In this week’s gospel text, James and John ask Jesus to secure preferred seating for them in heaven -- but Jesus sternly replies that this shows how clueless they are. He tells them that being a VIP in the kingdom isn’t about the perks, and pointedly asks: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” James and John, of course, are engaging in that oldest of human pursuits: self-promotion.