20th October: Trinity 21
online Morning Prayer from St.Oswald’s.
Isaiah 53:4-12
The prophet, on several occasions has described the figure of ‘the servant of the Lord’. He concludes with this account of the suffering of the innocent victim who will be vindicated by God.
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Mark 10:35-45
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.’
Something to think about
As Jesus and his disciples went up to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, their thought turned to the future and Jesus’s warnings of what might happen. James and John, misunderstanding and hoping Jesus might reveal himself to the crowd as the hoped for Messiah, ask for a share in his triumph. Jesus disabused them and reminded them of the importance of the role of the servant of the Lord.
Collect
Merciful God, teach us to be faithful in change and in chance,
that trusting in your word and obeying your will
we may enter the unfailing joy of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Post Communion
God of all grace, your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry
with the bread of his life and the word of his kingdom:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness sustain us by your true and living bread;
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Next Sunday’s (27th) Readings:
Psalm 19:7-14
John 5:36b-47
Please remember in your prayers this week:
Those who are sick, suffering or very elderly, especially Stella Young, Gerald Humphries and Arthur Williams.
The recently bereaved, especially the friends and relatives of Robbin Mudford, Christine Dawson and Marjorie Waring.
Areas of conflict: the Ukraine, the Middle East and too many others.
Our local churches, as they face up to the problems of the future, such as the interregnum.
Our Ministry Team: Maggie, Nigel & Lynda and her support: Simon.