Beautiful Words?

August 13, 2013

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

This year our Church, by vote of the Congregation, added a surname and is now “St. Paul’s Methodist Church.  The question “What’s in a name?” will be answered in the coming years thru the measure of Christlike liberality in life, service, and substance with which we emulate the heroic stature of the Apostle Paul.

Rev. J.E. Feller wrote these words in his Pastor’s Report for the Charge Conference following the congregation’s vote in 1947 to change the name of the 89-year old First Methodist Episcopal Church in Cherokee to the St. Paul’s Methodist Church we know today.

I have re-read his statement several times since discovering it in our church archives last week.  It has not only inspired my preparations for this sermon series on Paul, it has kindled my appreciation for beautiful words.  Rev. Feller was among that great generation of preachers who cared for our language, balancing artistry with economy in the way they wrote and preached.  Twentieth century giants like Harry Emerson Fosdick, William Sloane Coffin, Martin Luther King, George Buttrick, and John Baillie, communicated with flourish and precision, far beyond what is commonplace in today’s Twitterized, televangelized pop-Christianity.  Would that most preachers – and public figures in general - speak and write with this kind of beauty today.

BEAUTIFUL WORDS?

Tom Long, preaching professor at Candler School of Theology, cites the following comparison of two public speakers, from two different eras. 

On December 8^, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a House representative from New Jersey named Charles Eaten made this speech to the House: “Mr. Speaker, yesterday against the roar of Japanese cannons in Hawaii, our American people heard a trumpet call:  a call to unity, a call to courage, a call to determination, once and for all to wipe off the earth this accursed monster of tyranny and slavery, which is casting its black shadow over the hearts and homes of every land.” 

Say what you will, that’s beautiful, Long says.  But then he continues:

A few years ago, another politician, Senator Sam Brownback, made the case for the war in Iraq this way: “Uh, if we don’t go at Iraq, our effort in the war on terrorism dwindles down to an intelligence operation, and we go at Iraq, and it says to countries that support terrorists, there are six in the world, as our definition states, that are sponsors of terrorists, and you say to those countries, ‘We’re serious about terrorism, we’re serious about your not supporting terrorism on your own soil.’”

What happened? Long asks. [1]

THE WORD MADE FLESH, IN WORDS

It’s no wonder that when John the gospel writer captured the mystery and beauty of God’s ultimate interaction with the world, he described it as the Word made flesh.  The artistry of God’s incarnation in Jesus was made visible in the vocabulary of human experience.  The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is an ode of the eternal, celebrating the one who is the “author and finisher of the faith.”

It is our job, then, to take our experience of the Word made flesh and convey it through our words.  As a full, circular response to the glory of God given to us in ordinary terms, we must be careful to use our words in ways that glorify God.  Preachers like me, when we write and speak, should choose language that incarnates the love of God with precision and beauty.  While it is true that the act of preaching should never wander too far from the vernacular, we should also resist cultural temptations to conceal our capacity for awe, wonder, mystery, and praise. 

This is a task shared by all followers of the Word.  Regardless of your calling and lot in life, take care of the words that you use.  Use words that enhance beauty in the world and in your relationships, rather than promote ugliness.  Resist the temptation to cheapen your witness in public discourse with words that are snarky and cynical.  Embrace the power of written words, choosing them deliberately and carefully, rather than relying solely on the fast-food medium of social media.  In short, love words. 

It is not just preachers that rely on words for their work.  All of us, as bearers of the Word, must live with “Christlike liberality in life, service, and substance.”  So let’s tend to our words.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega

St. Paul's United Methodist Church

531 W. Main St.

Cherokee, IA  51012

Ph:  712-225-3955

Email:  mdevega@sp-umc.org

[1]  Tom Long, Lecture, Festival of Homiletics, May 2005.

  

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY:  CORINTHIANS

We continue our journey this Sunday with a look at 1 and 2 Corinthians, the longest epistles that Paul wrote, to a community torn by conflict and division.  We learn how Paul promotes the power of the cross to heal discord and reconcile us to God andeach other.  If you are not already doing so, pick up a daily scripture reading bookmark and follow along in our preparations for each Sunday. 

For this week, the readings are:

Monday:  1 Cor. 1-3

Tuesday:  1 Cor. 11-13

Wednesday:  1 Cor. 14-16

Thursday:  2 Cor.  5-7

Friday:  2 Cor. 8-10

Saturday:  2 Cor.11-13