Public Proclamation. Yikes!

Hazel Motes is the main character in Flannery O’Connor’s 1952 novel Wise Blood. Hazel Motes is a street preacher of the kind that is rare today and perhaps hard for us to imagine. He stands outside movie theatres, and on the hood of his old car, proclaiming his gospel—he competes with other hawkers of religion and those flogging household goods. In addition to the fundamental oddness of the street preacher himself, O’Connor’s novels have comic and grotesque elements—makes it a challenge to relate to her characters.

The religion of Hazel Motes is unconventional, to put it mildly. It’s not entirely clear what shapes his convictions. It may be that he is reacting against the harsh religion of his grandfather, who was also a street preacher. It may be that he is responding to the hypocrisy of the church he sees around him, where the supposed redeemed are no different from the unredeemed. It may be that he aspires to a kind of freedom that following Christ doesn’t allow. Whatever it is that shapes his religious life and convictions, Hazel Motes becomes a peculiar public preacher of what he calls the Church without Christ.

He stands on the front of his rust-bucket car and he declares:

I preach the Church Without Christ. I’m member and preacher to that church where the blind don’t see and lame don’t walk and what’s dead stays that way. Ask me about that church and I’ll tell you it’s a church that the blood of Jesus won’t foul with redemption.

He continues: I’m going to preach there was no Fall because there was nothing to fall from and no redemption because there was no fall and no judgment because there wasn’t the first two. Nothing matters but that Jesus was a liar.

Hazel Motes, street preacher, proclaiming the Church without Christ.

But, there’s something about Hazel Motes. He preaches the Church without Christ yet he is also haunted by Jesus. Early in the novel, we read:

Hazel Motes knew by the time he was twelve that he was going to be a preacher. Later he saw Jesus move from tree to tree in the back of his mind, a wild ragged figure motioning him to come off into the dark where he was not sure of his footing, where he might be walking on water and not know it and then suddenly know it and drown.

Hazel Motes stands outside movie theatres, and he stands on the hood of his car, preaching his Church without Christ, but Jesus haunts his proclamation. Motes remains enamoured with that wild ragged figure who beckoned to him in his youth. He sees Jesus. And he’s drawn to him. But he can’t take the risk of following. He can’t join that hypocritical mass of the redeemed. He won’t compromise his freedom.

The novel ends in a kind of ambiguity. You’re left with the impression Motes may have come around and trusted Jesus—but it’s not clear that happens. What we do know is that even as he preaches the Church without Christ, he remains caught up with this Jesus.

A friend of mine has become a public preacher of sorts. Susan Mattinson lives in Truro, Nova Scotia (in Eastern Canada) and she’s a Presbyterian minister, though not serving in a congregation right now. Among other things she is an artist and miniaturist — she is a wildly creative person.

A few weeks ago she shared something she has been doing this summer—something so intriguing. She has been going to public markets and local festivals in Nova Scotia, and has been setting up a small stand with a table and a typewriter. She has dressed in the typical attire of an old-school librarian.

And at these markets and festivals and public places she offers up words. She offers up poetry to those passing by. Here’s the deal: You give her the subject, and she types a poem for you—you pay her whatever amount you want for the poem. Imagine having the creativity and courage to set yourself up in public in this way.

Here’s what Susan recently wrote on Facebook about one of her outings:

It went really well, all things considered! A late start the first day due to a rain storm, and we were inside the farmer’s market space. The second day was windy, but we were back outside! In total, I wrote 38 poems. Topics ranged from peaches, to pink elephants, to special places and people, to anniversaries, to a comedic love letter from one dog to another dog!

I wrote one poem for a mystery lady. She requested a poem (insisted I choose the topic), ran away, and then came back later to pick it up!

Here’s the poem Susan wrote for the mystery lady.

You appear out of nowhere
and ask for a poem
not about you
(ah, but now it is
about you…sorry)

Life is filled with
mysteries
the puzzle pieces
of our lives
scattered on the table
and some days they fit
together like blue sky
and tidy corners
Other days we worry
that a piece or two
has gone missing,
on the rug or under
the couch or consumed
by whatever lives under
our bed in the dark and
stormy nights.

Patience and hope
are the glue that hold
it all together.
and love, of course love,
in all tis forms.
mystery is not all bad;
new adventures await
just around the corner.

