Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“They set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, April 26, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Does this sound eerily familiar to anyone? Anyone who tries to hold the system accountable for its injustices—who wants to change things for the better—is immediately decried as a destructive force. Change is so uncomfortable for most people that we are willing to do anything not to have to do it. People fear change more than they fear death, so when confronted by someone suggesting it’s necessary, it’s far easier to try to slander and discredit those calling for change than to even consider they might be right. It was true when the early Christians were advocating the Way, and it’s true now. In the end, the false witnesses and those who found them were able to stir up the crowd enough to publicly murder Stephen. Today we see all kinds of false witnesses saying the 2020 election was fraudulent (which it has been proven not to have been) and stirred people up enough to actually storm the Capitol in an attempt to stage a coup.
The question is how to lovingly reach out to those who are afraid of change, to listen to their concerns, and respect them when it becomes so easy to equate them with the people who stoned Stephen. A complicated thing indeed.
Am I afraid of change? How do I navigate the inevitable changes in my life?
