Let us celebrate today, like our readings, the ordinary and extraordinary ways that our God works in our life and in our world.
In our first reading, God takes the spirit that he had given to Moses and shares it with the elders that had come to the tent of meeting. This passing on of the spirit of God was done so that the leadership of the people might not rest on Moses alone, but could be shared with others who would be consecrated for this service. Those who had come knew they would receive this spirit of God empowering them to serve the people. What is unexpected is that two men, not present at the tent of meeting, also received God’s spirit and they begin to prophesy.
This is the same situation in the Gospel, where a person – not a disciple of Jesus – was casting out demons using the name of Christ. Both Moses’ and Jesus’ followers come to their teachers and demand that these ‘imposters’ be silenced and disciplined. Yet both Moses and Jesus respond in similar ways “no one who is for us, can also be against us.” Both groups of disciples in our readings see these “others” as not with them. Jesus and Moses see these “others” as more laborers in God’s vineyard, even though they were called in extraordinary ways.
How do we approach those who work on behalf of Christ but are “not with us” in some way (e.g., different creeds, or different way of worshipping within the same creed)? Is our first thought to silence them or dismiss them, or is it to look to the fruit of their work to see if the signs of God spirit are truly present in their ministry. Let us pray today for the grace to be surprised at how God lavishly pours out his spirit in the world even beyond our expectations.