Today’s Readings: Psalm 57; Numbers 9:15-23; Luke 23:1-12; Ephesians 3:1-6; Psalm 73
There are literally hundreds of amazing quotes that came from either the mouth or the pen of Martin Luther King Jr. Many folks would have a hard time choosing which of those quotes is their favorite. For me, it’s an easy choice. I love the quote that reads: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” I was reminded of that quote as I read today’s lesson from the Gospel of Luke. In that passage, we hear the story of Jesus’ appearance before Pontius Pilate. What fascinates me about the story is that there are multiple instances when Pontius Pilate could have summoned the courage and had Jesus released from captivity; and yet each time Pilate had a chance to do the right thing, he chose not to. In the end, Pilate chose to entirely remove himself from the situation by passing the responsibility on to Herod. In other words, Pilate chose to remain silent. As a result of this, Pilate has gone down in the annals of Christian history as a weak person who helped contribute (albeit passively) to Jesus’ ultimate demise. While it would be easy to single Pilate out and rain down our judgment on him, it seems to me that do so would be hypocritical since each of us often finds ourselves in places where we could do the right thing and yet opt not to as well. Maybe we’re standing at the water cooler and hear a co-worker tell a racist/sexist/homophobic joke. And how do we react? We say nothing and hope that someone else will stand up and do the right thing. Or perhaps we are at the grocery market and see an adult act abusively toward a child. And what do we do? Nothing – other than hope someone else will take care of the matter for us. On so many occasions, we are placed in opportunities when we – like Pilate - have an opportunity to do the right thing. On so many occasions we do what Pilate did and look for our own version of Herod to take care of things for us. In other words, we remain silent. Let us take a moment today and ask God for the strength and courage to find our voice so that we might overcome our tendency to remain silent. Til next time…
There are literally hundreds of amazing quotes that came from either the mouth or the pen of Martin Luther King Jr. Many folks would have a hard time choosing which of those quotes is their favorite. For me, it’s an easy choice. I love the quote that reads: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” I was reminded of that quote as I read today’s lesson from the Gospel of Luke. In that passage, we hear the story of Jesus’ appearance before Pontius Pilate. What fascinates me about the story is that there are multiple instances when Pontius Pilate could have summoned the courage and had Jesus released from captivity; and yet each time Pilate had a chance to do the right thing, he chose not to. In the end, Pilate chose to entirely remove himself from the situation by passing the responsibility on to Herod. In other words, Pilate chose to remain silent. As a result of this, Pilate has gone down in the annals of Christian history as a weak person who helped contribute (albeit passively) to Jesus’ ultimate demise. While it would be easy to single Pilate out and rain down our judgment on him, it seems to me that do so would be hypocritical since each of us often finds ourselves in places where we could do the right thing and yet opt not to as well. Maybe we’re standing at the water cooler and hear a co-worker tell a racist/sexist/homophobic joke. And how do we react? We say nothing and hope that someone else will stand up and do the right thing. Or perhaps we are at the grocery market and see an adult act abusively toward a child. And what do we do? Nothing – other than hope someone else will take care of the matter for us. On so many occasions, we are placed in opportunities when we – like Pilate - have an opportunity to do the right thing. On so many occasions we do what Pilate did and look for our own version of Herod to take care of things for us. In other words, we remain silent. Let us take a moment today and ask God for the strength and courage to find our voice so that we might overcome our tendency to remain silent. Til next time…
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