BIBLE STUDY #108


TWENTY SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

September 30, 2012



READING 1

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!"



The Word of the Lord



READING 2

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.



The Word of the Lord



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.'"



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection



I think you would agree with me that exclusivity is not uncommon among religious people. It even goes back to the era of Moses. Eldad and Medad received God’s Spirit and were prophesying. They weren’t at the tent of meeting where God’s Spirit came upon the 70 elders who began prophesying. Joshua, Moses aide and future leader of the people is upset and wants Moses to stop them. They weren’t one of the 70 elders, and Joshua thinks that they shouldn’t be prophesying. Moses disagrees. He wishes all could be prophets. Moses won’t have anything to do with Joshua’s petty jealousy. Moses wants all people to share in God’s bounty. God bestows his grace feely to whomever he wishes, and we should be happy when that happens.



In the Gospel, someone is driving out demons in Jesus name, and John protests because “he does not follow us." It seems that the apostles think that they have the exclusive right to Jesus and his mission and they don’t want to share their authority with others. Do they think the power resides in them instead of Jesus? Are they jealous because of their failure to cast out a demon in Mark 9:14-29? Is it a matter of control? Do they think that this exorcist is somehow not worthy?



John wants Jesus to stop him, but Jesus disagrees: If he is exorcising in Jesus name, he must believe in him. Jesus is tolerant of those who may not be part of his group of disciples. This may have been used in the early church to battle factionalism or exclusivity.



Not everyone in the church follows Jesus perfectly. We all misunderstand, make mistakes, and sin. Being tolerant doesn’t mean that we condone people’s mistakes and sins, but that we don’t condemn or exclude the person. How are people going to grow in God’s grace if we exclude them from the one place where God’s grace abounds? After all, we all need to grow in grace and improve our lives, so if all sinners were excluded from church, the church would be empty of people and clergy. We need to preach the Gospel and support each other as we imperfectly try to follow God’s will for us in our lives.



The search for exclusive prestige is a sin to be avoided at all costs. Last week we were reminded that, as followers of Jesus, we were to take up our cross and follow him, that we should not look to be the greatest, but the least. Two weeks ago we heard that if we want to follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. It seems that John and the other apostles didn’t quite learn these lessons on proper attitude and humility yet.



We must avoid sin and avoid bringing scandal (causing others to sin) through our actions. If we are a bad influence, if we want power and prestige, if we exclude someone who wants to do things in Jesus name, if we do something to harm another’s faith, or if we do anything contrary to Jesus teachings, then we are risking eternal life.



I’ve often thought that we and the world would be a lot better off if we were as concerned about our faith and our standing in front of God as we are about others.



Fr. Phil