Readings: Numbers 11:25-29; Psalm 19; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Grace, mercy and peace to you my beloved in the Lord.
God has been so faithful to us and so we are here to thank Him and testify that we love Him.
In the readings of today, God has a lot to teach us to help shape our lives and make us better people.
Today, I want to preach on what I have titled “Because He is not one of us, we tried to stop Him.”
The disciples of Jesus tried to stop a man from casting out a devil, a man who didn’t belong to their association (Association of Jesus’ disciples (AJD). Jesus corrected them, telling them to be open-minded and to not try and stop anyone who was not against them.
The First Reading reports a similar event. Joshua was upset that Eldad and Medad, who were not with the elders selected for prophecy, also received the gift of prophecy, even though they were in their camps and not with the rest in the tent of meeting.
Today, the Lord is calling our attention to some areas of our lives that we need to work on. I will preach on three tendencies that oppose the spirit of unity in the Church and can become obstacles to our spiritual flourishing.
I. Envy:
What aggravated the anger of the disciples was not just that the man was casting out demons; it was the fact that He was successful where they had just failed (read Mark 9:17-18). They felt threatened by his success and by the fact that people were now going to him. So, they tried to prevent him from continuing. The Greek word here is very vivid – it is ekōlyomen auton (ἐκωλύομεν αὐτὸν), meaning they tried to hinder his work, to pull him down.
Do we also feel upset when we see others doing well, receiving the blessing we desire, excelling in things we cannot do?
Do we get jealous when others are praised or making good progress in the same thing we are doing?
Dear friends, we must avoid trying to stop anyone or pulling anyone down for any reason. We must avoid belittling, blackmailing or speaking ill of others simply because of our jealousy. We are not called to be envious of others but to be grateful and content.
Life is not a competition. We will have a sense of greater peace if we wage war against envy rather than against people.
II. Exclusivity:
The disciples told Jesus, “He is not one of us.” Jesus reminded them that there is no “us”, there is a “me.” This highlights a tendency to turn discipleship into a clique, a kind of spiritual gang. If you are not in the clique, you are not wanted, welcomed or recognised.
This was the exact reason the Pharisees and scribes didn’t accept Jesus, because He didn’t belong to their clique.
In the Second Reading, St. James condemned the activity of the rich who were insensitive and cruel to the poor. One of the tendencies of such people is to form themselves into a clique and look down on others. This is antithetical to the spirit of love and openness that we should have.
This cliquism was a major crisis in the Church in Corinth, as it is in many other quarters today. Some Corinthians started creating themselves into Peter, Apollos and Paul’s clique and this was causing serious division in the Church (1 Corinthians 1:12).
This is something we really need to watch out for, even in the Church today. It happens not just amongst the laity but also even amongst the clergy. We need to always be open to people and remember there is no “us”, no clique – there is only Christ. When Christ opened His arms on the cross, He was teaching us something. He is welcoming everyone. He is breaking down every wall of hostility and “cliquility” (Don’t check Google for this please) separating people.
III. Meism:
Meism is related to cliquism but it is the subjective form. This is when an individual thinks it is all about him/her – “I must be the one to do this or that.” It is when we start to create our own domain and think it’s all about us. We are so protective of our domain and we quickly resist other people from coming through because we don’t want anyone to steal or share our thunder.
It isn’t and must never be about us. For everything we do, the focus should be on God alone and His glory.
When we work for God, it is wrong for us to seek attention, recognition or praise. We must keep in mind that we should decrease and only Christ should increase (John 3:30).
Thank you Father for your Word. Help us to be obedient and give us the grace to overcome our envy of one another. Teach us to be open, loving and friendly to others and seek only your glory and not ours, in all things.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on September 26, 2021