Perspective: The Power of Words

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The Power of Words

Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29 (NRSV)

Be careful little ears what you hear

When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near

Be careful little lips what you say

For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

From "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns

One day, a young man named Jeremiah hears the voice of God, who reveals to him that, even before he was born, he had been set apart to be a prophet - someone called to speak on behalf of God.  At first, Jeremiah objects to such a high and lofty calling, saying that he cannot not speak on God's behalf because he is too young.¹  In response, God reaches out and touches Jeremiah's mouth, saying,

Now I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.²

As I've noted previously, what God says to Jeremiah is, in my opinion, a testament to the power of words, especially words that come from God.  Often we try to diminish the power of words.  For example, we teach children pithy sayings like "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me," even though we know they aren't true.  God authorizes Jeremiah "to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" through the words God has placed in his mouth.  Words have power.

Another part of Scripture that, I would say, testifies to the power of words is the very first chapter of the very first book in the Bible.  Throughout this poem we read about a God who creates the world through the power of words.

Let there be light.

Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.

Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.

Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.³

Toward the end of the Creation poem, God says, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness."⁴  One way that we humans are created in the image of God is the fact that we have the capacity to create, and one way that we create is through our words.  When God creates human beings, God gives them a special purpose, saying, "Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."⁵  Created to cultivate and steward the earth, humans were given the power and the authority to make a significant impact on the world.

Words create worlds.  Consider the worlds that have been created by fantasy writers like C.S. Lewis, who gave us The Chronicles of Narnia, and J.R.R. Tolkien, who gave us The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and other tales of Middle Earth.  More seriously, consider the thinkers and leaders who, with their words, had a part in shaping the world in which we live, for better or for worse.  It has been said that "the pen is mightier than the sword."  Totalitarian dictators would not censor the media and burn books if they did not believe that words held the potential to pose a serious threat to them.

Words are powerful, but, like all forms of power, the power of words has the potential be misused.  In the words of one ancient sage, "Wholesome speech is a tree of life, but dishonest talk breaks the spirit."⁶  St. James suggests that, in the same way that a small flame has the capacity to burn down a large forest, the tongue is a small part of the human body that has a great potential for destruction.⁷

As human beings, each of us has, to some degree, the power to make an impact on the world around us, through our words, through our actions, and even through our very presence.  We must not take this power lightly, and we must use whatever power we have responsibly so that the impact we have is positive.  Furthermore, we must be mindful of the way our words are shaping the world around us.  May we grow in our love for God and in our love for others, so that we do what God created us to do, to care for the world God created.


Notes:

1. Jeremiah 1:4-6
2. Jeremiah 1:9-10 (NRSV)
3. Selections from Genesis 1:1-25 (NRSV)
4. Genesis 1:26
5. ibid.
6. Proverbs 15:4 (CEB)
7. James 3:5b-6

The image of the old dictionary page is public domain and was found on The Old Design Shop blog.

Introspection: Goodbye, Bethel UMC

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Goodbye, Bethel UMC

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.  For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NRSV)

Now, don't hang on

Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky

It slips away

And all your money won't another minute buy

From "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas

Jacob was on the run.  He had cheated his brother a second time, and now his brother wanted blood.¹  He stopped for the night, and, using a rock as a pillow, he went to sleep.  As Jacob dreamed, he saw a ladder that extended up to heaven, and he watched as angels ascended and descended the ladder.  He heard the voice of God, who promised to bless him, to protect him, and to someday bring him back to his homeland.  When Jacob awoke, he exclaimed, "Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it!"  He used the rock on which he had slept to build a monument, and he named the place Bethel, which means "House of God."²

Years later, Jacob returned to Bethel with his family to worship the God who met him there.³

On a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of June, I left work early to go to a dentist appointment.  Two weeks earlier, the dentist found several cavities that needed to be filled.  On that same day, a special meeting was held at Bethel United Methodist Church, the church I attended for most of my life, to discuss the future of the church.  After my appointment, I called my mom to ask how the meeting went.

