Word to the Wise
Friday, November 23, 2018 - Friday in the 33th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rev 10:8-11 and Luke 19:45-48]So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. He said to me, "Take and swallow it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey." I took the small scroll from the angel's hand and swallowed it. In my mouth it was like sweet honey, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then someone said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings." [Revelation]
I may have mention here before a wall plaque I gave to my dad once with the words, "Lord, help my words to be gracious and tender today, because tomorrow I may have to eat them!" The image of the scroll that is eaten by the preacher is found in Ezekiel 3:1-2 and in the Book of Revelation. In both cases it is part of a vision/dream of knowing that something precious and sweet to the prophet will turn sour when he tries to proclaim the message. Ezekiel is warned that his prospective audience will not listen to him. The visionary in Revelation knows this will be his fate too because his community was already under persecution.
The Word of God is often imagined as bread to be broken and eaten. It is nourishment for the soul and can be a great comfort to us. But it can also be a challenge, or even a threat, to others when they are confronted with that Word. The secular world has its own gospel that can stand in stark contradiction to that of Jesus. We cannot allow that to poison our faith. What is sweet to us may be sour to many policy-makers who consider themselves sincere public servants. But the scroll of the Word of God comes from God and it is to those words that our lives must bear witness. In this Thanksgiving season, when food is so much a part of the celebration, I hope we can include the scroll of the Word of God in our menu! AMEN