Stop trying to put God in a box - Mk 9:38-50

Mark 9:38-50
Num. 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 Psalm 19:7-14 James 5:13-20
Opening Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

Introduction: As I read about the early disciples and how they wanted to stop someone from casting out demons in Jesus’ name because that person was not one of “the group”, and think about Christians treat each other today, I am reminded of the saying, “the more things change, the more things stay the same.”
In the OT lesson we also see where Joshua, the assistant of Moses, got bent out of shape when two men in the camp were also prophesying. I love Moses’ response: “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!” Then in the reading from James, we see one of the church’s early pastors skillfully going about his work of dealing with areas of misbehavior that had turned up in congregations committed to his care.
In an excerpt from the introduction to the Letter from James in The Message (p.1669) it states: “When Christian believers gather in churches, everything that can go wrong sooner or later does. Outsiders on observing this, conclude that there is nothing to the religion business except, perhaps, business…Insiders see it differently…The church collects sinners.” We are in all different stages of sanctification. In addition, people have all kinds of different motivations for attending church.
The Problem:
We are all children of God. Unfortunately, too often we act like children that need to grow up. Moses was getting really fed up with all the wining of the Israelites! He is also fed up with what God has been laying his shoulders. He has had really broad shoulders, but has reached his limit. “Did I give birth to them that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child’” I had a Clinical Supervisor a number of years ago who was a very nurturing person, and she would often stop in the offices of various staff during the day to listen to their problems and how they were doing. Sometimes at the end of the day when she was worn out was to say; “I don’t have enough tits to go around!” We all have days like that at times. Moses even fed up enough to tell God: “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…” The modern expression is “Just shoot me now!” At the end of the passage, Moses asks Joshua, “Are you jealous for my sake?”
It appears in the gospel lesson that the disciples were also struggling with jealousy. In the chapter before this, while Jesus was on the mountain top with several of his closest disciples, the disciples were trying to cast out a demon from someone and did not succeed. How embarrassed they must have been when found out that someone who was not among the “in group” was able to cast a demon out in Jesus’ name.
Are we jealous when we see another believer accomplishing for God what we could not accomplish? Are we worried that God loves that person more than us because God gave him/her a wonderful gift? I have an image of children gathered around at Christmas time opening their gifts, and looking at the other gifts that others got to make sure that no one got more gifts, or that their gifts were better.

God refuses to be put in a box:
When we deny the capacity of God to work outside human-made boundaries, we have created an idol. We are bowing down to the form of religion rather than its essence. We need to be reminded again and again: the Church is not God.
We feel more secure if everything is nice and tidy, however, sometimes God is quite messy! God frequently finds ways to confront us with the reminder that God is in charge, and we are not. If we could control God, God would not be God! It has been said that “There is no copyright on grace.” God often sends grace to and through non-Christians. Who are we to tell God who can receive grace, or how God is to send grace? After all, by its very nature, grace is unearned and undeserved.
God will recognize and reward every act of compassion that advances the kingdom of God, regardless of who performs it. Verse 39, “for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able to soon after to speak evil of me! For whoever is not against us if for us.” I have seen God perform miracles through 12 Step programs where God is referred to as Higher Power. God can and does work through whomever God chooses to. In fact, often God will work through the most unlikely person in order show that God is the one doing the work.
Conclusion: Let us learn from the disciples and be alert to jealousy in ourselves and how we might express it. God has plenty of love to go around, there is an endless supply, and God is not going to run out of love for us. God is going to give gifts to God’s people, and will give them to whoever God wants. If we are distracted by a bright, shiny gift that someone else is holding, we need to unwrap the present that we are holding; it might be very small, but very valuable, like a diamond.
Amen.