a backseat in this world.
And let me just demonstrate this for you. Jesus says to his disciples as he gathers them and teaches, he says, I, being the son of God, the son of man, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. So Jesus models the very thing that he's telling them about. You want to be great? You want to be first?
Well, then let me model what that looks like, because I'm going to drink a cup, and I'm going to be baptized, and I'm going to give up my life in this world, and my kingdom is going to reign, and it's going to reign forever, and I'm going to be seated at the right hand of God the father.
So Jesus models the back seat for us and tells them, and teaches them, you too, need to take a back seat and not desire to ride shotgun in this life. That's the lesson that the gospel is trying to propagate to us. This morning, through Jesus own words, he's saying, you need to take a backseat in this life. Matter of fact, Jesus does this in this whole entire ministry. If you were to take a summary of everything that Jesus has been teaching up to this point, and we're now winding down Jesus's ministry of teaching, because now he's just gotta get busy doing what he's come to do, and that is to go and die for the sins of the world.
But in all his teachings, he's been teaching the exact opposite of what people are inclined to do. People are so self centered and self focused. People want the things that the world is offering. People want a better life in this present world, that they're not focused on the life to come. They're not focused on the eternal life.
They're not focused on that which will come for sure later. And Jesus says, so you got to understand, to be first in the kingdom is to be last in the world. One of the ways that my mom mitigated these little arguments that took place when she took us to school between my sister and I was whoever would be whoever got to her first and asked to ride shotgun, she would say, yes, you can ride to school on the way in the front seat, but on the way home, the other person gets to ride shotgun. And she blew up my whole entire game plan with this new rule. She satisfied the parties.
And all of a sudden, I go from trying to beat my sister first thing in the morning when I found out mom was taking us to school to ride shotgun to. Do I want to ride shotgun on the way there or on the way back? Because on the way back, there might be a few extra little excursions my mom might take. Maybe to the pizza place, maybe out to eat, maybe McDonald's, man, because those french fries are. I mean, you might get something better than a pastry, right?
So I had to sit there and count the cost and say, should I ride in the back seat or in the front seat on the way there or on the way home? I had to consider something new, because on the way home is going to be a lot better than on the way there, I thought. And so I went from having to beat my sister to the shotgun in the front seat to, you know what? Karen. That's my sister's name.
Karen, why don't you just take the front seat this morning? I'll go ahead and give it to you. Right? And this is the mentality that Jesus is teaching. If you want to experience greatness and being first, if you want to seek after the kingdom, then you have to take the backseat first.
You have to lose your life in this world. You have to forfeit it, taking the backseat so that others can benefit. This is exactly what Jesus does, isn't it? Jesus perfectly fulfills the will of his father first and foremost. It is the brainchild of God the father, for you to be saved.
It's his intention, it's his desire, and he sends his own son to the world to go and die. And so Jesus first and foremost accomplishes the will of God, but also for our own interests. What is our greatest need, what is our greatest interest that we ought to have for ourselves is that our lives can be saved, that this can't be the reality, that our desires even can be changed. Jesus does that. He models that, and then he calls us, as he demonstrates that backseat life.
He calls all his disciples and those who would follow them and those who desire to enter into the kingdom to do the exact same. So what does it mean being so wired and geared towards wanting to ride shotgun and sit in the front seat? What does it mean to transition from a lifestyle and a mentality of wanting to sit in the front seat to sitting in the backseat? What does that look like? Well, it looks like following after Jesus, but specifically in these ways that we have to make God's will, the father's will, our primary purpose in our lives, just like Jesus with the cross set before him, endured the cross with utter joy because he was accomplishing the will of his father, so too do we need to have the will of God to speak over us and in us, and we need to be living it out more than our own wills, more than our own desires.
Listen to Matthew 721. Listen to these teachings about God's will over our own wills. Matthew 721 says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father who is in heaven will enter.
