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Martin Luther King Jr. , in a speech given about the Vietnam War in a speech at Riverside Church in 1967, said there is a time when silence is betrayal. When you know something is wrong but you say nothing, that is betrayal, betrayal to the person wronged, betrayal to God and betrayal to all that is right.

Christians have a way of being silent, in the name of “not hurting anyone’s feelings,” or wanting to be “in” with a person in power or perceived power. I have done it: been silent when I’ve known I should have said something because I didn’t want to offend anyone. Everyone has done it, but the fact of the matter is, there is a time to speak and a time to be silent. The Bible says that.

The Beatitudes say “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” We spent a lot of time differentiating between “peace lovers,” those who want peace at all cost and who therefore will not say anything, even when they know something is wrong, and peace-makers, who sometimes bring about peace for drawing to attention something that is wrong and therefore inspire a different action.

I am not talking about mess-makers. Mess-makers do just that: make mess. They see something they do not like, and instead of doing what they can to improve it, they talk about that situation, that person and do nothing but rile up the emotions of people.

No, I am talking about people who have a heart for God, want to work for God, and in that desire, see much that is not in keeping with what God would want.
We are in a nation which, in spite of great wealth, has become poor. Our descent into poverty came early on, as we watched our government destroy Native Americans, sanction racism, and in general, sacrificed godly work with demonic vision which included racism, materialism and militarism. We, the United States of America, have been ruthless in our quest for power and for things, and in the process, scores of people have suffered.

In this nation, there has been created a class of beggars. As this economic situation worsens, I imagine that class will widen. We have grown comfortable to having things; it is inconceivable to us that we not be able to have a car or enough money to feed our pets, yet more and more people are descending into economic despair, while a tiny number of people fight to stay in power, hoard the money and resources, and in effect echo the caustic reply said long ago by a heartless French monarch when told that the people of France had nothing to eat.

To keep silent when people are suffering is a betrayal of the purpose of resurrection. Too many people are still on a cross of suffering, when, as we all know and say ad nauseum, “Jesus died for my sins.” Part of “our sin” is being silent and doing nothing, sitting in saucers of comfort and self-righteousness while so much of the world is begging for a touch of God’s grace.

They will only be touched when we touch them. They will be shown the love of God through our actions, not by boasting about the denomination to which we belong, or the church. They will be convicted that the Christ died for them, too, when the smug stop being smug about the resurrection, and realize that there are still too many people on a cross.

We who have been blessed know better. The word is that we do better when we know better. We really DO know better. Now, in the name of resurrection it is time TO DO better – so that all may be one, as the Christ prayed it would be.
Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Pastor Smith