Encourage each other.... antidote for Tall Poppy Syndrome

 

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY  Year C  January 30, 2022

 

·       Jeremiah 1:4-10  •   Psalm 71:1-6  •   1 Corinthians 13:1-13  •   Luke 4:21-30

 

 

Have you heard of the “Tall Poppy” syndrome?  In Christian circles we quote our Gospel reading and say, “a prophet is never accepted in their home town”.  In Australia we’d simply say it is the tall poppy syndrome.

 

In essence it is the rejection of a person because of our perception that they are just one of us and when they appear to have success, beyond our own experience, we can’t comprehend it.  And that is the nice definition.  A more truthful and blunt definition would be to simply name it as ugly jealousy.

 

In a way, the rejection is due to a perception.

 

Have you ever had someone have a perception of you that you just can’t change?  I have.  I was studying at the conservatorium of music and doing performances with the Jazz department.  Even though I would do my solo gigs on the weekend, carrying and setting up all my own equipment, for some reason I was labelled as Barbie who wouldn’t lift a finger to help in case I broke a nail.   I remember one time as I was carrying gear, I put it in place and turned, empty handed to go and get the next load.  The person in charge had a go at me for not having anything in my hands and told me to go and help.

 

Perceptions can be completely false and lead to others having the same misconception because of the way we talk about them.  Are there any people that we have misjudged?

 

Another aspect of the perception is that people can become what we judge them to be because if we say it to them enough, they start to believe it.  There is a meme I have seen often on social media.  It is often attributed as a quote from Einstein, but where it really originated, no one seems to know.  It is this;  "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

 

Who are we and what are we?  The truth of our identity is found in God.  What God says about us is the bottom line and a truth beyond all perceptions.

 

In our first reading we find a young prophet who does not see himself as anything significant, let alone a prophet.  Jeremiah was too young to be taken seriously, what’s more he was in his father’s shadow.  His father was the priest Hilkiah.  While the fact that Jeremiah’s father was priest, meant that Jeremiah was likely to have a thorough knowledge of the scriptures, it is clear from our reading that Jeremiah felt very insignificant in the bigger scheme of things, yet God chose him and gave him a reassurance that leaves a legacy of truth for us all.

 

God explains to Jeremiah that God had chosen him before he was born.  In fact we read that God had chosen him before he formed him in the womb.  How wonderful it is to know that God not only chooses us, but that there are aspects in our being and nature that are there, because that is the way that God formed us in the womb.

 

Even though Jeremiah feels that he is too young and there is a perception that his youth might disqualify him from being taken seriously, God anoints him as a prophet to the nations and admonishes him, saying, “Don’t say I am just a boy”.

 

We may feel we are insignificant, but God says to us, “Don’t say that you are Just…that… . “ what ever it is that you feel…. He says,  “I have chosen you…. I chose you before I formed you in the womb”.    Just sit with that for a moment and let it sink in……

 

Jeremiah was also known as the weeping prophet.  He had great compassion, and had the difficult task of telling the nations that they needed to repent.  Can you imagine… he was possibly about 20 years old and being told to proclaim about disaster that was coming because of the sin of the nation.

 

Hmmm… I wonder where the prophets are today and what they would say….   Do we have any ways in our society that God would deem sinful?  Are the laws of the land at any time or in any way against the values that we find in God? 

 

I’ll leave that as a point to ponder, but most importantly, point out that God is a compassionate God.  When God asked Jeremiah to proclaim disaster to the nations it was God giving the nations a chance to repent to change and to be saved.  In every prophetic disaster it was God’s compassionate way of saying, “you are hurting my children.  You need to change”.    Do you remember Jonah and the people of Nineveh?  The Ninevites repented and God did not send the disaster. 

 

 

Jeremiah was a powerful prophet because he had such compassion and love for those to whom he had to give the prophetic word.  He expressed the heart of God and embodied the love described in the letter to the Corinthians; “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

 

Jeremiah was something… he was a faithful prophet.  Where is the faithful prophet today?  I suspect some in the freedom rally thought that they were being faithful prophets…. But the proof would be in their love.  Do they have the deep compassionate love of God.   Are they speaking up for the voiceless… and are they protecting the vulnerable, or are they causing fear and division?  And I don’t actually have the answer.  Are our own opinions being voiced in a way that causes division and hurt?  Are we speaking up for the voiceless and vulnerable?  I can tell you that as a compassionate society, we ought to be concerned about protecting the vulnerable and not just counting them as collateral damage.   Sometimes we need to stand up for things or against things, but if we do this without love, scripture tells us, and makes it clear, that we are nothing but a clanging cymbal.

