Sent by God

There are two things that touched my heart during my meditation today. The first thing is, that when God calls us to go boldly and preach his truth, he will always provide for us. He will place his words on our lips and it will be him who speaks through us.

We see this throughout scripture. Many of the prophets in the Old Testament speak about this and often use their inability to speak well as an excuse to not do what God is calling them to do. Moses objects several times and one of his excuses was, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor recently, nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and tongue” And God’s response is, “It is I who will assist you in speaking and will teach you what you are to say.” (Genesis 4:10, 12)

At the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah, he tells God that he does not know how to speak and that he is too young. But God tells him, “To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you.” (Jeremiah 1:7-8) God makes this same promise to each of us.  Jeremiah accepts God’s call, and in today’s reading we see that his life is threatened because of this. Jeremiah tells the people that the Lord sent him and instructed him what to say. He goes on to tell them, “I am in your hands; do with me what you think good and right. But mark well: if you put me to death, it is innocent blood you bring on yourselves, on this city and its citizens.” (Jeremiah 26:14-15) Thank goodness they came to their senses realizing that God did send him and decided not to kill him.

John the Baptist on the other hand did not fare so well. He told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” (Matthew 14:4) Herod was having an adulterous relationship with his brother’s wife. John was aware of the consequences of his actions but was not afraid. He knew he had to speak the truth and was thrown in prison for doing so. This brings me to the other thing that spoke to me during my meditation. Sometimes we say things that are hurtful, we make ridiculous promises, like Herod, and instead of making things right, we allow our pride to get in the way.

Our pride keeps us from apologizing for the hurt we have caused another. Our pride keeps us from admitting that we made a mistake. And sometimes our pride leads to horrible consequences as in the case of Herod. He makes a ridiculous promise, swearing to give Herodias’ daughter whatever she wants. In Mark’s gospel account of this story, Herod even promises half of his kingdom if she wants it! Once she makes her request known, he could have easily stopped things right then and there, by just saying “No.” But because “of his oaths and the guests who were present” he cowers and does what he knows is terribly wrong. Pride is the root of all sin and today’s gospel is a perfect example. Lord, give us the courage to proclaim your truth when you call upon us to do so, knowing and trusting that you will place your words on our lips. Also, give us the courage to admit when we are wrong and not allow our pride to continue the injustices that we inflict on one another.