Life, Slavery, and the Pursuit of Service (Mark 10:32-45)

In 1776, on July 4th, the Continental Congress released a Declaration to the King of England declaring the 13 American Colonies to be free and independent. Every year we joyously celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy because of these men. In that text, the deist Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” If these rights are defined according to the Word of God, we may agree with Jefferson. No one has the right to take another’s life. No government has the right to infringe on the freedoms of men to worship God, and every man has the right to pursue happiness in God. However, whether that was the original intended meaning by Jefferson could be debated and regardless, these words have taken on an entirely different meaning today depending on where one stands on the political spectrum. My point this morning is not to debate the validity of that foundational sentence in the Declaration of Independence, but to use it to point us to an even more foundational declaration made by King Jesus in our passage today. A foundational declaration for the Kingdom of Heaven (a far greater Kingdom than even our own beloved country). This declaration could be summarized as “The right to life, slavery, and the pursuit of service.”

On its surface this seems both terribly anti-American and absurd. But as we work through this text, we will discover that indeed, Jesus is calling us to be good citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven through sacrificial service to others. 

As you may recall, Jesus ended our last text by stating in verse 31, But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The disciples still did not grasp this. So, in our text today, Jesus seeks to inform them and us that our Kingdom citizenship calls us to slavery and service to others.