26th SUN, YR B: Numbers 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Hasn’t our social media allowed us to organize ourselves into like-minded tribes, affirming our comfort zone and excluding those who disagree with us? Are we that insecure in our beliefs and prejudices that we cannot tolerate differing opinions?
John in today’s Gospel didn’t need the internet to exclude those who heal in the name of Jesus but are not among the chosen Twelve. However, he didn’t insulate himself from challenge! He didn’t walk out on Jesus when he was corrected by him. He may have been on the wrong track, but he remained with Jesus to learn, to by drawn out of himself and his simplistic perceptions.
When I set up my spiritual parameters and goals, and stick to them, come hell or high water, aren’t I really substituting my control for responding to the Spirit? Is it really commitment and fidelity to my ideals or am I failing to trust Divine Providence working through the unanticipated events of real life? Am I evading the challenges, beyond my control that life alone can bring—and that are tailor made to my vulnerabilities? And aren’t my vulnerabilities the “place” where growth can occur?
After all, is the spiritual life a string of goals achieved or is it a responsive relationship with God? Were I to evade that relationship, wouldn’t I be trying to control God and reduce sovereign Divinity to a manageable, predictable scale?
Isn’t that the scandal to the Lord’s little ones to whom Jesus today refers: giving them a checklist, rather than demonstrating what a life of responsive faith in God could be?