FIRST READING Numbers 11:25-29
The Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, the Lord bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied. Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; yet the spirit came to rest on them also, and they prophesied in the camp. So, when a young man quickly told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, ” Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said, “Moses, my lord, stop them.” But Moses answered him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!”
SECOND READING James 5:1-6
Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance.
GOSPEL Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'”
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
Both the first reading today, from the Book of Numbers, and the Gospel from Saint Mark speak about efforts to control the Spirit of God. This happens when religion becomes a business and controlled by people. Such an idea does not exclude organized religion, but it does point out one great danger of organized religion: making it business instead of serving God.
If we start today from the second reading, from the Letter of James, then we can see all of the readings relating to each other. James is telling us first of all that there is a God and that there is a life after this one. If we do not believe this, then none of the readings will make any sense. Today fewer and fewer people believe that there is a God who asks us to live in a particular way and fewer and fewer believe in a life after this present one.
Thus the first challenge to each of us today is this: believe in God and believe in life eternal. For us Christians, then the challenge is to believe truly that Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus is God and Jesus is our Savior. If we believe all of this: God, eternal life and Jesus, then we enter into a completely different world in which our actions have meanings in the presence of God, for life in the world to come and in serving the Lord Jesus.
When we believe, we begin to be able to see the Spirit at work in our world and in one another. This should not lead us to judge others. Rather it should draw us to love others and to seek to open the way of faith to them through love.
In the Book of Numbers, Moses is a wonderful example of this for us. When the Spirit of Prophecy is poured forth, he knows that he does not have to control it or contain it. He simply marvels at the work of God who is able to work wherever He wants. God is never bound. Rather, we are shown a God who is willing to seek out His people in any way that He can. It is we humans who put conditions and walls and resistance.
In the Gospel, it is a repeat of the Book of Numbers. John tells Jesus that there are people doing things in the name of Jesus and yet who are not followers of Jesus! We should try to understand this impatience! Sometimes we ourselves want everything neat and orderly! We need to recognize that whoever does a loving act is in God! That does not mean that there is no importance to the Church or to organized religion. It only recognizes that God is not bound.
So we are back to our faith: do I believe in God, in life eternal and in Jesus as Savior? This is a question we must ask ourselves. Each of us needs to say clearly and without hesitation: I believe in God, in the life of the world to come and in Jesus as my Savior! Amen!
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip