January 31, 2021 - Louder Than Words
Deborah Laforet Deuteronomy 18:15-20 & Mark 1:29-31
Louder Than Words
Do you know those people who seem to have lots to say but not much substance, or worse, those people who make lots of promises and talk about the way things should be, but don’t keep those promises or do the opposite of what they preach? We tend to think of politicians who make lots of promises to get elected or they profess to certain values and directions and then completely change their tune after they get elected. These are the stories that tend to make the news. Stories of people who preach, lecture, advise, teach, counsel, who gain the trust of those to whom they speak, and then are discovered to be doing the exact opposite. Those fighting against racism who are discovered to have lied about their identity as black or indigenous. Law enforcement who profess to serve and protect who kill a defenceless person. People who ask for donations to support those in need and instead are guilty of embezzling funds or finding out most of the money doesn’t actually get to those in need.
It’s a betrayal. It’s hurtful. These false prophets who profess to be speaking with authority, with the interest of others in mind, or at the call of God are harmful and can even be deadly.
In our first reading this morning, Moses, that great leader who led the Hebrew people as they became a nation, is near the end of his leadership role. God’s message to the people, through Moses, is to continue to follow the prophets sent by God after Moses, to continue to pay heed to their words and to follow the will of God.
But there is also a warning. “But if a prophet presumes to speak in my Name a message that I have not commanded to be spoken, or speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet shall die.” How will the people know if someone is false, is not speaking in God’s name. How will they be able to tell false messages from true messages? “If that which a prophet proclaims in the Name of God does show itself to be untrue, or does not happen, then this is a message that God did not speak. Such prophets are presumptuous prophets. Do not listen to them.”
Actions speak louder than words. We live in a culture where words hold a lot of weight and they are highly valued. We value leaders who can speak professionally. Social media values tightly crafted messages. When people want to learn about pressing issues or the latest fad, they buy a book. People listen to podcasts, read blogs, and read the newspaper. In the Broadway musical, My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle is a woman who agrees to learn ‘proper’ English rather than the English she was taught in her lower class world. One day she gets fed up with her teacher and decides to give it up. On her way out the door, she encounters a young man who begins to declare his love for her with beautiful words in a song. In frustration, this is how she responds. (Show Clip)
Show me. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with words. They are a very effective communication tool. I get paid for my words, to preach, to professionally and effectively communicate, to read and interpret scripture, our sacred words. Words can also be beautiful and powerful in poetry and song, as many appreciated with Amanda Gorman’s poem at the inauguration last week.
But it can’t be all words. I could have forgiven President Trump’s unprofessional way of speaking and writing if his actions had been more just and fair. The reason we went through a two-year process to become an Affirming church was because we had to show that our words held weight when we said we were open and inclusive of all people. Unfortunately, Christian churches are seen hypocritical because their actions often don’t match their message. During this pandemic time when our church is closed and members are kept at home, I feel a frustration that we aren’t able to show up in our community and demonstrate what our faith teaches us about love and justice. We can send money, make phone calls, share messages on social media, but it’s a lot harder to get our hands dirty right now. Not that it’s impossible; we have to be creative in our support, but it is more difficult.
I had Judy read a second passage, this one from the gospel of Mark. Mark’s gospel is the shortest gospel and the stories within tend to be shorter than the same stories in other gospels, mostly because Jesus speaks less in Mark’s gospel. He mostly acts. In this passage, Jesus and his disciples walk home from the synagogue and they go to Simon’s and Andrew’s home where Simon’s mother-in-law is ill. In this passage, Jesus heals this unnamed woman, which is the first of Jesus’ healings in this gospel and the shortest miracle account in all the Gospels. In response, the Inclusive Bible says she went about her work, which almost sounds like the sickness has interrupted her work and that being well allowed her to get right back to it. In the New Revised Standard Version, we read, “Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them,” and in the King James Version we read that she ministered to them.
The bible is written in an ancient language and sometimes people have to guess at what was intended. The greek word used here is a word that is particularly special to me. There are several version of this word. Here we read, diakoneō, which is to serve, or minister, or help. It’s related to the word, diakonia, meaning service or ministry, or diakonos, which is servant, assistant, or deacon. Many of you know that I am commissioned as a Diaconal minister and I see my role as one of service to the church and to those on the margins or those in need.
The point I’m making is that this woman did not just get up and just start doing her usual work. Jesus had healed her and in response, she served him. She may have started serving him dinner or making him comfortable in her home, but she didn’t need words to show her appreciation. She showed it through her service, through her actions.
There is a poem attributed to St. Teresa of Ávila where she expresses that it is up to us to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world. People will know Christ, his message, his healing, his love, through our actions. You can’t feel that through just words.
I know it’s more words, but I thought I’d share that poem with you now.
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
— St. Teresa of Ávila (attributed)
Christ has no body now but ours. We are the hands, the feet, the eyes, the ears, the mouth of Christ. As prophets of God, as disciples and apostles of Christ, we share our faith with others through our words and especially our actions. So know that when you reach out to others with a phone call, with a note, with a casserole or muffins, you are sharing the compassion of Christ. When you walk with someone in need, speak out against injustice, share of your own resources, or use your time to create a better world, you are the love of Christ. When you touch someone who needs to be touched, when you sit and listen to someone’s story, when you open your arms to someone who feels excluded and unloved, they will know Christ, through you. Thanks be to God. Amen.