She informed me that Bethel would soon close.

The last few years have been difficult for me, and the closure of my home church is just the latest in a series of painful losses in my life.  Though I had stopped regularly attending Bethel nearly two years ago, I could still go back to visit any time I wanted.  In fact, I've gone back to fill in for the pastor on a number of occasions.  Soon I will no longer have such opportunities.  With that in mind, I decided to start attending Bethel again until the day it closes, to say goodbye to my home church and to be with the congregation during this difficult time.  I've even had the opportunity to teach Sunday school a couple of times.

The story of Creation, as told by the stained glass windows
at Bethel United Methodist Church

I have a lot of conflicting feelings about Bethel.  Often the youngest person in a small, aging congregation, I felt that my needs were not always met, so I was frequently turning to early contemporary services and young adult Bible studies at other churches.  I was frustrated that I had to juggle numerous roles in the church, many of which I had no business filling.  I look back with disappointment and even anger at the times when problems in the church fractured the congregation and kept the church from succeeding in ministry.  When I learned that Bethel was closing, I felt guilty for abandoning my church and for failing to do so many things that might have helped my church.

This morning, during Bethel's penultimate service, the people of the congregation had the opportunity to share some words of remembrance.  For me, the service was an opportunity to look past my regrets and my frustrations and to remember why I am thankful, for Bethel played an important part in my spiritual journey.  The good does not negate the bad; but neither does the bad negate the good.  Both are held in a messy tension with each other.

The sanctuary of Bethel United Methodist Church
before the penultimate service

What follows is what I said to the congregation this morning.

For eleven long years of my life, I attended a Christian school attached to a fundamentalist church.  From the time I entered the second grade through my senior year of high school, I had to follow some very stringent rules, and I was frequently exposed to guilt-inducing preaching and "hellfire and brimstone" evangelism.  My hair was checked monthly to ensure it was the proper length; I was constantly warned about the evils of rock music; and periodically I was asked in chapel - "with every head bowed and every eye closed" - to raise my hand if I was certain that I would to heaven if I died.

By the time I graduated from high school, I knew that I needed to be a Christian - or else - but I wasn't quite sure I really wanted to be a Christian.  I felt that I had to choose between being a "real Christian" and actually enjoying my life, and, truth be told, I feared hell more than I loved Jesus.  At that time, I didn't really know very much about Methodism, but I had been attending Bethel United Methodist Church on Sunday mornings ever since I was in utero.  What I did know was that this church was, for lack of a better term, a safe place.  I knew that, at Bethel, I would not be burdened with a bunch of strict, petty rules and that I probably would not be threatened with eternal damnation.  Bethel was a safe place for me to continue attending church while I figured out what it meant to be a Christian.

I attended college, where my perceptions of Christianity changed radically.  Many of the things I had been taught at school were deconstructed; I met other Methodists my own age; I came to see that enjoying life was not incompatible with following Jesus; and I learned things about the Methodist tradition that I loved.  What I failed to do in college was to adequately think through what I really wanted to do with my life.  I chose my major based not on what I loved, but on what was practical.  I chose to study computer science when I probably would have been happier studying religion or philosophy.  I graduated from college, and, a few months later, I ended up working as a software engineer for a casino vendor.  I previously did not have any serious moral objection to gambling, but I soon found that the shame of working in such a godless industry followed me everywhere I went, like a foul odor.  Over time, I came to realize that my employers wanted a lot more from me than I was willing to give them.

For months I prayed that God would get me out of my predicament.  As I started to rethink my purpose in life, I somehow came up with the utterly ridiculous idea that I should try new things like preaching and teaching Sunday school.  I had no idea what I was doing, but you, the people of Bethel United Methodist Church, lent me your ears anyway.  You gave me the space I needed to cultivate what turned out to be my spiritual gifts.  I am not certain I would have had such an opportunity in most other churches.  Eventually I was given a way out the job I hated, and I was given the opportunity to take a programming job in higher education, a job in which I could take pride.  I continued to preach and teach here, and you continued to listen to me and encourage me.  Because you all believed in me, I was recently approved to be certified as a Lay Speaker.

