You Can't Put the Spirit into a Box (Or a Tent)
Year B: Proper 21
The call to amputate the offending hand, foot, and eye in verses 43-48 are by any account strange and troubling. Mark seems to be combining the Pauline metaphor of the community as “body” (see “hand, eye, foot” in 1 Corinthians 12:14-26) with the Pauline principle of not causing the “weaker member” to be scandalized (see Romans 14).
Year B, Proper 21, September 29, 2024
First Reading: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm: Psalm 19:7-14
Second Reading: James 5:13-20
Gospel: Mark 9:38-50
Sermon - You Can't Put the Spirit into a Box (Or a Tent)
In Numbers 11, the people began to complain because they had no meat to eat. In Egypt, when they were enslaved, they apparently had all kinds of food—at least according to their own telling of events. Now that God had led them into the wilderness and on towards the promised land, it seemed as if they were in a worse state than before.
We think their complaints are absurd, but how many times have we been given an awesome gift or opportunity and found something to complain about?
I know I’ve been there.
In response to this, Moses complains to God that he doesn’t have anyone to help him manage this people. God tells him to get seventy elders, bring them to the tent of meeting, and establish them as rulers over the people.
At this point, Moses has to be thinking, “Do you mean to tell me that I’ve been doing the work of seventy men?”
I think we can relate to this as well. Sometimes we want things done in such a specific way that we don’t trust anyone else to help. Then we turn around and complain that we aren’t getting any help.
Well, God gave Moses help, and Moses gathered the elders at the tabernacle.
Here’s an account of what happened next:
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the 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. Numbers 11:24–25
The Spirit was poured out on these seventy elders. In the time of Jesus, he selected seventy disciples to go out and preach the gospel, which is the New Testament’s way of saying that Jesus is the new Moses (Luke 10:1).
Anyway, after this, a young man came to Moses and told him that there were two men prophesying in the camp who hadn’t come to the tabernacle. Joshua’s reaction is interesting:
And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” Numbers 11:28
Why would he want them to stop? Was he threatened by them? Was he afraid Moses’s authority would be questioned?
Moses had a different reaction.
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!” Numbers 11:29
Moses has a great attitude in this passage, and his statement here foreshadows a major event in history. Around fifteen hundred years after he spoke these words, the Spirit was poured out upon all of God’s people. Joel said,
Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit. Joel 2:28–29
Here’s where the challenge comes in for us.
Are we more like Moses or Joshua?
Do we honor the “and” in Joel’s prophecy?
Sons and daughters.
Old and young.
Rich and poor.
Or do we run up to people or churches and say, “You need to cut this out! You can only fill this role if you’re under the tent of my comfort and expectations.”
The church has done this towards women for years.
The church has taught that only men can be deacons, only men can be prophets, and only men can be teachers, but if we just read Paul’s letters, we see that this is far from the case. Phoebe was a deacon, Phillip’s seven daughters were prophets, and Priscilla was a teacher.
In Romans 16, there are ten of the twenty-eight people mentioned are women.
They are listed as deacons, house church leaders, co-laborers with Paul, saints, and even someone considered an apostle.
This reminds me of a passage from John:
The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
You can’t put the Spirit into a box (or a tent).
In Mark 9, a similar situation happens in the ministry of Jesus.
There was a man who was casting out demons in the name of Jesus, but he was not called as an apostle or listed among the disciples. The apostles wanted to put a stop to his work since he wasn’t “one of us.”
Jesus refused, and he told them that whoever does good in his name would not lose their reward.
Then, Jesus offers a series of sayings concerning “little children,” who represent the most vulnerable. He said,
If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. Mark 9:42
He then offered one of the more strange teachings in many’s eyes:
If your hand causes you to sin, 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 sin, 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 sin, 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. Mark 9:43–48
Let’s look at this from two different perspectives.
First, it’s obvious that we need to cut out things that might cause us to stumble. This is how we’re used to reading this passage from Matthew 5. If you struggle with lust or greed, then you may need to make major changes in your life to deal with those temptations.
But in this context, Jesus is specifically talking about not offending “one of these little ones.”
This means being willing to part with something special to us that isn’t necessarily required for life. Life is possible without an arm or foot or eye. It might not be easy, but it is possible.
Are we willing to part with something sacred to us if it means including someone else at the table.
Can we face the challenge that Joshua and John faced and say, “You know what? If the Spirit wants to work in this way, so be it. Would that all of God’s people were prophets!”
How can you honor the “and” of Joel’s prophecy in your life? in your congregation? in your workplace? in your family?
How can you be more like Moses and Jesus by embracing the unexpected movement of the Spirit?
Second Reading: The Role of Prayer in Christian Leadership
Every week, LeAnne puts a list of those who are sick in the bulletin that we are to remember in our prays. Every Wednesday, Tony gets some cards together for our prayer warriors group. These cards are sent to those who have lost loved ones or who are dealing with major illnesses. While we should continue to pray in our personal lives for those who are dealing with sickness, James teaches that one of the roles of elders within a church is to pray for the sick.
“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” (James 5:14).
The part about anointing someone with oil is foreign to us, but in Jesus’s world both oil and wine were used medicinally. Kings, prophets, and priests were also anointed in oil, so there was a symbolic significance to this practice as well.
I think the point for us, though, is that shepherds within a congregation should serve as the chief “prayer warriors.” When we have problems, when we are sick, or when we just need encouragement, they are there to pray for us and be with us during our times of need.
If we believe that “the prayer of faith will save the sick,” then we should make a habit of going to our elders when are in need and encourage others to do so too.
This means that shepherds should strive to be personable, approachable, and available, but since shepherds are meant to be the prime example of Christian living among the flock, we should emulate them in being approachable and available for our brothers and sisters.
We need each other, and God has given us prayer as a means of helping one another.
Thanks so much for keeping up with this blog. If you have any suggestions, recommendations, or critiques, you can always comment here or reach out through my website: https://danielr.net.