Ezekiel 2:2-5 / 2 Cor 12:7-10 / Mark 6:1-6
When it comes to public speaking, we have the tendency to think that it is about addressing a group of people or a crowd.
Public speaking is often thought of as a skill that is acquired through training and practice.
It is a necessity for presenters and public figures to have some basic public speaking skills in order to communicate well.
When a person says something, there will be three aspects that we will observe and pay attention to.
First is what the person is saying, which is the content. It can be anything from information or advice, to an announcement or explanation.
The second aspect is how the person is presenting it, whether it is confidently and clearly, or casually and indifferently.
And finally, and maybe most importantly, it is about the person who is saying it.
When it comes to the person, we will pay attention.
We will ask if the person is respectable and trustworthy. We will recall what others said about that person, and other matters that are connected to that person.
When Jesus went back to His hometown, He did something unusual.
He went to the synagogue and He taught there, and the people were astonished when they heard Him.
They have not heard Him teach before, and they wondered. Where did Jesus get all that wisdom, and also how did He work all those miracles?
And so, what they did was to do a background check.
They dug up the information about His next-of-kin, who His mother is, and what was His profession.
And with that, the people made a conclusion, and that is, a carpenter cannot be anything more than a carpenter.
Regardless of how wise His teaching is, or how impressive His miracles were, they have already made up their minds about Jesus.
In short, Jesus cannot be better than any of them, and in a way, they don't want Him to.
It is like, what is called, the “basket of crabs” syndrome.
It is said that when crabs are put in a basket, and as much as they want to climb out, they can't because when one starts to climb higher, the others will pull it down.
But still the crab has a story to tell us.
When St. Francis Xavier was on a boat in the Straits of Malacca, there was a heavy storm and it was getting dangerous.
So, St. Francis Xavier stood at the bow of the boat, and held up his mission cross to say a prayer to calm the storm.
But the cross slipped from his hand and fell into the sea.
The storm subsided, and St. Francis Xavier landed on the beach.
As he was walking on the beach, wondering if he could ever find his mission cross, he saw a crab at a distance carrying something with its pincers.
As he came up to the crab, he saw that it was carrying his mission cross with its pincers.
He gave thanks to God, and he blessed the crab, and it is said that the crab received a marking of the cross on its shell, and it is said to be the ancestor of the species called the “crucifix crab”.
The story of the crucifix crab is also the story of our mission as God's prophets.
We carry with us the prophetic Word of God to the world.
We may experience rejection and being pulled down.
But like Jesus we must continue to carry God’s Word, and to speak it to those who want to hear it, and to those who need to hear it.
The world must know that God speaks, either through the mouths of unexpected prophets, or in silent actions like that of the crucifix crab.