The Word Of Confession
Sermon
A Call To Love
Second Lesson Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost
On January 21, 2001, George W. Bush was sworn in as the forty--third President of the United States. As I sat and watched the events of the day, I thought what it meant for our new President, what it meant for our nation, and what it meant to the world. As he gave the inaugural speech, he lifted up the ideas of character and commitment. He quoted Mother Teresa and referred to the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan. All in all, he said the same things that presidents before him have said, and the media spent hours upon hours laboriously interpreting his words.
The President's speech was another example of what it means to speak a word, or to take an oath, thereby giving one's word. It marked the significance of a word, and how words can and will affect lives. Maybe that is why a great deal of Paul's writing deals with words and how they affect our salvation. Paul shows in Romans chapter 10 that God, in God's total and unfettered freedom, has chosen to make his grace, his care, and his forgiveness available to everyone. How does this transaction take place? How do all people have access to the grace of God? Paul answers, "By the Word. By the Word of faith which we preach!" This word is near us, in our mouths, and in our hearts. If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and "God raised him from the dead," you will be saved. That which you believe in your heart, you will confess with your lips.
This confession is the word of faith. It is the word that is preached. It is the word that is heard. It is the Word of God. This is the means God uses to establish faith everywhere. Some people find it very surprising that at the center of God's grand scheme of redemption for the world is the fragile experience that we call the speaking and hearing of a word - that fragile movement of vibrations across the eardrum. After all, it is just a word. Maybe that is why we should say a word about a word.
As we consider the transaction that Paul is suggesting, we should recall Jesus' words in Matthew 12:36--37: "I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Jesus is pointing out that a person speaks out of the heart. Speaking is that revelation of whom and what we are. So he slides every word to the eternal accountability. Therefore, by our speaking we will be held eternally accountable; by our speaking we will be justified; by our speaking we will be condemned.
It somehow surprises us that Jesus would put so much weight on a word, and that Paul has put at the heart of the transaction of salvation a word. We know that words are just words and anybody can talk. Anyone in the world can say words, and it really isn't all that important these things that we speak. I remember talking to a judge about his time on the bench. He made a remarkable statement - it surprised me, but yet it didn't surprise me. He said that more lies are told on the witness stand than anywhere else in the world. It is that place that you're asked to raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
There is a philosophy that says, "We want deeds not words - words don't mean anything." It is the old children's idea about words. I remember this from the time I was very young. We would be called names by the other children and then we would say our little ditty: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me."
It sounds great and it is a marvelous saying, however, there is one thing wrong with it. It is false. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will totally destroy me. I recently visited a woman who was about to celebrate her 105th birthday. She is still alert and has a great sense of humor. However, when we sat and talked about her life, she became sad and told me a story about her life as a little girl. As she told the story, I could sense that her memory went all the way back to the age of eight or nine. She then looked at me and said, "Let me tell you what my daddy said to me." He had been very strict and harsh to her as a child, and this woman now 105 years old had never ever forgotten those words. How is it that we feel words do not mean anything when they reside inside us for as long as we live?
These things called words are events in the realm of sound, but it is our way to relate to each other and to God. And we in churches should give great care to the words we are charged with keeping. We are somehow careless with words, and it is the idea if we say a lot of words that we are performing our job. I have a very good friend who is a member of another denomination. Their senior pastor retired, and in the process of looking for another pastor an interim was hired. My friend asked what I thought about a subject that he felt was inappropriate that had been discussed in the sermon the week before. It was words, only words, but they were words that he knew, and we all know, can and will have an effect on our thinking and on our lives. Our responsibility is not just for the care of souls but for the care of words.
