Can We Talk? The Power of Words

I hope you are well today, but honestly, you don’t seem so great. In fact, you look pretty awful. Do you hear what I’m saying? No, I don’t think you get it. What were you thinking clicking on this sermon post?! You must be crazy to ready this today! You shouldn’t even be here. And you call yourself a Christian!

Okay, let’s stop for a moment. I’m kidding. But let me ask you: Are you feeling good about where this sermon is headed? Haven’t I lifted your spirits?

Certainly not! Why? Because words matter. They do something to us, within us. They have an effect upon us. They change us, mold us, shape us.

I bet you will remember this phrase:

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

What do you think? True or False? After my opening words, I’m thinking NOT TRUE!

So here’s the thing: Cuts and bruises heal. Most of the time, they heal completely. Sometimes they heal with a small scar. But they do heal naturally  and whether we want them to heal or not. It’s not the same with words. Words can hurt. And the wound does not always heal. The wound can remain open for years even decades.

I think that sticks and stones saying is telling about the culture we live in. I think it shows that we have lost our understanding of the power of words to impact other people.

Words can call a dog in from the cold. Words can rescue a lost child. Words can lift a saddened heart,  alm an anxious mind, and encourage a weary soul. Words can teach a room of student. Words can build unity. Words can do all kinds of amazing things in the world – good or not so good.

When I was about 5 years old and in kindergarten I joined a local T-ball team. We practiced and practiced. And during the first game I remember watching one of my friends struggle to hit the ball. It was one of those swings where you almost completely miss the ball, but you graze it just enough that the ball falls off the T and rolls backwards. Well, that ball rolled back towards me. And being the good friend that I was I jumped up and grabbed that ball and ran to place it right back on the T to give my friend another chance. Beautiful, right? Innocent, compassionate, helpful little Jason did exactly what his parents had taught him to do: Be a good friend.

Well, the coach wasn’t so happy. In fact, the coach yelled at me. He got all over me…for trying to help someone. Now of course he did not see it that way. He saw a kid breaking the rules. Nevermind that this was the kids first game. Nevermind that the kid didn’t know all the rules yet. Nevermind that the umpires didn’t seem to mind. That coach lit in to me for moving from my spot in the dugout.

While he could have taken a different approach with 5-year old Jason playing in his first ever organized team sport game, Coach was not understanding. He was not encouraging. He didn’t redirect me. He didn’t even coach me. He just used harsh words with a 5 year old kid. And those words were so powerful in my life that they defined my athletic future. I never wanted to have anything to do with organized sports after that. Every theme I thought about playing on a team, that was the story in the back of my mind of what it would be like – for years.

That coach’s words had tremendous power. If he had taken what I did and harnessed it for the team, if he had guided me, nurtured me, encouraged me, showed me through wholesome words what was good and what was bad about what I did, then I might have been a loved organized sports, might have become his best player, might have taken sports all the way to high school, college, who knows! I might be an MLB star today! (Ok, most assuredly not…but one can dream, right?!) Instead, Coach chose words that were about tearing down instead of building up.

And I fear that much of the world is just like this coach today. But look, I don’t want to rant and rave about how people talk today. I think you all can do that pretty well. I think we have all experienced harsh words that have hurt that still lingers to this day. Some of us are more willing to admit that than others. But we all have it.

So I think we have this sense of how words have become weapons today. Weapons  that some people justify as simply being about the truth. But weapons nonetheless. Weapons that hurt, that destroy, that disregard and disrespect. Weapons that are in no way resemble how God uses words with us. Yes, words can hurt. And no your no a pansy or a snowflake or a pathetic wimp if words hurt you. Your human. You are a human who deserves to be treated as a child of God.

So it’s God I want to turn to. It’s God who first used words. It’s God who is our heavenly parent from whom we should be learning how to speak just as a child learns to speak from his mother and father.

Think about those first words that we have from God:

Let there be light. (Gen 1:3)

With these words God brought light into the world. Are you hearing this? God’s Words make light.

If you read no further in the Bible, this is a great model for our words. Words should bring light into the world. Words should bring light into people’s lives. And if words don’t do this, then we are not following in the way of God.

God continues with these words: Let the be….

Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters to separate the waters from each other. (Gen 1:6)
Let the waters under the sky come together into one place so that the dry land can appear. (Gen 1:9)
Let the earth grow plant life (Gen 1:11)
Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will mark events, sacred seasons, days, and years. (Gen 1:14)
Let the waters swarm with living things, and let birds fly above the earth up in the dome of the sky. (Gen 1:20)
Let the earth produce every kind of living thing: livestock, crawling things, and wildlife. (Gen 1:24)
Let us make humanity in our image (Gen 1:26)

Let there be…land and waters, tress and plants, day and night, animals and birds, and humans.

