The Words We Use

Here are my thoughts for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost – September 14, 2008.  The Scriptures for this Sunday are Exodus 14: 19 – 31, Romans 14: 1 – 12, and Matthew 18: 21 – 35.  (This has been edited since it was first posted.)

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This particular piece started because one of the major Presidential candidates said something and the other major Presidential candidates took offense at what the other guy said. The problem was that if you had heard what the first candidate had said, then you knew what he was talking about and it was nothing for which the second candidate could say meant anything except what it meant. In addition, the second candidate had used the very same analogy about another candidate and nobody said that he was being offensive when he did the very same words.

The problem, for me anyway, isn’t the words that the politicians used but rather the fact that we willingly let them say those words. We willingly let politicians and their surrogates throw mud even though they themselves have proclaimed that they would never engage in such activities. If a parent ever needed an example of “do I as say, not as I do”, snippets of our political process would be great.

We let the politicians get away with “slinging mud” because we have grown accustomed to such words. They use the words that we want them to say. And they often match the words we say and the actions we take. It seems that we get some sort of perverse thrill out of this type of rhetoric because it allows us to get into the mud with them and exhibit “faux” outrage at the opponent for his or her language.

On the other hand, we say that we act in the name of Christ but our actions can hardly be called Christ-like. We call for war when Christ calls for peace; we call for material accumulation when Christ calls for us to give everything away. We admire those who have while ignoring those who have little or nothing. People go hungry and are thrown into modern-day equivalents of debtors’ prison while executive continue to earn and keep multi-million dollar bonuses.

From its beginning some two thousand years ago, the church was outspoken in its defense of the weak and the poor, the forgotten and those cast away. For three hundred years, the church opposed war and the power of the state; but it paid the price for this opposition and its attitude by the Roman persecution. It is a price that the churches of today and the people of the church are unwilling to pay.

For the past 1700 years, the church has sought to be the status quo, the keeper of the present norms, and the defender of the rich and the powerful. Instead of speaking out against war and violence, it has pushed the idea that wars are necessary for the good of the church. Rather than speaking out against greed and material accumulation, the church has fostered and encouraged the attitude that, in the words of Gordon Gekko, “greed is good.”

Too often we act like the manager in the parable that Jesus used to illustrate the act of forgiveness. We are quick to demand repayment and compensation from others while at the same time we are expecting our debts and errors to be quickly forgiven. We expect that outcome because we hold on to a view that somehow, as God’s children, we can expect grace to be given while not giving anything in return. We have transformed the church from what it was and what it could be into a device for our own welfare and well-being.

We have taken the words of the Bible, both of the Old and New Testament, and transformed them from a story about our journey with God into a rulebook by which we can decide who is to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and who shall be denied entrance.

Paul, in the selection from his letter to the Romans for today, speaks of the differences between individuals when it comes to believing in God. What strikes me about the appropriateness of this selection for today is how we have forgotten those words and how we have sought to impose our beliefs and our thoughts on others as the only true means of belief.

Now, some will take offense with this concept because it forces them to think through and about what they are doing. It forces them to see that other points of view are possible. And just as there was resistance to this concept when Paul wrote those words to the Romans, there is still resistance today. There are too many people still unwilling to see the viewpoints of others. They are quick to condemn any view that does not correspond with their own. This reluctance is causing many people to leave the church or to seek other belief systems.

When we refuse to allow others to have their own set of beliefs unless they believe as we do, we are saying that one form of ministry is higher or more sacred than other forms, be it is inside or outside a church. As Paul alludes in his letter, if you are going to do something, then do it with your heart and your mind and your soul. Don’t do it part way but wholly and completely.

The church, be it the denomination or its members, is faced with a challenge today. If we are unwilling to see that others may believe in God or interpret the Word of God in an entirely different way, then we must face the fact that the church that has been so much a part of our lives is going to die. The words that members have used, individually and collectively have done as much and perhaps more harm than good. We see too many people leaving the church for other forms of spirituality; we see too many people who view the words of the church with suspicion and doubt. The church must change what it is doing; it must repent of its past and begin anew. The paradox is that to begin anew we must return to the church’s very beginning (and we will talk about this later).

In the Gospel reading for today, Peter asks Jesus how many times one person should be forgiven and Jesus replies “seventy times seven.” The act of forgiveness as portrayed by Jesus goes beyond the simple act of forgiveness that society often demands and it is a concept that we, like Peter, have difficulty comprehending.

We are told in the Gospel reading for today that we have been given a great opportunity. We have been given the opportunity to cancel our debts and begin anew; to change the direction of our lives. Like the waters rushing over the Egyptian army as the Israelites began their journey to the Promised Land, so too does God’s grace wash over us and give us a new lease on life, a lease that is free from sin and death. But if we speak with the same words that we have in the past, the flood of God’s grace will change and like the Egyptians, we will drown in a sea of sin and death.

But if we speak the words of forgiveness and repentance; if we speak of the Glory of God in our lives; if we speak of our experience with God and Christ, our lives will change. Our future will be decided by the words we use; what shall you say?