That's those who get to enter into the kingdom are those who are accomplishing the will of God. First, John 217 says this. The world is passing away and also its lusts. But the one who does the will of God lives forever. James 413 15 come now, you who say today or tomorrow will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that. James is teaching us how we orient our lives to consider first and foremost God's will for our lives rather than our own. We take the backseat to the will of the father, but not only just the will of the father over our own wills, but we also need to look out for others more than we look out for ourselves.
This is what James often well, James one and two, this is what I often refer to when people come to me and say, I'm really struggling in these relationships. I define for them what the Bible says. What is every person's conflict in their life can be narrowed down to this simple thing in James four. What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is it not the source?
Your pleasures that wage war in your members you lust and you do not have, so you commit murder you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel you do not have because you do not ask. James defines every conflict that we have in our lives and every fight and argument that I have, even with my sisters and the people that are in my life. It's because I want something, I don't have it, and I got to fight for it, right? That's what causes quarrels and conflicts. And Jesus says, that's not the backseat approach in this world.
That's you trying to gain position. That's you trying to be primary and to position yourself over everyone else. That's Bruce trying to get the front seat. So his sister sits in the back seat. Jesus says, that's not how we do things in my kingdom.
In my kingdom, we look out for the interest of others. We consider others as more significant than ourselves. This is exactly what Paul says in Philippians two, four. He says, do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. This is a really hard one, a challenging one.
And I've mentioned it before, and it bears repeating again, that even within a marriage, a covenant relationship between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, what are they committing their lives to be doing is to looking out for the interest of the other. That means my wife, who loves and adores plants, I could kind of care less about them. She loves plants. She likes to garden. And so when she wants to do those types of things, I make it my interest to oversee and to make sure that her interests are taken care of.
Thursdays, I usually take off. I usually don't study. I don't do anything. And I just use that for family time. And so what my wife wanted is, is to put three garden beds over here by the parsonage because we're going to transition to the parsonage hopefully in the next few months to be part of the community.
And she wants those garden beds because she wants to garden. She wants to provide food for the family. I said, guess what I'm doing. I'm going to make sure that takes place and that happens because I'm super strategic. I planned out how we're going to get all that done.
I made a five trips to the hardware store. I was hoping they'll only go for two, but I ended up going with five, and I made it happen. I'm not saying that to glow. I'm saying that as an example that that's how you got to orient your life. If you want to enter into the kingdom of God, if you want to be like Jesus, you have to put other people's interests above your own.
You have to look out for their interest. And how do you know what people's interests are unless you get to know them? Unless you get to know what they are and then you make it your aim to fulfill them. To say, you're my wife, these are your interests, and I'll look after them. And the scary thing and the reason why we probably don't do that very well is because we're still a little selfish.
We still have some essence of pride in us, and we're like, well, then who's going to look out for my interest, I like comic books. I like to watch movies and eat popcorn and pastries. Who's gonna look out for that for me? So my wife makes some brownies because she knows that's a delight to my eyes. All that to say, it's funny, but at the same time we want we're like, okay, I'll look out for your interest.
But then who's looking out for mine? And Jesus says, you don't worry about your interest. You look out for the interests of others in this world, in this present life. That's what you spend your time doing. Because when this world passes away and all of it's forfeit and all of it's going to burn up, and then I'm going to usher in my kingdom.
God the Father, you'll be in his presence, and he is going to give you all of your desires. He'll be the one looking out for you. So you look out for the interest of others in this life, and then you'll be entering into a kingdom where every interest of yours will be sought after by King Jesus and his father. That's what he's saying. Not only is riding the seat, meaning that the Father's will is your primary concern, your secondary concern is the interest of others, but also Jesus teaches the mentality of the backseat.
In Mark, chapter 1031 that we looked at just last week, it says, but many who are first will be last, and the last first. Jesus is putting at opposition of one another his kingdom versus the world. He says, the world says, you be first, you'll be prominent, and you'll be best and successful. Jesus says, forfeit the world, become last, and in my kingdom you'll be first.
