Year B / Ordinary Time / Twenty-sixth Sunday
Readings: Numbers 11.25-29 / Psalm 18.8-10, 12-13, 14(R/v 9a) / James 5.1-6 / Mark 9.38-43, 45, 47-48
Have you ever watched boys play football at recess time? They begin by dividing themselves into teams. I often see our secondary boys selecting their teams whenever I look out onto the green field at St Joseph’s Institution. Each team has a strong sense of togetherness, that sense of “us” versus “them” when the match begins.
“Us” and “them”. This is what we hear at the beginning of today’s gospel reading. John is complaining to Jesus of one who drives out demons but is not one of them, one of Jesus’ followers. This man is one of those.
John’s use of “us” and “them” echoes a very human way we all interact with others. Think of how we express ourselves towards one another: you, me; men, women; Asian, not American; straight, not gay; professional and blue collared; long time parishioners and newbies. And as Pope Francis reminds us in his recent homily in New York City, city dwellers and the faceless migrants in their midst.
This divide between “us” and “them” has also marked how humankind has fought to relate to God. It is as old as the story of the Israelites claiming Yahweh as their God against the Egyptians and the Caanites, and it is as contemporary as the actions of Islamic fundamentalists like ISIS who persecute Assyrian Christians.
Sadly, human beings don’t usually think of the common things we share; we are quicker to highlight our differences. We don’t need to look very far for this evidence. How many times have you and I welcomed those like us to receive communion but harshly turned others away from communion because he is divorced, she has remarried, they are homosexual. We judge those others on the basis of who’s better than and who’s worse than in our eyes, not in God’s. Sadly, I sometimes do this; may be you do too.
Our first reading challenges us to examine if this human way of judging and dividing is our way of living. We hear of how God blesses seventy elders for them to help Moses govern the wandering Israelites and prophesize about God. Two of them are however not present at this blessing. Yet God’s spirit comes to rest on them and they begin to prophesy in the camp. Moses receives a complaint against them and a call to stop them. He does not. Instead, he wishes for God’s Spirit to embrace everyone else. Moses responds as he does because he recognizes what is common between the elders who were present at the blessing and those who were not: God’s spirit is in them all.
Are we like Moses in our everyday life, striving to see God’s spirit present in another? Do we understand how God’s spirit is common between us and them because all are created in God’s image? Or, are we simply distracted by differences?
Our gospel reading challenges us even more. It asks us to reflect on “Who can do the works of grace in the name of Jesus?” and “Who belongs and who does not?” These questions force us to reflect honestly on how our ways of judging and dividing prevent us from accomplishing our baptismal call to mission.
Our answers to these questions will either cripple us from cooperating with those God places in our lives for the mission or free us to partner them. I believe that whether we work in the world or minister in the church, whether we are lay, religious or ordained, whether we are charismatically gifted or spiritually poor for the mission, God never calls us to mission alone but in community.
Jesus teaches this in the first section of today’s Gospel passage when he answers John’s complaint. He says: those who do good work do so with and in his name; and they should not be prevented from doing so. For Jesus, these people are the collaborators God wants us to reach out to and include in our mission. Why? Because their good works come from and lead back to God.
Indeed, God’s goodness can be fuel for our mission when we draw on the life-giving experience of inclusiveness. This is possible when we welcome another into our Christian life, faith and work as our partner and collaborator, and not as a competitor or enemy. For example, children complain about parents, as much as parents complain about children. Each however needs the other for the mission of loving each other into that communion and commonwealth we call “the family”. Their mission would be poorer if one didn’t have the other.
Christian discipleship is about following Jesus’ way of bringing about inclusion and unity, not exclusion and division. Hence, “us” and “them” cannot be on our lips, nor can it be the fruit of our labors. This is why Jesus’ teaching is important: it answers the question about who belongs and who does not, who is in and who is out, who is with us and who is against us.
Jesus shows us two ways to be inclusive and to build community in the second section of today’s gospel passage.
First, Jesus teaches generosity toward others. We cannot be generous unless we learn to be less selfish and self-centered. Doing this better transforms us for mission. This is why being generous is how we are blessed for mission. This is the lesson behind Jesus’ words about generosity towards others of goodwill when we offer them a cup of water.
Second, Jesus cautions against division by leading others into sin. When he teaches about ridding a community of those who lead others into sin, he is challenging us to consider how our actions can divide and break up. We know how painful this action is because we squirm when we hear Jesus’ analogy of removing body parts that make the soul sinful. Jesus’ warning is wisdom for our mission: we are to foster the one body of many parts that God’s kingdom must be on earth, not divide it.
Second, Jesus cautions against division by leading others into sin. When he teaches about ridding a community of those who lead others into sin, he is challenging us to consider how our actions can divide and break up. We know how painful this action is because we squirm when we hear Jesus’ analogy of removing body parts that make the soul sinful. Jesus’ warning is wisdom for our mission: we are to foster the one body of many parts that God’s kingdom must be on earth, not divide it.
The purpose of Christian life is to lovingly reconcile differences into union with God and communion with all. If you agree with me about this, then, Jesus’ teaching today is not about being better than others. It is really about being better for them. Jesus himself did this for the disciples, as he still does this for us: he meets us in every moment of our lives to inspire us to become better disciples. Then, he sends us out to do the same for someone else. It seems that you and I are better for each other because Jesus has made us better than we judge ourselves to be.
The teams on the SJI football field dribble and back-pass, they defend and strike, they kick and rush and score. When the end of recess bell sounds, they give each other a high-five. Some give one another a slap on the back, while others give a thumbs up saying, “good game” to one another. Then, they return to class, sweaty and smelly, but together to continue learning.
Their coming together again reminds me of the kind of unity our Christian communities can enjoy when you and I remember who we really are with Jesus. We are not just his students, nor is he just our teacher. Rather, Jesus and you and I are one in God.
Now, whom else should each of us invite to join us in our oneness?
Preached at St Ignatius Church
Photo from imgkid.com
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