In last week’s Gospel the disciples quarreled amongst themselves over who was the greatest, this week they are incensed at the audacity of an “outsider” who acts as though he is part of the “insiders”; the twelve. But Jesus cautions John not to be so quick in his judgment of the man casting out daemons in Jesus’ name. Well-meaning and upstanding disciples are routinely aghast at the thought of including “less than upstanding members of our society” in “the family of God”. “But Lord,” they say, then as today, “what about standards? What about criteria? How can you admit anyone, no matter what’s contained in their past, no matter how unsuitable their present?”
Maybe “the best people” will decide not to be associated with the Kingdom as Jesus presents it...after all they have attained righteousness all by themselves, through their own efforts and how can Jesus ask them to share the Kingdom with sinners, tax collectors and the like? These people, even on their best day, with their best effort, could never attain the Kingdom...except for God’s grace! Thank God for “grace”!
I don’t know about them but I’m relying on that non- exclusive, saving, grace...yesterday, today and tomorrow! When behavior excludes people of goodwill who are doing the best they can, like Eldad and Medad, like the man in the Gospel, such exclusion becomes the very antithesis of what is demanded of us as followers of Jesus Christ!
When we do what we do in God’s name for the good of others, we become equal in each other’s sight, as we always have been in God’s sight.
Discipleship is difficult, it challenges the way we live, the way we think and the way we view the world around us. Discipleship calls us to be our best selves, as God has created us to be, as God has dreamt us to be in the world and to live with each other and to care for the world, our common home.
God gives us the grace we need to live up to that dream that God has for us and for the world as a whole. And the Eucharist helps strengthens us for the task of living out our discipleship to the best of our abilities.
Through God’s grace we can help build up the Reign of God in the here and now through our “good works” for the sake of “the other”!
Do I exclude anyone from my life? Do I look down on anyone? Can I believe that God deeply and passionately loves us all, just as we are, even those whom I might think unworthy?
Blessings,
Fr Tim
Maybe “the best people” will decide not to be associated with the Kingdom as Jesus presents it...after all they have attained righteousness all by themselves, through their own efforts and how can Jesus ask them to share the Kingdom with sinners, tax collectors and the like? These people, even on their best day, with their best effort, could never attain the Kingdom...except for God’s grace! Thank God for “grace”!
I don’t know about them but I’m relying on that non- exclusive, saving, grace...yesterday, today and tomorrow! When behavior excludes people of goodwill who are doing the best they can, like Eldad and Medad, like the man in the Gospel, such exclusion becomes the very antithesis of what is demanded of us as followers of Jesus Christ!
When we do what we do in God’s name for the good of others, we become equal in each other’s sight, as we always have been in God’s sight.
Discipleship is difficult, it challenges the way we live, the way we think and the way we view the world around us. Discipleship calls us to be our best selves, as God has created us to be, as God has dreamt us to be in the world and to live with each other and to care for the world, our common home.
God gives us the grace we need to live up to that dream that God has for us and for the world as a whole. And the Eucharist helps strengthens us for the task of living out our discipleship to the best of our abilities.
Through God’s grace we can help build up the Reign of God in the here and now through our “good works” for the sake of “the other”!
Do I exclude anyone from my life? Do I look down on anyone? Can I believe that God deeply and passionately loves us all, just as we are, even those whom I might think unworthy?
Blessings,
Fr Tim
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