You Shall Be My Mouthpiece

July 30, 2008
Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

Thus the Lord answered me: If you repent, so that I restore you, in my presence you shall stand; if you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece. (Jeremiah 15:19)

But I shall sing of your strength, extol your love at dawn, for you are my fortress, my refuge in time of trouble. (Psalms 59:17)

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44)

Piety
Lord, let me sing of your strength and love as the psalmist did. Use me as your mouthpiece to share the Good News.

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/073008.shtml

There’s a saying among writers: Show, don’t tell. That means, for example, instead of writing, “He was angry,” it’s more compelling to show someone who is angry. An example might be, “He clenched and unclenched his fists as his face reddened.”

God’s all about showing, too. In today’s Old Testament reading, the Lord tells Jeremiah that he will be “a solid wall of brass” against his enemies. The psalmist doesn’t just say, “I’m there for you, Lord”; he promises to “sing of your strength and revel at dawn in your mercy.” And in the Gospel reading, Jesus uses similes to show the burning desire we have to enter the Kingdom of heaven once we find it.

Showing is the action part of our Fourth Day. It’s doing more than talking about our friend Jesus in the safety of our faith community. It’s about showing we are Christians by our love, as the song goes.

I saw a lot of Christian love in action during a recent trip:
• A young woman listened with interest as a World War II veteran struggled to talk about his time in combat. She held his hand as the tears welled up in his eyes.
• A middle-aged man came to his wife’s assistance without complaint, making numerous phone calls to gather the information she needed for an unplanned speech.
• A woman prominent in her field whose cancer recently returned and metastasized was open and vulnerable in sharing her fears with an audience of both friends and strangers. “People say God doesn’t give us any more than we can handle,” she said matter of factly. “I disagree. I can’t handle this right now.” She drew a standing ovation when she called on people to be ready for detours on what they believe should be a straight line to success and glory.

I’m sure all three of these people are regular pray-ers and churchgoers. But it was their actions large and small, their showing rather than telling if you will, that sang the Lord’s song for all to see. They understand that entering the Kingdom is about more than believing it’s there; it’s about helping others to believe it through their actions.

Action
How will the Lord use you as his mouthpiece? Come up with three ways that you can show, not tell, others about the Kingdom today.