Sermons

Sun, Oct 10, 2021

Staying in touch

Series:Sermons
Duration:12 mins 45 secs

A speech by the British Prime Minister––

Boris Johnson––

to the Conservative Party conference…

has been widely labelled as “out of touch”…

because it was flippantly optimistic…

and ignored the very real problems that Britons are currently facing…

from the “crumbling supply chains” that have resulted from Brexit…

especially affecting petrol supplies…

as well as threats of blackouts and rising energy costs.

“Out of touch”––

it’s a criticism that’s thrown about a lot these days.

Apart from Boris Johnson’s recent speech…

in the last month or so… 

alone…

the accusation has been levelled at our Prime Minister—

Scott Morrison––

over his attitude towards climate change…

and attending the Glasgow Summit.

And the opposition leaders––

both here and in Britain––

have been accused of being “out of touch” with the beliefs…

and values…

of “rank-and-file” members.

Indeed, the political leaders…

and opposition leaders…

of most countries seem to have been accused of being “out of touch”.

The accusation has been levelled against some state premiers by some business leaders…

for imposing lockdowns…

and by the spokespeople for ethnic groups for imposing lockdowns in a prejudicial way;

while the Western Australian Premier––

Mark McGowan––

has accused business leaders of being “out of touch” for their attitude towards border restrictions.

Paramedic and nursing unions have criticised politicians…

of all persuasions…

for being “out of touch” by claiming that the hospital systems were coping fine in Sydney and Melbourne;

while senior doctors in the Northern Territory have levelled the accusation against their health department…

for their management of hospitals;

and it’s been levelled against Victoria Police for their handling of the recent anti-lockdown protests.

Accusations of being “out of touch” have also be levelled against the entire Republican Party in America…

for continuing to kowtow to Donald Trump;

against the ABC by various Liberal politicians…

and the BBC by various Conservative politicians;

against Prince Andrew for wanting to resume public duties…

while facing a serious civil suit for sexual abuse;

and against Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan…

for wearing designer clothes…

and taking a private jet…

to visit a school in a disadvantaged area of New York.

As I said, that’s all just from the last month or so.

 

Being accused of being “out of touch”––

so often...

it’s simply a cudgel to bash someone whom you don’t like or who doesn’t agree with what you think.

But, it’s really almost the ultimate insult, isn’t it?

Otherwise, we wouldn’t resort to it so frequently.

Being “out of touch”––

it’s saying that you don’t or won’t listen;

that you don’t or won’t try to understand;

that you live in a privileged bubble;

and that you don’t care.

 

But why?

Why is being “out of touch” such a shocking and scandalous insult?

 

Because it touches on, perhaps, one of our most primal needs…

if not our most primal instinct.

According to the American psychologist, Loretta Breuning…

it stems from the moment that we’re born.

Human infants are born in a very fragile and helpless state.

The newborn of other animals will walk within minutes…

or else, in many cases, they simply couldn’t feed.

The newborn of other animals will run within a day…

or, in many cases, they simply wouldn’t survive predation.

All other animals are born with quite elaborate and developed survival instincts…

and/or survival skills.

But Breuning points out… 

“Humans are born with no survival skills except the ability to cry out for help, and to learn from the experience. But we do that well”.

Indeed, crying works.

Someone comes.

We get fed.

We get cleaned up.

We learn that, by crying, our needs are met.

And, in the process, our crying “transforms…into conscious acts of communication”.

As Breuning notes… 
“The first experience in each brain, the foundation on which all later experience rests, is the sense that you will die if you are not heard…And that is why part of your brain longs to be seen and heard”.

 

As humans…

the need to be heard…

the need to be understood…

the need to know that we matter…

the need to know that someone cares about us…

and, in particular, that someone who we sense is responsible for our well-being…

will listen, understand, and care for us––

that is, ultimately, what drives us.

Without that, we struggle to cope in life.

Although the educationalists will start groaning at this point…

as Maslow argued…

unless our basic needs are met––

including a sense of being loved and nurtured…

and a sense of belonging––

we will not realise our higher needs, like self-actualisation.

 

And if we look to those whom we think ought to be responsible for our well-being…

to listen…

to understand…

and to care…

then…

it makes sense…

that…

for those of us who are religious…

one of them would be God––

or it ought to be.

So often, though, that’s not the image of God that we get.

So often, the God that we are told about is harsh, critical, judgmental, and…

frankly…

uncaring––

ready to be merciful and forgiving but only in a conditional way…

and, in fact…

is often quicker to judge and condemn…

than to listen, understand, and care.

 

And that’s why the second half of our reading this morning is so important.

According to the author of Hebrews…

in Jesus…

“We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are”. 

In Jesus, we have someone who isn’t remote…

who doesn’t live in a “bubble”…

and who isn’t “out of touch”.

Indeed, Jesus has known love and hatred…

jealousy and betrayal.

He has known joy and fulfilment, disappointment and fear.

He has experienced temptation and dogged conviction…

and he knew success and failure.

And he suffered­­––

more than many of us ever will suffer…

or ever hope to suffer:

publicly shamed, ridiculed, and degraded…

tortured and executed.

And, according to the author of Hebrews…

because Jesus experienced the full gamut of what it means to be human…

then…

so does God.

 

Although it’s not an image that many of us…

today…

might find helpful…

the author’s description of Jesus as our “High Priest”

is one that would have spoken powerfully to his readers.

Imagining the heavenly realm to be a copy of the Jerusalem Temple––

in which only the High Priest could pass behind the great curtain… 

and enter the inner sanctuary…

in order to make offerings on behalf of the people––

the author claims that Jesus is now there, doing that…

for us.

And yet, even more than that…

he claims that…

because of Jesus––

because of his experience…

because he understands…

because he is not “out of touch”––

then…

we, too, can approach “the throne of grace with boldness”

or with “confidence”.

 

The author is claiming––

in a way that many of his first-century readers would have thought bewildering or amazing––

that…

because of Jesus…

God also knows…

and understands…

and cares.

What the author is trying to say––

via his slightly antiquated…

and culturally-specific metaphor––

is that God understands what it’s like to be human.

God knows…

and God cares…

and we can find mercy and grace when we need it––

whenever we cry out for help.

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