A reporter once asked a bank president what his secret of success was.

The president replied, “Two words.”

“And what are they?”

“Right decisions.”

“How are right decisions made?”

“One word.”

“What is that?”

“Experience.”

“How do you get experience?”

“Two words.”

“What are they?”

“Wrong decisions.”

In our text from Mark for this morning, James and John have the wrong idea about Jesus. It seems that they have been influenced by their culture and the ideas surrounding the Jewish Messiah. As you may know, Jews believed the Messiah to be a conquering hero, a strong leader, who would reclaim the land of Israel, the Promised Land, for the Jewish people. They believed this Messiah would be powerful and would then rule this newly reformed nation. I suspect that was what James and John had in mind when they asked Jesus if they could sit at his right and at his left in his glory. They were thinking about an earthly glory, the glory of a king. And they wanted in on the whole thing. They wanted jobs in upper management, right next to the CEO. They wanted influence and power and prestige. Perhaps they were thinking, “We threw away our careers as fishermen, but here’s our chance to get something  even better.” But, as is common of the disciples all throughout Mark, they just didn’t get it. They didn’t understand who Jesus was and what Jesus was about. They made a wrong decision.

But Jesus, patient as ever, uses this opportunity to teach his disciples. The disciples ask to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand in his glory. But Jesus says, “You don’t understand what you are asking.” And he asks them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Now, I don’t know exactly what James and John thought Jesus was referring to as his cup and his baptism here, but it doesn’t seem to have been the same thing that Jesus meant by it. Jesus seems to be talking about his suffering and death. But James and John are like, “We got this.” So then Jesus turns it around on them and says, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.” But then he adds, perhaps to clue them in to the fact that he is talking about something else than what they think he’s talking about, “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.” The disciples still think Jesus is talking about earthly glory, but clearly Jesus is talking about something else.

James and John are asking for power, but they seem to think that power comes from being the biggest and the strongest and the one in control. Jesus has a different idea of power. I think Jesus’ idea of power looks interesting in light of what has been happening in our nation over the past few years, especially as we think about the position of the church in our society. What does power look like? I think Jesus points us to three truths about power in this conversation with James and John. And these truths have a lot to teach us.

First, true power comes through sacrifice. The cup Jesus drank from and the baptism with which he was baptized were his suffering and death. And he endured that, Jesus endured the cross, for our sake, to save us. That is the ultimate in sacrifice. The Apostle Paul puts it this way: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” It was through Christ’s sacrifice, in fact, that God’s power was made manifest in the world. Paul referenced God in 2 Corinthians as saying to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

Yet we continue with a similar position on power as James and John had. We equate power with winning and wealth, rather than sacrifice and humility. Those who threaten our victory or threaten our riches are the enemy. We often equate power with control. But I think true power lies in the ability to give up control for a higher purpose. Listen to what author Brene Brown says about power: “Many of us have a negative, almost stomach-clenching reaction to the word power. I think this is because we automatically conflate power with power over. But the type of power I’m talking about is more in line with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s definition of it: the ability to achieve our purpose and to effect change.” Jesus achieved his purpose and effected change through sacrifice. True power comes through sacrifice.

Second, true power is given freely, not earned or taken. Jesus tells James and John that to sit at his right and left hand is not something he can grant, but that it has been predetermined. Author Ruth Haley Barton tells the story of her encounter with Theophane, a Cistercian monk residing at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. She writes: “I saw a monk working alone in the vegetable garden. I squatted down beside him and said, ‘Brother, what is your dream?’ He just looked straight at me. What a beautiful face he had. ‘I would like to become a monk,’ he answered. ‘But brother, you are a monk, aren’t you?’ ‘I’ve been here for 25 years, but I still carry a gun.’ He drew a revolver from the holster under his robe. It looked so strange, a monk carrying a gun. ‘And they won’t—are you saying they won’t let you become a monk until you give up your gun?’ ‘No, it’s not that. Most of them don’t even know I have it, but I know.’ ‘Well then, why don’t you give it up?’ ‘I guess I’ve had it so long. I’ve been hurt a lot, and I’ve hurt a lot of others. I don’t think I would be comfortable without this gun.’ ‘But you seem pretty uncomfortable with it.’ ‘Yes, pretty uncomfortable, but I have my dream.’ ‘Why don’t you give me the gun?’ I whispered. I was beginning to tremble. He did, he gave it to me. His tears ran down to the ground and then he embraced me.” The monk did not have the power to give up his gun. But in that simple question from a stranger, he was given the power to finally be free.

One of my favorite quotes in all of the Harry Potter books is near the very end of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And Dumbledore says to Harry, “It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.” True power, power that is used well, the sort of power that Jesus is talking about in Mark 10, cannot be taken, it must be freely given.

And finally, true power lifts others up. Amber Hikes, the Chief Equity Officer for the ACLU, gave a TED Talk recently entitled Want to Truly Succeed? Lift others up while you climb. And in that talk she said this: “Think about how you can create opportunities for the people in your organization who might not get them as often. The next time you’re asked to do a panel, consider offering your seat to someone who also has bold and imaginative ideas but might be overlooked because of their race or gender or disability, and then help that person prepare. Take someone who wouldn’t normally have access to the meeting and bring them in with you, not to observe, but to present with you. If you’ve been running an ideation session for a while, pass it on to someone new. Keep the calendar invite intact, talk them through what’s worked in the past and what hasn’t so that they can excel too. Pass on your institutional knowledge. It’s on the leadership of your company or your organization to set goals and metrics for hiring equitably and bringing in more diverse employees, but when it comes to inclusion and celebrating others, you can help with that. You can go to someone who doesn’t share your identities to partner on a project. You can amplify the work of a colleague who might be the only person like them on the team.”

True power lifts others up. James and John were focused on lifting themselves up. They wanted authority and control. And they believed that Jesus could give them that. But Jesus always focused on the needs of others rather than himself. And if James and John had really understood Jesus, they would have seen that his power existed in his ability to lift others up. Paul writes in Philippians, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” And why did Jesus do that? To lift us up. So that we would be able to stand in the presence of God. So that we might live eternally. That is true power.

So, in this world that values a different sort of power, (power that takes from others, power that puts others down, power that is only interested in itself) let us live like Jesus, who exemplified for us what true power looks like. Power that goes to the cross to save us rather than to war. Power that is given freely and not taken by force. Power that humbles itself in order to lift others up. Right now, we may feel weary of power. Perhaps the world has felt out of control. Perhaps your own life has felt out of control. And no matter what you’ve tried to do to regain some control, it has been exhausting and has ultimately failed. This morning, let us put all those worries and cares to the side and let’s rest in God’s strength and let’s trust in God’s power to lift us back up again. Amen!