4th Sunday Epiphany

28th January 2024

Reflection (readings follow on)

Earlier this week someone was explaining to me why they did not believe in climate change. If the science was true, they argued, would not the politicians being taking action? 

A good question. 

Most politicians have families – children and, maybe, grandchildren – and surely they would want to take action to protect them and their  futures if the risks were real and serious? The same would hold true for the CEOs of fossil fuel companies, of banks, of insurance companies, of pension funds. If they knew that fossil fuel emissions were increasing the risk of homes being flooded or being damaged by storms; or increasing the risk of heat waves causing excess deaths among the young and old; increasing the risks of droughts, floods and wild fires that decimate harvests and lead to food shortages – then surely they would be taking action to curtail such emissions and reduce those risks as fast as possible? 

Is it that they don’t have the information? Is it that they don’t believe what the scientists are telling us? Is it that they can’t believe it will be as bad as the scientists predict? Is it that they believe that with wealth and power they can insulate their nearest and dearest from such disasters?

Paul in his letter to the community in Corinth is aware how tricky knowledge can be. Often we have an incomplete knowledge, a partial knowledge, and we may make perverse decisions. Sometimes my incomplete knowledge is similar to but not identical with your incomplete knowledge and that can lead to huge misunderstandings. So Paul reminds us that one thing is true – that we are all known to God!

If knowledge isn’t always the answer, what about wisdom? Wisdom begins with fear of the Lord, says the Psalmist. Fear of the Lord is not about being panic stricken, or scared out of our pants, but about realising just how far apart is our understanding of the world and God’s understanding.  It is about humility – knowing our place, our limitations – and about awe. That is the beginning – not the end – of wisdom. Wisdom is what we gain by paying attention to God, by paying attention to what God has created and how it all interrelates. Wisdom is about learning from others – we cannot expect to gain sufficient wisdom to be of use just as an individual – and about learning from our (individual and corporate) mistakes. Wisdom is about not ignoring the difficult questions. Rather wisdom is about holding that tension between acknowledging the difficulty and acknowledging our own inability to provide a solution. 

Perhaps we need to put more emphasis on wisdom than on just knowledge. Perhaps that is what politicians and CEOs and economists and advertising executives need – wisdom so that they can make best sense of the knowledge they have?

The passage from Deuteronomy is focused on the importance of the prophet. What is a prophet? The Godly Play scripts say that a prophet is someone who comes so close to God and God comes so close to them, that they know what God is wanting to say. Prophetic speech can include warnings about what is or might be happening in the world, and about the consequences of the actions we might take. It can also give advice and guidance about living better lives, about living in harmony with the world, and about engaging with God. 

 Clearly The Prophet referenced in Deuteronomy, is Jesus. And Jesus in today’s gospel is highlighted as a person who not only teaches, but teaches with authority. This is because his knowledge comes from God – something the spirits recognise. 

To return to the question, if politicians know that the knowledge the scientists tell us about climate change is true, why do they not act as if it were true? Is it lack of wisdom or lack of knowledge? Or is it that they feel safe ignoring the information for as long as the majority of people and organisations around them are doing the same thing? It is easier to go along with the crowd. They are not alone.  It is an approach taken by business leaders, by financiers, by economists. No one wants to be the first to say this is a real problem. No one wants to risk standing out in the crowd. No one wants to risk loosing a short term gain. 

They, and we, are at an impasse. No one will take action until everyone else does! No one wants to question the consensus that if no one is panicking, then there is nothing to panic about. 

What we need is a prophet! Someone who tell it like it is. Someone who is not constrained by polite convention. Someone who is honest. Someone who can brave the brickbats. Someone who has a strong faith to lean upon.  Someone whose understanding is informed by God, whose wisdom grows out of respect for God, whose message reflects God’s truth. 

And do w have such prophetic voices. Climate activists are often our modern day prophets. Some are more popular – such as David Attenborough and Chris Packham. Others less so – being a prophet is not about popularity. 

When climate activists break the glass doors of banks, it has been because they are sounding the alarm to people who do not seem to be paying attention. It is because they are relaying to those institutions the warnings they really need – and would surely want – to hear if only they were not being drowned out by the ‘business as usual’ message of the majority.  

When activists walk slowly along the road disrupting daily life, it is because they acting out on a very small scale the disruption that the climate crisis will lead to if we continue as we are. When activists hold prayerful vigils they act both as an encouragement to those who want to see a different future and to activity a niggling doubt for those who think all is well. 

These prophets are trying to unravel the  mentality that says until everyone else acts, then I won’t act. These prophets are trying to break this lemming-like mindset. And it is a hard and difficult and drawn out process.. But prophets are backed by God’s wisdom, by the authoritative teaching that comes from Jesus, and by the confidence that comes from knowing that they are known by God. 

Finally from today’s psalm, we are reminded that grace and compassion, faithfulness and justice are hallmarks of God which we should aim to mirror in our lives.

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” 

Psalm 111

1 Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, *
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.

2 Great are the deeds of the Lord! *
they are studied by all who delight in them.

3 His work is full of majesty and splendour, *
and his righteousness endures for ever.

4 He makes his marvellous works to be remembered; *
the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

5 He gives food to those who fear him; *
he is ever mindful of his covenant.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works *
in giving them the lands of the nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice; *
all his commandments are sure.

8 They stand fast for ever and ever, *
because they are done in truth and equity.

9 He sent redemption to his people;
he commanded his covenant for ever; *
holy and awesome is his Name.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; *
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;
his praise endures for ever.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.

Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. “Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

Mark 1:21-28

Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.