Sometimes as Christians it can feel that no-one wants to listen to what we have to say. Yet this was also the experience of the prophet Jeremiah and even Jesus himself. Like them, we should simply persevere, knowing that we are doing God’s work.
Readings for Friday of week 17 of ordinary time can be found here.
In December 1837, the newly elected MP Benjamin Disraeli rose to make his maiden speech in the House of Commons aged only 33. Criticising the previous speaker, he was met with laughter, shouts, and jeers from the opposition benches. Eventually he had to give up and sit down, saying “one day you will hear me”. Thirty years later Disraeli would have the last laugh as he began the first of his two stints as prime minister.
It’s never very nice when other people do not listen to what we have to say. Yet this was the experience of both Jeremiah and Jesus in our readings today. Jeremiah stands in the court of the Temple in Jerusalem and prophesies its destruction, saying that it will go the same way as Shiloh, the original Israelite sanctuary which was destroyed by the Philistines. The priests react angrily to Jeremiah’s words, threatening to kill him for what he has said.
In the Gospel reading the citizens of Jesus’ own hometown react to his ministry with a mixture of mockery and disdain. They cannot believe that the person they have known growing up can be anything special. This leads to Jesus’ famous declaration that a prophet is without honour in his hometown. Often the church’s message is met with either opposition, derision, or even both. This can discourage us and tempt us to give up, or even not bother in the first place. Like Disraeli, Jeremiah, and of course Jesus himself, we should persevere, regardless of the response, sure in the knowledge that we are proclaiming God’s word to the world.
Mass today is in St Saviour’s at 10am.
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