Homily outline based on first theme of God working both within and without structures

• Introduction: Today’s first reading comes from the book of the Bible oddly named “Numbers.” So let’s start with a number problem:
  • Examples of when you come up just slightly short, e.g., a retiring entrepreneur wants to a handover your five stores to six children, or a teacher who wants to take class on a tour and with 20 tickets, but 21 students.

• Connect to the first reading:
  • Moses is exhausted by leadership role; asks God’s help.
  • God tells Moses to take 70 elders from the twelve tribes of Israel and gather at the meeting tent.
  • God would share the spirit of prophecy that animated Moses with these elders so ministry of leadership distributed more widely.
  • But 70 cannot be equally divided by twelve. Two tribes would be shorted one elder. Given the constant complaining of the people, Moses knew that was not going to go over well.  Those shorted would cry foul.

• Jewish midrash (interpretation) of the text:
  • The Bible does not actually lay out the whole numbers problem, but midrash attempts to make sense of confusing elements of story: namely, why were Eldad and Medad “on the list” but not present with 70 when the spirit descended?

• Fairness is a fundamental concern we all recognize within ourselves
  • Fairness is a concern that goes beyond humans and is shared with other creatures as well. One could include here insights from the two resources shared above about examples of “inequity aversion” among animals as well, such as the story of Frans de Waal and the capuchin monkey experiment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meiU6TxysCg

• Midrash on how Moses dealt with problem:
  • Perhaps Moses held a lottery among the 72 with two of the stones drawn marked, “Not you.”
  • Or perhaps Eldad and Medad were very humble or committed peace makers and bowed out of the running on their own.
  • For more on how this text has been interpreted in Jewish community, see https://www.thetorah.com/article/eldad-and-medad-prophesied

• Scripture tells us God dealt with the problem:
  • The same God who gave the direction to gather 70 elders in the first place does not in any way seem to be bound by that number.
  • Is it because God shares our creaturely concern for fairness or is something else at work in God?
  • Nature of God to be free and generous, overflowing even the boundaries God has created / the structures that God has set up.

• Connect to Gospel:
  • We see a similar dynamic in today’s Gospel where Jesus has called and commissioned his disciples to go out to preach and heal, but others are also casting out demons in Jesus’ name.
  • God is generously at work beyond those specifically called and commissioned by Jesus

• Our possible responses (the “so what?”):
  • We could be like the capuchin monkey in Frans de Waal’s research that tosses cucumber and rattles the bars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meiU6TxysCg
  • That would reflect the immediate reaction that both Joshua (1^st reading) and John (Gospel) have.
  • Or we could respond like Moses: “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!” Or Jesus: “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.”
  • These latter responses celebrate the generosity of God whose graciousness is larger than our creaturely concern for fairness.
  • How will we rejoice in the overflow of God’s spirit this week?