Sermon - 9/26/21

<p>One of the things I just love about scripture is that the stories we read and hear are truly <strong>our</strong> stories.  They are about <strong>us</strong> and tell us so much about <strong>our</strong> identity as human beings.  And, today’s reading is so very enlightening. </p> <p>In our first reading from Numbers, we find that Moses is truly overwhelmed and weary as he tries to lead this throng of Israelites through the desert.  And, as he complains to God about his heavy workload, we find that God is sympathetic to Moses.  God graciously responds with a proposal that will take some of the burden off Moses by having others share the load.  Wow!  What a concept!  Well, this is a great idea, but when God takes some of the spirit that was on Moses and places it on seventy chosen elders, some of that spirit spills over on two other men, Eldad and Medad.  Then, when <strong>these two <em>other</em> men</strong> begin to prophesy – oh my! Envy, self-ambition, and jealousy break out among Joshua and the rest of the seventy because these <strong>other</strong> two men were <strong>not</strong> part of that chosen inner circle of seventy.  And, what is so fascinating is that, rather than stop these two other men, Moses says with certainty that he wishes <strong>all</strong> God’s people would be filled with such a spirit. </p> <p>Then, in today’s Gospel reading, we hear a story that is very similar.  John comes rushing up to Jesus in a panic, all out of breath.  He proclaims, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop him – because he’s <strong>not</strong> one of us.”   Again, oh my!   Eldad, Medad, John and the other disciples are so much like us!  People are in crisis, there is so much to be done and help is needed.  Yet, when help comes, people complain because the help is not <em>“the right help!”</em>  You know – they are not people we know and trust; they are not properly authorized, credentialed people who look and act like us.  You see, the problem is that the Spirit ha