June 2008 Newsletter
Words
In this political campaign year, words and their meaning become very important. Each candidate, from every party, will be trying to get their message out. There is nothing wrong with this; it is a part of being a free society. Sometimes these words become personal and ugly, and we know that some of these attacks work. I will leave that to the candidates, parties, and electorate, to work out the political ethics of attack ads. My point for this newsletter is that words have meaning and can be the instrument conveying powerful symbols both positively and negatively. They say "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me". That was taught to children for a long time to teach them not to respond to those who taunt them. There is some truth and some falsehood to this. We have all known people who are the name calling type. Many times we just ignore them. We have all known people prone to hateful sarcastic outbursts, denigrating the person on whom they look down. Most of the time we ignore them, because their taunts are unimportant. We also know that words can do grave harm. Parents who verbally abuse their children cause the child to grow up hating themselves and with a lack of confidence in their abilities. They may even grow up to be verbally abusive themselves. There are indeed words that can hurt, and words that can do damage. Words, and the ideas they can convey, are very important.
As Christians we inherit a reverence for words from Jewish tradition. We know their power. By a word of command, "Let there be light!” God created the universe. Therefore God's spoken word became our reality and our life. We Christians believe that the Living Word, Jesus Christ, became flesh and lived among us, died a human death, and rose to give us new life. He is the Word of love God spoke to us, uniting us forever to God and saving us. Jesus is what God has to say to us, and we are forever changed. As Christians, we also believe that God inspired the writers of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. We call these writings the Word of God. If we speak more precisely, the scriptures are the written word of God. They direct us to a living relationship with the triune God. They are the authority and directive force of our lives when used by the Holy Spirit to make us alive in Christ.
Along with sacraments, which are the word of God enacted in the Church, we preach the word of God. Most of us think that this means a sermon in churches on Sundays, holy days, and other occasions. It does mean that, of course. Recently, in the political arena, the words of certain preachers came into public knowledge. The words of all the preachers involved, on both sides of the spectrum, were outrageous. It seems to me that this is the old human tribal tendency to vilify those who are different from us. We want to paint a clear and uncompromising picture of our goodness in contrast to our enemy. The problem is in the delivery. In the 34 years of my pastoral ministry I have heard pastors say really negative and hurtful things in their pulpits and personal conversations. I know these people to be good Christians who sincerely serve Christ. Sometimes we become so afraid of those whom we perceive to be enemies we react with our verbal violence. We call them non-Christians if they disagree with us on even trivial matters.
There is a place and a time for strong and uncompromising speech. It is an art to know when and how to use it. I am not sure that I have grasped that art at all. There are times when Christians must make clear statements about evil and oppression in the world. However, I think now we are in a time for the Church to speak healing words in our culture. We are severely divided about many issues. People on all sides are hurting. Sometimes Christians on all sides are doing the hurting. They go beyond taking a stand on issues to belittle and even speak hate speech toward the enemy. Yes Jesus did confront evil and he did so uncompromisingly. He also told us to love our enemies. We can stand for right and not be verbally aggressive. Loving our neighbors can be difficult. Loving our enemies is a tall order. Let us try to make stands for right with respect for others. Let us speak words of healing and blessing wherever possible. Maybe then the world will become less skeptical about the way of Christ. Let's begin today! Whom can you bless on this day that the Lord has made?
Yours in the Living Word,
Jim Stahr
Words
In this political campaign year, words and their meaning become very important. Each candidate, from every party, will be trying to get their message out. There is nothing wrong with this; it is a part of being a free society. Sometimes these words become personal and ugly, and we know that some of these attacks work. I will leave that to the candidates, parties, and electorate, to work out the political ethics of attack ads. My point for this newsletter is that words have meaning and can be the instrument conveying powerful symbols both positively and negatively. They say "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me". That was taught to children for a long time to teach them not to respond to those who taunt them. There is some truth and some falsehood to this. We have all known people who are the name calling type. Many times we just ignore them. We have all known people prone to hateful sarcastic outbursts, denigrating the person on whom they look down. Most of the time we ignore them, because their taunts are unimportant. We also know that words can do grave harm. Parents who verbally abuse their children cause the child to grow up hating themselves and with a lack of confidence in their abilities. They may even grow up to be verbally abusive themselves. There are indeed words that can hurt, and words that can do damage. Words, and the ideas they can convey, are very important.
As Christians we inherit a reverence for words from Jewish tradition. We know their power. By a word of command, "Let there be light!” God created the universe. Therefore God's spoken word became our reality and our life. We Christians believe that the Living Word, Jesus Christ, became flesh and lived among us, died a human death, and rose to give us new life. He is the Word of love God spoke to us, uniting us forever to God and saving us. Jesus is what God has to say to us, and we are forever changed. As Christians, we also believe that God inspired the writers of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. We call these writings the Word of God. If we speak more precisely, the scriptures are the written word of God. They direct us to a living relationship with the triune God. They are the authority and directive force of our lives when used by the Holy Spirit to make us alive in Christ.
Along with sacraments, which are the word of God enacted in the Church, we preach the word of God. Most of us think that this means a sermon in churches on Sundays, holy days, and other occasions. It does mean that, of course. Recently, in the political arena, the words of certain preachers came into public knowledge. The words of all the preachers involved, on both sides of the spectrum, were outrageous. It seems to me that this is the old human tribal tendency to vilify those who are different from us. We want to paint a clear and uncompromising picture of our goodness in contrast to our enemy. The problem is in the delivery. In the 34 years of my pastoral ministry I have heard pastors say really negative and hurtful things in their pulpits and personal conversations. I know these people to be good Christians who sincerely serve Christ. Sometimes we become so afraid of those whom we perceive to be enemies we react with our verbal violence. We call them non-Christians if they disagree with us on even trivial matters.
There is a place and a time for strong and uncompromising speech. It is an art to know when and how to use it. I am not sure that I have grasped that art at all. There are times when Christians must make clear statements about evil and oppression in the world. However, I think now we are in a time for the Church to speak healing words in our culture. We are severely divided about many issues. People on all sides are hurting. Sometimes Christians on all sides are doing the hurting. They go beyond taking a stand on issues to belittle and even speak hate speech toward the enemy. Yes Jesus did confront evil and he did so uncompromisingly. He also told us to love our enemies. We can stand for right and not be verbally aggressive. Loving our neighbors can be difficult. Loving our enemies is a tall order. Let us try to make stands for right with respect for others. Let us speak words of healing and blessing wherever possible. Maybe then the world will become less skeptical about the way of Christ. Let's begin today! Whom can you bless on this day that the Lord has made?
Yours in the Living Word,
Jim Stahr
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