reflecting on the journey
Faith isn’t trying harder and doing better, it’s trusting that god loves!
The first time, it was unexpected. Coming out of the clear blue. I was about to start up the aisle, on a Sunday morning, to begin worship and one of the ushers leaned over and whispered, “Give ‘em hell, preacher!” Well, I figured I’d heard him wrong and kept going. By the time I reached the front of the church, I’d forgotten all about it. A week later, same thing happened. Just as I was about to start down the aisle, he leans over and whispers, “Give ‘em hell, preacher!” This time, I think I said something like, “Amen?” He just smiled and gave me a thumbsUp!
Came to find out, it was a tradition he’d started a pastor or two before me and I happened to be next in line! From then on, every time he was on duty, just before I started down the aisle, there he was, offering his own special brand of encouragement. “Give ‘em hell, preacher!” After a while, I began to expect it. Even began to appreciate it. And it did get me thinking. One time, he said, “Give ‘em hell!” I just stopped. Looked over at him and said, “Kinda defeats the purpose of coming to church, doesn’t it?” It was my turn to smile and give a thumbsUp. “Let’s give ‘em heaven, instead!”
The tradition continued. Sunday after Sunday. One month at a time. Even here, today, I hear his voice, sending me off down the aisle. “Give ‘em hell, preacher!” And I realized. If I’d’ve only listened to him, we might not be where we are, today. A shrinking, graying congregation with no place to call our own. You see, it’s not the churches that give ‘em heaven that become megaCongregations. It’s the ones that “give ‘em hell.” More often, it’s the congregations that threaten, that terrorize, that are most popular. Amos-churches I guess you could call them. “Hear this, you that trample on the needy, [you that] ruin the poor …, I will never forget any of [your] deeds!” Fire and brimstone! Retribution and wrath! “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God!” The reckoning’s coming and we can’t wait! And if only I’d’ve spoken something else, over the years, we might be right there with them!
Truth is, giving-‘em-hell is a fairly easy, fairly safe thing to do. It’s what most of us expect. It’s what most of us look for. And if we don’t hear it … if we don’t hear it, we wonder what’s wrong. Wrong with the church. Wrong with the preacher. Church, for most of us, isn’t the kind of place we go to change. It’s where we go to reinforce, to entrench. It’s where we go to highlight and underline what’s already been written. And the resentment, the anger, the rage is a part of it.
We love the shouts and the hollers. Hearts beating. Blood boiling. Fist shaking. Finger pointing. And at the end of it all, the consequences. Consequences of falling short of the glory. “We believe,” one website puts it. “We believe in the bodily resurrection of everyone who has lived, the everlasting blessedness of those in right relationship with God, and the everlasting punishment of those who have rejected God’s forgiveness and new life in His Son.” Give ‘em hell, preacher! Give ‘em hell!
For some … for many … for that matter, for most … it’s more than a jab between friends. It’s serious. Life and death serious. It’s the reason for believing. The purpose of faith. And this morning, there are hundred, thousands of preachers across the country doing just that! Giving ‘em hell! Speaking truth to power! Scattering the proud! Bringing down the powerful! Sending the rich away! All echoing, reflecting, the prophet. Each a miniMe of Amos. Eyes ablaze. Voice sounding. Resounding. And in the end … Accomplishing. Absolutely. Nothing. Changing no one. Giving people what they expect. What they’re looking for. What they want. But not what they need. Not what they need. You see, what they need is mercy and grace! What they need is forgiveness and love!
Remember how we started worship, this morning? We confessed that we’re captive to sin and can’t free ourselves. We confessed that we are captive. In bondage. Enslaved. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Nothing, at all. And having someone tell us – yell at us – to try harder, to do better only makes it worse. When we finally realize … finally recognize … that we don’t … that we can’t … that we won’t … Like I said, hell and damnation, fire and brimstone, wrath and retribution accomplish nothing. No matter how long … No matter how loud … the preacher rants and raves. Give ‘em hell, preacher. Give ‘em hell.
What changes the world … what changes lives … is mercy! Mercy and grace! “In the mercy of God (don’t let the word ‘almighty’ confuse you)! In the mercy of God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us and for his sake – for HIS sake, not ours – god forgives! God forgives us all! Forgives each and every! Forgives one and all!”
The prophet – the preacher – is here for one reason and for one reason alone. NOT to give the people what they want! NOT to give the people what they expect or, even, are looking for! The prophet and the preacher’s here to give them what they need! To surprise them with gospel! To shock them with goodNews! To creep up on them with mercy and grace! To startle them with forgiveness and love! It’s easy proclaiming what we already believe. Teaching what we already know. Changing the world into something it’s always been. The hard part is proclaiming gospel and teaching goodNews. Plainly and simply! Without apology! Without excuse!
It’s not speaking truth to power … faith isn’t. It’s speaking truth to weakness. Speaking truth to insignificance. Change doesn’t trickle down from above. It percolates up from the bottom. It begins doesn’t descend from kings and queens. It rises up from the needy and poor. From the anonymous and the unseen. It’s born in mangers. Born again on crosses and in tombs. Give ‘em hell, preacher? No. Give ‘em Christ.
So, go, my friends. Go to the valley, not the mountaintop. And listen for whispers, not the shouting. Because that’s where life begins. That’s where god is found. Or rather, that’s where god finds us. Give ‘em hell? No. Give ‘em what we’ve received. Give ‘em faith! Give ‘em hope! Give ‘em love! Give ‘em, especially, the love!