When I was in the 3rd grade I was forced by Miss Armfield to go to the corner of the room and put my nose on the chalkboard and stand there like a dunce. I was an excellent speller, and actually was diligent about studying my spelling words before the test. So I had correctly spelled my 8th word when I looked over at my friend, Michael Shaw and his paper. He had made several backward e’s. And I found that funny and laughed aloud. I did not need to cheat, but maybe she had thought that. She released me after a few minutes.

As kids on childhood playgrounds, you may have experienced this. Someone dares another to cross a line drawn by their foot. “You better not cross this line, or else!” So when a brave soul crosses, what does the line drawer do? He makes another swipe with his foot. “Well, you better not cross this line. I mean it!” And after 2 or so lines are crossed the “darer” is backed into a corner. There is nowhere to go.

It is apparent to me that, in many ways, the Church has been ordered or backed into a corner. Often it is through our own failure to be faithful. Just look at what many have done with the Word. Like Thomas Jefferson, who scissored out every passage he did not like, many have shredded the Word of God. Sin is not sin anymore. With every scandal and moral failure, our message is weakened. At other times, when we have been stood for truth, we are shouted at or shouted down. We are called bigoted and judgemental.

I considered “Silence of the Lambs” as a title, but thought it a bit too gruesome, if you know the movie. But if the shoe fits …..

Just days after the outpouring of Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2, the apostles are jailed for proclaiming the Name of Jesus. The Sanhedrin, the High Priest, the political and spiritual leadership of the day, not knowing what else to do, command Peter and John to never again speak or teach in the name of Jesus. And slowly, steadily, from that day forward and around the world courts of law, public officials, and yes, even church authorities have tried to force Christians into corners, trying to silence us, the lambs.

What is it about this speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus that causes systems and courts and authorities to try and suppress it?

I am reminded of a road trip I took with my brother in 1973 to Dunkirk, NY to visit family. Somewhere in West Virginia I decided to witness to him as he was driving the turnpike. After a few minutes, his fury at me peaked and he balled up his fist and shook it at me. If he had nor been driving, he might have swung. “Don’t you ever talk to me about this again!” I am happy to report, that some 40 years later, he has made a commitment to Christ.

But on the other hand, what is it about this message of Jesus Christ that causes Spirit-filled believers – like Peter and John – to say “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge, for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard!”

And what have we seen and heard?

John writes in 1 John 1.3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you – what was from the beginning – what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes – what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life, and the Life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. THIS we proclaim – that all mankind might know Jesus Christ is both Savior and Lord.”

Jesus Himself quotes this passage from Isaiah 61.1-3 in Luke chapter 4 on the day He entered public ministry. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable day of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

He says that TODAY this is fulfilled. Jesus is appointed and anointed. And I might say that we too have been appointed and anointed to make the same proclamations!

Why do Peter and John say they cannot but speak the name of Jesus? Because to them (and to us) it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 13.11)

Why does Paul feel compelled to boldly proclaim the name of Jesus? Because he too had been appointed and anointed to both know and proclaim the “mysteries of God in Christ Jesus. (1 Corinthians 2.6-16)

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 4.1-2 “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.”

And just to make sure that this mystery is now really no longer a mystery, Paul explains this mystery in very plain and simple terms in Ephesians chapter 3.

Clearly, the unfathomable riches of Christ are now available to all people – Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, red and yellow, black and white, striped, tattooed, pierced. Polka-dotted! Green, orange, or rainbow colored. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners and reconcile them to Father God and this Light is STILL being made known to rulers and kings and kingdoms through the CHURCH!

In Colossians 1.25-29 we read that we are the deposit, the vehicle, and Paul continues in chapter 2 to say that there is a wealth to be obtained and that this wealth – these riches – are deposited to our account, only by having the understanding of the true knowledge of God’s mystery – Christ Himself – in Whom were hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. WE HAVE THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS!

Why does the world, everywhere we turn today – the media – the courts – in the streets – on social media – at local boards of education – try to force us into a corner with our noses pressed against chalk and make a silence of the lambs?

Isn’t it ironic that this world with its billions of people desperately seeking truth and self-fulfillment and wanting the “best version of me” – do drastic things to shut up the mouths of the very ones who can proclaim the very truth they seek? And in some places we are imprisoned and even killed. But we cannot but speak that which we have experienced! Jesus transformed my life! He can transform anyone’s!

I just finished reading A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY. And I must tell you that the history of Christianity, with all the glory of our risen Savior and Lord Who is the center of this story, there is much to be ashamed of. Reviling the truth and those who proclaim it is nothing new. Thousands and thousands of our brothers and sisters have been put to death, often by “church leaders.” Today, with the advent of the internet and social media, it seems that every little incident becomes national news.

But God has always had a remnant. A remnant who, in their generation, remained faithful.

“He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, beheld by angels, proclaimed among nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory!” (I Tim.3.16)

We are stewards of this glorious truth. I do not own it, but I am responsible for it. And part of that responsibility includes proclamation. The Greek word is kerygma – a non-negotiable proclamation by a herald.

You can refuse it. You can ignore it. You can ball up your fist against it. But you cannot change it. It is, to us who truly believe, a “non-negotiable” proclamation.

“So send I you.”

The baton of proclamation has come to this generation. And even though I have passed into my 70’s, I am still a part of this generation. It is our lap in the relay. And it is time to “burn the bushel.” Hide it under a bushel, NO! It is time to stop drawing lines in the sand and being backed into a corner with nowhere to turn. It is time for the Church to go on the offensive. There is no greater “organization” on earth than the Church. To us has been given the mystery. And, like faithful stewards, we must not now bury it or alter it or neglect it. The need of the proclamation of the truth of the saving grace of Jesus Christ is as great today as it has ever been.

Will you join me in a renewal of determination to recover the stewardship of proclamation? To rise up against the tide of this age, and declare the mighty God we serve and His truth to a world in such need?

Every tribe and nation. Every situation. We must declare that Jesus is the Lord.