When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
This section of Mark is full of end times predictions. Dark skies, wars and rumors of wars, brother betraying brother to death. I have an image of some apocalyptical movie scene, with death and destruction all around. I’m in the midst of all of that carnage. It would certainly be terrifying and I’d want to do something to protect myself and anyone else. I’d want a plan. I’d want to know what to do or say, to plan something great to get out of this mess.
But Jesus, in the midst of painting this desolate picture tells us to not be afraid. Don’t worry about what to say, even though we’re about to be handed over to the very forces that created the carnage. It is not me who speaks, but the Holy Spirit.
Wow. That would take some faith, if I were in the story Jesus is telling. Luckily, my woes rarely are as bad as what Jesus is foretelling. I haven’t been handed over, the skies haven’t darkened, the earthquake hasn’t split the earth, children haven’t raised up to put their parents to death. It really is a grim picture of these horrible times.
Perhaps I need to exercise that faith, practice having that faith so that if these super-terrible things happen, I’ve flexed those faith muscles. Maybe now with fewer problems, I should practice Jesus’ suggestion of not worrying about what to say or do, that the Holy Spirit will speak through me.
If I believed that, if I could practice having faith in that, what would change in me? Perhaps I wouldn’t fret. I wouldn’t spend as much time thinking about what I should be doing or saying. Perhaps I would spend more time in contemplative silence, listening to the Spirit within me. Perhaps I could build in more space, before I respond in any situation, space to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through me.
This morning, I’m thinking about how I might practice this faith, faith that I don’t need to worry about what to say because the Holy Spirit will speak through me. If Jesus asks the disciples to have that faith during the crash-and-burn scene he paints, I suspect I should have faith to do that in my world too.
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