Pray for One Another: 26 September, 2021

Mark 9:38-50

When John complains about the healer who “was not following us,” one wants to shriek back through the ages, “No, no, don’t start down that path!” But, of course, they did, and ever since, we in the church have been making distinctions and forming closed groups. This was nothing new for John, of course, since there were distinct factions among the Jews of his time also.

This tendency plays itself out in ways large and small. The classical doctrinal questions divide us. But almost worse are the small cultural divisions that we have created and jealously guard. We are blissfully unaware that we even make these distinctions. All the congregations I have encountered claim to be friendly. What they often mean is that they are friendly to one another. The person who walks through the door and is unfamiliar with the ways of that particular group is usually ignored—or worse, made to feel stupid.

Even if the newcomer manages to become part of the group, there are often disparaging remarks about their old affiliation, if any. I well remember when I changed denominations that the comments in my new church that I had finally “seen the light” stung. I had left good friends behind along with many wonderful memories.

As John demonstrates, the impulse to distinguish between the true believers and those who do not follow our ways is almost reflexive. Jesus’ response, using the rabbinic style of his time, is very clear. Almost anything is better than acting in a way that turns away those who would believe.

The situation with the churches today is as complicated as ever. We manage to draw closer in some areas, only to find some new issue dividing us. How then to respond to Jesus’ instruction? . . .

This text ends with Jesus’ exhortation that we “be at peace with one another.” That is the essential thing for the mission of the church. The world is watching. –– Judith Simonson

James 5:13-20

James has good advice: “Confess your sins… and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.” Here is an image of the church that oozes a deep sense of community, praying for each other, anointing one another, being bound together in the body of Christ, willing even to call each other to task in love.

James also expresses troublesome theological points: “Whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death…” Is it the church member who “brings back a sinner”? Or is it the Holy Spirit? James puts the onus on human beings for what only God can accomplish.

And James’ use of Elijah’s prayer tells us that God listened to Elijah, giving drought and rain as Elijah requested, suggesting that prayer is effective, at least, for Elijah. Maybe only for prophets? What about for us? What are we to make of fervent prayers that seem to go unanswered. The cancer is not in remission. The children leave home and never return. War breaks out despite intense diplomacy and prayer. James’ admonition elsewhere to put our faith into action is a needed insistence, but we can temper our enthusiasm for all biblical utterances by asking questions of them. –– Melinda Quivik

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

In the face of uncontrolled weeping among the people and anger from God, Moses reached his breaking point. He announced to God that he, Moses, was not the Israelites’ mother nor was he resourceful enough get meat enough for everyone nor was he strong enough to carry them out of the insidious tangle of discontent. And with the words that surely have been repeated by numerous pastors since that day, Moses announces: “If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once.”

Moses appears to receive some temporary complaint control from God in the form of the seventy spirit-empowered elders. . .

One dependable remedy for dealing with the seed of discontent exists in the act of remembering. The remembering that I speak of here is not the rose-colored remembering of the Israelites that left them yearning for the food of Egypt. . . [but] remembering . . . the mighty acts of God that have formed us as the people of God. . . Surely the seeds of discontent and complaint will wither and die in the soil of praise. –– Stacy Minger

Judith E. Simonson is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Melinda Quivik, an ordained ELCA pastor (who served churches in Montana, Michigan, and Minnesota) and former professor of worship and preaching, is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Liturgy, a writer, and a preaching mentor with Backstory Preaching at backstory-preaching.mn.co.

Stacy Minger, an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, is associate professor or preaching at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.

Homily Service 42, no. 4 (2009): 37-46