Understanding Creeds: The Essence of Belief, Hebrews 1:1-4

Posted on October 7, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

In speaking with the young people in the confirmation class, we learned about creeds. A creed is simply a statement of what you believe about any topic. We have heard the classical creeds like the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. Yet, there were creeds that predated even those. A creed was and is said in worship either in church or devotionally to clarify what someone believes about God. Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church has a creed in chapter 2:5-11. It goes:

5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In the letter to the church of Colossae, there is another scriptural creed. It is in Colossians 1:15-20. It says,

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

The anonymous author of Hebrews wrote to a mostly Jewish audience who firmly understood the Jewish ways and Law. It reads like a sermonic letter to the church and opens with a statement of faith, or creed. And that is our text this morning, Hebrews 1:1-4. Written some thirty years after Jesus’ death, Hebrews reflects on the supremacy of Christ and how Jesus is the culmination and fulfillment of the Jewish Law. Hear the good news from Hebrews 1:1-4.

Hebrews 1:1-4

1.1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.[1]

Let us unpack what this credo is declaring. It begins by saying that God has been trying to call us for a very long time. This effort has been ongoing for as long as history can remember. God has sent prophets to speak to us. God set aside the Jewish nation to talk with us. God performed wonders and miracles to get our attention. Yet, there seems to be a problem. We humans do not listen nor take to heart those divine messages. Gratefully, the Source of all things is persistent.

The second declaration of this creed is that we are hard of hearing by implication. We do not respond to the prophets, the Law, or divine acts. So, God takes matters into God’s own hands. God pierces the barrier between heaven and earth and becomes a flesh and blood human being like you and me. Furthermore, this Son of God was there at the creation of all there is. Indeed, he took part in the creating process! The Son of God is not some Johnny-Come-Lately who arrives late on the scene. Instead, he was present before our human understanding of time began.

The Preacher of Hebrews continues to drill down on this point. This Son of God comes from outside of our understanding of time. Our creed also tells us the Son of God was really quite the character! Verse three says the Son of God is the reflected brightness of God’s very presence. He is the exact character and representation of God’s being. God’s essence is living among us. I love how Peterson’s paraphrase The Message says it in John 1:14: The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. 

So, Creator God entered time, became a human being, and lived a life like we live ours, but the Son of God’s life had a specific purpose. We read he made purification for our sins. What does that mean? The word in the ancient language from our text is the word we get our word catharsis. A catharsis is a cleansing, a purging of infection. In the Son of God’s case, the cleansing involved the septic illness of sin. It also addressed the brokenness of people’s relationship with God. 

Think of it like this. Imagine a piece of cloth that has been torn in half. The Son of Man acts like a needle and thread. It pierces the cloth and punches through the other half of the cloth. It separates God, who lives outside of time in what we call eternity, from our time-bound lives. The needle is then reattached to the other piece of fabric, rejoining eternity with our time-bound lives. The Son of God moving into our neighborhood wasn’t enough. He had to return home to pull the fabric back together. 

Beloved, what is a creed you would write to share with another person or church? Seriously, I am not just preaching! Think about the basics of what you believe about God and the Son of God. Let us say you are tasked to write a statement of faith to encourage another congregation. What do you include? What do you leave out? Why? Your homework this week is to write a personal credo on what you believe just like our confirmation students!

This morning, we celebrate Worldwide Communion Sunday. Churches around the globe from all types of Christian traditions celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This highlights our mutual faith and our love of and for Jesus Christ. It is a celebration that since we did not listen, the Son of God, Jesus, entered our history and time. God wants to guarantee His message is heard correctly. He comes in the person of Jesus to make sure we get it right. 

But we do not. We are a stubborn people and killed the Son of God. But we do not know that in doing so, Jesus returns to eternity. He rebinds us with the Source of All Love and Beauty. Jesus, knowing we would forget, left us a reminder of this passionate act of love. The disciples did not fully understand it at the time.

You see, on the night he was betrayed, he took bread. He broke it and gave it to his friends. He told them to eat. He then took the cup. After saying a prayer, he passed it among his beloved. He told them, “This is the cup of my blood, shed for you. It marks the new covenant and promise that I will come back and take you to be with me where I am. For I go and prepare a place for you so that we be together in eternity.”