About two years ago, my life's journey led me away from this congregation, but I want you all to know that, since then, I have attended church every week I was able to do so.  The habit of regular church attendance is ingrained into me, because my mother and my grandparents made sure that I was here at Bethel United Methodist Church every week as I grew up.  Over the years, I have learned more and more the importance of being in fellowship with other Christians.

I say these things not to brag but to express the fact that I owe a lot to you, the congregation of Bethel United Methodist Church.  As Christians, we need each other, because the journey of faith is not a journey we were ever meant to take by ourselves.  I have a long way to go on my own journey of faith, and any progress I have made on my journey I owe to the people who believed in me, walked with me, encouraged me, taught me, pushed me, and gave me room to grow.  You are among these people, and this morning I want to offer you all my heartfelt thanks and to leave you with some words from the message to the Hebrews,
Let's hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, because the one who made the promises is reliable.
And let us consider each other carefully for the purpose of sparking love and good deeds.  Don't stop meeting together with other believers, which some people have gotten into the habit of doing.  Instead, encourage each other, especially as you see the day drawing near.⁴

Thank you all for everything you have done for me.  May God bless all of you on your journeys ahead.

From time to time, people ask whether or not someone really needs to go to church in order to be a Christian.  We can debate what "church" is - a building, an event, an organization, a community, or some combination - and we can discuss whether or not all the things that are currently associated with churches are actually necessary or beneficial.  What I think is undeniable is the reality that we are better off journeying with others through life.  As I said to my congregation, the journey of faith is not a journey we were ever meant to take by ourselves.  Following in the footsteps of Christ can be difficult and even treacherous at times, so we Christians need each other whether we like it or not.

I read the passage from Hebrews because I think it highlights why believers need to be in fellowship with each other.  First, in a world where a constant barrage of bad news can leave us feeling hopeless, we need to hear the Gospel story proclaimed on a regular basis so that we are constantly reminded of why we have hope.  Second, we need be around people who will bring out the best in us by challenging us to become more loving, more compassionate, and more generous, lest we grow complacent by ourselves.  Third, we need to be around people who will encourage us, because life has a way of grinding us down.

Next week, the congregation of Bethel United Methodist Church will hold their final service.  The building in which we met will hopefully be bought by the new Anglican congregation with whom we have recently been sharing space.  I will return to Travelers Rest United Methodist Church, where I had been attending church for more than a year, and I will likely become a member.  I will continue my life with an ache in my heart, knowing that another part of my life and my past is gone.

The building in which the congregation
of Bethel United Methodist Church met

Notes:

1. Genesis 27
2. Genesis 28:10-22 (NRSV)
3. Genesis 35:1-4
4. Hebrews 10:23-25 (CEB)

The photographs featured in this introspection were taken by me at Bethel United Methodist Church before and after the penultimate service.

Perspective: The Call of a Prophet

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

The Call of a Prophet

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10 (NRSV)

Woe to me!  I am unclean

A sinner found in Your presence

I see You seated on Your throne

Exalted, Your glory surrounds you

From "Ruin Me" by Jeff Johnson

Some of the Bible stories I like the most are those in which people experience God in a profound way.  Maybe it could be said that the people in such stories find themselves in what the Celts called thin places.  Thin places are the spaces where the earthly and the divine are unusually close to each other.  Perhaps what has become "thin" at such places is whatever veil separates heaven and earth.

One day, while working in the temple, a priest named Isaiah finds himself in the presence of God.¹  He sees God seated on a throne, wearing a regal robe, the edges of which fill the room.  Also in the room are a number of seraphim, flying serpentine creatures with six wings, who shout praises to God.  The temple fills with smoke, and parts of the structure shake because of the shouts of the seraphim.

