Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 (NRSV)
The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the LORD became very angry, and Moses was displeased. So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,' to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, 'Give us meat to eat!' I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once--if I have found favor in your sight--and do not let me see my misery."
So the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you."
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!" But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!"
Psalm 19 (BCP., p.606-607)
James 5:13-20 (NRSV)
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Mark 9:38-50 (NRSV)
John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
"If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
"For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
Blog Reflection
Saint Theresa of Avila was quoted as saying, "The smallest thing when done for the love of God is priceless." This is not the same meaning of priceless that followed every MasterCard commercial once upon a time. This is priceless in the sense that God does not count what we do for the love of God by how well, how big, how much or how expensive. God accepts what we do out of love, because as far as God is concerned, there is no price to be paid. Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection took care of that.
As much as we profess to celebrate all that God does for us, it is easy for us to get all wound up in what we do not have. I think this was the case with the People of Israel in our reading from Numbers. Their complaint is not entirely invalid. Yet, that which they are craving from their time in slavery, was where they were also oppressed. At times, even when God has delivered us; our eyes are in our past and not being attentive to the here and now. Moses recognizes that he is only one person. He can only do so much. So God gathers others to help Moses in the guidance of the community.
The ministry and mission of the Church can be summed up very well in our reading from James. The Church is called to be the healing presence of God through prayer, word and sacrament. Yet, that call is meant for something larger. Namely, the whole community. This means that Christians are entrusted by God with the work of healing and reconciliation. It begins in part, by the Church being interested and responding to the needs of the sick, the suffering and the lonely. The prayers and work of the Church is very powerful when exercised by trusted stewards of God's gifts. James is admonishing the community in which he writes, to make use of that ministry to cast out the evils of their time.
I labeled this blog post as "It Is The Little Things We Do" because of what we read about in today's Gospel. The disciples saw someone doing a similar thing that they did. They were just in another community observing and following Jesus. In their haste, they tell Jesus what they did. Jesus' response is something that Christians need to hear today. All Christians (and all people for that matter) can serve the Name of Jesus from where ever they are, and still make an impact on those around them. All Christians are part of the same ministry, even as they perform that ministry in different ways and in different company. It is not a matter of being liberal, conservative, Anglo-Catholic, moderate ofr evangelical. It is a question of what are we doing with the opportunities that God presents us with at the point of where we are. Someone who just sharpens pencils for a meeting is still serving God in great ways; as does the Parish Formation Director. The one who shows up to help rearrange the chairs for choir rehearsal is still part of the song being sung by the choir. Whether or not they sing every note perfectly.
The Church finds ourselves at an interesting crossroads. We are blessed with our Baptism with it's covenant through which we commit ourselves. We commit ourselves to the work of ministry and mission, while living into our vows by opening ourselves up to the presence of God including in those who are different from ourselves. The last thing we want to do, is make anyone feel that they are less important to the life and ministry of the Church so as to scandalize them about who Jesus Christ is.
Jesus Christ is seeking deeper relationships through those who are seeking union with God. Each individual searches for that union according to who they are and where they are. We must be most attentive to our own search for God, so that we may love and desire God wherever God is found. God is most likely sought and found where we have not looked for God, desired God and committed ourselves to love God from where we are at. Whether we are individuals of diverse races, cultures, religions, sexual orientations, genders, gender identities/expressions and such, each of us is in a place, where God wants to love us.
There are opportunities in front of us to not only tell our own stories of what God is doing in and through our lives; but also listen to what God is doing through others. If we will spend some time to "listen" while "inclining the ears of our hearts", we will encounter God in ways the draws us deeper in to the mystery of who God is.
Fellow Christians, let us all work together at what God has before us, wherever and who ever we are. God has so many wonderful things God wants to do with, for and around us. Let's get to it.
Amen.
Prayers
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing
mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we,
running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of
your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 21. The Book of Common Prayer. p.234).
O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior,
the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the
great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away
all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us
from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body
and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith,
one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all
of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth
and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and
one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. (Prayer for the Unity of The Church. The Book of Common Prayer. p. 818).
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