Isn’t it true that without real effort and out of the box thinking on the part of men and women, the more things change the more they stay the same? We have the perfect example of that in our first reading and the gospel. As we heard Fr. Matt describe it last week, the Apostles just aren’t getting the teachings of Jesus. Remembering last week, Jesus is telling the Apostles all he will have to go through to win our salvation. Their response- an argument over who is the greatest. This week, we get another lesson from Jesus in response to a continuing misunderstanding of this issue of status within the gospel community. And, to show this misunderstanding isn’t just limited to the Apostles, we hear a similar scene; except it occurs several thousand years earler.
In our first reading, set during the time of the Israelite journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses is beginning to suffer from burnout. The Israelite community is coming to him with all their complaints. Moses complains to God that he doesn’t have any help. In response, God is going to give some of the spirit that Moses has to seventy selected elders. Only sixty-eight show up though. Eldad and Medad are missing. When you are trying to do something as a group, aren’t there always one or two that don’t show up-something else that never changes. Despite their absence, the spirit of God finds them as well. They begin to prophesy in the same way as Moses and the sixty-eight are doing.
Fast forward several thousand years, and we hear of the unnamed man in today’s gospel who is driving out demons. All three of these individuals are doing great and commendable things. They are using God’s gifts to benefit their societies. Why would anyone be angry? Joshua in the first reading and John in the gospel react in a very negative way. Moses realizes Joshua’s response comes out of a jealous desire to restrict this gift of prophesy to only those who receive it in the “correct” way-through the gathering that Moses probably played a large role in organizing. John was angry because the man driving out demons “did not follow us.” He wasn’t one of us- the chosen twelve.
Both are placing restrictions on others. Why? So they could feel special, maybe. So they could feel superior to others because they were in the “in crowd”. Maybe it was to control the access and spread of the special graces because it gave them power. Whatever the reason, it involved a selfish desire to limit and to keep others out. On the other hand, what are the reactions of Moses and Jesus. They are both expansive and inclusive. Moses wishes God would give everyone the ability to do what he and the seventy elders were doing. One could even say Moses is complaining that God is being restrictive. Jesus takes a very practical view. He reasons that if someone is using his name successfully to cure people, then that someone has listened to him, received his message with joy, and is using it to help others- unlike the Pharisees and scribes who are beginning to plot against him. Neither one of them want to control others, see themselves as exclusively special, or want to be placed above others. Instead of being selfish, they are selfless.
We all have the need to feel that there is something unique and special about us. Oftentimes, that can lead us to the need to feel special by putting someone else down or looking for some way to feel superior to others. We accumulate something, could be wealth, power, social standing, and then try to exclude others. The one thing we seem to forget is that we are already special without any of that other stuff. We are special because we are all sons and daughters of God. We each have special gifts given to us by God It’s all about God. Our job, is to discover and cultivate what God has put deep inside us.
At the same time, we should assist each other in discovering what each other’s gifts are. As Jesus said, even the simplest amount of assistance, like giving someone a glass of water for his sake, would not go unrewarded. What if that glass of water we give to someone is to point out something special about someone else. Hey, you are really good at that. Did you ever consider you have a knack for that? Hey, I bet you would really thrive by doing this. Both Moses and Jesus in today’s readings never let the success of someone else be a threat to what they were doing. Why should we act in any other way?
Of course, this is all easier said than done. Humanity has often measured itself through comparisons between each other. This has justified many wars, massacres, and countless injustices. I think that is why Jesus uses the rather graphic language at the end of today’s gospel. There is one goal in life. That goal is worth any sacrifice. The goal is to be with Jesus forever in Heaven. He wants us to be as single minded as possible in our cooperation with his graces to walk that journey.
As we walk that journey of self-discovery of both ourselves and our faith, Jesus asks us to discard anything that can cause that journey to derail or drift off into the wilderness. This isn’t something we’ll accomplish today, tomorrow, or next week. It’s difficult sometimes to give up what we know isn’t good for us. It can take sacrifice, discipline, and self-denial; traits that aren’t championed by our modern world. It can become harder when we realize some of our long-held beliefs may have to go as well.
Besides Jesus’ use of these graphic descriptions, there is something else shocking about these examples. The belief at the time was that those without a hand, foot, or eye were believed to be ritually unclean. They could not worship in the temple during the Jewish holy days. What Jesus says in this passage then goes against the Law. Those who heard it would probably be shaking their heads and wondering what this Jesus was all about.
By using these what appear to be disjointed stories, John’s objection to the unauthorized healer, the small favors to a believer, the hand, foot, and eye, examples, the gospel writer in Mark is showing us something very important about God and humanity. God is God of everyone. He doesn’t particularly care about the artificial boundaries we place on the things of this world. The more restrictive we are and the more we deal differently with others based on those artificial boundaries, the father away we are from God.
Everything that we do in this life must be in furtherance of our own salvation. We must continually shape our thoughts and actions after the gospel messages we hear each Sunday or what we discover in our own spiritual reading. As the life situations and events of this world challenge our faith, it is important to remember this. May our love of each other be as wide as God’s love. May our ultimate goal in life be accepting God’s love and using it to reach the place Jesus prepared for us from the beginning of time.
