Mark 10:35-45 Dear Partner in Preaching, I don’t know about you, but I find the irony of this story as painful as it is abundant. Actually, make that plural: ironies. First, and lest we forget the verses just before these, James and John make their secret request to Jesus for greatness just after his third – and most graphic – declaration that he will go to Jerusalem where, among other things, the religious authorities will “mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him.” Just what kind of glory are you thinking he’ll be giving you, James and John? Second, two will indeed be seated at Jesus’ right and left in just...

I’ve just one thing to say to you this week, Dear Partner. Just one thing. And that’s…that it’s about freedom. The story about Bartimaeus, I mean. He won’t shut up. Even though people tell him to. And that’s hard. We are so quick to fall into silence in general, worried about offending or hurting feelings or being rejected or whatever. And so when folks tell us to shut up, we’re all too quick to oblige. But Bartimaeus won’t. He is free. Free to defy his neighbors. Free to call for help. Free to make his needs known to Jesus. Free. Perhaps he’s suffered enough, or feels like there’s nothing left to lose, or just doesn’t...