And so we speak... (Sermon 6-7-15)
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
And so we speak…
I have a love affair with “words”.
Our words are the most powerful tools that we have in the workroom that is this world.
Words can create.
Words can destroy.
Words can build up.
Words can tear down.
The right words can create a space of welcome.
The wrong words can create a space of isolation.
Children recite the old adage that sticks and stone break bones,
but words can never hurt, but we know better.
Words can hurt, but they can also heal.
I am intrigued by the capability that God endowed us with to communicate with one another.
In the English language alone,
there are over a million words that can be combined together,
arranged in particular ways,
for the purpose of communicating something as simple as “hello”,
or as profound as “goodbye”.
I have a love affair with words because I believe that they have the power to change this world,
as they have so many times before.
It was the troubled Robin Williams who said,
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
And he was right…
where would this country be without the great words of our past?
Where would we be if no one had ever thought to write down the words,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Who would we be if JFK had never uttered, “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”?
Or if FDR had never claimed that December 7th, 1941 would be a day that would live in infamy?
Who would we be if Dr. King had never reminded us that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
or if Rosa Parks hadn’t said that powerful word “no”, when they told her to get up?
Over and over again, great men and women have said words in this country that have changed the course of history for us and for the world,
and made us better than we were.
I have a love affair with words because I believe they can change the world.
And so can silence. Silence can change the world, or, more accurately, silence can keep the world exactly the way it is.
Dr. King also said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
The apathy that resides in silence arises from the sin of self-preservation,
the sin of never saying anything for fear of ever saying something.
Have you ever had the experience of seeing or hearing something horrible and not speaking in opposition?
It is a horrible feeling.
I had that experience early in my high school career.
I was sitting at a friends house watching a UK football game,
as his father shouted racist remark after racist remark at the television screen…
and I said nothing.
My silence, sealed in my fear,
lent passive approval to his words…
and that silence weighed heavily upon me for many years.
Word matter.
The words that we say and the words that we don’t say make a difference in this world.
In the scripture from 2 Corinthians that Janet read this morning,
Paul begins by quoting the psalms, “I believed, and so I spoke”
…and then he says, “we also believe, and so we speak.”
You see, it is our very faith that causes us to speak.
Our faith leads us to speak, because our faith relieves us of the gag of fear.
He says, “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.”
In other words, by pointing to the fact that this life is temporary,
that we are all simply guests in a home that is not our own,
we should not be afraid to speak,
we should not be afraid of the repercussions of our words,
because, if they are born of faith, they will outlast us,
and we will be renewed day by day.
Paul asserts that our faith leads us to speak because we have nothing to lose…
for they may take the stuff of this world from us or even our lives,
but in the face of eternal life,
is that really something to be afraid of?
Paul says, “we also believe, and so we speak.”
Now, allow me a moment of clarification:
Simply opening your mouth,
or moving your fingers along a keyboard,
and allowing words to spew forth is not the same as speaking.
You see, a love affair with words should cause us not to necessarily use more of them,
but rather to use them better.
As John Wayne said, “Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too much.”
But in the world of social media and 24-hour cable news,
there is certainly no lack of words being spoken,
but there is rather a lack of meaning.
WORDS matter, not idle chatter.
Words matter, not clever gotcha games.
In our community over the past several months,
there has been a battle over equality and fairness, and the notion of religious freedom.
Besides this being a false dichotomy to begin with,
as if one is mutually exclusive of the other,
the words that have been used especially by many of the religious leaders of this community have been hateful, deceitful, and filled with irrational fear.
Recently I have been accused of being a part of “Progressive Christianity”
I’m not sure that I am so easily put into any such category, but so be it.
If being on the side of justice.
If speaking up for those that find themselves disenfranchised by the community,
if marching arm in arm with those who are fighting for their civil rights is what it means to be a part of progressive Christianity, then so be it.
Because that is exactly where Jesus found himself over and over again in the gospels:
Eating with those society called unclean.
Loving those society had cast aside…those who were different.
Words matter. And on Monday night,
the Midway City Council voted to approval an ordinance that put down on paper the open and welcoming place that it already was.
Because saying it matters.
And, I will continue to work with the Fairness coalition to bring a similar ordinance to Versailles.
But, that’s not enough.
You see, the church has been the victim of a hostile takeover…
and for far too long the church has sat idly by while the loudest voices representing us are those spewing words of hate and division.
And so, we can not simply stand up for fairness in the public square, while leaving the church exempt.
We can not march in solidarity with peoples long silenced on Saturday and then sit in pews divided on Sunday.
And so, when the Session meets in a couple weeks,
I am going to recommend that they begin the process of discernment for this church to affirm our commitment to fairness and equality.
To state loudly and clearly that this church is an open and affirming congregation, welcoming to all who enter herein,
no one person better than the other,
no one sinner better then the next,
but rather a collection of sinners, trying hard to be saints.
Why?
Because words matter!
Because our silence is deafening.
Because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!
Because all men and women are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.
Because we believe in a God who made us all and called us good.
Because we believe in a God who sent the Holy Spirit to fall upon us so that we could speak the words that need to be spoken.
Because we believe….we speak.
We speak words of justice.
We speak words of peace.
And, above all, we speak words of love.
I know this topic is uncomfortable formally sitting in these pews.
And, I always acknowledge the possibility that I might be wrong.
But, if I am going to be wrong, let me be wrong on the side of love.
If we are going to be wrong,
let us be wrong on the side of being too welcoming…too loving…too open.
If we are going to be wrong, let us do so prayerfully…asking God to speak to us…
that we might go forth and speak the words this world desperately needs to hear.
Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Paul said, “Faith, hope, and love abide. These three. And the greatest of these is love.”
This is about getting with Jesus.
This is about sinning boldly with Jesus.
This is about reclaiming the radical nature of love and inclusion demonstrated by the Jesus we profess to follow.
This is about knocking over tables and chairs in the sanctuary and driving out the legalists, the money changers, and the hypocrites.
It would be so much easier to just avoid this topic,
to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that it isn’t on our doorstep.
But, here at Pisgah, we believe…and so we speak. Thanks be to God. Amen.