Friends, the Beloved Quilter of Time and Space, of Love and Light bids us to come to the table. Let us pray.

© 2024 by Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 400 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church Glens Falls. They shall not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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The Dangers of Nostalgia in Church Communities, Numbers 11:4-6, 10-17, 24-25

Posted on September 30, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

Today, we are going to look at religious community and its relationship with its leadership. Let us start with Numbers 11.4. The King James Version has it read, “And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting….” The New Revised reads, “The rabble among them had a strong craving.” The Hebrews left Egypt. Folks who were not Hebrew got swept up with them on their exodus. They are called the ‘mixed multitude’ or rabble and even riffraff in some translations. It was the grumbling, grousing non-Hebrew rabble that was complaining about the poor food provisions in the wilderness who started stirring up the people and got them complaining, too. Just like a little spark can get a fire going, so can negative, complaining grumblers. Negativity is a dangerous virus. It is deadly and spreads quickly.

Hear the Word of the Lord beginning with Number 11:4.

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-17, 24-25

4 The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” 10Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased.11So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,’ to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me.15If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”

16So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting and have them take their place there with you. 17I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.

24So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people and placed them all around the tent. 25Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.[1]

The old Church campfire song reminds us it only takes a spark to get the fire going. It takes just a small group of people to set a whole community on fire with gossip, grousing, and complaining. Our Story chock-full with grumbling. We have the rabble along with the Hebrews complaining to Moses about the quality of their provisions. Then we have Moses hitting the proverbial wall. He complains to God for making him the leader of the twelve tribes of Jacob. Moses declares to the Lord, “C’mon, God, gimme a break! I can’t carry these people all by myself; I need some help!”

Today’s Story from Numbers is a story about leadership and its relationship with the faith community. Pastor and former editor of the Presbyterian Outlook, Jill Duffield, reminds us that by the time we meet Moses and the Hebrews in the wilderness, they are no longer pursued by Pharaoh and his army. Moses and the Hebrews are free from Egyptian threats. The Egyptians are no longer a threat to the Hebrews. Now, it’s God’s own chosen ones who are posing the greatest obstacles in reaching the promised land![2]. Let us first look at the issues of a community of faith and then we will look at its leadership.

As we look at the faith community, we read they were throwing up obstacles. These obstacles hindered reaching God’s goal of the promised land.

First, we hear in Numbers 11 a nostalgic longing for the way things used to be. The problem is, nostalgia has this propensity to forget the facts of what yesterday was really like. The people in verse 4 cry out, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt that cost nothing. We remember the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.” The longing for the fleshpots of Egypt. Is their memory really that short? Have they forgotten they were slaves who worked under the whip? Have they forgotten their food was free because they were conscripted labor for Pharaoh’s army and building projects? The people have painted this vision of a yesterday that never really was. This is the problem with nostalgia. It filters out all the unpleasantness.

Church is one place nostalgia is alive and well and it is not helpful. A nostalgic church creates for itself unnecessary obstacles that inhibit its progress. Nostalgia inhibits a faith community’s progress and growth because it is always looking backward comparing itself to yesterday’s wonder years.

“I remember when…” 

“Well, we used to do such and such like…” 

“We’ve never done it that way before!”

“We used to have packed pews on Sundays…” 

Churches are guilty of this spiritual nostalgia. 

Friends, looking backwards to celebrate past successes is fine. Looking backwards to learn from mistakes is fine. Looking backward with nostalgic romanticism is counterproductive. Imagine yourself out walking in a nearby woods. You must get from point A to point B. You decide to walk it facing backwards. You are looking at where you started. How do you think that will work for you? Can you see the tree blocking your way that you’re about to fall over? What about that steep embankment you’re about to tumble into? People do not walk into the future facing backwards because they will fall. 

A colleague of mine expressed it another way. He gave me an old key with a note attached. It read, “Old keys will not open new doors.” Nostalgia is when a church still believes this notion. It commits itself to the idea that old keys will turn the locks on the new doors of ministry today. 

