Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Jesus said to them, ‘The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, February 16, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
The truth is wildly unpopular. Always has been. The people in power throughout history and across cultures hold onto that power at all costs, even if it means hurting the people they are supposed to be protecting and defending. If you stand up and point out this fact, it’s an invitation to violence. Jesus had no illusions about this. He says point blank that the world hates him because he speaks truth to power. And, yes, it got him killed by the state.
Despite this, we are called by God to follow in the way of Jesus—to call out the powers that be for trampling on the powerless. Speaking the truth is not going to make us popular. (I sometimes wonder about wearing my political heart on my sleeve in my devotions...) It might even get us into trouble. But we can’t let fear keep us from standing up for what is right.
When has speaking the truth gotten me into hot water?