“What Do You Know?”

“It is incumbent upon Christians and Christian churches to tell the truth, to speak up for those who are persecuted, and to speak out for what we believe.  And that begs the question:  What do we believe?  You’ve got to know your stories – your history, church history, your own and each other’s testimonies, Bible stories.  What do we know reliably?  What do you need to know?  There is a saying attributed to Mark Twain:  “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”  Do we know our own sacred Scriptures?  Are we well equipped to use them, and to know when they are being misused or misquoted? Who instructed you in Christian faith?  Can you fully trust that they knew what they were talking about?  Or maybe you know that you don’t know much.  Are you willing to learn?  Are you willing to be challenged?  Or will you only listen to those who suit your own liking?  Do you have itchy ears, as Paul cautioned Timothy against accumulating ideas that are interesting or entertaining, but not necessarily sound?

I think that now is a very good time for us to grapple with what we believe, and prepare ourselves to speak out and act out Christian faith in the public arena.  I doubt that there will be lions in the arena this time, but there may well be persecution.  Now is the time to get ready, to train in righteousness, to become evangelists – which simply means people who tell good news.  There’s a lot of bad news out there – but there is also a lot of good news.  What do you know?  Do you know where your help comes from?  Are you steady and ready to fulfill your ministry?”

Meditation by The Rev. Valerie Coe Lowder, preacher

Sunday, October 19, 2025