WEDNESDAY'S WORD - CRICKETS - 08/16/17 - Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

"I asked him where he stood, and all I heard was...(crickets)..."       If we were in England, Australia, or India and I asked about Cricket, you'd tell me about a game of bats and wickets, with teams of eleven players. An entomologist would say crickets were insects related to grasshoppers. Their the males produce a rhythmical chirping sound. As a child we'd visit my 90-year-old great aunt in "the country" - the back woods of Rappahannock, Virginia. Her home had a tin roof. There was an outhouse. She wrung the necks of chickens by hand and fed them to us. The nights were so dark you couldn't see your hand when you held it before your face. Coming from the city of Philadelphia, I found the silence of the country deafening. At times all you could hear was...crickets. "CRICKETS" is an African-American colloquialism that means the sound of silence. In the wilderness during the still of the night, all that can be heard is the sound of crickets chirping. After bringing up a subject the initiator of the conversation leaves a pregnant pause, eagerly awaiting a reply. When they do not hear one in a timely fashion, they exclaim..."CRICKETS."  Depending on the tone, this singular word can signify disappointment, dismay, disdain or sarcasm. "Crickets" signifies that the argument has already been won because there's no rebuttal. You don't have to utter a word; you've lost. I don't want to hear it. CRICKETS means this is where you should have inserted yourself and made your case or your apology...but you did not. "I waited for my Evangelical brothers and sisters in Christ to denounce/renounce racism in light of Charlottesville, and mostly I heard..."CRICKETS." He who justifies the wicked and condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD. (Proverbs 17:15) 11For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,b if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. 16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:11-18) I am grateful for the Christians that I have seen and heard make the stance against this anti-Christ spirit and ALL those who re-present it...top to bottom. In my circle that's been mostly a few Caucasian women and fewer men.  I applaud those who are standing toe to toe against evil ideologies. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. These devices and stratagems must be confronted spiritually in warfare. Images and thoughts contrary to the knowledge of God must be exposed and cast down! (Eph 5:11; 6:10-12; 2 Cor. 10:4-5)  I am saddened that Heather Heyer had to lose her life as one of so many martyrs in this fight. Multitudes have been wounded physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally over centuries. The root of these issues has always been greed, idolatry and power. (1 Tim. 6:10) Sadly, the most powerful of us are pitting the least powerful against each other. The time will come when we will realize the true enemy is not who we think it is. If we humble ourselves, pray, seek God's face, turn from our wickedness, submit to God and resist the devil, he'll flee, and God will heal our land. (James 4:6-7)  In the Kingdom of Heaven, the Sovereign Rule and Power belong to Almighty God. We who are citizens of the Kingdom, as His Ambassadors, are to reflect His true character in the world. (2 Cor. 5)  We are to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior, and fulfill the commandments to love God, our neighbors as ourselves, and even...our enemies. (Matt. 5)  Love is to be the identifying mark of Christ followers (John 13:34-35). Complicity with hatred, which is NOT the same as resistance against hatred, should never be named among us. We are to fight AGAINST injustice, and FOR the poor, the widow, the stranger and the orphan. We're supposed to be UNIFIED in this.

SUNDAY Worship

11:00 AM Worship
The Great Room Sunday Class
9:30 AM Youth Room Basement
at Wyoming Presbyterian
225 Wyoming Ave., 45215
For information 513-212-1131