The vocabulary of the faith is extremely important. It is where our hearts, minds, and souls learn their language. Maybe as Christians we should never say something is just a word. It is the importance that Paul found in his letter and the gospel that could only be transmitted with a word. I learned the importance of a word to a mother who had lost her son in the Vietnam War. He was shot down in 1971. Elsie's home was a shrine to her son. She showed me pictures and then she brought out a cassette tape of his voice. He had mailed it the week before he died. She hung on every word of it as if she was hearing it for the first time. I listened to the tape, which was now ten years old. And as he came to the end, he said, "Mom, I love you." Just words, but the tears were flowing down her cheeks just the same.
Have you ever thought about what it is you do when you say a word? To speak is to create a whole new experience for someone. As we visit the nursing home or the hospital, it amazes me what a word can do. On one occasion I recall walking into a personal care home, searching for an elderly gentleman. We found him in a day room with about eight other people. As we walked in, our saying good morning changed the complexion of the room. For people we don't even know, words can have the effect of turning on a light or encouraging them to sit up straight. It is only a word.
A word is a powerful, powerful thing. It was the night Jesus would be betrayed and he would prepare for the drama before him as the Savior of the world. It was during the Passover meal that Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples saying, "Take, eat, this is my body." Then, after supper he took the cup, blessing it and giving it to his disciples, saying, "All of you drink of this cup. It is the blood for the remission of sins." What Jesus did that night was to take a supper and make a sacrament. He did this simply by speaking a word. When you say something, you may be creating a new world or a new experience for someone.
The Apostle Paul calls on believers to understand the power of this word called confession. And the prominent theme from the early chapters of Romans returns as Paul recalls that God's salvation knows no boundaries. He expresses that God is "Lord of All" and generous to all, and everyone who calls on God will be saved. God calls us to have a faith that will act on word and deed. I believe that statement contains the raw material that can change a church, a family, and the world.
When you say a word, you break someone's silence. You throw a stone against the clear glass of silence and interrupt their world with your love. It is this word that leads to a word of salvation. We are justified by words, and yet the most difficult thing in the world to do is to have a meaningful conversation. Because, as we speak about things that are so deep inside, the first thing to go is our voice. It is difficult to speak the most profound things in the world. This may be why, in our tradition after pastor's class has been completed and Palm Sunday and Easter approach, we know those being baptized will make a confession. The confession is never one that is shouted, but it is spoken from the deep places of the heart. Those are the things God calls us to - things that we look for the most - the places that sit at the bottom of our heart.
The President's speech was another example of what it means to speak a word, or to take an oath, thereby giving one's word. It marked the significance of a word, and how words can and will affect lives. Maybe that is why a great deal of Paul's writing deals with words and how they affect our salvation. Paul shows in Romans chapter 10 that God, in God's total and unfettered freedom, has chosen to make his grace, his care, and his forgiveness available to everyone. How does this transaction take place? How do all people have access to the grace of God? Paul answers, "By the Word. By the Word of faith which we preach!" This word is near us, in our mouths, and in our hearts. If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and "God raised him from the dead," you will be saved. That which you believe in your heart, you will confess with your lips.
This confession is the word of faith. It is the word that is preached. It is the word that is heard. It is the Word of God. This is the means God uses to establish faith everywhere. Some people find it very surprising that at the center of God's grand scheme of redemption for the world is the fragile experience that we call the speaking and hearing of a word - that fragile movement of vibrations across the eardrum. After all, it is just a word. Maybe that is why we should say a word about a word.
As we consider the transaction that Paul is suggesting, we should recall Jesus' words in Matthew 12:36--37: "I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Jesus is pointing out that a person speaks out of the heart. Speaking is that revelation of whom and what we are. So he slides every word to the eternal accountability. Therefore, by our speaking we will be held eternally accountable; by our speaking we will be justified; by our speaking we will be condemned.
It somehow surprises us that Jesus would put so much weight on a word, and that Paul has put at the heart of the transaction of salvation a word. We know that words are just words and anybody can talk. Anyone in the world can say words, and it really isn't all that important these things that we speak. I remember talking to a judge about his time on the bench. He made a remarkable statement - it surprised me, but yet it didn't surprise me. He said that more lies are told on the witness stand than anywhere else in the world. It is that place that you're asked to raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
There is a philosophy that says, "We want deeds not words - words don't mean anything." It is the old children's idea about words. I remember this from the time I was very young. We would be called names by the other children and then we would say our little ditty: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me."
