Sermon: The One Word

A Sermon preached in 

Christ Church, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
by The Reverend Vicki Hesse, Associate

Christmas Day, 2016
In the Name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Merry Christmas!

Listen here.

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell examines unusual factors that contribute to high levels of success.[1] Why are most Canadian ice hockey players born in the first few months of a year? How did Bill Gates achieve his extreme wealth? How did The Beatles became one of the most successful musical acts in human history?

Throughout the book, Gladwell attributes success to the “10,000-hour rule.” Gladwell claims that the key to world-class expertise in any skill is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way for a total of around 10,000 hours. 

And, although this is a bit tangential, stick with me for a moment.  Did you know that…There are approx. 470,000 words in the English dictionary? A college-educated English speaker might have a vocabulary of 80,000 words? Typically, people have about 10,000 words in written and 5,000 words in common spoken vocabulary.[2] 

With all these words flying around, have we become world-class experts in their use? What are words for, I wonder?  Some say “as we speak, so we create.” Words matter.

Imagine….what if there were no nouns?[3] Would our world still be composed of distinct and separate things? What if our only language for describing the world was dance?  Would we constantly move around in conversation? What if there were no pronouns, would you and I cease to exist?

Consider a visit to the zoo.  The mother stops before an enclosure and points out the animal to her daughter.  “See the zebra? Zebra. Zebra. That is a Zebra.” The girl, puzzled, looks at the shape and says, “horse.” “No,” the mother replies, “not a horse. A zebra.” Slowly the girl repeats, “zebra.” Her mother replies, “Right! Now you have it, Zebra! See the stripes?”

And in that moment, words have changed their world. Before this, the world had only horses. Through this exchange, Zebras have been born. Words matter.

The Hebrew term for word is dabar, which actually means both word and deed.[4]  So, to say something is to do something.  Words have the power of creation and of discovery. Words and deeds enflesh our airy ideas that can dwell with us, and can change our reality. Words elicit responses that can never be unheard.  To say “I love you” Or “I forgive you” Or “I’m afraid of you,” To say these things, we create a new reality. Something that is hidden - is launched -  through speech into time and is given substance; is created; is made real.  

And how many times did God try to create a world of Love, Truth and Justice? How many times did God try get across to us? 

At least 10,000 times, word after word, God tried saying it to Noah, saying it to Abraham, saying it to Moses, saying it to David. And finally, toward the end of God’s rope, maybe the 9,999^th time, God tried John the Baptist with his locusts and honey and hellfire preaching. And it almost worked. So God tried once more.  The exact Word of God - Jesus.

And in this flesh, Jesus, God finally manages to say what God is and what human is.  In this flesh, Jesus, God knows what it is like to be human and we know what God is like. In One Word, God’s own self – God’s everlasting commitment to and love for the whole world – took shape in and through an ordinary and finite human. In One Word, in Jesus, we see the human shape of God.

In One Word, God’s own self became flesh so that all who are flesh may know what it means to be God’s beloved children. So that all who are flesh may know God’s love for all of creation So that all who are flesh may also embody in word and in deed God’s world of Love, Truth and Justice.

What was hidden in the heart of God, with this One Word, was irreversibly released through speech into time and was given substance. And this is good news! Because out of all the possible 470,000 words, through this One Word, God reinvented, rebirthed and renewed all of creation and restored a fresh world for us and for those to come. Yes, we, too, are changed by this new Word.

For by God coming in the flesh and dwelling among us Shines in us a ray of light that previously we did not see, Sews in us a word of hope that previously could not grow, Surrounds us by a world of Love that previously we did not claim. Sustains us with the success of a beginner’s mind that cannot be achieved or earned but only lived with wonder.

And there are not enough words to express or embody that kind of grace upon grace upon grace. Except maybe one: Thanks.

Perhaps it takes 10,000 practices to make perfect, but in God’s One Word, perfection was made in the image of God, the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.

