"Wise Words"
Proverbs 10:18-19, 15:1, 18:21
Mark S. Bollwinkel
During the Lenten Season we focused
on the last words of Jesus while dying on the cross. Last Easter Sunday we considered the first
words of Jesus as Risen Lord. In the next
few weeks I suggest we consider how we use our words with and about each other
as Easter People, children of the resurrection.
The very first words of the Bible read:
"In
the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a
formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God
swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and
there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3)
God "speaks" creation
into existence.
It is no accident then that the author
of the gospel of John begins his testimony like this:
In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without
him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life,
and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)
Now for all you Biblical scholars,
in English "word" is the translation of the original Greek
"logos". And
"logos" is the masculine Greek synonym for "sophia",
derived from the Hebrew feminine word which in English we translate as
"wisdom".
"Word"="Logos"="Sophia"="Wisdom"
For the gospel writer John, Jesus
is the "Word of God" the incarnation of the divine light of creation
itself: "And the Word became flesh
and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only
son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
Jesus is the embodiment of God's creative wisdom in the Hebrew tradition
of "sophia/logos" identified as that divine force the binds all of creation
especially that spirit that animates human life, that force which binds all of
life and time together.
"Wisdom" is much more
than the accumulation of knowledge, academic achievement or data. Wisdom is found in "the how" of
life. Wisdom understands how life works
and how to make the right decision. When
we have wisdom we do the right thing. We
are connected to nothing less than the will and intention of God's creative
light and spirit; the God that speaks creation into existence.
It
puts a whole new light on the importance of speech, doesn't it? There are hundreds of verses in the Bible
dealing with gossip, rumors, slander.
The ninth of the Ten Commandments says "Thou shall not bear false
witness, you shall not lie" (Exodus 20:16). It would seem that how we speak to and about
each other has everything to do with how we relate to God.
Along with the warnings about
negative speech in our lessons from Proverbs this morning, we also hear:
Anxiety weighs down the human heart,
but a good word cheers
it up. (Proverbs 12:25)
Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from
speaking deceit. (Psalms 34:12-13)
Today
we are graced with extraordinary new technologies for communication. Smart-phones, email and texting have expanded
our ability to speak with and about each other.
We do so instantaneously and globally.
In 2013 on average 294 billion emails were sent each day; 107 trillion
for the year (businessinsider.com).
According to the Pew Internet Project, the average smartphone subscriber
sends 41.5 text messages each day; people in the 18-24 year old range send 110
text messages per day. (Americans and Text Messaging, 09/19/11, pewinternet.org)
My
two sons and I rarely speak to each other over the phone but we text daily
about the things that matter most in life...the Giants mainly and what we are
cooking for dinner that night. Expanded
communication technologies can be a wonderful tool for us to connect with each
other. When we really connect with each
other it’s a "God moment". The
positives of our new technologies far outweigh the negatives but the negatives
can be real indeed.
As
one of the worst spellers on the planet, I love that my gadgets and computers
can correct my spelling on the go but as most of us know
"auto-correct" can sometimes get it wrong, like in this example:
Hey my grandpa is in the hospital. I hope he gets better! :(
Yeah, I hope he dies! :)
You hope my grandpa dies!? What kind of friend are you?! And you sign that with a smiley face?!
I meant "does" not
"dies", I hope he does get better!
It
has always been true, even in the Biblical times that one has to choose one's
words carefully. Our new communications
technologies are marvelous but we still have to take responsibility for what
and how we speak to each other, maybe even more so.
Remember
the old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never
hurt me"? That's a lie. Words can
hurt as much if not more than a slap in the face or a stab in the back.
A
high school Vice Principal recently told me of coming to a new school. She was shocked to learn that many of her
students avoided a certain section of hall way while changing classes each day
because they would have to pass a gauntlet of teasing, taunting members of the
football team. These young men would
stake out this territory each day and push the smaller boys around and
inappropriately comment on the appearance of the girls as they passed by. Other students said that they would
completely walk around the outside of the school to avoid going through that
corridor of bullying.
What
shocked my friend the most was that most of the teachers knew about it but
didn't really think it worth intervention. They explained that it was just a normal part
of high school life. No one in the
administration of the school said a word although everybody knew about it. That is what bothered her the most. As soon as she became Vice Principal at the
school, she put an end to it.
We've
all become aware that such bullying has amplified with the use of internet
technologies. And don't think this only
happens for young people at school.
Cyber bullying happens with adults at work, celebrities have been
stalked and hacked, public figures such as elected officials, government
administrators and business leaders daily receive vile and offensive, even
violent, electronic messages. Often the
sender would never consider saying such words to one's face but somehow feel
they can do so with the antinomy of the internet.
One
of the most powerful weapons against negative speech is refusing to be a part
of it, either directly or indirectly. Whether
on your Smart Phone or over a cup of coffee or while discussing the world’s
problems in the parking lot don't go along with negative language. Refuse to join in the teasing and
taunting. Say something when people are
being mean. Say out loud that it’s not
OK.
In
a 2012 editorial on CNN News, Presbyterian pastor Tangela Ekhoff commented on
the internet traffic regarding the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida. She was shocked by the racist and violent
postings on-line from both dominate and minority communities about each other,
many of whom identify themselves as Christian:
We should take a moment to think before we
click. Would Jesus of Nazareth "like" an image or message that you
are about to share, or would your Lord and personal savior un-friend you for
spreading hatred of your brother or sister? Would Jesus read the comments
section and be proud that you call him Master? ("Online anonymity is the
new robe and hood of hatred", Rev. Tangela Ekhoff. CNN news.com, 04/18/12)
Cyber-bullying
is an example of technology’s ability to isolate us from the consequences of
our communications. A colleague once
said a great truth in a sermon: "We simply do not do life
alone." How we speak to and about
each other has everything to do with how we relate to God.
During
my second year in seminary I went through one of the worst emotional crisis of
my life. Although I had graduated as one
of the "Outstanding Students" of the University of the Pacific in
1974, I could barely keep up in graduate school. The amount of work and expectations for
excellence were overwhelming me. The
pressure and stress really got to me. I
endured a six month period of panic attacks, depression and anxiety. It was terrible, and something, thanks be to
God, I have never had to go through again.
One
of the most powerful aspects on my road to healing was seeing a counselor each
week for six months. Therapy was a safe
place to say out loud what I was afraid to admit. It was a place I could be heard. "Talk therapies" where we speak
what needs to be said, explore our feelings and feel heard by a trusted
professional remain one of the most effective tools to deal with emotional
problems.
If
you are going through such a time in life, you don’t have to live with
bitterness and anger that can keep you up at night about things that happened
in the past. Neither do you have to let
anxiety over things that might happen in the future ruin your present. You can
always speak with your pastor or be referred to one of the many therapeutic
professionals in our area that can help.
To
speak our truth and be heard with love and respect is one of the places we find
God. It doesn’t have to be in a
therapist’s office. It can happen in
friendships, in committed relationships, in families. It can even happen in an email, a text or a
Twitter when the communication is done in loving kindness.
The
ancient truth remains the same for us today.
How we speak to and about each other has everything to do with how we
relate to God.
Amen.
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