The Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost - The Rev. Colette Hammesfahr

 Mark 10:35-45 

The movie Schindler’s List tells the story of Oskar Schindler, a successful German businessman and factory owner and member of the Nazi Party. At the beginning of World War II, his main business was making enamelware at his factory in Poland. He later changed his factory to produce ammunition to help supply the German military. He was quite a shrewd businessman, looking to make a little profit off the war. He convinced the nearby concentration camp of Plaszow to allow him to employ their Jewish “prisoners” at a very cheap rate, helping him to make a good bit of money.    

There was an area in Poland called the Krakow Ghetto. It was a Nazi ghetto created to exploit and persecute the local Polish Jews. More like a temporary holding area, it was where the Jewish people were “sorted.” Walled off from society, some were killed in the ghetto, some were sent to concentration camps, and some were forced to work in factories for little or no pay, as they were with Oskar Schindler’s factory.  

On March 13-14, 1943, Oskar witnessed what is known as the Krakow Ghetto Liquidation. It was during these two days that he watched as the ghetto was brutally cleared of all the Jewish men, women, and children who were housed there. This was a critical turning point in his life. Seeing firsthand this display of violence awakened his conscience.  

Over time, he developed personal relationships with the Jewish workers in his factory. He didn’t see them as workers anymore. Now, he saw them as human beings – people with families, hopes, and dreams. He now felt responsible for them. His empathy for his employees caused him to shift his priorities. He saw firsthand the human cost of war. His priorities went from personal financial gain to protecting the Jewish people. He bribed the Nazi officials to keep his workers safe and to keep them from being deported to concentration camps.  

Schindler’s “list” was a list of the names, over 1,100, of all the Jewish workers he saved from being deported to extermination camps during the Holocaust. Because they were producing supplies for the war, he was able to convince the Nazis that they were “essential workers.” Schindler used his influence and bribery to ensure that the people on this list were transferred to his new factory in Czechoslovakia, which he set up expressly to continue protecting them under the guise of production. But all of this did not come without a price for Schindler. He continued to bribe the Nazis to keep the Jewish people who were working in his factories safe until the end of the war. He spent his entire fortune on this effort and eventually went bankrupt.    

James and John are wanting a little bit of notoriety today. In the verses just before these, Jesus and the disciples are going to Jerusalem. Jesus tells them, “Look, we’re heading to Jerusalem for me to be killed. This is the third time I’m telling you this. You need to be prepared. I will be mocked. I will be spit upon. I will be flogged. I will be killed. After three days, I will rise again.” Old Testament prophecy tells them that the Messiah would be king. The Messiah would free them from Roman stronghold. As it is with royalty, the most trusted men get the seats of honor. They sit on the right and the left of the king. When Jesus defeats the Romans and becomes king, they want to sit on his right and on his left. They haven’t heard a thing Jesus has said to them.  

Jesus is not going to become king in the way they think. James and John don’t know the rest of the story, but we do. Jesus will wear a crown, but it will be a crown of thorns. Jesus will sit on a throne, but the throne will be a cross. Jesus will be flanked on the left and the right, but it will be two thieves who hang beside him. This is a total reversal of their image of Jesus, their king. Jesus tells them that whoever wants to be great must serve others. Even he didn’t come to be served. He came to serve…to give his life.  

 Our earthly kingdom's standard of greatness is often shown in power. In God’s kingdom, the standard of greatness comes in service. The kingdom of God turns our ideas of power and greatness upside down. Following Jesus means we turn our lives upside down. We change the way we live. We humbly serve others. Author Lamar Williamson, Jr. writes, “True discipleship is characterized by a costly pouring out of one’s life for another, whether it be an aging parent, a difficult spouse, a special child, another member of the Christian fellowship who has unusual needs, or any person whose situation elicits neighborly service at personal cost.”1 It’s pouring out your life for others at a personal cost. Yes, it’s uncomfortable. It is hard. It’s scary. It’s sometimes messy. It’s taking time to put something aside that we love to do and instead putting that time into sharing God’s love with someone else through service. True greatness comes from serving others.  

Think about how you serve others. Do any of those ways come at a personal cost? What can you do this week to push yourself to the service Jesus asks of us?  

Oskar Schindler’s transformation began after he started taking advantage of the Jewish people and the situation they were in. As he witnessed the atrocities of the Holocaust, he was moved to act selflessly, using his business and his fortune to protect as many Jewish lives as possible. He perfectly reflected what Jesus was trying to teach the disciples: greatness comes from putting the well-being of others first, not personal gain.  

Near the end of the film, after the war, there is a scene where Schindler is overwhelmed with guilt and emotion, crying that he could have done more. He regretted that he didn’t do enough. He was anguished over missed opportunities to save additional lives. Then, he received a gold ring from the Jewish workers he saved. Engraved on the ring was a quote from the Talmud, a collection of ancient Jewish teachings. It read, "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire." Schindler was motivated by compassion and a sense of responsibility for those who were suffering. It was because of his exposure to the suffering and injustice of those around him that his heart was radically changed.  

How do you serve others? Is it uncomfortable, challenging, or scary? Does it come with any personal loss? Amen.