“I remember when we had packed pews.” But do you also remember the dissension among the members in the church pews and parking lot?

“I remember when we gave $XYZ to missions.” But do you remember that a few wealthy families carried the budget, so you did not have to give as much?

I remember when the youth group was packed! But do you remember that back then, the pressures on young people were not as great as they are today? The demands of all the extracurricular activates, volunteer hours needed to graduate, homework, family time…it is tough to be a kid these days.

A second obstacle inhibiting the community to move ahead is that current troubles often overshadow the blessings. The community has already received these blessings. Present troubles often overshadow the blessings a community has already received. The Hebrews have forgotten they prayed for and received deliverance from bondage and slavery. They have forgotten how God parted the Red Sea as they escaped on dry land while an army pursued them. They developed amnesia about how God made water gush out of the rocks so the people quench their thirst. They have forgotten how when they were hungry. God provided manna, bread from heaven, to feed them on their journey. Beloved, when the going gets tough, what are the blessings we forget? Perhaps during hardship and rough times we should stop where we are. We should reflect on how God has provided for our need when we needed it. There is a difference between nostalgic longing and grateful remembrance.

I am currently having the Session read a book entitled, We Aren’t Broke. It reminds the church of the resources we do have. It helps avoid focusing on what we do not. It calls the church to shift from a mindset of scarcity (we don’t have). The goal is to adopt one of abundance (look at what God has blessed us with that we do have).

The third obstacle inhibiting the community to reach the promised land are negative attitudes that underlay their questions. We are not to fault the Hebrews for asking, “Hey God, what’s up?” We cannot fault Moses looking heavenward and demanding to God, “Hey, Lord! Gimme a break!”  What we can fault them for is the attitude that. They think, “If I (personally) cannot see an obvious solution, there is no solution possible.”[3]  A negative, fatalistic attitude has the power to limit the scope of our vision and narrow possibilities. Negative attitudes move us to binary thinking. We see outcomes as either yes or no, this or that. It’s black or it’s white. It’s right or it’s wrong. Binary attitudes limit our scope and ability to see God’s visions. Either/or thinking limits; expanding to both/and thinking creates new ways ahead.

Nostalgia, forgetfulness, and negative binary thinking were obstacles for the Hebrews; they are for any church today. Moses is tired and needed help. So, because God is a God who answers prayers, God provides a solution. 

So, what is the solution? The solution is that God had Moses call out seventy elders or officers from the midst of the people. God would take some of the spirit that was in Moses. He would distribute it to these elders and officers. They too shall bear the burden and weight of responsibility of the people. Moses will stay at point. But, Moses is not alone anymore. Leadership is now shared.

This morning, you the members of this faith community will confirm God’s Spirit moving out over our people. You will choose the next group of church officers. They are presented to you, not because they are popular. They are not presented to you because they are rich. They are not presented to you because they are spiritual giants. No, they are people like you. They are chosen by God through your voice. They help carry the burden of leadership for this community. They are women and men who have said Yes! to answering the call of leadership. 

But friends, as you confirm their leadership, I am asking you to make a promise. I am asking you to promise not to place obstacles that hinder their leadership abilities. A promise that will not hinder their leadership as they guide our community with distorted nostalgia. Remember the many blessings we have. Refrain from negative, binary thinking. Church, can you do that?

And what does the people of God say? The people of God say, Amen.

© 2024 by Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 400 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church Glens Falls. They shall not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Connections: Year B, Volume 3 (Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship) (Kindle Location 10305). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

[3] Connections: Year B, Volume 3 (Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship) (p. 337). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

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Bless Your Heart: There’s No Room for Pride in the Church, Mark 9:30-37

Posted on September 23, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

A Sermon delivered on September 22, 2024, by Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley.

The Gospel of Mark is so real as it paints people as they really are. It’s because of this I wonder if Jesus ever had what we call “Buyer’s Remorse” with the guys he chose to be apostles. He set out to find regular people from the hoi polloi to entrust his message and work to instead of the established religious empire of the day. No matter how hard Jesus tries to make things ‘Crayola’, i.e., easy for them to understand, they have what we Southerners call “bless your heart moments.”

