Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 18 verses 9 through 11:
9One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; 10for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.’ 11He stayed there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Several years ago amidst a crisis of conscience when a number of families were leaving the church over an issue which I considered to be a matter of the Gospel, I read this passage from Paul’s time in the seemingly-recalcitrant community of Macedonia and it gave me great, great hope to keep going on the path we were on. “Keep speaking; do not be silent . . . for there are many in this city who are my people.”
To speak is difficult. There are so many pressures within and without to keep us quiet. It’s so much more comfortable to simply remain silent, to say nothing, to let the world go on just as it is.
But the vision tells us to not be afraid. It compels us to keep opening our mouths. “There are many of my people here,” it says, many fighting the same good fight, many longing for the same new world to be born. “Keep speaking and you will find them.
“Do not be afraid. Keep speaking, keep teaching, keep connecting, keep organizing, keep meeting, and together you will discover this old world really can be born again.”
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