God’s words create. They have the power to bring things into existence. The create order from chaos. They brought the waters and lands together. They inspire tress to rise out of the ground. They cultivated a life-giving rhythm of days and months and seasons within the world. They filled the waters, land and sky land with life – animals, fish, birds, and all kinds of living creatures. They created a likeness of God in the world and this likeness was (is) humanity.

Now, step back and look at what God’s words create. God’s words create you and me. God’s words create the space around us in which to live and grow. God’s words give us room to be. God’s words give us freedom. Not only is that freedom represented in the physical space of land and water and sky, but it’s also represented by the words God uses: Let there be… It’s an invitation. It’s an opening, a request to extend freedom to creation. God words free us for abundant life.

This – all of this – shows the power words have. And it gives us a model for the way we should use words. If we are made in God likeness then the way we use our words ought to sound like God. Words create. Words bring order. Words, inspire. Words cultivate life-giving rhythms. Words fill the earth with life. Words free us for the life we were created to live. Words make us like God, depending on how we use them at least.

Just think about that everytime you speak. Are the words you speak like what God would say? Do your bring bring light and life? Do they inspire? What about the words of the people you look up to? The people you follow? The people who you listen to and trust? Do they speak in the way God speaks? If not maybe you should reconsider who you listen to!

You see, there is another image in the Bible for words which are not like God’s words. Words which are used in powerful ways that are not about creating and freeing and bringing light and life. The image for such words is evil. Literally, evil.

Evil harms the world with words. Notice how the Bible talks about and symbolizes evil in the world. For example, the satan figure in the book of Job uses words to do damage, to kill, to destroy, to terrorize. The Hebrew words satan means adversary – adversary to God. And that is exactly what the satan does in the book of Job. And how does he do it? He does it with words. The whole book begins with a conversation between God and the satan. And satan’s words result in the destruction of Job’s life.

Look also at what the serpent did to Eve in Genesis. Now we talk about the Fall of Humanity in terms of Adam and Eve eating the fruit. But let me challenge you a bit. Where did the fall start? It started with the words of a serpent. Words used to manipulate Eve. Words used to tempt and persuade.

You see, the fall of humanity didn’t begin with the eating of a fruit, but with an uncritical dialogue with a serpent. Words matter.

And the devil figure of the new testament does the same thing. The devil always knows the truth, but he misuses the truth with evil motives to manipulate and control. The devil does exactly the opposite of what God does. Rather than create life and set people free, the devil controls and manipulate and brings destruction to life.

So if you and I or anyone out there in the world is not using words to create, to encourage, to inspire, to build up, to bring light and life, to set free, then their words are like the serpent, the satan, the devil. The good news is that we have the opportunity every time we speak to be like God with our words.

Based on the story from Genesis, the gift of words is fundamentally about being like God. God gives us words that we might be like Him.

What do you mean, pastor?

What I mean is this: Words shape who we become. Ever heard of the phrase, You are what you eat. Well allow me to alter it slightly: You are what you say.

Ever notice how people who always have some negative to say are some of the most miserable people around? Ever notice that people who complain never seem to be happy? Ever notice how people who say band things about others never seem to have much self-esteem is themselves. And for those cases when this doesn’t seem to be true, what I have found is that when I get to know that person better, it is true. I just couldn’t see it until I had a deeper relationship with them and learned more about their inner self. What didn’t seem true was just a surface cover up for some real struggle deep down.

And it’s because words shape you who become. Words have this power to change reality.

Check this out: Molecular physicists theorize that if you could see an atom and it’s basic level it is a vibration. In other words, all matter is sound. This suggests that words and material things are connected. Both are vibrations. We might say as Christians that matter is God’s word in physical form. So in one since the universe is God’s voice in physical form.

Words affect the physical world. What begins as a sound manifests into the physical world. What you say is what you become.

Think about how a child aspires to become something that seems impossible, but because of the encouraging words of someone in their life, they make it. That is, they become what was spoken over them. Or think about the person who loved art or music but whose parent told them they would never make any money at it and so they give up and go down a path of something more practical…never fulfilling their God-given calling because of what was spoken over them.

Words shape who you become. Your words and the words of others. So what you say does matter…immensely. What you say has the power to create light and life. What you say has the power to bring order and set people free.  But what you say can also, like the satan, manipulate, control, destroy and kill.

Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me. A bit naïve if you ask me…and if you ask the Bible.

I hope and pray that as we journey into this year you will take your words with more holy weight. I pray you will consider who and what you allow yourself to listen to. There are television programs and news stations and radio personalities and most certainly political advertisements that we need to avoid because of what people are speaking over one another and over us.

Be wise. Be discerning. Speak wholesome words over yourself and others. Bring people together. Create unity. Invite others to the table. Set people free. Be like God. And may this begins with your next word.