The Word, and our Words

“Words spoken in deep love or deep hate set things in motion in the human heart that can never be reversed.”

— Frederick Buechner

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Sticks and stones may break my bones

But words can never hurt me

Wrong

Dead wrong

I have had too many people sit across from

Me

Depressed

Anxious

Struggling to make their way through life

Struggling to love and be loved

Who have been profoundly damaged by words

Words from parents (often)

Spouses

Friends

Pastors (too often)

You are worthless

I wish you had never been born

You will never make it in life

You are lazy

You are sinful

You

You

You

Words are powerful

We should understand this!

In the creation story God spoke

Let there be light

Let there be fertile land

Let there be fish, and animals, and birds

Let there be creatures in my image

And it was

At the beginning of John

We are reminded of the power of creative, loving Word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

And we are told that God did not stop speaking at creation

We should have known that too

As God spoke through the words of poets and prophet

But we are told that once again God’s Word became

Tangible, real, concrete

In fact we are told “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”

Advent is a time when we prepare to hear the Word

Receive the Word

Be transformed by the Word

Advent is the time when we seek openness

So that we might receive that Word

So that it might dwell within in

So that it might, in the world of our sould

Create order out of chaos

Bring light into the Darkness

And make things, “good”

Christmas is when we celebrate that word

Breaking the silence

But remember

it is powerful this Word

It will not leave us the same

It will not leave us untouched

It will disturb and order

It will illuminate and reveal

As Isaiah reminds us

“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

And one thing that needs to happen

Is that God’s Word needs to change our words

Those words we speak

When enraged or frightened

Those words we speak when we want to control and manipulate

Those words we speak when we want to minimize and diminish

May the words of our mouth be acceptable?

No lies

No words that bully and demean

No words that abuse

Or tear down

We need words that have the same impact

As the Word that came down at Christmas

Words speak the truth

But do so in love

Words that lift up

Words that challenge, but also heal

Words that move us help make it on earth as it is in heaven

Rather than words that make the earth a living hell

So this Advent

Let us think about Words

About God’s Word

About The Word

About the words of those we follow and listen to

About the words that come out of our mouths

For words are powerful

“And words spoken in deep love or deep hate

set things in motion in the human heart that can never be reversed.”