Isaiah, knowing that he is in the presence of pure goodness and holiness, is overwhelmed by a sense of his own unworthiness.  He fears that there is no way that a sinner like him can survive in the presence of a holy God.  He cries out in fear, "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"  I do not know if, in Isaiah's day, there was any cultural significance to the phrase unclean lips, but I wonder if unclean lips might be symptomatic of an unclean heart.  Jesus once said that "it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks."²  In other words, what fills the heart overflows through the mouth.

Hearing Isaiah's lament, a seraph, using a pair of tongs, takes a live coal from the altar and touches it to Isaiah's mouth.  The creature says to Isaiah, "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out."  Interestingly, the word seraph is derived from a Hebrew word that means "fiery serpent."³

Sometimes, the things that seem like a big deal to us are not nearly as big of a deal to God.  St. John writes, "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."⁴  Isaiah confesses his sin in the presence of God, so God deals with it.  Isaiah feels that he has unclean lips, so God's seraph singes the sin right off of them.  Nothing that makes us feel unworthy is a problem that God cannot handle, as long as we are willing to offer it to God.

Isaiah will need purified lips and a purified heart for what God has in mind for him.  God says, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  God is looking for a prophet, a messenger to speak on God's behalf.

Isaiah says, "Here am I; send me!"

God warns Isaiah that the people's minds will be dull to the messages he will relay to them as a prophet.  They will listen, but they will not comprehend.  They will look, but they will not understand.  The people will ignore the words of the prophets until they find themselves in exile while their cities lie in ruins.  For example, in the midst of an international crisis, Isaiah will encourage King Ahaz of Judah to turn to God.  Instead, Ahaz will turn to an evil empire for help, and he will end up promoting idolatry in Judah.⁵

The vocation of a prophet is to speak on behalf of God.  People often think that a prophet's job is to tell the future; but, though a prophet might warn people what will happen to them if they do not change their ways, a prophet's job is simply to tell the truth.  People want to hear inside information about the future, but they often do not want to hear the truth, especially when the truth makes demands of them.  People will insist on having their own way even when it is detrimental to them.  In my opinion, the prophets are tragic characters in Scripture.  They have the words that the people need to hear, yet the people will not listen to them.

The call story of the prophet Isaiah presents us with a number of questions, many of which involve words.  What do your words currently say about the state of your heart?  What words do you need to speak to God at this time?  Are you willing to speak difficult words to the people who need to hear them?  Are you willing to listen to the difficult words other people have for you?  May God give us the courage to speak and the humility to listen.


Notes:

1. This perspective is based primarily on Isaiah 6.
2. Luke 6:45 (NRSV)
3. Blue Letter Bible: "saraph"
4. 1 John 1:9 (NRSV)
5. See Isaiah 7:1-17 and 2 Kings 16.

The photograph of the fire was taken by Wikimedia Commons user snty-talk and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: Well, Which Is It?

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Well, Which Is It?

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15 (NRSV)

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

From "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" by Thomas O. Chisholm

When I stopped attending my home church nearly two years ago, I figured my preaching "career" was pretty much over.  In a strange twist of fate, over the last twelve months, I have had more opportunities to preach than ever before.  Between my sermon preparation and my regular job, I've been rather busy lately - perhaps a little too busy.  I'm starting to wonder if, in my rush to write my sermons, I've adequately thought through what I've written.  For example, I'm a little concerned that I've been giving some conflicting messages about God's grace.

Late last year, I delivered a sermon on a story from the Gospel of Luke about a vertically-challenged tax collector named Zacchaeus who was despised by his community but experienced unconditional love and acceptance when he met Jesus.¹  Echoing what theologian Paul Tillich wrote about grace,² I said, "To receive God's grace is to accept that we are accepted by God, and to extend that grace to other people is to accept them just as they are."

