Our readings today speak about the requirements placed upon those of us who are given the gift of faith – we who are disciples of Jesus, attempting to do His work in the world.
I think there are three main lessons to be taken from today’s readings, each teaching us something different about how we, as people of faith, are meant to treat one another – perhaps especially how we are to treat those people who haven’t been given the same gift of faith.
Acceptance
In our first reading from the Book of Numbers, Eldad and Medad, who had been chosen to be elders of the Israelites, weren’t present when Moses calls down the Spirit of the Lord. And yet, they receive the Spirit of the Lord anyway and begin prophesying.
Hearing about this, Joshua is upset. He seems to think that only those who are a part of his team, who share his privileges, who are loyal to him and to Moses, can receive the Lord’s Spirit, speak His word, and do His work.
Similarly, in today’s Gospel, someone who is not a member of Jesus’ disciples uses the Lord’s name to cast out demons. John the Apostle, like Joshua, reacts negatively. “How can he be doing this without permission,” he seems to be asking?
But like Moses, Jesus makes clear that God can and does use a variety of people to accomplish His work in the world. Jesus says: “whoever is not against us is for us.” Jesus teaches us to accept the good whenever and wherever it comes, whoever does it.
As people of faith, we need to accept and indeed be grateful for the good that others do – whether they share our faith or not; whether they think exactly as we do or not; whether they are on our team or not. When evil is really being conquered, and good is truly being done, we can accept and support that work, no matter who is doing it.
Charity
In the Gospel, Jesus goes on to say that, “anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, will surely not lose their reward.” Jesus is teaching us that that acts of hospitality and works of mercy done in the Lord’s name, however small, will indeed be rewarded.
As people of faith, we need to perform similar works of mercy in order to show the world, especially those who don’t have faith, that our faith, and the God in whom we believe, is real. Our actions need to show the world that God is active in and through us as a God of love and mercy.
That’s why St. James, in today’s second reading, warns the rich that their amassing of earthly wealth and pleasure, their taking care of only themselves, has robbed others of even their right to basic sustenance. But the cries of the poor reach God’s ears, and the greedy and selfish ones will be punished.
Friends, if our faith in God who “hears the cry of the poor” is to be credible, especially to those who struggle to believe, than we must train ourselves to be constantly solicitous of others’ needs – placing the service of others, and the defense of the poorest and most defenseless, ahead of our own ego, self-interest, power or prestige.
Scandal
Finally, Jesus goes on to say that “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.”
Jesus is teaching us that it is a grave sin for a person of faith to cause others scandal – for a person of faith to confuse others about what is right and what is wrong, thereby leading them into sin.
Therefore, Jesus says if your hand, or your foot, or your eye cause you to sin, cut them off. It is better to enter into life maimed, or crippled, or blinded, than to have two hands, and two feet, and two eyes, but to be thrown into the unquenchable fires of Hell.
This seems to be a harsh statement – indeed it is. But that’s because there is no room for compromise with sin. To comprise with sin is to destroy the very distinction between good and evil, thereby confusing ourselves and others about what is right and what is wrong.
Think of a surgeon who operates to remove a cancerous growth that threatens a patient’s life. Surgery may be a drastic measure. It may be difficult and painful. It may even require the removal of part of the body. But it is absolutely necessary because there can be no compromise with the cancer that seeks to destroy, seeks to kill the patient.
Just the same, sin is a cancer that seeks to destroy us – and through scandal, to destroy the faith of others when they witness our compromise with sin. Whatever measures need to be taken to keep from falling into sin, or causing another to sin, must be taken. Whatever the costs to our egos, or to our pleasure, or to our prestige, it is worth it to have the fullness of life God desires to give us!
Friends, today’s readings challenge us, as men and women of faith, to appreciate and accept the good that others do whether they are like us or not; they challenge us to care more for the defenseless and the powerless than for our own comfort or prestige; they challenge us to make no compromise with sin, lest we allow it to fester and lead others to sin.
May the Eucharist we now celebrate renew in all of us, and in our community, the humility, the generosity and the courage that is required to live as faithful disciples.
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