Can you hear that this poem is also haunted by Christ? Haunted in a very different way, to be sure, from the life and preaching of Hazel Motes. Susan’s poetry is haunted by the love and mystery of Jesus. Her engagement with neighbours and strangers is animated by her love for Christ and by Christ’s love for them. Her intention to bless others is rooted in her faith in Christ, her relationship with Christ, her love for Christ.

Already in the 1950’s when Flannery O’Connor’s novel was written, and more so today, public proclamation was and is a fraught activity. Few wanted to listen to a street preacher then; and fewer want to listen to street preachers now. Certainly nobody wants to be preached at, then or now.

But there are very many who will abide and even appreciate someone who speaks lovingly and creatively into their lives with Christ-haunted words. There are many who will be grateful for a public poet who brings hope and insight to their lives. It may even be that there will come a day when some would welcome a public word about God’s love in Jesus. If we are animated by love and creativity and generosity, as Susan is, that day of welcome may perhaps come sooner than we anticipate.

A third public preacher of note.

Paul is on a boat driven by heavy winds and over desperately dangerous seas. They have been in the midst of late-season storms for days now. There are a couple hundred souls with their lives in the balance. In this context Paul becomes a street preacher—or ship deck preacher, if you will.

As I read this part of the text, I’ve got to say that I feel like Paul makes a pretty rough start with his public proclamation. With his opening words he’s more Hazel Motes than Susan Mattinson. He says: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.” Well, thank you Paul. Just what we all need in a crisis: Someone who is willing to stand up and say: “Ya know, if you had just listened to me you wouldn’t be in this mess.” He may be right, but wisdom means knowing when things need saying or don’t need saying. And this didn’t need saying.

Things continue with something of an awkward edge as Paul continues his proclamation: “Let me tell you something – an angel visited me last night.” Oh great, he’s seen an angel – no doubt some kind of avenging angel, to whip up this storm even more? Really, an angel?

Ok, it turns out not to be an avenging angel, and who am I to say that an angel didn’t visit Paul? So we hear him out. According to the angel, God has a purpose for Paul in this last stage of his life. God’s purpose is for Paul to proclaim the gospel to the Emperor, in Rome. The angel says that nothing is going to get in the way of his preaching to the emperor—certainly not a few waves and some wind. Paul tells his listeners, “The Angel said to me: ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you’.”

So that’s great news for those on the ship, I think. They’re going to be saved. But is it good news? Is Paul saying God will save them for his sake, and not for their own sake? They’ll be saved because God loves Paul, not because God loves them? Is this the message of Paul: “We are all going to be saved for the sake of my mission of proclamation. I am proud to report that all of you are the accidental beneficiaries of God’s purposes for my life.”  Hey preacher, is that what you’re saying?

Ok, maybe that’s not the best or most generous interpretation of Paul’s message. The truth is that Paul making it safely to Rome to preach the gospel only requires that Paul be saved—it doesn’t require anyone else’s rescue. But the angel says that all will be saved. “God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.” Maybe those on that boat are more than accidental beneficiaries of God’s grace. Maybe God is saying through the angel: “My gracious eye is on you Paul, and when I see you I see those around you—I see them to save and redeem and bring them life. My love always reaches further. It is always a love reaching beyond those who know me and serve me, for new relationships and new opportunities to bless.”

Public proclamation is tough gig. Preaching the gospel, whether on a street corner, or at a local fair, or from a pulpit, or in classroom alongside others, is difficult work. It’s a tough gig.

Often there is more of us in our preaching than is helpful. More of our ideas and our angst and our limitations than we may realize.

Sometimes the message of God’s love and God’s way has to break out, to free itself, from the words we are speaking. There are so many ways we cannot meet this moment and its challenges.

Perhaps the good news for the preacher can finally be put like this, in the light of our text. God says: “My gracious eye is on you preacher—street preacher, pulpit preacher—and when I see you preach I also see your listeners—I see your listeners to save and renew and give them life. My love reaches further than all of your words and all of your creativity and all of your love. Yes, it’s a tough gig—you’ve got to work hard at this speaking and loving. But as you do that hard work, then you should also rest in my love—rest in my love for your listeners. I see them. I am going out to meet them, to bless them, to love them in the name of Christ my Son. Amen”