Do not forbid him

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
St. Polycarp, Bishop, Martyr (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Sirach 4:11-19 Psalm 119:165, 168, 171-172, 174-175 Mark 9:38-40

Mark 9:39 But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me.

Well, this is kind of a touchy subject. What do we do with people who claim to do something in Jesus' name, yet they do not "follow us"? Well, I guess the question is who do we think we are? John of course was an Apostle. And not just any Apostle, he was the beloved Apostle. John was a writer of a Gospel, three epistles, and he was chosen to receive the vision of Christ we refer to as the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Certainly he has authority to question who is preaching in the name of Jesus. Right?

Jesus said "Do not forbid him". If he is not against us he is for us? Really? Is that the way we understand things today? What about all this division in the church, all this denominationalism? We question whether others are really with us. Jesus does put a couple of conditions on the man though. First, "no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me" Jesus says. Then "he that is not against us is for us".

Notice that Jesus puts himself in the middle of this. The works are in His name, and he is not against "us". I think that we often tend to think that if someone does not follow "me" or does not see things as "I" do then he is not following Jesus. But do I always know the heart and mind of Jesus? Can I speak for Jesus without error?

Even John must have some humility here. Jesus tells John that He (Jesus) is the truth. If even John cannot exclude some one from casting our demons in Jesus' name then who are we to deny someone who does mighty works in the name of Jesus? We have to be careful that we don't put ourselves in front of Jesus and think that we are the truth.

Father, help by your Holy Spirit to remember that you are the truth and the way, not me. Help me to humbly seek your light and your will,

Amen