He further reiterates this in his ministry by Matthew, chapter six, verses 33 says, but seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. There is this mentality that you to live this present life not for the world, not for its approval, not to gain anything here, but to store up everything for the kingdom to come. You're to live in such a way as you live for the kingdom you seek the kingdom. And what this looks like to the world is life through death. I mean, every day you live here and to the world around you, you're going to look like you're dying to them.
But reality check. While to the world you look like you're dying, to my father you look like you're living. Philippians 3810 says this. This is what Paul says. More than that, I count all things to be lost.
And view the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ, my lord. For whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And count them as rubbish. So that I might gain Christ and be found in him. Not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law.
But that which is through faith in Christ. The righteousness which comes from God. On the basis of faith that I may know him. And the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. Being conformed in his death.
Paul, by all intents and purposes. In his jewish community. And his jewish culture. And in his environment and his area of influence. Was the greatest protege in his time.
He forfeited it all because he came face to face with Jesus. He says, I'm not going to no longer live for the things of this world. I'm going to live for Jesus. What that means for me is a life of suffering, a life of being outcasted, a life of being in prison for the sake of the gospel. But that's okay, because what I'm gaining is I get to partner with Jesus in his kingdom.
I get to be with Jesus, and I get to look like Jesus. The way he suffered and in his death. I'm being conformed into Jesus image. And that's what I want to be. Because that's what I was created and made to be.
Is to look exactly like Jesus. Matthew, 1626, says, for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? See, in the world we're all about. Get.
Get. Get. Get. Get. Get.
Get. Get. Get. Get. Get.
Get. Get. Get. Get. Get.
I want this. I want that. Jesus says, give it all away. Have nothing to do with the world. Instead, store of treasures in heaven.
Invest in my kingdom, and you invest by giving yourself to the will of the father. And by looking out for the interest of others. You know what that summarizes the law? The law is a direct path. It directs us how we ought to enter into the kingdom.
And to summarize the law, it says, to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strengthen. To love your neighbor as yourself. That is how you ought to live your life. If you want to enter into the kingdom of God, put God first and put others above yourself. Because that's exactly what Jesus does.
And Jesus is the perfect image of God. He is our example. He took on flesh, walked our life, endured it. And was able to demonstrate how life ought to be lived without sin in this world. That's why we replicate Jesus in his life.
Galatians 220 says, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. But Christ lives in me, in the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. Me.
I am crucified by Christ. I am crucified with Christ that I no longer live. That's riding in the backseat. All those ways that Jesus has been teaching us this whole time as we've been walking through the gospels time and time and time and time again. He says, like, this is the way to the kingdom.
That's the way of the world. This is straight and narrow. That's not, you can't enter into the kingdom by any other way. You have to come with me and through me. He says, if you want to ride shotgun, if you want to sit in those places that are prepared in the kingdom that you're aspiring to be in, then you have to take the backseat to this world.
Because also Jesus tells people, like, if you're wealthy and you've aspired to be wealth and accumulate all this other stuff, that's your reward. That's what you get. If you want high positions in this world, take them. But you will not have prominence in the kingdom. You won't even allow to be allowed to entertain if that's what your heart's desire is, is to serve yourself, to make yourself your own God.
This is exactly the sin of Adam and Eve. Instead of trusting in God as their source of the knowledge of good and evil, they aspire to grasp for it themselves because they want to sit and be God instead of trusting in goddesse. This is our sin. We are the ones that always want to replace God and be God in our own lives. Jesus says, no, I didn't come for the healthy, those who just think they have it all together and who love the world.
I'm looking for those who don't love the world, who want something better, who want to enter into a kingdom that is right, good, lovely, filled with grace and mercy to dwell with God. And that's why a lot of the people impacted by Jesus ministry, the greatest people impacted by his ministry were the poor and needy, because they understood that this world has nothing. For me. Jesus has everything. What he's teaching, what he's declaring about the kingdom of God is exactly what I'm looking for.
This world has given me nothing. I want to be rid of this world and step into his kingdom. And that's why he says, I didn't come to the healthy, I come to the sick. I didn't come to those who think they have it all together. I give them over to themselves.