Last week, I delivered a sermon on a section from the Letter to the Romans in which St. Paul addresses the question of whether or not we can do whatever we want since God forgives us for our sins.³  Reflecting on what theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about grace,⁴ I said, "Grace is free, but it is not cheap.  To receive what Christ freely offers us, we must receive it with both hands, meaning that we will have to let go of some things."

How can I make both of these claims?  Can they be reconciled?  If grace is being accepted just as we are, then how can grace require us to change?  Am I talking out both sides of my mouth, or do I need to be a little more selective regarding the theologians and other thinkers I reference?

Sometimes retailers advertise unavailable products at a low price in order to get customers into stores to sell them more expensive goods.⁵  Is the promise of grace merely the religious equivalent of a bait-and-switch scam?  Do churches proclaim to the world, "All are welcome!  Come as you are!" just to get people through the doors and then, once they are part of the community, demand that they change?

When I am asked to preach on a particular Sunday, I typically prepare a sermon based on one of the Scripture passages assigned for the week by the Revised Common Lectionary.⁶  It is important to note that the Bible is not univocal: it does not speak in a singular voice.  It is a collection of documents written by different authors with different perspectives who were all faithfully testifying to their experiences of God.  Even parts of the Bible written by the same author might have differences.  Much of the New Testament is made up of letters written to different churches by St. Paul.  Naturally, Paul would not write the same letter to each church because different churches had different matters to address.

That said, there are tensions between Bible passages, but I believe that there is truth to be found in the tensions.

Does grace mean being accepted as we are?

Does grace mean being transformed into what we are meant to be?

Maybe grace somehow means both.

Grace is something that is given freely.  If something is done to promote an agenda, then it is not an act of grace.  At the same time, grace is transformative, for it has the potential to bring out the best in people.  Zacchaeus was the most hated man in his town, but, ironically, when Jesus accepted him just as he was, he was changed.  He turned away from a life of greed and dishonesty and took on a life of integrity and generosity.

As I noted last week, John Wesley taught that we experience God's grace in three ways.  Prevenient grace is the grace by which we are drawn to God; justifying grace is the grace by which we are forgiven and reconciled to God; and sanctifying grace is the grace by which we are transformed into what we were created to be.⁷  A certain progression is implied in this framework: we experience one kind of grace up to a certain point at which we experience a second kind of grace and after which we experience a third kind of grace.  I'm not so sure the spiritual life is really that structured.

Sometimes we know that there are things in our lives that need to change, so we seek help from God and take the steps we need to make such changes happen.  We make some progress and then fall flat on our faces.  We take two steps forward and then fall ten steps backward.  We become frustrated and discouraged, and we begin to fear that we might never change.  At times like these, we need to remember that God loves us and accepts us just as we are.  In the words of Paul Tillich, "[Grace] strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage."⁸

Maybe grace is not one thing in particular.  Maybe grace is God's meeting us where we are with what we need at the moment.  Maybe we experience God's grace in different ways at different times in our lives.

When we feel alone in the world, God's grace might come to us as a realization that God loves us more than we can imagine.  When we feel guilty or ashamed, God's grace might come to us as a reminder that God forgives us.  When we've grown complacent, God's grace might come to us as an invitation to repent and make some changes.  When we work to make changes in our lives, God's grace might come to us as the strength we need to do what we need to do.  When we feel discouraged, God's grace might come to us as a reminder that God loves us an accepts us just as we are, warts and all.


Notes:

1. Luke 19:1-10
2. Paul Tillich.  The Shaking of the Foundations.  ch. 19
3. Romans 6:1-11
4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The Cost of Discipleship.  ch. 1
5. Wikipedia: Bait-and-switch
6. http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/
7. John Wesley.  Sermon 43: "The Scripture Way of Salvation."
8. Tillich, ch. 19

Zacchaeus was painted by Niels Larsen Stevns in 1913.