October 1, 2006
Proper 21 – B
Book of Common Prayer Lectionary
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm 19
James 4:7–5:6
Mark 9:38-50

Revised Common Lectionary
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 or
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10;9:20-22
Psalm 19:7-14 or Psalm 124
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50

Reflection and Response
Prayer Starter

Today’s readings illustrate how God can choose unexpected people to do God’s work. In Numbers, for example, Eldad and Medad, though not participating in Moses’ official commissioning, receive the same Spirit of prophecy as the 70 elders. Esther (Alternative RCL) is an unlikely savior for the Jewish people threatened with extinction by the Persians. In James, the writer suggests practical guidelines for those who wish to do God’s work. Today’s gospel reading relates how Jesus, like Moses, endorses the work of those who, though not part of his “in-group,” still bring healing in God’s name.

First Reading: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
This reading focuses on the Lord’s aid to Moses with his heavy responsibilities. The company led out of Egypt on the exodus journey seems to have included both Israelites and also some others, perhaps Egyptians who feared Israel’s God or assorted wanderers—a mixed crowd (Exodus 12:38) who start the grumbling.

Moses’ boldness in his protests to God are striking. He feels defeated by the people’s unreasonable demands. He complains about God’s unreasonable demands of him, and God honors Moses’ feelings and shares the Spirit with 70 community leaders. Such a manifestation of God’s Spirit cannot be confined or controlled by humans—thus, when two men, not of the 70 and not present at the tent, also prophesy, Moses acknowledges them.
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
The rabble among them had a strong craving;
and the Israelites also wept again, and said,
“If only we had meat to eat!
We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing,
the cucumbers, the melons,
the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
but now our strength is dried up,
and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families,
all at the entrances of their tents.
Then the LORD became very angry,
and Moses was displeased.
So Moses said to the LORD,
“Why have you treated your servant so badly?
Why have I not found favor in your sight,
that you lay the burden of all this people on me?
Did I conceive all this people?
Did I give birth to them,
that you should say to me,
‘Carry them in your bosom,
as a nurse carries a sucking child,’
to the land that you promised on oath
to their ancestors?
Where am I to get meat to give to all this people?
For they come weeping to me and say,
‘Give us meat to eat!’
I am not able to carry all this people alone,
for they are too heavy for me.
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—
and do not let me see my misery.”
So the LORD said to Moses,
“Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel,
whom you know to be
the elders of the people and officers over them;
bring them to the tent of meeting,
and have them take their place there with you.

So Moses went out
and told the people the words of the LORD;
and he gathered seventy 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.
Two men remained in the camp,
one named Eldad, and the other named Medad,
and the spirit rested on them;
they were among those registered,
but they had not gone out to the tent,
and so they prophesied in the camp.
And a young man ran and told Moses,
“Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
And Joshua son of Nun,
the assistant of Moses,
one of his chosen men, said,
“My lord Moses, stop them!”
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!”

Psalm: Psalm 19
The psalmist celebrates God’s revelation, expressed in creation and in the law. Pagan nations acclaimed the divinity of certain elements in nature (sun, moon, fire, etc.). The psalmist counters those claims and boasts that all of nature declares the glory of Israel’s creator God.
Psalm 19
The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.

Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you, O LORD,
my rock and my redeemer.

Alternative First Reading: Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
(RCL)
The book of Esther, named after the Jewish heroine who, together with her uncle Mordecai, saves her people by foiling the murderous plot of Haman, an official in the Persian empire, which controlled the fate of Israel after the exile.

Because the Jew Mordecai would not do homage to him, Haman plotted his death and the death of all the Jews in the Persian empire. Today’s reading tells how Esther reveals Haman’s plot to the Persian King and how the King orders Haman to be hanged on the same gallows that he had constructed to execute Mordecai.

The memory of Esther’s triumph is the basis for the Jewish feast of Purim (the word for “lots,” since through Esther the lot or fate of Jews was reversed from destruction to deliverance). It is celebrated with much merriment and feasting.
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther.
On the second day, as they were drinking wine,
the king again said to Esther,
“What is your petition, Queen Esther?
It shall be granted you.
And what is your request?
Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”
Then Queen Esther answered,
“If I have won your favor, O king,
and if it pleases the king,
let my life be given me—that is my petition—
and the lives of my people—that is my request.
For we have been sold, I and my people,
to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated.
If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women,
I would have held my peace;
but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.”
Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther,
“Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?”
Esther said,
“A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said,
“Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai,
whose word saved the king,
stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.”
And the king said,
“Hang him on that.”
So they hanged Haman on the gallows
that he had prepared for Mordecai.
Then the anger of the king abated.

Mordecai recorded these things,
and sent letters to all the Jews
who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus,
both near and far, enjoining them
that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar
and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year,
as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies,
and as the month that had been turned for them
from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday;
that they should make them days of feasting and gladness,
days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

Alternative Psalm: Psalm 124 (RCL)
This is a psalm of thanksgiving that recalls that the existence of the people of Israel depends upon God who saved them from the various enemies that threatened them. Their response is thanks and a continued resolve to depend on God’s help.
Psalm 124
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side
—let Israel now say—

if it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,

then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;

then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone the raging waters.

Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us as prey to their teeth.

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

Second Reading: James 4:7–5:6 (BCP)
The first part of the reading (4:7-10) is the response to the situation presented in 4:1-4, that of people in conflict with one another and entangled by involvement with the world, leading them to fruitless prayer and enmity with God. Like the Old Testament prophets, the writer calls them to repent and to return to God.

