week 16

Psalm: Psalm 19
Old Testament : Proverbs 1:20-33

Gospel: Mark 8:27-38
Epistle : James 3:1-12

This week we are going to explore the idea of words.  The book of James does a good job of summarizing the message and presenting the ideas for the week.  James is quite clearly what we would call “wisdom literature,” like Proverbs.  Wisdom literature presents observable truth about humanity or nature.  Some people are quick to read Proverbs as divine promises from God; however, Proverbs should not be read this way.  Rather, these statements are simple “wise” observations and guiding principles for life.  So, in the same vein of Proverbs, James compares to the tongue to four different things; a horses bridle, a ship’s rudder, a spark able to start a forest fire, and an untamable animal.  He laments that the tongue, our words, always seem to get us in trouble.  Yet, he also admonishes us to control our tongue.  How is it possible that we both bless God and then turn around curse someone with the same tongue?  I don’t think we really need any convincing of what James is saying.  We have all experienced hurtful words or said some ourselves.  I’ll create a little wisdom literature myself: the old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Words, which often accompany those sticks and stones, can be just as hurtful and leave scars just as real.

Our Old Testament readings reveal the power of words in a different way.  In Proverbs 1, the author portrays Wisdom as shouting in the streets trying to spread her instruction to turn to God.  Psalms 19 personifies the heavens telling the glory of God.  In both of these cases, we have nature, or maybe the supernatural, trying to get humanity to turn towards God and in both cases, they are unsuccessful.

The Old Testament is the story of God trying to get humanity to turn towards him and ultimately, God sends the Word into the world to accomplish his mission.  Peter’s confession in Mark 8 is a high point in Mark.  Peter finally understands who Jesus is; Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and the Word of God.  Of course, Peter didn’t understand clearly what Jesus meant by Messiah, so Jesus has to teach him that he was heading towards suffering and death at the hand of humanity.  Additionally, Jesus shocks the crowd when he teaches that unless one takes up his cross and follows him then they will not be saved.  Jesus says, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words…the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father.”

Jesus also uses “word” when he states, “Whoever is ashamed of my words…” What are Jesus words, we might ask?  I think to answer that we need to go back to the parable of the sower in Mark 4.  When Jesus explains this parable to the disciples, he says the seed is the word, or the Gospel.  These are not just any words the sower plants, but these are words with a purpose.  Just like the farmer’s seed, they are planted with the purpose of growing and producing fruit.  To be ashamed of Jesus’ words, going back to Mark 8, is to be ashamed of Jesus’ confession that he is the Christ.  To be ashamed of his words is to literally deny that Jesus is the Messiah and thus to deny the whole Gospel.

One more point about the parable of the sower.  Jesus teaches that even if we are spreading his word, some might still fall on the rocky soil or get choked out by weeds.  We might be saying the right words and following Jesus, but we must remember that we’re not responsible for the soil we plant in. At least we are no worse than Wisdom and the heavens, right?  It certainly seems that despite God’s best efforts, some people will always fail to heed God’s words and turn to God.

Ok, how to summarize all that I have written?  How do James’ exhortation to watch our words and the other passages about God’s divine word wooing humanity back to him relate?  I think it is this—which words do you want to use?  We have a pretty stark choice presented and it is an either/or.  Are we going to use our words to speak God’s Word to others or are we going to use our words to tear others down?  It is not as if every word we say has to be Gospel evangelism, but every word we say ought to flow from what the Gospel has done in us.  We should speak as though Jesus lives in us through his Spirit.

Of course, this is nothing new.  Sometimes in churches the proverb holds true, “if you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times.”  We’ve all heard that our words have power and we need to use them for God.  But it never hurts to have a reminder and to be more mindful whether our words are honoring God or not.

May we follow Christ this week in our words and in the power of his Spirit, to the glory of the Father.

Grace and peace.