If someone from the South says one of two phrases to you, you know you’re in trouble. If you say or do something that is just not too bright, we say, “Joyce, bless your heart.” Another one to listen out for is, “God love ya’!” Both phrases mean the one who is telling them this thinks you are clueless about what is going on in front of you.

In Mark 8 Jesus lines it out very directly that the Son of Man will suffer many things, be handed over to the religious establishment, and then killed but after three days rise again. Peter, the foundation of the church, the Rock, reprimanded Jesus when he said this and Jesus rips right into Peter, “Stand behind me, Satan.” Though it is not in the original Greek manuscripts, there are some versions where it is added parenthetically that Jesus also tells Peter, “Bless your heart.” 

Right after this incident, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on the mountain where Jesus’s appearance is transfigured in front of them as he talks with Moses and Elijah. Once again, Peter can’t refrain from opening his mouth and putting his foot into it and interrupts that holy moment and confab by saying, “Excuse me, Moses, but Jesus, do you want us to build y’all three shelters?” Although not in the text, I can hear Jesus softly mutter, “Peter, God love ya’.”

After this, Jesus does another healing, and this leads us to our text for today. Yes, it is another one of those ‘bless your heart moments.’ You will hear what I mean as we read our text for the day, Mark 9:30-37. Hear the Word of the Lord!

Mark 9:30-37

 30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. 

 33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them, and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”[1]

Jesus and the Twelve are making their way back to Capernaum and he is trying to have some time just with them apart from the crowds. It is obvious to Jesus they are not fully understanding the scope of it all. So, while on the road, he reminds them a second time he will be betrayed, killed, and rise again after three days. Their response? Silence. “They were afraid to ask him.”

Were they afraid they would give the wrong answer, and Jesus would be upset with them? Just perhaps, they remembered how Jesus responded to Peter the last time this whole thing came up and how Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan.”

Were they beginning to think they signed onto something that was getting too big or beyond them?

It is all fascinating to me because the ordinary method of teaching close disciples was to walk and dialogue about issues. The Jewish Rabbinic tradition is based upon this question-and-answer debate-style dialogue between the teacher and the student. It was a vigorous style of learning. Peter’s problem the first time the whole betrayed, killed, and rise again thing came up, he pulled Jesus aside and did not ask Jesus a question to clarify what he meant; instead, Peter reprimanded Jesus. I believe Jesus would have responded much differently had Peter humbly asked, “Rabbi, please unpack this more for us. Are you speaking literally or figuratively?”  It would have been a legitimate question for them to ask him in our text this morning. Instead, they were silent.

The subtle picture Mark paints is a very human one. Jesus makes a statement, and the disciples shut down. At this point, I can see Jesus making a deep sigh and retreating to the privacy of his own thoughts while they walked. The group has grown quiet as they lug their way to Capernaum. Like on a hike through the Adirondacks, the line of hikers begins to separate and get elongated, and micro, side conversations among them occur with hushed voices. 

Jesus makes a note.

Our Story has them finally arrive at a home in Capernaum and Jesus is curious. He asks them a question: So, what were you talking about on the way here? In other words, he asks them, “You did not engage me in conversation about what I said earlier but you sure were capable of engaging in conversation and debate among yourselves without me. What was so important that I not be included in the conversation?” Once again, the rabbi asks a question, and the response is dead silence. Bless their hearts.

Professor Emeritus from Princeton, Dr. Peter Paris, writing on today’s passage says, “Sadly, instead of commiserating with one another about the sad news he had shared with them about his pending death, they began arguing about who would gain higher status afterward. In other words, they were discussing which one of them would assume leadership.”[2]

God love ‘em.

Let’s hit the pause button one moment. Put yourself in Jesus’ shoes – how would you be feeling right now? He obviously knew full well what they were in deep discussion about while on the road. He has just told them about his impending death, and they are arguing about who is going to be in charge once he is gone. Now put yourself in the disciple’s shoes – what are they thinking right now? How do we suppose they are feeling at this moment? 

Bless their hearts.