For in God’s One Word, we are made new every day. And as God’s own beloved children, we receive God’s promise to be with us into the New Year & all that might bring: through all our living and struggling and yearning and loving and dying. 

In God’s One Word, God promises, today, to be with us now and forever.  That is the heart and the promise of Christmas!

May we, today, embody the many words of the prophet Isaiah that announce peace and good news of God’s reign. And may all the ends of the earth see the salvation of God’s One Perfect Word in human shape.

Amen.

Merry Christmas!

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[1] Inspired from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book)

[2] Cited at http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073123587/student_view0/chapter3/how_much_do_you_know_about_vocabulary_.html  On December 24, 2016

[3] Inspired by Kenneth Gergen, Swathmore College

http://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/kenneth-gergen/Gergen_02.pdf

[4] Inspired by Frederick Buechner essay “Word” at www.frederickbuechner.com, ~originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words

Sermon: In The Beginning Was The Word

Torah, from Pixabay

Sermon for December 25, 2014

Christmas Day

The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse

St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, AZ

For readings click here

Lord, open our lips, that our mouth shall proclaim your praise. Amen

Listen here through Sound Cloud.

Merry Christmas!

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God

and the Word was God. 

What are words for, I wonder? 

Poet Regina Walters wrote:

“Your fear is contagious
Your anger spreads like weeds
Your joy moves with the speed of good news.
As you speak with me you create the world.”

Indeed, what are words for?

What if there were no nouns?[1]

Would our world still be composed

of distinct and separate things?

What if our only language

for describing the world was dance? 

Would we constantly move around in

conversation?

Would it be like watching the waves?

What if there were no pronouns,

would you and I cease to exist

as independent beings?

Here is a story[2]: 

A mother takes her daughter to the zoo;

she stops before an enclosure,

holds the girls finger and points to a shape.

“See the zebra?” she says,

“Zebra. Zebra. That is a zebra.”

The girl looks puzzled, looks at the shape

and says, “horse.”

“No” the mother replies, “not a horse, a zebra.”

Slowly, the girl says, “zeeba.” 

“Not quite, zebra.”

“Zebra,” responds the girl,

to which the mother says,

“right, now you have it! Zebra, see the stripes?”

and in this moment,

words have changed their world,

to a world now inhabited by zebras.

Before this, her world had horses,

but no zebras. 

Through this word exchange,

zebras have now been born.

Words.

The Hebrew term for word is dabar,

which actually means both word and deed.[3] 

So, to say something is to do something. 

Words have the power of creation.

With words, we both discover

and create who we are. 

With words, we elicit response from each other. 

To say “I love you”

Or “I forgive you”

Or “I’m afraid of you,”

To say these things, we create a reality

that can never be undone. 

Something that is hidden in our heart,

with these words, is launched

through speech into time

and is given substance; is created. 

When God said, “Let there be light,”

there was light, before which

there was only darkness. 

When I say “I love you”

there is love, before which

there was only vague silence.

Only by speaking I give it reality.    

In the beginning was the Word,

says the gospel, before which

there was Silence (with a capital S).

Then the Word. The Deed.

The Beginning.

The beginning in time of time. 

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

By uttering,

God makes God heard

and makes God hearers.

And, along the way,

one of those hearers “sent from God” was John. 

He came as a witness to testify

to what God said and what God did.

He came to testify to God’s words,

“Let there be light”

before which

the world didn’t know light

or couldn’t say light was there.

Sometimes, we, too, don’t recognize *that* light

or we can’t say if it’s there.

And so we ask, “where is God, anyway?”

Like when we have our first Christmas

after our loved one died,

or when we are stressed by the media season

of consumerism, rampant since Halloween,

or when images of beheadings by ISIS

showers our news,

or when Ebola outbreaks spread fear and panic,

or when school shootings

evaporate any sense of security. 

Yea, sometimes, we, too, don’t see that light.

Singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer reflected on *that* light that shines

just below the surface of everything. 

She says, *that* light is

“…the light that happens when you see a sunset

and your heart becomes too big for your chest,

or when you see

the first red or yellow leaf of autumn

and it’s bittersweet

and so incredibly exciting at the same time,” or when you meet someone

who has every right to be bitter & resentful

but is effusive with gratitude,

or “the first time you hold your baby

in your arms and time expands

in all directions from that child.”[4]

*That’s the light that is shining

just below the surface of everything.

And so, there was a woman sent from God,

whose name was Ruthie,

and there was a man sent from God

whose name was Gene,

and there was someone else sent from God

whose name was your name. 

Y’all came as witnesses to testify to *that* light,

so that all might believe through you,

through your words. 

Y’all were not the light,

but came to testify to the light.

Like John, we are to testify to *that* light shining

just below the surface of everything.

We are to testify

with words of hope

in the midst of darkness. 

God calls us to speak (and so create)

of hope, with hope.

Not in a greeting card or wishful thinking

kind of way,

but hope that is “gritty” –

the kind of hope arising from God’s Word,

the kind of hope we have to

“get up every morning and choose to make

the world a little kinder place

together, with others.”

And then the next morning,

we get up and do it again.

And then the next morning,

we get up and

(even though we have been disappointed, )

we do it again.

That’s the kind of hope Niebuhr described when he said, “anything worth doing

will probably not be achieved

in one lifetime,

so we are all saved by hope.”

That hope, in word and deed,

is a tougher kind of hope to live with,

because it’s hidden in our hearts.

But when we get up and say it again,

hope is created, before which

there was only cynicism,

the easy alternative

to disappointment.

God’s Word of hope is a gritty hope

that takes courage,

because at some point

our heart will be broken.

But we get up and say & do it again,

because that Word made flesh

renews our courage

and reminds us about *that* light

shimmering just below the surface,

that has been there “since the beginning”

and will be there for ever.

In our Judeo-Christian story,

Word after word,

God kept trying to find just the right word. 

When creation itself doesn’t seem to say it right – the sun, moon, stars, nature –

finally, God tries flesh and blood. 

Word after word,God tried,

saying it to Noah, saying it to Abraham,

saying it to Moses, saying it to David. 

God tried saying it to John the Baptist

and it almost worked. 

So God tried once more.

The exact Word of God,[5] Jesus.

And this flesh, Jesus, is how God

finally manages to say what God is

and what human is. 

In this flesh, Jesus, God knows

what it is like to be human

and we know what God is like.

Just as your words have you in them –

your breath, spirit, hiddenness –

so Jesus has God in him.

What was hidden in the heart of God,

with this Word,

was irreversibly released

through speech into time

and was given substance.

And this is good news!  The Word,

God’s breath, spirit, power, hiddenness,

became flesh and revealed God’s glorious light. 

In this unexpected grace,

we find our calling to testify to that light. 

In this unexpected grace,

The Word is made flesh and lives among us;

that’s where God is, in God’s Word

and in our words and our lives.

And so, today we, too,

risk becoming a word of hope for the world

and testify to *that* light that

shines just below the surface of everything.

Today,

God sees us as God’s own creation,

God’s own Word and deed. 

Today,

God promises to be with us

into the new year

with all that it might bring. 

Today,

God’s Word – Jesus – commits to be with us

through all of our living

and struggling and yearning

and loving and dying. 

Why? Because,

In the beginning was that Word... 

Amen.

Merry Christmas!

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[1] Inspired by Kenneth Gergen, Swathmore College at

http://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/kenneth-gergen/Gergen_02.pdf

[2] Ibid. Gergen

[3] Inspired by Frederick Buechner essay “Word” at www.frederickbuechner.com, ~originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words

[4] Krista Tippett – Carrie Newcomer interview http://onbeing.org/program/transcript/7053

[5] Ibid., Buechner