Boldness

Monday 7/4/2016 5:41 AM

Last Saturday one of my nieces posted a comment on Facebook noting that Garrison Keillor made his last appearance on A Prairie Home Companion. She noted that, in addition to being an entertainer, “he has also been an instigator and provocateur for the plight of humanity.” In the same post she acknowledged the death of Elie Wiesel, about whom the same could be said. She queried, “Who will stand in those gaps?” and her husband, who is also wise, responded, “You!”

I’m quite certain Garrison Keillor and Elie Wiesel did not sit down one day and say, “I think I will become an instigator and provocateur for the plight of humanity.” They simply saw the injustices that are rampant in our world and responded in a way that was consistent with their own gifts and talents. People were drawn to the truth of their message, the humility with which it was delivered, and the consistency with which they lived their lives.

The theme of my devotions this week is boldness. The scriptures I have read over the past couple of days include the prayers of the disciples after having been arrested by the religious authorities of their day and being told to remain silent about Jesus. After being released from custody they met together to pray for boldness to speak the truth and then went out and spoke. Today people who speak out against racial discrimination, social injustices, corporate greed, and the like are often castigated by the established church community and are labeled as socialists, communists, etc. I wonder how the church has wandered so far from the gospel Jesus preached, which included compassion for the poor, justice for the oppressed, and acceptance for the alien. Of course, I shouldn’t be surprised, since it seems the organized religion of Jesus’ day had done the same. It was against that hypocrisy that Jesus was the most vocal.

My reading also included this excerpt from Spiritual Preparation for Christian Leadership, by E. Glenn Hinson. “The church and the world need saints. They need saints more than they need more canny politicians, more brilliant scientists, more grossly overpaid executives and entrepreneurs, more clever entertainers and talk-show hosts. Are there any on the horizon now that Mother Teresa is no longer with us, either of the extraordinary or of the ordinary kind? I think there are. Maybe I should say that there are saints ‘aborning’ by God’s grace. There are those whose lives have been irradiated by God’s grace, who seek not to be safe but to be faithful, who have learned how to get along in adversity, who are joyful, who are dream filled, and above all, who are prayerful. That is what the church and the world need most. It begins with you.”

I see the injustices that are so evident in our world but I feel overwhelmed and completely inadequate to “stand in the gap.” After all, who would pay attention to a math teacher in an insignificant school buried in metropolitan Los Angeles County? I try to speak the truth and to live consistently, with humility, but my voice gets lost in the cacophony of the LA culture. E. Glenn Hinson suggests that I need to be faithful, learn how to get along in adversity, be joyful, and to be dream filled and prayerful. That is my goal but it seems to have little, if no, effect. I have a feeling my niece feels the same way. She needs to hear the same message I did today, “It begins with you.”