And how does Jesus respond to their second round of silence? Does he outwardly get mad? Does he start chewing them out for being so dense and self-serving, dare I say selfish? No, Jesus responds in the most typical Jesus-type way – he meets them where they are and gives them an object lesson they will not forget.

So there in the house is a young child. Children in the first century were socially at the bottom of the food chain. Little children were little consumers demanding adult attention during a time when survival was the number one priority. It was only when they became of working age and added value to the family that children were held in higher regard. Not that they were not loved, they just were another mouth to feed in an already frenetic life. Today, our children are doted on, and we ply them with all the toys and latest electronics we can. In comparison, Western children are spoiled and have grown entitled in their outlook. 

So, Jesus takes a vulnerable child in his arms, and tells the disciples, “If anyone would be first, they should be last and a servant of all.” Little did they know Jesus was living out this very value as he went to Jerusalem but since they obviously did not want to talk about it, he held a child and further refined his message. “Whoever receives such a little child in my name receives me (as compared to arguing about who will be the greatest and in charge like y’all are doing) and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me.”  The teaching and values are clear to anyone who pays attention. And yet, in the very next verse in Mark, verse 38, the disciple John at once completely changes the topic. “Rabbi, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.” Not only was John changing the topic but who is the “us” he is talking about? Is he talking about following Jesus as they are doing or is he referring to following “us” the disciples as they jockey for positions of power? 

God love ‘em.

Friends, where do we see ourselves in this Story? Let me assure you, you and I are in this Story. You see, there is only one of three positions you can be in this Story. First, if you identify with the Twelve, you are on the way to going somewhere but you honestly do not know where you are going. Second, if we try to assume we are an observing third party listening in to the conversations with nothing at stake, then we like the Twelve are totally missing the point. There is only one position in the Story that Jesus wants to see us in and that is in the child. We are to be vulnerable. We are to be reliant on the One who holds us in his arms. We are to be trusting of the one who holds us in his arms along with our other siblings.

A disciple of Jesus knows their place in life and that is humbly in the acts of service to others and total reliance on God. We are to be fighting to put other people in line ahead of us. Anything else will get a “Bless your heart” coming from the mouth of Christ. I would so much rather hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In the Name of the One who is, was, and is yet to come. Amen. 

© September 22, 2024, by Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of the First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 400 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12701. Not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Dr. Peter J. Paris, Connections: Year B, Volume 3: Season after Pentecost (Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship) by Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, et al. See https://a.co/4SNzgls.

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The Power of Words: A Biblical Reflection on the Impact of Speech, James 3:1-12

Posted on September 16, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon delivered on September 15, 2024, by the Rev. Patrick H Wrisley, D.Min.

This morning, James is cutting to the chase about what can destroy either a person or the Christian community itself. In today’s text, James teaches us that words can bind people together or tear them apart. Words have the power to bring healing, or they can cause damaging pain. James is asking members of the church to measure our words in the light of the Royal Law which is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.[1]

Words matter to God. In Genesis, we learn how in the inky, chaotic blackness of the void of nothingness, God spoke and the result of God speaking the Word, the act of Creation took place. In the New Testament Genesis account in the Gospel of John, John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”[2]

Words matter.

Think for a moment about words you have heard throughout your life and how they affected you. I am 64 years old, and I can still remember crystal-clear words spoken by my second-grade teacher, Mrs. Smith; I guess that would put me at seven years old. I was a shy and insecure kid, and I distinctly remember the day she called me up in class to work out a math problem on the chalkboard. Sitting behind her desk she declared, “Fat Pat, come on up and here and work this out.”  I had always been a pudgy kid and teased about my weight. I was very self-conscious about it and when my teacher called me to the board that morning, any sliver of self-esteem I had was ripped out right in front of all my classmates who were chuckling at her comment. Her words haunt me these 54 years later.

Words matter. Words have weight. Words have power. Jesus so believed this that he made a point to tell his disciples in Matthew that at the fulfillment of time when we each stand before God, we will have to give an accounting for every careless, thoughtless word we utter in our life![3]

Listen to what James the Just, Jesus’ brother, says about the power of words we so often carelessly toss about with one another. Listen to the Word of the Lord from James 3.1-12.

