Spiritual Selfishness

Gospel: Luke 4: 38-44

People in today's Gospel portion want Jesus to stay with them.  They even try to force him and prevent him from leaving.  They want Jesus all to themselves.  But Jesus insists on leaving, telling them that he must go to other towns and places to provide healing, deliverance, and nourishment to others just as he has done for them.  God is for all, not just for a select few.  

But how often do we seek to keep God just for ourselves.  How often do we not want to share these gifts of healing, deliverance, and nourishment with others.  We say we want to share Jesus with others, but in reality we are only trying to get people to be just like ourselves, forcing a caricature of Jesus on to others, but not who Jesus really is.  

If we are about sharing Jesus with others, then we have to let him go and be with others.  Better still, we can be like Simon's mother-in-law and become Jesus for others, getting up and serving others as she did - being people who heal, liberate, and nourish others in the world as Jesus did.  So, if we want to be disciples, don't sign up for the pre-packaged course on discipleship.  Just go out and be a source of healing, liberation, and nourishment in the world.