 

Last week we read that Jesus had just proclaimed that the prophecy from Isaiah was being fulfilled.  He proclaimed freedom and the year of the Lord’s favour.  People enjoyed that speech, but when he continued to talk about how they would reject him and then talk about the prophets, and how they were rejected by their own people, the people were so enraged that wanted to throw Jesus off a cliff.  The truth hurts I guess.

 

It was pride that stopped them from hearing God’s message.  It was also fear and jealousy that stopped the people from accepting the Good News.  Actually it is interesting that Jesus uses the example of Naaman who was cleansed of leprosy, as he nearly let pride get in the way of his healing.  Perhaps our world can be healed in the same way…. Letting go of our pride and humbling ourselves…. 

 

 Naaman was told to plunge 7 times in the river Jordan.  Naaman was indignant and wasn’t going to wash in the muddy river, but his servants spoke up.  We could say, they were minor prophets… and little insignificant ones, who were not even identified by name, but without them there would have been no healing.

 

We were chosen before God formed us in the womb.  We are not insignificant, but we all need encouragement to know that the little things we do have a great consequence.  It is possible that the best thing we can do for each other is to encourage each other…. To look for the great in each other and to strive to see each other as God’s purposely designed and chosen people. 

 

Our nation is in need of healing and it isn’t just healing from COVID-19.  Our nation and our world is divided and hurting.  People are feeling frightened, rejected and that they have no power or control over their lives.  For our nation to be healed we need to humble ourselves before God and rid ourselves of hard-hearted pride.  We need hearts filled with the love of God and to be encouraged that we, like Jeremiah, though feeling insignificant have the ability to bring about great change when we speak the words of God.

 

May we be filled with the Holy Spirit of Jesus, whose anointing we share, to bring Good news to the poor.  To proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.  Today, this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing, if only you accept the mission.

 

 

AND.... on the third day....

 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY   Year C   January 16, 2022

Isaiah 62:1-5  •    Psalm 36:5-10  •   1 Corinthians 12:1-11  •   John 2:1-11

On the third day we came down the mountain and went back to our usual work. 

Are you confused?  You should be, because it is as if I have begun my story at the middle or end instead of at the beginning.  In normal story telling I would say to you, that Rex and I went up to Eungella.  I would talk about the things we experienced, like the cold water we swam in and the platypus we saw, and then I would end my story and on the 3rd day we came down the mountain.

Our Gospel reading begins with “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee,…”.   If you are like me, you will turn the page back because it seems like we missed the beginning of the story, however if you do so, you will find that the previous chapter has nothing to do with this story.

On the third day could easily mean that it was Tuesday – the third day of the week.  According to the internet (https://18doors.org/timing_and_location_of_a_jewish_wedding/ ), “In traditional Jewish communities, Tuesday is considered an auspicious day to hold a wedding because it is a day that a portion of the Torah is not chanted in the synagogue.”  So it is most likely that our story begins “On Tuesday there was a wedding”…  But this is the Gospel of John, and there are layers of meaning in all that he writes.

 Immediately looking for famous third days, we know that on the third day Jesus rose from the dead.  It isn’t that he was literally in the grave three days, as complained about by those who look for literal truth.  When we look for the literal we can often miss the truth we are searching for because we are unaware of the Jewish culture and way.  Jesus rose “on the third day”. 

Speaking of “On the third day”, it is only logical to look for the full meaning of the third day from the book of Genesis, where we find that on the third day God created life.

Once again from the internet (  https://bibleproject.com/blog/why-did-jesus-rise-on-the-third-day/#:~:text=The%20Third%20Day%20Matters,activates%20his%20covenant%20with%20humanity.   ) we read,  “For Jesus and the apostles, the timing of his resurrection has strong theological implications. The three-day timeline matters to the biblical narrative, because it is the special day on which God creates new life and activates his covenant with humanity. ”

The wedding at Cana is considered the first of Jesus’ miracles and the beginning of his ministry.  It took place on the third day and the implication was not merely that it was Tuesday, but that it was a sign of God creating new life through the activation of His covenant with humanity.

 Knowing, from the very onset of this narrative, that the creation of life is the purpose of this story, we read on.

Mary approaches Jesus to tell him that they have no wine.  Jesus’ reply and reference to her as “woman” is not gruff and not a put down, but lost in the translation is a common pattern of speech inferring that “I don’t need to take this responsibility”.