You want to go serve another God, go and do it. But that's not going to get you anywhere. You want to go and have your life the way you want it, that's fine, but it'll be the only life you get. And that's the judgment.
But there's this promise, too. And a lot of times, like, even as I began to study this passage, I even had this tendency to say, like, well, surely when we're in heaven, you know, we're going to continue in this way. Surely the life in heaven is going to replicate the life that he's calling us to now. And then I had to correct my own theology, and I rebuked myself, and I said, no, it's not because Jesus doesn't chastise John and James for one of these things, and he doesn't chastise the other ten who becoming indignant that they were even asking to be sitting at the left and the right hand of Christ. He just simply says, can you sit in those seats that are prepared for those who are giving their lives away for the sake of others and for the will of God?
And then he says, you will do that in heaven. Is this understanding where it's not like this life? There is no more suffering, there is no more selfishness. There is peace, goodness, and rightness. So hear the good promise that comes from the scriptures about when you decide to live your life like Jesus by riding in the backseat in this world so that you can ride shotgun in his kingdom.
That is a thing. That is a reality. And it's in this reality, it comes from two places. Luke, chapter 14, verse ten. Jesus is teaching about how you ought to position yourself.
He says, but when you are invited, this is to a party. When you are invited, go and recline in the last place, so that when one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher. Then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. In this analogy, this parable that Jesus teaches is at a party. He says, everybody always tries to get closer to the party host.
He goes, when you're invited, sit in the lowliest spot so that when the host shows up, he will position you closer to him. And that's the image of the kingdom of heaven. But also this. What is it about sitting to the left and to the right of Jesus? Well, we know that Jesus himself sits at the right hand of God the father, we confess it.
It's what we believe. It's a place of rule and reigning. It's a place that is awarded and prepared for Christ himself, who rode back seat in this world, demonstrated how to live that type of life, sacrificing, giving up his life. And God the Father awarded him the right hand seat. But listen to the words of Paul.
Listen carefully. I could talk to you all day about greek language and all this other stuff, but pay attention. Translation gets it pretty close and real. Listen to this. Even when we are dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ.
By grace you have been saved. And raised us up with Jesus and seated us with him in the heavenly places. In Christ Jesus. That's not an accident. Don't blow by that.
James and John were asking to sit to the left and to the right. And Jesus says, you don't know what you're asking. You don't know what's required to be sitting in those seats. But I drank the cup. I give my life and I give my life for you.
And if you come and follow me and do the exactly as I'm telling you, I will guide you into the kingdom, and you'll sit with me in the heavenlies. Jesus leads us to the place that we all desire to be with him.
We're raised up with him and we're seated with him in the heavenly places because of Jesus Christ, who didn't come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. The question is, I don't know your lives. I don't know how you are fighting for position. I don't know all the nuances of your day in and day out, how it is that maybe you're aspiring to ride shotgun, or maybe how it is that you're trying to live the backseat life. We are always trying to find more ways in our lives, pershing ourselves from those desires to ride in the front seat in this world and to encourage and to build up more ways we could be riding back seated in this world so that we can be seated with Christ in the heavenlies by faith in him.
So I just challenge you with this gospel lesson this morning. How is it that you need to position yourself in the backseat? And how can you curb all the ways that you hunger and thirst for that front seat in this life? Change your appetite by the power of the Holy Spirit to say, I don't want any front seat in this world. I just want to be seated with Jesus in the new kingdom.
Let's pray. Jesus, we thank you so much that you declare to us and demonstrate to us what it is that you have done for our lives and for our salvation. And it is faith in you that affords us all these promises and blessings. I pray that you would, through your holy spirit, work in our hearts and our minds to orient our lives, to ride in the backseat in this world so that we can ride with you in your kingdom.
We thank you that you have given your life to ransom us from sin and death. We thank you that you have drank the cup and were swallowed up in death, and that you rose again, defeating death and offering us a way from being held captive by our sin, that we can now live a good and righteous life by faith in you. Help us, we pray. In Jesus name. Amen.