The Prophetic Voice

I had another blog planned for today: a light-hearted one. But this screamed out for comment. Or at least it has been all over the airwaves and many hold opinions. So here is my two cents.
This whole incident started when Barack Obama began his bid for the presidency in the US. Since then, despite many protestations that his candidacy has nothing to do with race, it has been shown again and again that this campaign does have something to do with race. Someone has gone back and picked up the words of Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. To see a clip of what has everyone so up in arms you can watch below. I have also included Barack Obama's wonderful response.

My concern here is the prophetic voice with which Jeremiah Wright, and all preachers (including myself) claim to speak when we dare to stand in front of a group of people to speak a sermon, whether it begins with those ancient words, "may the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, my Rock and my Redeemer" or not. I don't know about other preachers, but for me that is often the most heartfelt prayer I speak on any given Sunday. I have never worried about people falling asleep during my sermon, about babies crying, or people not paying attention. I worry that someone might actually listen to me. That when I talk about God, and what God wants for us and of us, people will believe me. I worry about being right. I worry about missing the mark. And I worry about being wrong. I have learned that often my words are sometimes not that important: that people often hear the message they need to hear. That God is actually working in the church too and I need to relax and get over myself. But, sometimes a preachers words do matter.

So I feel a lot of sympathy with many of the prophets in the Bible who, in spite of the fact that they are standing in the presence of God, in the most personal and vivid spiritual moment in their lives, when they are asked to go out and speak the first reaction is, "who me?" And they had some good reasons to be afraid too. Because sometimes the truth can hurt. As Christians, many of the prophets we revere (Jeremiah, Ezekial, Elijah, and Micah to name but a few) said and did some very outrageous things.

I feel a great deal of sympathy for Jeremiah Wright, who feels a genuine call from God to preach, who speaks truth, but imperfectly. But words can matter. And his rhetoric has inflamed or alienated people who need to hear his deeper message the most. The problem is that many people of colour quietly agree with the fact that there is systemic discrimination. The fact is that many people of all colours know that racist taunts are still used. The fact is that many people know that DWB is not just a late night TV joke, but a humiliating reality for many ordinary people. And these things cause pain, and anger. These are the issues that Barack Obama went head to head with in his response.

In Canada we have our own race issues. They vary by community and province but they are there. In the United Church we have our own unique past to deal with because our involvement in the terrible residential school system. We will be hearing from many survivors in the coming months as part of a "Truth and Reconciliation" process. Will we have the courage to look behind any hurt feelings or hard words at the truth that lies there, that we must acknowledge and respond to? It will be difficult but easy is not always the right way to go.

Meanwhile I leave you with the words of one of our the most quoted prophets in the United Church, Micah, who told us that we are, "to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?" A wonderful phrase, but I encourage you to go and check out his complete message in which this phrase is embedded.

Any of us can be called upon to speak God’s truth. And God’s truth is sometimes hard and challenging. We can also be called upon to listen. Sometimes we have to do both.

Shalom
K


Sen. Barack Obama’s response in full.


News Clip about Rev. Wright – includes the now famous clip of his incendiary sermon.