Ruth Harvey considers the messages of Matthew, chapter 10.

What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Matthew 10:27 (NRSV)

CHAPTER 10 of Matthew’s Gospel logs Jesus’ pep talk to his disciples.

The 42 verses of this chapter are bookended with ‘instruction’ (10:5 and 11:1). And yet the words in between flow from practical packing advice (10: 9 and 10), to input about spiritual resilience (10: 17-20), slip briefly into parable (10:24-25), include powerful teaching on the dynamics of peace building (10:34-39), and end with words about the nature of unconditional welcome (10:40-42).

Nestled, or nested almost in the middle of this series of ‘instructions’ is an exhortation to courageous action: ‘what I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.’ (10:27). This nesting technique is used elsewhere in Matthew, placing centrally the core message of a chapter within a series of stories that illustrate its power – see Matthew chapter 18, where verse 20 is the pivot around which the whole piece revolves.

When standing up for the ‘other’ – the one whose experience is ‘other’ than mine, and yet whose voice which may be quiet or whispered, I am called to amplify and uphold – we are to listen in the dark, to the whisper and then to proclaim, magnify, amplify the voice of the one least heard.

By the time you read this piece, a significant Referendum on the Voice (voice. gov.au) will have been held in Australia. All peoples of the land now called Australia are being asked to agree or disagree that the Voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be augmented within the Australian parliament.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make up 3.2% of the total population of Australia. They represent over 300 nations and 100 islands on that continent, with an almost similar number of languages and are the oldest continuous human culture in the world. Their voice may be small in number, but it must be amplified. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, we will find ourselves in a time of ongoing need for peace and reconciliation across nations. The tenth clause in the Justice and Peace Commitment made by Members of the Iona Community calls us to: ‘celebrate human diversity and actively work to combat discrimination on grounds of age, colour, disability, mental well-being, differing ability, gender, ethnic and cultural background, sexual orientation or religion.’ Part of this call to celebration must include proclamation on behalf of the whisperers, summed up in this meditation:

And I have learned

to listen

for the whisper of shells 

under the roar of waves; 

for the shuffle of a vole 

beneath the leaves; 

for the flutter of a breath 

nested in the clamour of the crowd; 

for the stillness in my heart

over-come by need. 

And in the listening, 

I now know 

the power of that 

stillness, flutter, whisper 

at the heart of heat: 

this is the power of our God 

greater than all that can be; 

smaller than all that is. 

And this I have come to know: 

to trust the whisper – 

to raise my voice, 

and to raise it quietly. 

So let us raise up our voices: 

for all wronged; 

with the silenced; 

where there is fear; 

in the face of injustice. 

And in this raising up, 

let us stay soft; 

– whisper even – 

and so be heard. 

Ruth Harvey is the Leader of the Iona Community. To join the Community and to find out more about its work, visit www.iona.org.uk