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Be Brave—Speak Up
Scripture: “To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:3
There was a marketing campaign in the city where I lived some years ago that posted banners on buses reading: “If you see something, say something.” The campaign was designed to get people who witnessed problematic activity—those aware of the physical and/or emotional injury of another, and/or of the party or parties responsible for that harm—to report it rather than remain silent, quietly endorsing the harm taking place.
This silent complicity with those responsible for harm was happening a great deal in the city, I imagine—or at least enough to justify an expensive, citywide marketing campaign. And while I don’t know how effective the campaign was, I do know it was not only a pretty neat slogan—it echoes a responsibility God entrusts to each of us, as stated in our scripture this morning.
So often there is much ado about religious practice: people feel the obligation to go to church, to pay tithes, to pray, and so on. These things are great—we should do them, and do them with fervor. But sometimes these religious activities happen instead of actually doing the right thing; they happen instead of helping a hurting friend, neighbor, or stranger. Of this tendency, the famed Dr. King observed, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
And the well-being of people does matter.
Our scripture this morning speaks definitively to this problematic approach: what God wants from us—from each of us—is to do the right thing. God asks each of us: if you see something, say something. Why? Because your voice, your bravery, your courage, your sheer gumption to speak up come what may about a wrong could spare any number of people from hurt, harm, and loss. Yours could be the act of courage that saves the life of another.
To be fair, speaking up can come with risk—reputational risk, financial risk, the risk of some form of physical reprisal, and more. But staying silent also carries risk, and arguably a greater one: silence almost certainly costs someone hurt or harm, and sometimes—sometimes—it even comes at the expense of a life, whether that of a friend, a neighbor, or a stranger.
So, sure, we could tell ourselves it’s none of our business; or that speaking up would only make matters worse; or that we ourselves might be harmed if we do—and convince ourselves, and others, that we have chosen rightly.
However, the iconic Desmond Tutu wrote, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” So in those quiet moments when we choose not to speak up upon witnessing a wrong, we not only fail to support the hurt, the injured, and the unaware from a place of genuine care for our neighbor—we also actively choose not to serve the loving, decent God who defends them.
In these instances, instead of serving and siding with the God of creation, we choose to side with harm and fear. Instead of understanding the wrong we have seen or heard as God’s invitation to speak up—to serve God and friend, to worship through action—we treat it as an optional, costly effort we would simply rather not make.
But what if we were to speak up? What if we were to choose the harder right, and refuse to remain silent in the easier wrong? What if we were to take seriously the words of William Faulkner, who wrote, “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed.” Just imagine how our bravery might resound. And what’s more—when we choose the harder right, when we choose to be faithful to what God asks of us, we can rest assured that God has our back.
So, if you see something, say something. Do what is right. Help those who could benefit from your bravery. Why? Because it is what our God not only asks of us, but expects of us. And also—because you never know when you might need somebody to speak up on your behalf.
Amen.
