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Morning Devotion for the Season After Pentecost

May 29, 2023

The Invitatory

The mercy of the Lord is everlasting: O come, let us adore him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Mark 9:38-41

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 afterwards 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.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

Enter the disciple John, for his first appearance in Mark’s Gospel, and what does he lead with, but his dissatisfaction that “someone,” read here, not a disciple, has the temerity to cast out demons in Jesus’ name and did not heed the disciples’ attempt to prevent him from doing so. Jesus’ response to John is mild and generous. Jesus encourages a broad-minded attitude toward those who provide relief but who function outside the disciples’ circle: “Whoever is not against us is for us,” In contrast to his response to John, Jesus commends in strongest terms the reward due anyone who drives out diabolical forces in his name, whether or not they are “following us.” It bears considering from whom our gifts or strengths arise and encourages us to adopt a humbler attitude in assessing our gifts and abilities, or, perhaps more importantly becoming more attuned to the possibility that these God given gifts are made by God and given freely. The possibilities of life become unexpected and surprising. There is something captivating about this – the endless possibilities set before us.

When we can assume that those whom we encounter and with whom we interact hold the same beliefs we do, we can relax a little and use more generally understood means of talking to them. When those whom we encounter and with whom we interact do not hold the same belief, then we may have to adapt our vision in ways that are more understandable or acceptable. This is all the more concerning in our culture today, given the many divisions within our culture and the often strident terms in which those divisions are called out.

We might take time to reflect upon this turn of events that has presented itself to the disciples and, with thoughtfulness, consider our practices. Shock only for its own sake is juvenile, but Jesus uses shock treatment to jolt his disciples out of smug self-complacency. Have they so quickly forgotten the episode immediately preceding John’s question, in which Jesus resolutely declared that arguments about status are upended in God’s kingdom, that traditional divisions of “we” and “they” are rendered moot? Their concern smacks of an elitism that does nothing more than confirm their continued ignorance. 

There is a quest much larger to which Jesus would have his disciples turn and direct their energies. Jesus is aware that they, too, will be called upon to suffer and overcome their suffering. He wants to prepare them for the greater gifts that lie ahead. For what is essential is not the desire to preserve or prevail in one’s earthly life and in the process lose one’s life. The motivation for their discipleship must finds its place in adopting a view toward the end of time, to eternity itself. The life which matters at the end of time is tragically wasted if one seeks to save one’ earthly life and rejects Jesus and his teachings. But in this moment Jesus gently calls them out on behavior that if continued will put at risk the gift of salvation that he will make available to them.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.

A Prayer of Self-Dedication

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations,so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then, use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.