Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), October 18, 2015 - Mark 10:35-45 and Job 38:1-7

Preference Requested for James and John

in Martin Luther:

Biblia, die Ganze Heilige Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments, / 

verteutschet durch Doctor Martin Luther ...

Perception Turned Right on Its Head

They thought, perhaps, that they might sit,
One on the left, one on the right,
Which would the best positions be
To serve him, in that long, good night.
But he reminded them he lived
To serve - as well, when he was dead,
Which made them scratch their heads, while their
Perception turned right on its head!

It wasn't his to grant, which meant
He couldn't even start to say
Just what some life beyond could be,
That he to them, then could portray.
It's like our cat, who looks to me
And must think that he knows it all;
He doesn't have a clue about
The things by which I am enthralled.

Thus Job, when daring to complain,
Out from the whirlwind heard the voice
Of one who understood it all,
And in the end made Job rejoice;
The point's to know that you are loved,
It didn't matter one bit how,
Or what might happen up ahead;
Just shout for joy, for love, right now.

Scott L. Barton

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

* * *

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
“Who is this that darkens counsel
by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?