Preach Boldly, My Friends

Reflecting on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Three Days After Sunday (Year C)

Scripture

Psalter: Psalm 119:89-96

Old Testament: Jeremiah 36:27-32

Gospel: Luke 4:38-44

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Prayer

O God, you spoke your word and revealed your good news in Jesus, the Christ. Fill all creation with that word again, so that by proclaiming your joyful promises to all nations and singing of your glorious hope to all peoples, we may become one living body, your incarnate presence on the earth. Amen.

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Reflection

In our Gospel reading today, Luke writes,

But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.

On preaching, the late theologian Reinhold Niebuhr observes,

I am not surprised that most prophets are itinerants. Critics of the church think we preachers are afraid to tell the truth because we are economically dependent upon the people of our church, There is something in that, but it does not quite get to the root of the matter. I certainly could easily enough get more money than I am securing now, and yet I catch myself weighing my words and gauging their possible effect upon this and that person. I think the real clue to the tameness of a preacher is the difficulty one finds in telling unpleasant truths to people whom one has learned to love.

To speak the truth in love is a difficult, and sometimes an almost impossible, achievement. If you speak the truth unqualifiedly, that is usually because your ire has been aroused or because you have no personal attachment to the object of your strictures. Once personal contact is established you are very prone to temper your wind to the shorn sheep. It is certainly difficult to be human and honest at the same time. I'm not surprised that most budding prophets are tamed in time to become harmless parish priests.

Whether you are clergy or laity, I say, “preach boldly my friends.”

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From Reinhold Niebuhr, Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic