Suppose you are unpacking a truckload of boxes, and a friend walks by. Seeing the number of boxes you are unpacking and noticing that you are tired, your friend stops and offers to help you. Will you send your friend away because you think you might be jealous that they manage to carry heavier boxes than you? Would it make you feel weaker and less capable?
In the Gospel text we
read this Sunday, Jesus’ disciples get annoyed because somebody is helping them! John complains to Jesus that they found people curing others in his name. Notice that John does not say to Jesus, “He is not your disciple,” but says, “He is not one of us,” which suggests that he, and not Jesus, is now in charge of judging what is good.
The apostles are worried and annoyed because someone can do good without being part of their group. They consider their work, in the name of Jesus,
their right and property. John seems to suggest others need his permission to do good things.
Sometimes, in the silo of our ministries in our faith communities – or even between our faith communities! – we are faced with the same temptation. Instead of learning from and helping each other, we might be tempted to think that we can only do this or that. We might hear things like: “What can a Roman Catholic teach a Methodist?” or “What can an Evangelical Christian teach a Roman
Catholic?”
The truth is that we all have a lot to learn from each other. Nobody, as John discovers, “owns” Jesus and his ministry.
In the end, it is not about us or them. It is about whoever is moved by the Spirit and follows the Master, trying to conform to his life.
Like the disciples, are you tempted to think you (or your faith community) “own” Jesus? What might you be able to learn about welcome and
hospitality from others who do not belong to your tradition?
Reflections by Russell Pollitt SJ
