Whoever receives this child in my name receives me
The disciples were vying over who among them was the greatest, probably arguing amongst themselves about who of them had the greatest value for Jesus and his mission. No doubt they referred to their own achievements and accomplishments, or to their success in preaching and casting out demons with the divine authority given to them by Jesus. Jesus knew they had gotten things backwards. The talents that made them successful were entrusted to them by God. The spiritual gifts that operated through them were not functions of their individual greatness or merit. The very idea that they were could be a roadblock to the future reception of grace, since grace required ongoing openness. What truly mattered was not what they had on their resume of successes, but rather valuing what Jesus valued, as demonstrated by the figure of a child. A child did not count for much in the time and place where Jesus lived. But he explained to his disciples that accepting a lowly and weak person, such as that child, was equivalent to receiving Jesus, thus more valuable than all the disciples' previous jockeying for position.
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me
For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest.
Willingness to share the heart of Jesus was key to receiving him, to truly being present to him in a way that transcended sitting at his right or his left. It was the condition necessary for mutual indwelling, in which we live in him and he in us. And because the heart of Jesus is always perfectly aligned to the heart of the Father who sent him it means that receiving the outcasts and the neglected is not only the door to receiving Jesus, but also the Father and the Spirit as well. That is not to say we earn God's presence by ensuring we perform corporate works of mercy to the right people. It is rather that when we do receive the marginalized we implicitly acknowledge that what matters is not what we have or what we accomplish, much less what society values, but rather, what matters to the heart of God is what has true value. In order to accept those who are small and childlike we must become, after a fashion, smaller still. In order to address those who are seen is the least in the world we must become lesser still. But it is precisely in this apparent nothingness of abnegation that God makes us everything he wants us to be.
Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name
and we tried to prevent him
because he does not follow in our company.
Why did they care so much if this individual was in their company or not? Part of the reason was probably because they felt the need to be in control, which may have been motivated by a subtle desire to take credit for what the person was doing. Another reason may have been a desire to ensure that everything this person did followed the correct form and protocol. They did not want impressive miraculous deeds to allow the crowds to be led astray with false doctrine. Fair enough. But the implication of Jesus was that it was not always appropriate to try to be in control. The fact was that the person was helping to undermine the works of the evil one, and was, in that sense, on the same team. Even though the apostles would go on to positions of authority in which they would help people to know true doctrine from falsehood they would not necessarily maintain a rigid grip on everything taking place around them. In fact, too much desire for control could potentially stifle genuine works of the Spirit, which tended to spring up where he was least expected. At the very least they were to treat good things done by outsiders as good, and cross the bridge of dealing with partial or incorrect theology when and if they came to it.
If we can let go of our own need to be in control to some extent we may find that the world is filled with more friends, more allies, and a greater amount of wonder, than we see when our desire to be in charge narrows our horizon and focus too much to see them.
Jesus said to him,
"Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."
Another level to being childlike and to relinquishing control is when we remain as children even in the midst of our suffering. This means not turning away from God, but turning toward him, not surrendering our trust in the Father, but doubling down, as did Job in our first reading.
Naked I came forth from my mother's womb,
and naked shall I go back again.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!"
Newsboys - Blessed Be Your Name
No comments:
Post a Comment