Melchizedek and Servant Ministry Proper 24B

 

Melchizedek and Servant Ministry

“You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,” says the author of To the Hebrews. Just who is Melchizedek? He is mentioned only twice in the entire Hebrew bible: in Genesis chapter 14, where we are told he is King of Salem, or King of Peace, and again in Psalm 110. Among the Israelite priests who served and maintained the Jerusalem Temple, there was no “Order of Melchizedek.” Yet, Psalm 110 imagined a day when one, a Priest-King like Melchizedek, would mysteriously return as a messiah to restore Israel and “all the nations.”

 

Psalm 110 refers back to Genesis, where after Abram and his forces have won a battle and are collecting the spoils, in rides this mysterious Priest-King Melchizedek, literally “king of righteousness.” He shows up from Salem to offer Abram bread and wine. As a priest of “God Most High,” he blesses Abram: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Here the text itself is hopelessly ambiguous, for it simply says, “And he gave him one tenth of everything.” A tithe. There is no way to be sure whether it was Abram giving a tithe to Melchizedek, or the other way around.

 

Then Melchizedek disappears until several centuries later in Psalm 110. And does not reappear again for many more centuries until To the Hebrews describes Jesus as “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” As Psalm 110 suggests, this Jesus is also a messianic figure.

 

Which may explain why the disciples, and specifically the Zebedee brothers, James and John, in Mark chapter 10, imagine Jesus sitting on a throne commanding heaven and earth and the entire cosmos. Somehow, they miss the significance of Jesus’s actions, serving the needs of others, and several times placing a child in their midst as an example of his devotion to “little ones”: the poor, strangers, children and even sinners. Instead, the brothers Zebedee demand that Jesus do “whatever we ask of you.” About this time every week through this long stretch of the Mark narrative, I imagine Jesus letting out yet another long sigh.

 

This time, however, he is patient with them, asking just what it is that they want. “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” [Mark 10:37] They still do not get it.  “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Sure, we can, they say without thinking. They think his “glory” will be vanquishing the Roman Occupation and sitting on a throne ruling the world! While we, the readers, know his glory is his death upon a Roman Cross, the consequence of having served others, offering his life “as a ransom for many.” [v45]

 

Besides, says Jesus, it’s not for me to say who will sit where, “it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” [v40] The other ten disciples are angry with the Zebedee brothers for attempting to jump the line ahead of them. Lest we think scornfully of them, we all need to remember, the disciples are merely a stand-in literary device at this point for us – for you, for me, and most of all for the church. Patiently, Jesus says you are all imagining me as some sort of Gentile tyrant or warlord! I come to serve, not to be served. “Whoever wishes to be great among you must become your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” [v 43-45] Of all. “All” is my favorite theological word.

 

Now, as our diocese begins the process of seeking to elect a new bishop, and Christ Church Forest Hill looks to what our future might be, we all need to let this sink in. We are all called to be servants. Servant ministry is the model Jesus lives every minute of every day. It is not a particularly glorious life, but it is faithful to the will of God Most High, who sent Melchizedek to bless Abram and serve him a simple meal of bread and wine. Which meal Jesus transforms into a memorial for us all; which meal is meant to remind us that he gathers us here to his table, the altar of his sacrifice as a ransom for many, that we to might be servants of others. All others.

 

I remember how excited I was when I first understood Melchizedek as the archetype of Jesus. Servant ministry without fanfare. He shows up, serves the meal, offers a blessing, and disappears, only to return as Jesus Christ to be  king of peace and king of righteousness. I told one of my mentors while I was still in Seminary that the church is called to a life of Servant Ministry. “It will never sell,” he replied. “People aren’t going to be attracted to become servants.” He said we are all more like John and James Zebedee – we all want power and authority, or at least to be near those with power and authority. It just won’t sell.” I felt crestfallen like the young man last Sunday who left Jesus grieving, my Servant Ministry balloon temporarily deflated.

 

Not so Jesus. As we will see next week, he and the men and women following him come to Jericho where a blind beggar named Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus. The crowd and the disciples try to quiet him. But of course, Jesus says, “Bring him to me.” Jesus is undeterred. He comes to serve, not to be served. Even blind Bartimaeus can see that! But that’s all for next week.

 

The Jesus of To the Hebrews and the Gospel of Mark knows who he is and why he is here. And we are those people who know he is still here, now and forever. Try to imagine what he thinks of how we have interpreted his calling us to “follow him.” I used to have a token in my pocket of a laughing Jesus to remind me whenever I reached into my pocket how silly some of all this we call “church” must look to him. Thank goodness Jesus knows how to laugh!

 

I suggest we ponder this story as we look for a new bishop, and as we think about what our parish will look like one, two, five, or even ten years from now. How can we become more like servants than like the Brothers Zebedee?

 

This day we pray, “Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name.” Knowing what Jesus imagines such “steadfast faith” looks like, what do we need to do to become servants of one another, and others? All others? For that is what we are meant to be! Amen.