Nothing to Say

Sometimes I can’t think of anything to say, so I remain silent.

Sometimes I can’t think of anything to say, but I know that I have to say something so I do; but I wonder, “Would it have been better to have said nothing at all?”

John the Baptism had something to say: something to say about the behaviour of God’s people and the judgment it would bring upon them; something to say about good behaviour and what just people should do. He did not remain silent; and though his message was good news. It also had a sting in its tail. And for John, it probably would have been better had he said nothing at all; but not for the people of God.

We believe that the news of God’s reign is good news; that it is worth telling other people about. We believe that we have something to say and something worth saying. It’s just that what we have to say does have a sting in its tail, not just for others, but for us. And the sting is so potent, that there will be times when we think it probably would have been better not to have said anything at all.

The message of God’s good news in Jesus Christ releases prisoners and sets the captive free. It also binds the powerful and loads responsibility on the rich. Our proclamation of the good news is the standard by which we are charged as hypocrites and sinners. It would be easy to think that it would probably be better if we didn’t say anything at all.

But we would miss the fundamental reality that this news is good. It is the sort of good news that we can celebrate, even as we know that our joy is also tinged with the pain of knowing that we do not live up to God’s call on our lives. We can celebrate the good news that God comes and dwells with us as we are, in order that we might receive the freedom of God’s reign in our lives; and discover that what we have to say is worth saying after all, because the message is not ours, but God’s.