Warm-up Question
- How do you typically identify people who are your friends?
Storm Preparation
This week, a group of thunderclouds in the Caribbean region quickly became Tropical Storm Helene, and as of this writing, is expected to become a major hurricane that is currently threatening Florida’s Gulf Coast before it moves inland. This Tallahassee newspaper is providing updated coverage since most models predict the city will receive a direct hit from Helene.
When disasters strike, whether natural or those of human origin, people often enter a survival mode. Governments suggest or even mandate evacuations. People rush to purchase essentials from local grocery stores and gas stations. Everyone has the same goal: to survive.
Too often, we ignore that shared goal and treat our neighbors as enemies. Prices for gas and groceries spike, putting a hardship on those with less money. People with more wealth purchase more items, preventing their peers from getting the supplies they so desperately need. Drivers ignore others on the road as all look to escape the path of disaster. This drive to survive is understandable, as it comes from our most basic instincts. That survival, though, isn’t just for our self, but for our species. Our fellow humans, our siblings in God’s image, deserve to survive just as much as we do. We don’t need to be enemies in this drive to survive. After all, we’re all on the same human team.
Such commonality is most difficult to remember that amidst disasters, when we’re most at risk. Those of us not in Helene’s path can help by praying for those at risk. We can contribute to organizations like Lutheran Disaster Response to ensure everyone’s basic needs are cared for. And we can practice, in our every day lives, actions of partnership and camaraderie that help us remember that we best accomplish our goals when we work together. If we’ve got the same goals, then we’re on the same team.
Discussion Questions
- Have you ever experienced a natural disaster?
- If so, what was that like? If not, how do you imagine it might feel?
- What are the best ways to support people who are facing crises?
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)
For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.
Gospel Reflection
“Whoever is not against us is for us.” So says Jesus in this week’s Gospel. He does so in response to his disciples, who question the legitimacy of another person casting out demons. Jesus’ friends assume that other people doing good work should be stopped because they’re not familiar with them. Even though they appear to have the same goal, since the disciples don’t know these other healers, they assume they worst. Rather than partners, the disciples treat these others as enemies.
“Whoever is not against us is for us.” This is simultaneously countercultural wisdom and the most obvious of truths. It’s countercultural because too often we treat the unknown as a potential threat, if not an outright enemy. If someone is new to us, we tend to think the worst of their actions. Even if they’re doing the same things that we’re doing! And that’s why this is–or at least should be–obvious. If someone isn’t stopping our progress, they’re not a threat. If someone’s actions are promoting same goals we have, they’re not an opponent.
Jesus goes on to describe that it’s certainly possible for people to get in the way of progress. Yet, notice that the threat he describes is not external. It’s internal. We need to prevent ourselves from becoming the stumbling block more than worry about others causing trouble for us. We need to focus on how we function rather than fear the functions of others. Of course, external threats still exist. In just a few verses, Jesus will find opponents in the religious and political elite that believe his teaching threatens their power.
Jesus’ teaching does threaten the powers of this world. It does so by reminding us that we’re on the same team because, as humans, we’ve got the same ultimate goal: abundant life. That kind of shared goal threatens powers of this world because it turns standard logic upside down. But Jesus doesn’t call us to such temporary thinking. Christ calls us to eternal wisdom, the kind of vision that sees everyone as a possible teammate rather than a potential enemy.
After all, “whoever is not against us is for us.”
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think the disciples felt threatened by the other people casting out demons?
- Who are the people that you feel threatened by without reason?
- How could you simplify “whoever is not against us is for us” and share it with a friend?
Activity Suggestions
- Play a game like Amoeba Tag or Blob Tag where, as participants are tapped, they develop larger groups with a shared goal of including everyone.
- Take time to journal in response to Jesus’ words in this Gospel.
- What are the goals you’ve got that others share with you?
- If “whoever is not against us is for us,” then who are the people on your team that you’ve never considered a teammate?
Closing Prayer
God of community, inspire us to find peace with one another. Give us the ability to consider strangers as possible friends. Confront us when we assume the worst and help us to appreciate the image of God you’ve placed in all people. In times of both normalcy or disaster, remind us that we all share the goal of abundant life, which we find in Jesus Christ, our Savior: Amen.