Then comes a warning against slander (4:11-12). James urges an attitude of humility before God in relationships with one another and with the world. The possession of riches can lead to self-reliance, rather than dependence on God and interdependence with one’s neighbor. James addresses those who value wealth as the highest good, to the detriment of justice, compassion and self-restraint.
James 4:7–5:6
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Lament and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned into mourning
and your joy into dejection.
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will exalt you.
Do not speak evil against one another,
brothers and sisters.
Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another,
speaks evil against the law and judges the law;
but if you judge the law,
you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
There is one lawgiver and judge
who is able to save and to destroy.
So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?
Come now, you who say,
“Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town
and spend a year there,
doing business and making money.”
Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears for a little while
and then vanishes.
Instead you ought to say,
“If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”
As it is, you boast in your arrogance;
all such boasting is evil.
Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do
and fails to do it, commits sin.
Come now, you rich people,
weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you.
Your riches have rotted,
and your clothes are moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver have rusted,
and their rust will be evidence against you,
and it will eat your flesh like fire.
You have laid up treasure for the last days.
Listen!
The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields,
which you kept back by fraud, cry out,
and the cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure;
you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
You have condemned and murdered the righteous one,
who does not resist you.

Second Reading: James 5:13-20 (RCL)
James concludes his book with a final instruction to pray. Every occasion of life is an opportunity for prayer. Prayer must be both private and communal. It builds on the individual’s relationship with the Lord and it intensifies the individual’s relationships with others. The author underscores the power of prayer to affect the will of God by reminding his readers about Elijah, who prayed according to God’s instructions and controlled nature.

The letter closes with an encouragement to believers to be their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. James recognizes that it is entirely possible to “wander from the truth” (v. 19). The language of “wandering” recalls the sheep who goes astray; Christians are called to shepherd one another, gently leading each other to the saving work of Jesus.
James 5:13-20
Are any among you suffering?
They should pray.
Are any cheerful?
They should sing songs of praise.
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.
The prayer of faith will save the sick,
and the Lord will raise them up;
and anyone who has committed sins
will be forgiven.
Therefore confess your sins to one another,
and pray for one another,
so that you may be healed.
The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being like us,
and he prayed fervently that it might not rain,
and for three years and six months
it did not rain on the earth.
Then he prayed again,
and the heaven gave rain
and the earth yielded its harvest.
My brothers and sisters,
if anyone among you wanders from the truth
and is brought back by another,
you should know that
whoever brings back a sinner from wandering
will save the sinner’s soul from death
and will cover a multitude of sins.

Gospel: Mark 9:38-50
This reading comes from a passage that consists of a series of Jesus’ sayings on a variety of subjects. They do not follow a logical sequence but are grouped by the occurrence of a catchword, thus allowing easier memorization of the material for oral transmission. The first section (9:37-41) is centered around the words “(in) the name (of Christ).”

The incident of the unauthorized exorcist echoes the story of Eldad and Medad (Numbers 11:26-29). The disciples were jealous of their special relationship with Jesus, but Jesus acknowledges that a relationship with him comes through sharing his work and appealing to his authority.

The next section (9:42-49) is linked to the previous one by the phrase “one of these little ones” (v. 42) and is held together by the word used for sin, literally “stumble or scandalize.” The first verse of this section (9:42) addresses the situation of being an occasion of sin to other believers, especially new or weak disciples. The rest of the section concerns occasions of sin in one’s self.

The word for hell is literally Gehenna, which is the Greek translation for the name of a valley southwest of Jerusalem, where at one time children were sacrificed to Molech, the god of the Ammonites. After this practice was ended by King Josiah (2 Kings 23:10), the place became the trash dump for the city and so a symbol of the place of eternal punishment. The point of the passage, and its link to verse 41, is that present actions have eternal consequences.
Mark 9:38-50
John said to him,
“Teacher, we saw someone
casting out demons in your name,
and we tried to stop him,
because he was not following us.”
But Jesus said,
“Do not stop him;
for no one who does a deed of power in my name
will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
Whoever is not against us is for us.
For truly I tell you,
whoever gives you a cup of water to drink
because you bear the name of Christ
will by no means lose the reward.
“If any of you put a stumbling block
before one of these little ones who believe in me,
it would be better for you if a great millstone
were hung around your neck
and you were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to stumble, 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 stumble, 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 stumble, 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.
“For everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good;
but if salt has lost its saltiness,
how can you season it?
Have salt in yourselves,
and be at peace with one another.”

Reflection and Response
Readers may squirm with embarrassment at the first words out of John’s mouth in today’s gospel. He brands himself a bigot with his snooty concern: those other guys are doing good! Translated to today’s terminology, it sounds all too familiar: someone of another age group/church/parish/gender/ethnic group/system of belief is threatening our monopoly on ministry. It is especially ironic in view of the fact that the disciples themselves had just failed at exorcism (Mark 9:14-19).

The passage has particular meaning as we enter an era when people are united more by common concerns than by religious labels. Could it mean more to be a committed Christian or a faithful human being than to be a good Catholic, Episcopalian or Lutheran. If our brothers and sisters in synagogues or mosques make inroads on a social problem that plagues us all, we cheer for them, rather than jealously wishing we’d achieved that success.

As if we weren’t already squirming enough, Jesus directs a word to those who might consider themselves more educated or advanced in faith than others. He reserves his grimmest punishment for those who take advantage of the childlike. The next time we are tempted to poke fun at the simple beliefs of others, we might remember Gehenna: the smelly, smoldering garbage dump outside Jerusalem. Our little joke or ploy might buy us a one-way ticket to the place where maggots chew on offal. Is it really worth it?

Quietly consider:
Who today might be an “unauthorized, unexpected minister” in my life? How can I graciously welcome their encouragement, help or correction?

Prayer Starter
God, help me to respect and appreciate the gifts of the people around me...