Readings:
Numbers 11.24-29
St. Mark 9.38-41; 49-50

In today’s readings we have two stories about what we might call “religious exclusivity.” In the first reading we hear how Joshua, the assistant to Moses, runs to Moses and demands that Eldad and Medad stop prophesying – to stop preaching God’s Law. Moses, however, will have none of it. Rather, says he, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put the Lord’s Spirit upon all people.” Would that the Spirit filled all God’s people that they not only speak of God’s will for their lives but do God’s will as well.

Then, in the Gospel just read we hearr about how John comes running to Jesus complaining that he and the others saw someone casting out demons in Jesus name – someone who was not one of the twelve disciples! Jesus, like Moses, is not upset with this turn of events, but tells John to cool it. Anyone who does a deed of power in Jesus’ name is for us, not against us, says the Lord.

There was a day – in the lifetime of most of us here – when, in this same kind of religious exclusivity, it would be unthinkable for Lutherans – and other non-Roman Catholics – to listen to what the Bishop of Rome had to say on just about anything. There was a day when it would be considered some sort of heresy for a Lutheran preacher to refer to the Pope in any other sort of way than that of extreme disapproval. You know, “The Pope is not one of us. He has been prophesying – speaking of God’s will for humanity, God’s will for the earth – and of all the gall – in the Lord’s Holy Name, you know.” And it would be most unthinkable for a Lutheran pastor to quote from the pulpit – and with great approval – what the Bishop of Rome has had to say. Yet that is what this Lutheran preacher is about to do.

Like some of you, I’ve been paying close attention to the Pope’s visit to the United States. I’ve listened to his addresses to the Congress, the United Nations, his words at the 9/11 memorial, and to his sermons at masses on Friday and Saturday. And I’ve downloaded, printed, and poured over the words of the Holy Father (another title for the Pope that once would have been anathema for a Lutheran pastor to utter in anything other than disapproval). And there is so much of what the Holy Father has been teaching that is salutary and that I would like to quote – but time and your patience will only allow me to quote a little bit of what the Pope has been preaching.

In his address to Congress, the Bishop of Rome (as he himself prefers to be called), the Bishop of Rome said, “The challenges facing us today call for a renewal of that spirit of cooperation, which has accomplished so much good throughout the history of the United States. The complexity, the gravity, and the urgency of these challenges demand that we pool our resources and talents, and resolve to support one another . . . In this land, the various religious denominations have greatly contributed to building and strengthening society. It is important that today, as in the past, the voice of faith continue to be heard, for it is a voice of fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in each society. Such cooperation is a powerful resource in the battle to eliminate new global forms of slavery, born of grave injustices which can be overcome only through new policies and new forms of social consensus.”

Among these global forms of slavery is the lack of welcome to immigrants, is the turning of a blind eye to the refugee crisis that is, as the Pope Francis says, “of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War.” We – all of us in a spirit of cooperation must, “respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule . . . This Rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated.”

“We need a conversation which includes everyone …  Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a ‘culture of care’ and ‘an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature’.” —Pope Francis I

We are also enslaved to ways of living that continue to degrade the environment. The Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father, quotes his own encyclical, Laudato Si’, saying that we must “enter into dialogue with all people about our common home . . . We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.” Continuing, Francis says, “Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a ‘culture of care’ and ‘an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature’.”

Over and over Francis emphasizes the need for a spirit of dialogue and peace, the need for cooperation between people, political parties, and religious traditions. Gone is the day of denominational triumphalism and denominational or religious exclusivity when we think that we have a corner on doing God’s work. The day must be gone where we point to our own denomination, pridefully saying “God’s work, our hands.” No. It is God’s work – everyone’s hands, working together – in every realm – in the home, in the workplace, in alliances such as Street Reach, in ecumenical ventures, and in ventures with all people of goodwill. There is no room for Joshua to complain about Eldad and Medad, for John to complain about those outsiders who are casting out demons in the Lord’s name. Only in a spirit of cooperation, only through dialogue can we begin to do the work of meeting God’s demands that we care for the earth and for the neighbor – for the earth that we have so heedlessly exploited, for the neighbor especially the neighbor who is homeless, who is a refugee, who is poor, who is most vulnerable.

These challenges are daunting for us as individuals. But we are not alone as Francis reminds us. We are a people who together can do great things. We are people who can enter into dialogue with one another. We are a people who must not be about denominational or religious exclusivity. Look at what you do here! You have forged a faith community comprised of Roman Catholics and Lutherans – something that is still relatively shocking and unheard of – but you have had the courage to make it happen. Look at how through Grant Avenue Street Reach you have entered into an alliance with people of other denominations, alongside of other people of goodwill, hosting literally thousands of the hungry poor here each month. Look at how, with hosts of other congregations and people, you support most generously with your time and with your dollars the work of Metro Caring, Family Promise, Treatment Education Network, Project Angel Heart, and Urban Servant Corps. Look at how you are active in environmentally concerned groups, how you are active in your neighborhood associations, in your children’s schools, in your political parties. Look at how you contribute to the common good in your workplaces, in your homes, in how you treat the environment, and in a multitude of daily choices. You are the salt of the earth!

But how is salt to retain or regain its saltiness? Jesus assures us that we are salted with fire (a symbol for the Holy Spirit) – that indeed the Holy Spirit has come upon us. To be at peace with one another, to live in a spirit of cooperation with others dedicated to doing the things Pope Francis has outlined for us to do in fulfilling God’s intent for the creation – none of this is easy. Employing our own self-will is never enough. But you are not left alone. You have been baptized – given the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are continually being renewed in you through the Holy Eucharist. You are weekly absolved of things past, no longer enslaved to past ways of being, and you are continually being made new. Justified by grace through faith – not through works lest anyone boast – justified by grace through faith, you are a new creation – in God’s eyes living your lives in the very image of Christ. As the writer of Ephesians says, “For we are what [God] has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

You are as Jesus proclaims, salted with fire. You truly are, by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, salt for the earth; you are bringing forth the reign of mercy; you are bringing forth the reign of peace; your are bringing forth the reign of justice; and alongside and in partnership with Francis, the Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father, you are bringing forth . . . . . the City of God.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.