Happy February, everyone. Don’t forget: It’s only about 46 days until Spring!
As I discussed in my Pastoral Vision for 2025 and as I preached about on January 26, we’re looking forward this year to being more able to proclaim the Good News of Jesus not just in our actions and missions (which we’re getting really good at) but also with our words. Sharing our faith and being ready to help others learn about God’s love for them is vitally important to our faith, the faith of others, but also to the life, mission, and ministry of our church.
One aspect of sharing faith that I’d like us to consider is reluctance to speak. We may feel unfit, unprepared, not ready, not holy enough, not the right person, not having the right words. We are…reluctant.
But don’t worry—You’re in good company!
Moses was afraid that he could not speak God’s powerful words to the people Israel or to Pharaoh for believed, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10).
The prophet Jeremiah didn’t feel he was ready for he felt, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy” (Jeremiah 1:6b).
The prophet Isaiah didn’t think he was the right person to speak on God’s behalf because, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5b).
But in each of these cases, God was there to help.
For Moses: “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak” (Exodus 4:11-12).
For Jeremiah: “7But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’ 9Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:7-9).
And for Isaiah: “6Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out” (Isaiah 6:6-7).
If you don’t think there’s a way…there’s always a way. God will make a way. Remember: This is the God who called forth the creation; who parted the Sea of Reeds in the wilderness for Israel; who raised Christ from the dead and called forth the church. This God can get stuff done.
We are all called to proclaim Good News in our words and our stories. When we share these thoughts, feelings, and inspirations, we join Christ in his preaching ministry to proclaim the coming reign of Christ and to witness to the awesome power of God in this world.
If you’re reluctant, that’s ok: So were Moses, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. But God made a way for them.
And God is making a way for you. Seek God’s wisdom and God’s words and share them!