Gerry’s Geriatric Glimmerings

by Reverend Gerry Bennet, Assisting Priest, from April 2003 Tidings

The Revelation of a Neighbor

Dear friends, we often speak of the Gospel imperative, "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 should we do then, ignore the Lord’s directive? How do we proclaim when we don’t seem to have the gifts of proclamation and preaching?

Acts 5:19 gives us a clue about the strength of Scripture. The apostles were imprisoned by the authorities, then released by an Angel who spoke to them and 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 the 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 popular TV program used to say). And these 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 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 that they ought to like the performance. It is the performance, 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 people who God is and what He has done in our lives. We need not be the town crier; we need not parade our superiority by telling 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 messages our God brings to us and to the world.

Gerry+