Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“‘Do not preach’—thus they preach—‘one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us.’ Should this be said, O house of Jacob? Is the Lord’s patience exhausted? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to ”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, November 15, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
This just made me giggle. Every so often, such beautiful snark comes through the biblical writers and I love it! “Do not preach”—thus they preach. It would be funny if this exact thing didn’t happen to prophets like Micah all. the. time. He delivers a powerful, scathing message to the people about all the ways their actions violate God’s laws calling them to do justice for the vulnerable and powerless and they say, “You can’t say that. Those things won’t really happen to us.” Today, people call out injustice in myriad ways and the response is often negative because people feel attacked or they don’t think it applies to them or they claim the message would be better received if they were nicer about it. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was repeatedly told by white liberals to be patient, not to be so incendiary, and it was all about their own discomfort, when the message was urgent and could no longer be delayed.
I wonder how many pastors and preachers out there have been told to keep politics out of the pulpit—have been scolded by this or that parishioner because they spoke up about God’s call to do justice, including racial justice, justice for LGBTQIA+ folks, or climate justice; because they made plain the ways in which our actions or lack of action are causing harm to our neighbors. I knew someone who was so angry when a pastor mentioned “Black Lives Matter” because they went to church to be uplifted (i.e. not challenged). But the thing is, God is challenging. Heck, God-in-Jesus-Christ’s entire existence on this planet was one giant challenge to absolutely everyone and everything unjustly benefitting from the status quo.
Can you blame Micah for his snark? I can’t.
Have I ever been uncomfortable being called to account for my actions from the pulpit? Why? How did I respond?
