Today’s gospel is an antidote to the world’s view on how we should behave.
Yesterday we saw in the gospel Jesus encouraging children to be brought to him; they were not regarded of importance and he was showing to his followers that they must not be selective in their identification as to who should or should not be followers of Christ.
And so it is with today’s gospel. We hear of a man who was not one of the apostles curing in Jesus’ name and they wanted to stop him. But Jesus challenges them; it is not about their power, their responsibility, their status, but about the power and love of God. And if God is working with and through somebody who is not in the main group of followers, who are they to stop him?
We should pay heed of this and remind ourselves of those times when God has worked through the outsider. They are many and varied but just a few examples are St Catherine of Siena, who challenged the Pope to return the Papacy to Rome; St Bernadette who brought forth the great devotion and healings in Lourdes; and then in recent times, the likes of Venerable Matt Talbot, a reformed alcoholic labourer who demonstrated personal piety and devotion in the struggles of daily existence.
God worked through them to build up his kingdom and bring consolation to his people. And this shows that the mind-set of “those who are not against us are for us” is so important. In the gospel we see that the man who was healing was doing it “in his name”. If he is doing that he is unlikely to speak ill of Jesus at a time when it was important to have the message spread wide and effectively.
Compare that with the world. The mantra of the world is “those who are not for us are against us” which separates people, creates barriers, suspicions, hatred and then conflict. It destroys friendships, breaks families, causes hardship, and ultimately death and sorrow. That can never be the Christian way.
So, by healing in Jesus’ name it is hoped the man would come to know that being a follower of Jesus is not about personal glory, becoming more important than we are and vanity, but is about doing what Christ expects of us: by being part of his community, the Church, serving its people and all the people that we encounter.
And by understanding Jesus, he would make that transition from an individual working in Christ’s name, vulnerable to the misunderstandings and misinterpretations that individuals are vulnerable to, to being an active part of the Spirit-filled Church working in Christ’s name.
That is what we need today and so let us pray that we will not be suspicious of those who God calls to do his work but also pray that those who are not against Christ come to know him better and as they do so embrace Mother Church as the home of Christ, home of the Spirit, home of us all who believe in the name of Jesus.
Gospel Mark 9:38-40 ©
John said to Jesus, ‘Master, we saw a man who is not one of us casting out devils in your name; and because he was not one of us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said, ‘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.’