The year was 1976. I was driving my first car, a 1969 Chrysler Newport, at college. A friend had sold me his used CB radio. I remember my "handle" and the FCC license number assigned to that radio, KBP-3444. While that old radio worked perfectly it had a problem: an operator who never found his voice. If you were traveling that same geography, you would have never known that I was out there too. I listened to the chatter of others as I traveled the thirty miles to the United Methodist Church where I served as student pastor. There were places in that thirty-mile trip where the signal faded and skipped, but that old radio kept me company on many a dark, winter night, but I never contributed to the conversation and never kept others company.
Today, I think about our discipleship--about following Jesus, which requires both listening and speaking. How many times have I remained silent in the face of another's injustice? How many times have I preached sermons that avoided the weightier issues of the world around me? How many times did I fail to join a conversation that might have carried others along? Well, I know that such silence is not limited just to me. I know a lot of other preachers and whole congregations that are silent about the attitudes and actions that demean and destroy others. We don't hear much about war or economic justice or global warming coming from either our pulpits or our pews. Have I found my voice?
I think of Jesus, the Word en-fleshed. He spoke up for those who were despised and rejected. He included them in his movement for life. He shared their cries, their afflictions, and their sorrows. He spoke up when it would have been far safer to have remained silent. Among his teachings, Jesus proclaimed, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." True peacemaking involves the words we speak, as well as the deeds of love and mercy that we are inspired to do in Jesus' name.
O God, open our lips, that we may declare your praise!
O God, open our lips, that we may proclaim your truth and love for the world!
O God, open our lips, that we may accompany your children in the journey toward peace and life!
May it be so!
Today, I think about our discipleship--about following Jesus, which requires both listening and speaking. How many times have I remained silent in the face of another's injustice? How many times have I preached sermons that avoided the weightier issues of the world around me? How many times did I fail to join a conversation that might have carried others along? Well, I know that such silence is not limited just to me. I know a lot of other preachers and whole congregations that are silent about the attitudes and actions that demean and destroy others. We don't hear much about war or economic justice or global warming coming from either our pulpits or our pews. Have I found my voice?
I think of Jesus, the Word en-fleshed. He spoke up for those who were despised and rejected. He included them in his movement for life. He shared their cries, their afflictions, and their sorrows. He spoke up when it would have been far safer to have remained silent. Among his teachings, Jesus proclaimed, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." True peacemaking involves the words we speak, as well as the deeds of love and mercy that we are inspired to do in Jesus' name.
O God, open our lips, that we may declare your praise!
O God, open our lips, that we may proclaim your truth and love for the world!
O God, open our lips, that we may accompany your children in the journey toward peace and life!
May it be so!
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