Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jan 30 2025

Extending Boundaries

Close ties can enrich life, whether due to blood, loyalty, or faith in God. However, any close tie can become overly exclusive. “She won’t fit into our family.” “He’s not for our group.” This also happens in God’s family. People want to draw lines, decide who is “in,” who is “out.” God doesn’t work that way.

Today we have Joshua upset that the spirit of Moses has been given to two men who weren’t at the appointed place at the appointed time. Moses, who knows what it means to be both “in” and “out,” has the wisdom to know that God will give the spirit to whomever God wishes. Moses was about extending boundaries.

The apostle John notices a man casting out demons in Jesus’ name. “We tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” “Us?” Jesus asks. “Us? Who decides who drives out demons? No one who performs a deed in my name can speak ill of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.” Jesus was about extending boundaries.

Human boundaries don’t fence in the Holy Spirit. God’s open arms extend beyond our imaginations. Isaiah sings, “All the tribes shall go up to worship the Lord. All nations shall stream to God’s holy mountain.”

So stretch out your hands in generosity. Give drinks of water to whoever thirsts. Protect the little ones. The only restrictions concern whatever causes you to sin and lose the kingdom. Otherwise, expect God to work in unexpected places, in unexpected people, in unexpected ways.

Consider/Discuss

Have you ever been surprised by God working in someone, some place, in an unexpected way?
Jesus’ words about giving scandal are to be taken very seriously. Do they speak to your life in any way?

Responding to the Word

Lord, help us recognize the working of your Spirit in our world. May we see your hand in anything done to liberate others from oppression and to bring peace and reconciliation. Never let us bring any of your little ones to harm. And give true contrition to those who have caused others harm.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Moses is portrayed as a prophet, a spokesperson of God. The spirit of prophecy that was upon him was bestowed as well on some elders so that the burden of prophecy would not be so heavy on his own shoulders. Despite the fact that Eldad and Medad had been preordained to receive the spirit, Joshua felt that their absence from the group disqualified them. Moses questioned the sharpness of Joshua’s opposition. Was he concerned with probity or was he protecting the privilege that official prophesying often brought with it? Moses believed that the work of God took precedence over the institutional ordering of the community.

According to James, the wealthy have foolishly and ravenously hoarded the treasures of the earth. They have been busy accruing money rather than sharing it with the poor, and this selfish attitude will be a testimony against them. Some of the rich have even gained their wealth at the expense of those in their employ. Such victimization is particularly loathsome in Israel, since the very event that shaped them into a people was their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The author depicts the unscrupulous people foolishly enjoying their wealth and comfort, oblivious of the fact that they are really being fattened for the day of slaughter, the impending day of judgment.

The Gospel reading is a collection of pronouncements of Jesus on the topics of acceptance, hospitality, and scandal. Jesus authenticates the right of a man to cast out demons. It is important that the work of the reign of God be done; it is not important who does it. Jesus justifies all works of mercy that are performed in his name. He then warns against giving scandal. Those who cause others to sin will be severely punished. Jesus instructs his disciples to take even drastic means if necessary as a precaution against falling into sin. Nothing should jeopardize the possibility of enjoying life in the reign of God.

Jan 28 2025

God, Protector of Little Ones

It was 5:30 a.m. I went out the back door for a walk. My mind had things to think about. Some people have streetlights and sidewalks. I have woods. It was dark—really dark. I’d walked that path a thousand times. But it was so black. Suddenly, a loud primal “Whaaaaa!” sounded a few feet from me. I looked into the dark. What was that? I could see nothing. I turned and shakily walked back to the house.

Have you ever heard a deer hiss? When you come between a mother deer and her fawn in the night, that gentle mama becomes a raging protector. The noise she makes is terrifying.

Have you ever heard Jesus hiss? In today’s reading, we may dismiss what Jesus has to say as hyperbole, an overstatement for the sake of making his point. But gentle Jesus can also become a raging protector when his little ones are threatened. Don’t you dare lead one of these little ones astray! “It would be better for you if a great millstone were put around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.” Whoa.

Young people have shared stories with me: a ninth grader date raped by a senior football player; a sixteen-year-old abused in his youth group; a child molested by a trusted family friend. Rage rises within me. I want to hiss “Whaaaaa!” like that deer. That mistreatment affects them for years. They don’t get over it. How dare someone treat these little ones that way?

Gentle Jesus isn’t exaggerating. He means it. To his disciples and to us, he gives a loud primal “Whaaaaa!” Unquenchable fire! Thrown into Gehenna! Where the worm does not die! Don’t you dare cause one of these little ones to stumble. Cut off your hand. Pluck your eye out. Whatever you have to do, do it. Do not hurt my little ones!

