Reflection - A Matter of Perception

A desert can be a fascinating and surprising place, not least with the cruel hoax of a mirage. Things are not always what they seem! It is a matter of perception. That is how it was for Jesus as he began his public ministry (see Mark 6:1-13). When he decided to return to his hometown of Nazareth, he found that “prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt, and how often have we found that to be true!

Think of Jesus returning to Nazareth and to those he knew. The surroundings were very familiar. But what we need to do here is to put ourselves in the shoes of those townspeople. They had seen Jesus grow up. They knew him as one of the local lads, and they knew Mary and Joseph and his family. So how could he possibly be anyone special? “And they took offence at him.” Sometimes there is greatness very close at hand, but we are so close to it that we simply don’t recognise it. As someone once said, an expert is someone who lives at least 40 miles away and shows slides. We can easily update the image, but I suspect we know what it means!

This story is showing us is how we may deal with rejection. At the outset we should note that the feelings associated with rejection are real, and I know that from my own experience. What I had to do, and it took some time, was to re-learn the truth that we ought never to let ourselves be defined by others’ negativity. Dealing successfully with rejection involves convincing ourselves of God’s image in us. Dealing with rejection means the acceptance of the hymn writer’s truth, that “hell is nigh, but God is nigher!” Through God’s presence with us, that is one battle we can win!

Montefiore once depicted the response of people in Nazareth as “half amazed and half annoyed”; and if that is our response, no great deed will emerge. But that applies also to the Church in the world. At times the world has said to us, “You aren’t seriously going to apply all that business about equality and loving people, to the practicalities of industry, politics or international affairs are you?” And too often we have replied, “No, of course not”. In that situation, as in Nazareth, no great deed will be possible.

We can rise above our background. We can move beyond the limitations of other people’s vision of us, just as Jesus did. The call of God to a particular goal or task is a powerful inspiration for the overcoming of personal and educational obstacles, and the living of a truly significant life. It all comes back to a matter of perception, and first and foremost our perception of who Jesus is – not the village carpenter, but the Lord; and that makes a big difference to the way we perceive other people. It is this perception that will help us to overcome rejection, and to handle it in such a way that we can grow through it. It is our perception of the Spirit of God in us that will enable us to overcome any limitations of our background or any negativity, and to work together with God.

By Rev Clive W Ayre