A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Ted Crouch

June 23, 2003

First Reading: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Second Reading: James 1:22-26; 3:3-5

The famous Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, vividly describes his feelings about language: "I fell in love with words—that is the only expression I can think of. There they were, seemingly lifeless, made only of black and white, but out of them, out of their own being, came love and terror, and pity and pain, and wonder."

I think each of us remembers words spoken in special situations that had a powerful impact.

Last Friday was the 40^th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech before the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 at the March on Washington for Civil Rights.

Dr. King developed this theme over several years: in 1961, he said "In a real sense, America is essentially a dream, a dream as yet unfulfilled. It is a dream of a land where men of all races, of all nationalities and of all creeds can live together as brothers."

A year later he had said: "We are simply seeking to bring into full realization the American dream—a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed, a dream of a land where men no longer argue that the color of a man’s skin determines the content of his character, the dream of a land where every man will respect the dignity and worth of human personality—this is the dream."

Then came the most-well known and most quoted address by Dr. King in 1963 which ends with the powerful words:

"I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this national will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed—we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia… that one day, even in the state of Mississippi…I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by content of their character. I have a dream today! This is our hope…When we allow freedom to ring…all of God’s children…will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

A quarter of a million people responded with a deafening roar of applause. This year a plaque is being placed where King spoke to the nation that day.

I’m sure we all remember chanting the childhood phrase: "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me."

Bryant Kirkland, former Pastor of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, said that the reason this saying lives on through the years is because it is not true.

A word, he says, is like a bullet: it leaves an impact on everything and everyone it hits. Words, not just sticks and stones, can hurt us deeply.

Perhaps you have had the experience of going out to eat and finding yourselves seated near two people who are having an argument. All at once the atmosphere changes; their words make you feel tense. When you hear a person speak angrily, even if the words are not directed at you, you feel the effect. It can happen to you at the post office, the bank, in a restaurant, or on an airplane.

Perhaps you can recall a family meal that was spoiled because someone chose that occasion to criticize or correct another family member at the table. In these situations, which I can remember causing myself when sons Bob and Peter were young, everyone suddenly feels the stress and tension, and the food loses some of its appeal.

Words have the power to break down someone’s self-confidence, and words have the power to build up someone’s feelings of accomplishment and personhood.

A recent study, reported in the SF Chronicle, shows that executives and managers can motivate workers to do well by using positive words of praise, rather than negative ones. The same is true for school teachers who discover that support and encouragement can work miracles in young children.

The book of James is one of the shortest books in the New Testament, but it has a lot to say about the power of words. Earlier I just read the passage from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, and now I am reading from the J.B. Phillips translation: "In view of what God has made us then, dear brothers, let every man be quick to listen but slow to use his tongue, and slow to lose his temper. For man’s temper is never the means of achieving God’s true goodness."

Phillips translation continues: "If anyone appears to be "religious" but cannot control his speech, he deceives himself, and we may be sure that his religion is useless."

James concludes: "Men control the movements of a large animal like the horse with a tiny bit placed in its mouth. Ships, too, for all their size and momentum with a strong wind behind them, are controlled by a very small rudder according to the course chosen by the pilot. The human tongue is physically small, but what tremendous effects it can boast of! A whole forest can be set ablaze by a tiny spark of fire, and the tongue is as dangerous as any fire."

The point James is making is that the words we speak

make an impact: to hurt or to heal, to break down or to build up, to treat someone poorly or to affirm their worth.

Pindar, the ancient Hebrew poet, said: "Many people have fallen by the sword, but not so many as have fallen by the edge of a harsh word."

Father Henri Nouwen in his book of daily meditations entitled Bread for the Journey, speaks vividly about words: "Words are important. Without them our actions lose meaning. And without meaning we cannot live. Words can offer perspective, insight, understanding and vision. Words can bring consolation, comfort, encouragement, and hope. Words can take away fear, isolation, shame, and guilt. Words can reconcile, unite, forgive, and heal. Words, in short, can carry love on their wings."

Nouwen concludes, "A word of love can be one of the greatest acts of love. That is because when our words become flesh in our own lives and the lives of others, we can change the world."

Most of us at one time or another have come to realize that once words are spoken we can never take them back.

A German folk story tells of a boy who was talking unkindly about other people. His father had him take a bag of goose feathers and fling them out of the second story of his house. The wind swirled them into the streets and alleys.

Then he said to his son, "That is the way your words go out to people. Now go and pick up all the feathers." The boy cried, "That’s impossible!" His father said, "So it is impossible to take back the words you have spoken."

Each of us is responsible for the words we speak. No other person or situation makes us say them. One way to demonstrate our discipleship to Jesus Christ is to be more aware of the words we use to praise or to criticize others, and to realize the effect they have on those who feel their impact.

The writer James encourages us to be "doers of the word, not just hearers." A part of doing the word, in this sense, includes speaking the Word of the Gospel. In the courtyard after Jesus’ trial, Peter was confronted by a young woman who said, "your speech betrays you; surely you are one of Jesus’ disciples." Peter responded, "I don’t even know the man." But, she insisted: "Your speech gives you away." In this case, the woman was referring to Peter’s Galilean accent.

For you and me: does our speech give us away as disciples of Jesus Christ? Do the words we speak to people, or the words we repeat about them to others, reflect our kind thoughts and loving feelings?

Do our ordinary conversations reflect our faith?.

Jesus said: "Let your speech be like a light in a dark street."

One way to reflect our faith is in the way we talk casually every day. Some of us find ourselves speaking politely to friends and strangers but shouting at home; perhaps speaking more thoughtfully to pets than to people.

Dr. Haim Ginott, says that "our words can make a decided difference in the atmosphere of our home. No parent wakes up in the morning planning to make his/her child’s life or his/her own miserable. In the morning many parents resolve ‘this is going to be a peaceful day. No yelling, no arguing, and no fighting.’

Ginot concludes: "Yet, in spite of good intentions, the unwanted war breaks out again. Once more family members find themselves saying things they do not mean in a tone they do not like."

It is hard to believe, but some people go for days or weeks without hearing a single kind or comforting word, especially people living alone. A word of encouragement or support may be brief, but it can leave an impression that stays with us for hours and days and years. A word of love can be one of the greatest acts of love.

My wife Alice’s mother Freda always spoke warm words of encouragement not only to her children and grandchildren but also to me as her son in law. That was one way she acted out faith. And all her children and grandchildren talked about her extraordinary letters and conversations of encouragement on the day we scattered her ashes from a boat just beyond the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our words can help others see their way a little more clearly. Our words can renew their courage, their hope, their sense of worth, their ability. We can love one another with our words as Christ loves us. We can be speakers of God’s Word, not just hearers only. People will know we have faith by the way we speak to them with understanding and respect, with support and encouragement, speaking the truth in love. Our words, then, will reflect the sensitivity with which Jesus spoke to people.

In 1872 Frances Havergal wrote this prayer which can become our prayer as well:

"O teach me Lord, that I may teach the precious things Thou dost impart, and wing my words that they may reach the hidden depths of many a heart."

"O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord, until my very heart o’erflow in kindling thought and glowing word, Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show."

= = = = = =

"We have nothing to fear, but fear itself." President Franklin Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, 1933

"Today I feel like the luckiest man alive." Lou Gehrig, July 4, 1939.

"That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969

"With malice toward none; with charity toward all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."–Abraham Lincoln, 1864