19th Sunday after Pentecost
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm 19:7-14
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50
Pentecost 19
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you from the one whose power is love. Amen
It is a particular habit of our God
that every time we as humans
draw a circle around who is in and who is out,
the next place God will show up
is on the outside of that circle
This of course thoroughly frustrates
those of us who have drawn the circle
and placed ourselves at the very center.
We see this in our story from Numbers this morning,
how when the spirit of God comes on Eldad and Medad
even though they fail to follow the instructions
to gather at the tent of meeting
and still they prophesy in the camp.
And of course word gets around to Joshua,
Moses’ assistant
“one of his chosen men”
who comes and tells Moses “make them stop!”
And we see it in our gospel
when John comes to Jesus saying:
“Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
Joshua and John seem to think
that they are protecting their respective mentors,
that they should receive praise for their actions,
their attention to detail.
But in this they will be disappointed as well.
Moses tells Joshua “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
Jesus tells John “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.”
Are Joshua and John really protecting their mentors?
Or do they object
because the actions of these outsiders
puts their own status at risk?
They feel special, powerful
being so close to their leaders,
the center of the action
and their special status gets called into question
if any old schmo can do what they do.
It’s illustrative that those with the actual power
are more than willing to share.
Moses has more power and responsibility
than he knows what to do with,
more than he’d like.
This whole episode comes about
because Moses is tired of the responsibility
God has given him,
the people are complaining again
and that makes God mad
and Moses feels caught in the middle
and in an episode where his own complaining
is as dramatic as those of the people
tells God it’s too much for him
“If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once-if I have found favor in your sight-do not let me see my misery.”
and in response
God has Moses gather seventy elders at the tent of meeting
and takes some of the spirit that rested on Moses
and gives it to the elders.
The rub comes when two who were registered
but didn’t come to the tent,
who didn’t follow the rules
still get their share of the spirit
and use it outside the established center of authority.
But to Joshua’s dismay
Moses is more than willing to share the power,
and he reminds Joshua that it is not his (Moses’) power
but the power of the Lord.
Likewise Jesus redirects John’s focus.
Notice how John objects “because he was not following us.”
Jesus responds
emphasizing that the deeds of power
were being done in his Jesus’ name,
and Jesus is okay with that.
Though the lectionary splits it up
this is a continuation of Jesus’ teaching the disciples
in response to their arguing over who among them is the greatest.
He has just told them that
“whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
and then to illustrate his point
he takes a child in his arms
and puts it in their midst and tells them
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
These words have barely finished reverberating,
Jesus is still holding the child
when John lodges his complaint.
When in the name of Jesus
he tries to stop someone from using Jesus’ name,
Jesus’ power,
drawing a strict line between us and them.
Of course Jesus hops right over that line
There’s plenty to go around Jesus tells them
and if they’re using my name and my power
they’re not going to be able to speak evil of me
in fact I’ll show up for anyone
who even shows the least bit of kindness because of my name
whether they believe in me or not.
It’s not about your power John,
it’s about the power of the Lord Jesus reminds him
and then almost preemptively jumps the next line
he expects the disciples to draw
expanding the circle even further.
Remember to keep the main point the main point he’s telling them
and the main point is the good news about the kingdom of God
and it is good news
because it is so expansive and inclusive,
it is good news
because power is available to everyone
especially those without worldly power
like this child,
they are who you are to go to,
and if you want to make it about yourself
you’d better be prepared to take a long hard look at yourself
because if you get in the way of the message of God
“it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
The stakes are that high Jesus says
and then goes on to essentially say
that the disciples have enough to worry about
fixing their own failings
let alone worrying about others.
And then Jesus ends this whole teaching
on greatness and following Jesus
with this odd seemingly mixed metaphor
“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”
Fire is used to refine things like metals,
it burns away impurities leaving the gold or other metal pure,
salt is a preservative
and was also used to help purify sacrifices
as they were being burned in the ancient world.
Jesus is telling the disciples
that their trials including self-discipline
that is as strict as cutting away parts of themselves that cause them to stumble
will have a refining or purifying effect.
To have salt in themselves
is to purify, refine, and preserve themselves,
for the sake not of power or greatness
but for being at peace with one another.
This is the conclusion of this whole discussion of greatness,
in a nutshell:
work on yourself
and at the same time be at peace with one another.
In other words,
don’t be so concerned with drawing circles around me
and placing yourselves at the center,
I show up and share my power
where it is needed
often outside of that circle you have drawn
and my sharing it will not diminish your experience.
Jesus’ power is love,
and love is not a zero sum game,
rather the power of love
is that it has the capacity to keep growing and expanding,
making room for more and more,
which is why Jesus is continually showing up outside the lines we draw.
The power of love
means that Jesus will always be expanding the boundaries
of who is loved,
and Jesus is happy to share that power with us
as long as we use it in the same way,
to show love and be at peace. Amen
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