Numbers 11:25–29
James 5:1–6
Mark 9:38–43, 45, 47–48
The three texts we have just heard all offer us instruction on the way to live. To be more specific, they offer corrections on our behavior when it is not reflecting the way God thinks and the way Jesus has laid out for us.
We may wonder why Eldad and Medad were not present in the gathering when the spirit was bestowed on the 70 elders. Their names were on the list, yet the spirit came upon them in the camp. Joshua, part of the ‘in-group,’ wants Moses to stop them from prophesying because they were not with the group.
Joshua is the kind of person that wants things to go by the book. Things must go the way the leaders have determined. God’s gifts are given to those who follow instructions. God’s gifts can be received only if they follow the set and determined pattern. However, we find out that Moses, the leader of the community, does not see things that way. Moses knows who God is and how God works; he has had his experience of that. God is not bound by constrictions that would shrink his gifts. Moses asks Joshua to get in touch with his motives for objecting that the spirit came on those not with the group. He asks him, “Are you jealous?” Do you think you are defending me by pointing out something that looks out of order? We might hear Moses question addressed to us: why do you object when the Spirit manifests itself in a place, person or way that you are not familiar with? Do you think that only leaders and elders can have the Spirit? Are you applying your criteria to the Spirit? Remember the Spirit blows where it wills.
Moses looks at the real purpose of the spirit. The purpose of the spirit’s gift of prophesy was to assist in the community’s leadership. The Spirit’s presence was for the sake of the community and its peaceful growth. Moses would rather that the spirit be spread even further in the community so that folks could resolve difficulties and discern good ways to go. Moses has a vision of the whole. Joshua does not appear to be on that level of thinking. Is it that he wants to control and limit God’s power and presence? Is he afraid he will lose his position in the inner circle around Moses? …Why are we afraid of the Spirit’s movements in our own day? What prevents us from hearing the Spirit’s voice calling us into the future with God? Is it simply because it has not been done been done that way before? Or certain people only can exercise the responsibility of leadership in nurturing the community?
There is a similar situation in the gospel. A person who is not a member of the group of Jesus’ disciples is seen and heard casting out demons in Jesus’ name. You would think the disciples would be glad to hear that someone has been set free from the bonds of possession. You would think that if they were involved in proclaiming the Kingdom and doing its ministry of healing, they would be grateful that someone else has come to share in the power of love that believing in Jesus brings. You would think that if good were being done in the world and evil was being overcome, it does not really matter who is doing the good. The vision of God is being carried in Jesus’ name. The good that is being done flows from who Jesus is and what he desires. One wonders if the disciples think of themselves as a privileged group and only they can do the things that the privileged members of this group do and what Jesus does. Do they feel threatened because the power of Jesus is being carried forward by others than themselves?
Jesus addresses the disciples for their displaced idea of service to himself and the gospel. He makes it clear: they are not the only ones who carry Jesus name. There are others who bring the good news of the Kingdom.
It is easy to slip into the modality of thinking we are the only Christians and unless you are one of us, you are out of the picture. Jesus challenges such restrictions on our part. He challenges that way of thinking as actually opposed to the Gospel message and the Spirit’s ability to work everywhere. The Body of Christ is larger than the members we can see or know. Baptism in Christ brings those baptized into communion with the Lord and offers them a share in his power to do good and in his call to love.
Jesus demonstrates the performance of a deed in his name with a very simple example. Offering a cup of water to a thirsty person because you can see Christ’s image in them. The power to do good lies available to us whenever we see a need in others, whenever there is a lack of human dignity in another, whenever there is suffering of a fellow human being. The power to do good because of Christ is not limited to those in the know. Doing something good is the essence of Kingdom behavior.
Today is the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees begun in 1914 by Pope Benedict XIV to be observed by the Catholic Church. We are well aware of migrants in our country and at our borders. Our texts today offer us a perspective on the experience of migrants and refugees—migrants and asylum seekers are no strangers to us. Today there is no doubt that the effects of wealth, as St. James so vividly describes them, are behind the movements of many peoples: unjust wages, land monopoly, disregard for the vulnerable poor who can offer no resistance. The fact that the Spirit shows it face in its own way as it did with Moses reminds us of the rich variety and diversity among migrants. Each has their own gifts to bring to the human family. We have the opportunity to be enriched by their presence and their hope. Pope Francis in his message for this Day calls us to change our way of thinking so that “we no longer think in terms of ‘them’ and ‘those’ but only ‘us’”. In other words, let go of thinking “They’re not one of us!” It is time for remembering the human family as one and to see the gifts of the spirit poured out on all.
Pope Francis titled his message this year “Towards and ever wider ‘We’. Isn’t that what Moses and Jesus were trying to get across to their followers?
Perhaps a short poem by the American poet Edwin Markham (1852–1940) gives us a hint at a way towards inclusion and unity:
He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In!
~Prior, Fr. Joel Macul, OSB