Consider/Discuss

A father feels a surge of protectiveness for his pink and wrinkled newborn. The mother of a toddler flies into a rage when she thinks another child will hurt her daughter. A teacher keeps her students close when they are on a field trip. A mother bear will attack a hiker who gets close to her cubs. If these are our God-given instincts to protect the helpless, does the Creator also feel a protective rage over the mistreatments? Do we dare mess with God’s righteous indignation? Might a “hiss” from Jesus make us more careful about how we behave?
That surge of protectiveness—have you felt it rise within you? Sometimes it is a healthy and necessary thing. Sometimes it can hinder or damage relationships. How do we discern the difference?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, only you are righteous and good. Thank you for the protective instincts that spur us to keep those we love safe. You ask us to watch over your children, for they are precious to you. But at the same time, you detect failings that we hide or cannot see. Do not let our instincts of protectiveness go wrong, keeping outsiders out, becoming tribal, keeping others from partaking of your bounty. You detest any evil in us. Root out our unknown faults. Chop off all that is not of you so that we follow you more purely.

Jan 28 2025

Scripture Study for

As Israel wanders in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, they become increasingly discontented, and complain so much that Moses cries out to God to end his life (Numbers 11:14). God responds by endowing seventy elders with the same spirit enjoyed by Moses, so “that they may share the burden of the people with you.” The elders begin to prophesy around the tent of meeting, that is, in the designated area where God speaks to Moses. Joshua’s concern about Eldad and Medad appears to be related to the fact that they are prophesying in the camp, outside this designated zone. Moses, on the other hand, is not concerned about where prophesying happens; he is just glad that it does.

James continues to develop his teaching regarding the Christian’s relationship to wealth. He has already admonished against privileging the wealthy over the poor (2:1–4) and following the grasping, covetous wisdom of the world (3:13–4:3). Now he turns toward the rich themselves with classical warnings: their wealth is transient and may not last through their lives. When they die, they will discover the true wealth they possess. James assumes here that the wealthy have gained their riches through injustice, either by mistreating workers or by subverting justice to their advantage. In either case, in their wealth they have become complacent, just like satisfied cows, oblivious to the fact that they are fattening themselves up for slaughter.

The Gospel reading addresses the themes of tolerance and intolerance. In the first part, Jesus admonishes his followers to be less concerned about who “follows us” and more concerned about what they are doing. In doing good “in [Jesus’] name,” or for the sake of Christ, those who may not be part of the recognized followers are nevertheless doing something that pleases God. Sin, on the other hand, does not please God and cannot be tolerated. Those who muddle along in life without ever striving to eradicate whatever separates them from God will find themselves unable to enter into the reign of God. God loves the good, no matter who does it, but evil cannot be tolerated, for it opposes the very good that God loves.

Jan 15 2025

Doing “Yes”

In The Secret Life of Bees, August, an older black woman, is talking about “the problem with people” to Lily, a younger white woman who has run away from an abusive father. Lily has said that people don’t really know what matters. But August says the deeper problem is that people do know what matters, but don’t choose it.

God tells Ezekiel that virtue’s proof is in choosing to do the right thing. What you choose to do matters. So be careful not to go off the right path at the end of your days. On the other hand, you might be off the right path for years, but end up hopping back on at the very end, and you will have life. It doesn’t sound very fair; nevertheless, it’s where you are when the end comes that counts. And you don’t know when the end will come.

Jesus confronts the religious leaders with a parable. A father asks his two sons to do some work in the vineyard. One talks a good game but never makes it into the field; the other refuses outright, but then goes and does what his father asked. In telling this parable, Jesus compares these leaders unfavorably to the tax collectors and prostitutes. The elders must have been shocked.

“Have in you that same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus,” writes Paul to his beloved Philippians. The attitude he urged on them was giving oneself for the sake of others—even unto death. In this way, we not only speak but also do “Yes.” Choose to live Christ.

Consider/Discuss

Can you think of a time when you said yes to someone’s request but did not carry it out?
Do you think of Jesus as one who emptied himself, even of life, trusting his Father to fill him?
How is God calling you to empty yourself at this time, doing “nothing out of selfishness, but regarding others as more important than yourselves”?

Responding to the Word

In the Our Father we pray that God will not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. We pray that we will be obedient to the Father’s will to the point of death so that we will be raised into eternal life and join in the song of exaltation, confessing Jesus Christ as Lord.