10/31/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
It’s popular in some circles to “speak truth to power.” The clause is usually taken to indicate that those in power do not have the truth. They need to be confronted and, ultimately, replaced. It also usually indicates that the person or organization which approaches “the establishment” in a strident and forceful manner is, by definition, speaking the truth.
Micah 3:5-12 speaks truth to power, but it does it in a different way. Here, God’s prophet conveys the word of the Lord against other prophets. Some were making prophecies of peace for their friends but of destruction against those who didn’t provide them with whatever they wanted. God’s message for those false prophets is that they will find God doesn’t do what they predict.
God calls his people to righteousness and justice. Yet we must realize that it is the Lord who defines what that looks like. He is the one who is able to define sin. He is also the one who is able to forgive sin and restore his people.
What happens when we really speak truth to power? If it is the real truth, it should lead to repentance. There’s no need for the power to collapse. It can be reformed. And all change will come from the work of God, not from our forceful personality.
May the Lord correct those who are in error. May he establish justice and peace.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
It’s popular in some circles to “speak truth to power.” The clause is usually taken to indicate that those in power do not have the truth. They need to be confronted and, ultimately, replaced. It also usually indicates that the person or organization which approaches “the establishment” in a strident and forceful manner is, by definition, speaking the truth.
Micah 3:5-12 speaks truth to power, but it does it in a different way. Here, God’s prophet conveys the word of the Lord against other prophets. Some were making prophecies of peace for their friends but of destruction against those who didn’t provide them with whatever they wanted. God’s message for those false prophets is that they will find God doesn’t do what they predict.
God calls his people to righteousness and justice. Yet we must realize that it is the Lord who defines what that looks like. He is the one who is able to define sin. He is also the one who is able to forgive sin and restore his people.
What happens when we really speak truth to power? If it is the real truth, it should lead to repentance. There’s no need for the power to collapse. It can be reformed. And all change will come from the work of God, not from our forceful personality.
May the Lord correct those who are in error. May he establish justice and peace.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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