It sounds great and it is a marvelous saying, however, there is one thing wrong with it. It is false. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will totally destroy me. I recently visited a woman who was about to celebrate her 105th birthday. She is still alert and has a great sense of humor. However, when we sat and talked about her life, she became sad and told me a story about her life as a little girl. As she told the story, I could sense that her memory went all the way back to the age of eight or nine. She then looked at me and said, "Let me tell you what my daddy said to me." He had been very strict and harsh to her as a child, and this woman now 105 years old had never ever forgotten those words. How is it that we feel words do not mean anything when they reside inside us for as long as we live?
These things called words are events in the realm of sound, but it is our way to relate to each other and to God. And we in churches should give great care to the words we are charged with keeping. We are somehow careless with words, and it is the idea if we say a lot of words that we are performing our job. I have a very good friend who is a member of another denomination. Their senior pastor retired, and in the process of looking for another pastor an interim was hired. My friend asked what I thought about a subject that he felt was inappropriate that had been discussed in the sermon the week before. It was words, only words, but they were words that he knew, and we all know, can and will have an effect on our thinking and on our lives. Our responsibility is not just for the care of souls but for the care of words.
The vocabulary of the faith is extremely important. It is where our hearts, minds, and souls learn their language. Maybe as Christians we should never say something is just a word. It is the importance that Paul found in his letter and the gospel that could only be transmitted with a word. I learned the importance of a word to a mother who had lost her son in the Vietnam War. He was shot down in 1971. Elsie's home was a shrine to her son. She showed me pictures and then she brought out a cassette tape of his voice. He had mailed it the week before he died. She hung on every word of it as if she was hearing it for the first time. I listened to the tape, which was now ten years old. And as he came to the end, he said, "Mom, I love you." Just words, but the tears were flowing down her cheeks just the same.
Have you ever thought about what it is you do when you say a word? To speak is to create a whole new experience for someone. As we visit the nursing home or the hospital, it amazes me what a word can do. On one occasion I recall walking into a personal care home, searching for an elderly gentleman. We found him in a day room with about eight other people. As we walked in, our saying good morning changed the complexion of the room. For people we don't even know, words can have the effect of turning on a light or encouraging them to sit up straight. It is only a word.
A word is a powerful, powerful thing. It was the night Jesus would be betrayed and he would prepare for the drama before him as the Savior of the world. It was during the Passover meal that Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples saying, "Take, eat, this is my body." Then, after supper he took the cup, blessing it and giving it to his disciples, saying, "All of you drink of this cup. It is the blood for the remission of sins." What Jesus did that night was to take a supper and make a sacrament. He did this simply by speaking a word. When you say something, you may be creating a new world or a new experience for someone.
The Apostle Paul calls on believers to understand the power of this word called confession. And the prominent theme from the early chapters of Romans returns as Paul recalls that God's salvation knows no boundaries. He expresses that God is "Lord of All" and generous to all, and everyone who calls on God will be saved. God calls us to have a faith that will act on word and deed. I believe that statement contains the raw material that can change a church, a family, and the world.
When you say a word, you break someone's silence. You throw a stone against the clear glass of silence and interrupt their world with your love. It is this word that leads to a word of salvation. We are justified by words, and yet the most difficult thing in the world to do is to have a meaningful conversation. Because, as we speak about things that are so deep inside, the first thing to go is our voice. It is difficult to speak the most profound things in the world. This may be why, in our tradition after pastor's class has been completed and Palm Sunday and Easter approach, we know those being baptized will make a confession. The confession is never one that is shouted, but it is spoken from the deep places of the heart. Those are the things God calls us to - things that we look for the most - the places that sit at the bottom of our heart.
