THE GIFTS TO WORK WITH GOD

SUNDAY, TWENTY SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Num 11:25-29; Ps 19:8,10,12-14; James 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43,47-48

Anyone not against us is for us

The Lord made all things for good and never for evil. When man's sin derailed creation, he did not waste any time giving his word to prop it up and bring it back to the good end for which he made it. We see this readiness on the part of God in the gift of his word that sustains creation and the gift of his Holy Spirit, who manifests the work accomplished by his word as expressing the divine will. We see these liberal gifts of God in the passage from Numbers, where God extended the gift of the Holy Spirit to the seventy elders chosen to help Moses in the work of administration of the people of Israel. This action shows that in the cause of the salvation of the people, the gifts that God gives to a chosen one or a chosen few are for the people. The reason he gives these gifts to a chosen person, or few people is not to exclude the rest of the people, for there is no favouritism with God, but that through the chosen person or the selected few, the people may come to believe in God, know and do his divine will. The salvation of the people consists of these. God chooses a person or few people for an orderly communication of his gifts to the people, for God is of order and communion.

God illustrated his preference for order and communion in the call and choice of Moses as the prophet of God and the leader of the people of Israel. God chose Moses from his mother’s womb and guided him through all the dangers that the people of Israel faced in Egypt until the day he called him and revealed himself to him. He gave Moses his word and his Holy Spirit to deliver his people from Egypt and restore them to the Promised Land of Canaan. God intended to work through these gifts to bring the people to himself and consecrate them as a prophetic nation, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. When the work of administration of divine will to the people was too much for Moses, God extended some of the gifts he gave to Moses to the seventy chosen elders. “The Lord came down in the cloud. He spoke with Moses, but took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the spirit came on them they prophesied, but not again.” Two of the elders who were not on the mountain also received the spirit that would enable them to act according to the will of God. Because God’s choice of them was part of God’s immutable will, they received the spirit of ordination irrespective of their location when God fulfilled his choice. Moses’ answer to his servant Joshua confirms that he understood the purpose of God’s choice and gifts as the salvation of his people. “Are you jealous on my account? If only the whole people of the Lord were prophets, and the Lord gave his Spirit to them all!”

We must strive to attain this understanding of the will of God for his people, which is their eternal salvation. The salvation of the people of God consists in their knowledge and doing of God’s will; through these, they enter into the eternal communion of the Trinity of God. Every gift of God, especially his Word and Holy Spirit, is for this purpose. God gave the Law and the Prophets for this divine purpose. The Psalmist witnessed this. “The law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the soul. The rule of the Lord is to be trusted, it gives wisdom to the simple.” In keeping the law of God, his people are instructed in his divine will and enter into their eternal inheritance. We must employ every gift God gives to us to achieve his will. St. James focussed on the gift of wealth given to some selected few. Being a gift from God that they did not merit, they are supposed to employ their riches for the good of the community as willed by God.

This gift of riches is the most easily misunderstood and thereby misappropriated. It is also an important gift that few receive from God. They must exercise this gift to fulfil the will of God for the community. That is, they must use the wealth freely received from God to further the salvation of God’s people. The apostle decried their failure in this regard. “An answer for the rich. Start crying, weep for the miseries that are coming to you. Your wealth is all rotting, your clothes are all eaten up by moths. All your gold and your silver are corroding away, and the same corrosion will be your sentence, and eat your body.” They would receive this sentence because they failed to employ their gift for the common good as intended by God. Jesus praised the foreigner who was casting out devils from the people. Though he was not in the company of Jesus Christ, his activity shows God chose him to be; he was spiritually with Christ and his disciples. Jesus answered his disciples who wanted to stop the man from doing his work as follows. “You must not stop him: no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.”

With this reply, the Lord now expressly taught that everything we do to further the will of God for the salvation of the people is laudable and remunerable. “If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink just because you belong to Christ, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.” Thus, we must channel everything we have towards the salvation of souls, which consists in bringing people to the knowledge and doing of the will of God. Similarly, God will punish anyone who impedes his intention to save souls through any means. “But anyone who is an obstacle to bring down one of these little ones who have faith would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone round his neck.” Here, the Lord gave the sternest warning against opposing the salvation of souls. He urged us to cut off a hand, a foot, and tear out an eye if these would hinder us from entering the kingdom of God. Let us learn from this warning the importance of using everything, even our life, for the salvation of souls. 

Let us pray: O God, who manifest your almighty power above all by pardoning and showing mercy, bestow, we pray, your grace abundantly upon us make those hastening to attain your promises heirs to the treasures of heaven.