by Reverend Gerry Bennet, Assisting Priest,
(from July 2000 Tidings)

You Hold the Key

We often speak of the Gospel imperative in churches: "Go, preach the Gospel to every living creature." What a wonderful command that is - to evangelize the world! The problem we are too often faced with is that not all have the ability to do much preaching. So what do we do then, ignore out Lord’s directive? What mood should we create; how do we proclaim when we don’t seem to have those gifts of preaching and proclamation?

Acts 5:19 gives us a clue about the strength of scripture. The apostles were imprisoned by the authorities and released by an Angel, who spoke to them and to us. They were told to stand in the temple and speak to the people. Isn’t that wonderful? No harsh accusations, no browbeating, no telling people what to do, no incessant exhortation. "Speak to them all the words of this life."

Statements and stories of fact and behavior say more than directives. "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves" (Luke 10:30). We are moved not by the line at the end of the story, but by the revelation of a neighbor the story tells. No gospel nagging here, just the facts(as a TV character once said). And those facts reveal something so great that cannot be hidden and will not be ignored. The message is so clear, so compelling that telling people what they ought to do is redundant.

We make no man good by telling him he ought to be good. Resistance occurs. A piano recital will not be successful if you only tell people they ought to like the performance. It is the performance itself, falling on ready ears, that speaks so eloquently that hearers are able to recognize a standard by which good music is judged. And so it is with the gospel message. We need to tell the people who God is and who they are. We needn’t be the town crier, we need not parade our superiority by telling the people what they ought to do. If we do, we lose our effectiveness. The message of the saving acts of our Lord is in the stories of his life. If we tell those stories we reveal all the wonderful message our God brings to us and to the world.

By the time you read this the children will have finished VBS and been shown God’s love through story and verse. Those stories will live with them all their lives. Be sure to share God with all YOU meet.

Gerry+