Ambition: A Midrash about God's Upside Down World

Why does the Holy Spirit call this person or that to a particular ministry and empower them with spiritual gifts?

 

 A midrash is an ancient Jewish term for a fictional/historical/interpretive literary expansion of an Old Testament passage. They don’t add or take away from the actual Scripture, but they pad around it with “imaginative liberties,” stories that bring it home and make it real, like learning about the War of Independence through a romantic novel.

The OT is full of reversals that are counter-intuitive to us. For example, 1 Samuel 2:5 is a liturgical song by Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel:

“Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away.”

It’s about attitude. Having 7 kids doesn’t mean you’ll automatically pine away. Having 7 kids and tormenting your husband’s other wife who cannot bear children could get you a big karma bite on the keister. Of course, we’re assuming that the barren woman is not seething with anger and plans for revenge. Hannah took her torment to God and God sorted it out. It’s the working maxim that says, “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.” (Matthew 20:16) Climbing over colleagues to be first works in the corporate world. It does not work in the Kingdom of God.

James 3:16 inspired my mini midrash: “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

Now, ambition is not the sin, but selfish ambition is. We know that Jesus took his 12 Apostles almost everywhere he went, but there were 3, James, John, and Peter, that seemed to be on the insider list when it came to esoteric revelations. They were there at the transfiguration and the raising of the daughter of Jairus from the dead. Peter’s response was often to blurt out something silly and inappropriate. Still, it was quite the honor for them.

James and John were brothers, nicknamed “sons of thunder” by the others, and this special status was not lost on their ambitious mother. She often bragged to her neighbors about this special relationship and pictured them sitting at the Messiah’s right and left in the Kingdom of God. The 12 Apostles would sit on thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel, but the 3, who knows how they would shine in the Kingdom of God? The problem was that Jesus’s throne only had space for two thrones on his right and left, but Peter made three in the inner circle. Hmmm…

Toward the end of Jesus’s life, he and his disciples and supporters were trekking on their way to the big showdown in Jerusalem. Some still thought Jesus was going there to claim his kingship rather than to be whipped and crucified. Besides the 12 there were some wives and kin, especially women who were devout followers. They party stopped to rest at an inn for donuts and sandwiches and to refresh their tired feet. During the pause, the mother of James and John went to Jesus with her sons in tow and pressed him to allow them to sit at his right hand and left hand in the Kingdom. She wanted to get there first before Peter’s mother did the same thing.

Jesus stroked his beard and looked at her thoughtfully. Had she not understood the message he just gave about the one who would be greatest must be servant or slave of all? Did she not understand about the first and last? He turned to the two men and said, “You don’t really understand what you’re asking for. Those closest to me in the Kingdom will suffer martyrdom, deprivation, slanders, imprisonment, shipwrecks, maybe crucifixion. Are you ready for all that?” The men, full nodded zealously, “We’re ready. We’re in. We can do that.” Such a prize. They could suffer anything for that. Jesus responded, “Well, the fact is, I don’t make that decision. My Father will decide who sits where.” And he turned away to chat with one of his followers. Deflated, the two men turned around to see the disapproving stares of their fellow apostles.

So suppose you have a famous preacher, renowned among the colonists, or on the radio in the 1950s, or on TV, able to lay hands on someone and heal them, able to prophesy over people with messages and visions from God. Maybe a big church, lots of donations. Before the era of church and politics, there were several renown ministries with that kind of power. Kathryn Kuhlman, Smith Wigglesworth, John Lake, Oral Roberts and many others. Why can’t every charismatic pastor have that kind of power from God? Why that guy or that woman?

First of all, that person is probably gifted intellectually or spiritually so that they can function in a particular ministry in a professional dignified way for decades of their adult life. It doesn’t have to be the upfront ministry. There are thousands and thousands of ways to serve God, and all of them are equally important in the sight of God. Some people choose what comes into hand for them. Some are specifically called and specially prepared for their unique ministry. Personality, education, and experience all play a part in this call.

More importantly, these people don’t just know about God, they know him because they have walked with him and have been tested. They don’t just read their Bibles, they study it. Not all have formal educations, but they know the scriptures of both Old and New Testaments beyond the average devotional reader. They spend time in prayer, fast if necessary. God is their life. Of course, they’re human. They suffer loss or illness, get discouraged, suffer exhaustion, get hurt by the criticism of others, get tired of being short on funds, get burnt out sometimes, but they persist. Paul was shipwrecked, slandered, imprisoned, stoned, and whipped, but he never looked back. Peter may have gotten his throne beside the Lord because he was crucified upside down.

But this path is not always glorious, straight, and simple. Once when the Apostles were feeling pretty good about their apostolic status, Jesus told them this:

“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17:7-10)

From freebibleimages.org

On another occasion the apostles came to him rejoicing because the demons and devils were subject to them in his name. Jesus answered,

“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions (a reference to Psalm 91:13) and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:18-20)

In other words, don’t let your powers and ministry go to your head. Why the warnings? Well, you can imagine that it’s pretty exhilarating to lay your hand on someone and see that person be healed. The danger of it is obvious. I recall long ago hearing a speaker in my church describe how he began to be used in this way by God and was at a meeting where the first six people got healed in a marvelous way. He thought to himself, “Look what God is doing through me!” Meaning, he got his eyes off God and on to himself. That was the last person healed in that meeting. Power and revivals can be corrupting. Donations start pouring in, the pastor or evangelist gains greatly in status, the church grows robustly…It’s easy to think that you couldn’t possibly be wrong about doctrines practices, but somewhere years down the road the whole thing goes off the trolley and into the ditch. But the ditch has all the trappings of the original ministry! It looks good, donations are still flowing, but the humility and first love of all things God has been pushed aside by a need for prestige, eminence, the desire for a bigger home, a new van, a private jet, an expensive suit or dress. Have you ever heard the ditty, “It takes more grace than tongue can tell to play the second fiddle well”? That’s true. It’s also true that it takes more grace than tongue can tell to keep your head on straight when you’re doing well.

There’s a worse temptation yet. The Christian voting bloc loves to hear politicians give credit and glory to God. It can assure the mundane candidate thousands of votes. The problem there is that talk is cheap and manipulative. There’s nothing easier than playing the religion card, but in the hypocrisy and grasping for power in God’s name that politician or candidate will earn a one-way ticket to hell. In the heat of selfish ambition, no one thinks about eternity. Let me assure you, God is keeping score and doesn’t fall for anyone’s BS. Make a deal with the devil and it will not end well.

The Kingdom of God is always full of surprises and new ways of looking at things. Everyone is important. God wants our service but he also wants our love. He wants to be proud of our witness to the world. And we want him to say when we appear before him, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” We need to cast our crowns at his feet and rejoice that our names are written in the book of life.

Bible quotes from biblegateway.com New International Version