Dr Seuss wrote a book about a voice. An evil industrialist is chopping down all the truffula trees and making them into thneeds. The Lorax comes saying, “I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.” This line gets repeated, but no one is listening. Soon, the trees are all gone, except for one seed. The book is not simply an environmental parable. It is also an account of the occasional, Lorax-like individual, who speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves.

We need to cultivate the Lorax prophets in our church. They speak for those not present at the church council meeting. They speak for the unchurched people who live nearby. They speak for the homeless, the shut-in, and the illegal immigrant. They speak for many others that can not be named because we haven’t heard the Lorax.

I find myself thinking of the way Jesus began his sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:3-13).

I am the Lorax, representing the Kingdom of God, and I speak for:

the poor - for it is all belongs to them

those that mourn - that the church might hear and comfort them

the meek - for they are defined by their lack of voice

those that hunger for fairness - for in many have given up on the system

the merciful - for we only receive mercy by speaking it

for the pure in heart - for Devil knows everyone else’s price

for the peacemakers - for cost of hatred is too great

for all those who are persecuted, insulted, and shut out of our conversations 

  - for they are the salt of the earth

I am the Lorax, I speak for them