Home » Ministers' resources » Worship Resources » Preaching Kits » Year B Mark » Kit 7 » Pentecost 19

Pentecost 19 (19 October 2003)

Job 38: 1 – 7 , 34 – 41; Psalm 104: 1 – 9, 24, 35c; Hebrews 5: 1 – 10; Mark 10: 35 – 45

Job 38: 1 – 7 , 34 – 41

Finally Job hears from God. After all the silence God speaks. Notice God speaks out of the whirlwind, and remember it was the windstorm that killed his children. God doesn’t always speak to us from a place a safety and security, sometimes God speaks out of danger and our deepest fears. God’s response to Job covers 4 long chapters, where to be quite frank, Job is put in his place by the Almighty. Instead of answering Job’s questions about why he is suffering, God has questions of his own, fired one after another. The emphasis is that God is God, and is intimately involved in the everyday cycles of ecosystems and the universe. A fine example is verse 39, ‘can you hunt prey for the lion' emphasizing how God is seen as the creator and sustainer of all things, even underlying the instincts of the law of the jungle. God chides Job for not recognising how thorough and extensive is God’s involvement with all creation. These chapters contain a litany of aspects of creation that are beyond the control of humanity, but not out of God’s control.

Often in the face of our endless questions about why hard things happen to us, God’s response is to point to the creation beyond our control, and invite us to recognise the smallness of our influence in contrast with the greatness and diversity of the world we inhabit. We in the 21st century feel we have control over our environment beyond the imaginings of our predecessors, but still most of what happens in ‘our’ world is beyond our power to control. Perhaps one of the most significant lessons of suffering is that we are small actors in the total scheme of things, and that only God has the perspective and power to be God. In the face of suffering we need to accept that we are human and not ‘gods’; worshippers – not controllers of our own destiny. Too much success distorts our perception of things; suffering brings the humility we need to see things as they really are.

Psalm 104: 1 – 9, 24, 35c

Here the psalmist acknowledges God as the creator and sustainer of all things.  The language used of the world, as with Job, is pre-scientific using expressions like, ‘stretching out the heavens like a tent’ and God ‘setting the earth on its foundations’, implying that the elements behave in response to God’s directives. A contrast to today where we talk about ‘natural disasters’ and become defensive when disasters are refered to as ‘acts of God’. But note verse 24, the heart of the worship of the psalm, where God is worshiped for creation and the amazing insightful wisdom reflected in every aspect of creation. Sometimes we just need to get our heads out of the world of people and machines, and allow God to speak to us through the wonder of this world, created for all to enjoy.

Hebrews 5: 1 – 10

Hebrews is living up to its reputation and getting complicated. As I read it there are two varieties of priesthood identified in Hebrews. One is the run of the mill everyday priesthood of the Israelites, the other is an exceptional priesthood where only two people are identified, Jesus and Melchezedek, who features in Gen 14: 17ff. Melchezedek is identified as king of Salem (possibly Jerusalem) and as priest of El Elyon (God Most High). He brought bread and wine to Abraham, and the Christian tradition has tended to make associations with communion, for obvious reasons. Hebrews 7 describes Melchezedek as king of righteousness and king of peace. Whatever you make of all this, the writer of Hebrews uses Melchizedek as a way of distinguishing Jesus’ priestly role from that of the Israelite priesthood.

Again we have the theme of Jesus being perfected through suffering (vs 8, 9). I love verse 2, ‘he is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness’. If that is a cause and consequence statement, let’s pray for more weakness in the church, so we can respond with more gentleness towards each other.

Mark 10: 35 – 45

This is a more familiar reading for most of us and has much relevance in the middle of the power struggles which sadly happen too often in the church. The seats at Jesus’ left and right, were seen as places on honour and power. Like cabinet rankings, where PM is no. 1 and deputy PM is number 2 and a major portfolio is ranked no 3. James and John were trying to get the jump on the others, but provided Jesus with the right platform to teach about how leadership should function in the church. The servant leadership model may be out of vogue in the PCANZ, but it is still here in the Bible. Jesus says to the early leaders of the church that they need to adopt the mindset of servants not tyrants, in contrast with the leadership styles of the world around us.  It seems that the best of business and political leadership recognises that empowerment, rather than control, works best. Since Jesus has been so direct, it is strange that Christians find the concept novel. Maybe this is because being servants to God’s people is such a challenging way to live.

In the centre of this reading is an exchange with Jesus, James and John which finishes with Jesus saying ‘the cup that I drink you will drink; and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. Clearly, by hindsight, a reference to his suffering on the cross and their suffering for the gospel. It is interesting to note that James was the first martyr among the apostles, killed by Herod ‘with the sword’ (Acts 12: 2) and John outlived the rest yet suffered much for his faith including lengthy imprisonment on the Island of Patmos.

Some preaching suggestions:

  1. Explore the theme of Christian leadership styles by reflecting on the Mark reading.
  2. Look at Job and psalms and reflect on God’s role in our natural environment, what does it mean when we call God creator and sustainer and are there better ways to describe God’s involvement in nature.
  3. God’s response to Job’s questions doesn’t amount to an answer. You might want to look into how God uses suffering to teach us that we need to have a different perspective.  ‘Perhaps one of the most significant lessons of suffering is that we are small actors in the total scheme of things, and that only God has the perspective and power to be God.’

Hymn and song suggestions:

  1. You are Beautiful Beyond Description (Songs of the Nation, 549)
  2.  Jesus is Lord, Creation Voice Proclaims It (Songs of the Kingdom, 155)
  3. God Who Made The Earth (hymnbook)
  4. Where Mountains Rise To Open Skies (AA, 155)
  5. Almighty Father of All things That Be )hymnbook)
  6. Tell My people I Love Them (AA, 132)

A prayer

Creator God we worship you. Your hand is seen in every corner of creation, the sky and galaxies beyond, the sea teaming with life hidden from view, the land giving room to live and grow. Your stabilizing hand is seen in every ecosystem, the lion hunting for prey,  the kiwi scurrying around searching for worms, the grass growing and being eaten by sheep, the mountain forest teaming with bird life, each seeking food for their young.

“O Lord how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures”.

Show us how to be better caretakers of all you have made and how to live in our environment in sustaining ways. Amen.