Who is God that he should care for us?  We find this sentiment throughout the Bible from the Psalms in the Old Testament to various places including the letter of Hebrews in the New Testament.  When Jesus says, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? “ … I feel that Jesus could well be saying, “What is it to me that I should care for the salvation of the world?” and then Mary instructs the servants to do all that Jesus commands, as she knows his purpose and the vocation of his life.

Who are we that God should care for us?  We who constantly make selfish choices, and we who war with each other,… who are we that God should care for us?  And yet he does.

There are six large jars at the wedding.  They are there for the purification rites.  Six is the number of mankind.  Human kind, made in the image of God – whose number is seven… we were created on the sixth day, which is described in my research as the 2nd third day, implying the creation of life magnified. 

To recap, our Gospel tells the story of a wedding.  The host had run out of wine.  Jesus’ Mother tells Jesus and then tells the servants to do whatever he says.  Mary has a role here that is also worth looking into.  Mary is a believer.  Mary prepared the way for Jesus to act.  She instructed the servants to do all that Jesus asked of them. 

When Mary went and spoke to Jesus, she didn’t have the solution to the problem, but she knew the power of Jesus.  We, as Christians, are faced with many problems in this life.  Many times, we don’t have the solution – but we do know the power of God to act.  Mary knew that she didn’t need the solution, but she trusted completely and instructed the servants to comply with the wishes of Jesus.

We have problems today.  Our world needs the solution that can only come from God – a miracle.  Our part is to prepare the way by taking those problems to God.  Then, with trust, we leave it in his hands, knowing that he will act – but we also need to encourage others to work WITH Jesus and do all that he instructs.  Then we will see the miracle.  John called it a sign rather than a miracle as all that Jesus did, John saw as having layers of meaning.  There was a very true and simple meaning -God cares for our cares and did not want the bridegroom to be embarrassed by the lack of wine.  There is a deeper meaning – God cares for us and will answer our prayers.  There is an even deeper meaning;

We, the church, are the bride of Christ.  Though we are like ordinary empty vessels, He fills us with pure water and then turns us into something extraordinary.  He makes us his children, and the church his bride.  He fills us with the wine of the Holy Spirit and gives us gifts.

Through the Holy Spirit he gives us spiritual gifts and these are for us individually, but more importantly, these are gifts for the church.  We read about these gifts in our letter to the Corinthians which starts by explaining that no one speaking by the Spirit can be speaking curses.  He says this for a couple of reasons.  At a simple level, those followers of God should be identified by their words.   He is also speaking about the gift of tongues.  There is always a bit of suspicion when someone is speaking words that we can’t understand, that maybe they are not speaking from God.

I want to digress a little to explain, because I was once one who was ignorant of the fact that the gift of tongues is not something that was just given to the disciples at Pentecost.  As others came to believe and the Holy Spirit came upon them, those also spoke with different languages and this has happened right up and to this present day – and still is met with some suspicion.

The gift of tongues is the gift that seems to receive to most attention and criticism and yet we should remember that it is just one of the gifts. 

St Paul talks about the other gifts also in his letter to the Corinthians. 

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  This is the most important point.  The gift is given to individuals but it is for the purpose of the common good.  It is not a gift that we should bury in field like a treasure that we are afraid someone will take, but the purpose is to be a blessing to others.

We read that the other gifts are wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues and interpretation of tongues.

The first time I came in contact with a church that was gifted with these gifts I was just a naïve teenager, but I heard other teenagers and young adults speaking about current world issues with such incredible wisdom that I distinctly remember thinking, “I wish the world leaders could hear these people”, and they truly amazed me.

Our world is in deep need of wisdom, knowledge, faith and healing.  We need prophets with visions of insight to show us which way to go and to give us hope.

Jesus instructed that the water jars be filled to the brim with water.  There are some very natural things that we can do.  As empty vessels we can be filled with the word of God, the love of God and the willingness to do God’s will. 

The servants might have said NO to Jesus requests and there would be no wine and no story about the wedding in Cana, but they said YES.  We need to also say yes to the will of God.  We need to be willing to submit our will to the reign of Christ.   This is all we can do.

Who are we that God should care for us, or be mindful of us, or answer our prayers?  We all feel this way at times, but the truth is magnificent, because we are his precious children and he longs to give us his gifts.  They are not just for the church but for the wider community – the nations are to be blessed because of his gifts.  But I feel that we, the church, have neglected those gifts. 

We need to accept the gifts, say YES to God, trust in his provision, do as he tells us, be filled with his word and on the third day we will find that our water is wine.   Not just any wine – or gift… but a wine that is better than all that has gone before.  The gifts of God are GOOD.  We, the church need them…. And right now…. the world needs them.