James 3:1-12

3.1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.[4]

James’ words were originally addressing those who were in leadership and teaching positions of the Church. James realized the power of a teacher’s words can influence so much and so many. I learned this lesson from Mrs. Smith in second grade! Those who are leaders and teachers in a community of faith have a responsibility placed upon them to care for the community under their watch; the challenge was the early Church had a plethora of lousy non-orthodox teachers who ignored the Royal Law of God; the faith leaders were not loving one’s neighbor as much as they loved themselves and the ways of the world.

Yet, though he is talking to teachers and leaders of the faith community, James is also writing to the gathered Church; the words apply to all those in the worshiping fellowship. So, what can we learn from James’ words about building up the community of faith? Just as Rotary International has its Four-Way Test, I propose our text today highlights for you and me a Four-Way Test we can use as a template to filter the words we use. These four questions can help train us to be more mindful of our words and how they affect others.

Test number one: Do the words I use bind people together or do they divide and tear down? James reminds us of the tongue’s power by comparing it to a horse bridle or a ship’s rudder. For those of you who boat or fly, you are familiar with a rudder’s trim tab. A trim tab is a small rudder on the rudder itself that helps the ship stabilize and navigate smoothly. Airplane wings have them, too. Friends, our tongue is a trim tab that directs the words emerging from our hearts. Are they words that stabilize or do they destabilize? Our tongues and words either direct the flow of our Christly movement gracefully in the world, or,  they can fan into flames the world’s hellish tendencies. Christly movement brings people together. Christly movement brings reconciliation. Christly words bind the community together with a common purpose and expression of the love of God. Christly words bring stability and peace.

In contrast to Christly words, James speaks of words that destabilize and set the fires of anger, hate, and disunity. Hellish words are words that unravel communities. Our culture’s propensity to use ill-spoken words destroys the soul of a person to whom they are directed towards. Careless words are words that divide families, businesses, schools, churches, and communities. Just ask Springfield, Ohio mayor, Rob Rue, who has laments, “We’re hurting” as careless words have shut down two schools, and a college, caused an evacuation of city hall, and the local department of transportation facility all because of bomb threats based on careless words.[5]  Friends, words matter. The first filter of our three-way test is to ask, “Do the words I use bind people together or do my words divide and tear down?”

Test number two:  Do the words I use heal or do they cause pain and damage? Parents, think about how you argue with your spouse. In a fit of passionate anger, one of you blurts out to your spouse, “I hate you!” only to have your child in the next room hear it.  What is a child to make of that comment? When you uttered it, you really did not mean it, but it just came out of your mouth because you were angry; the problem is young kids don’t always understand that. And children of all ages, what do you think it does to a parent when they hear you yell at them in a moment of rage, “I hate you!”? For those of us on social media, how do the words and articles we post and how we comment impact others who either posted or are reading them? The words our young people are using on social media can be vicious and have caused some of their peers to take their own lives from the shame they received. Words matter.

Our scripture says words can’t be tamed or subdued. Unlike animals that can be kept behind the bars of a cage, words are not bound by anything with locks or doors; and yet, they slyly, seductively weave through any opening of the ear that hears them. Words have no boundaries and neither can they be contained. James says in verse 6 that words have the power to soil a person’s reputation and life as a baby will inevitably soil their diaper. He tells us that words have the power to set on fire the cycle of nature and burn it all down. James is reminding us words can be instigators that can burn down and level an entire community. Words have power, beloved. Words matter. Do our words bring healing, or do they burn down and divide?

Test number three:  Do our words show God’s character or the world’s? In James 2.8, we read about the Royal Law and that Royal Law reveals God’s character. The essence of God’s character is best described as active love looking for a recipient. In contrast, the world’s way of operating is built upon the notion that the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. The world’s character declares everyone for him or herself! The world’s character pulls and tears other people down to get ahead. The world’s character screams that those with the power are the best and most deserving!

Some years ago, folks in Orlando, Florida began losing sleep over the fact some yahoo let his pet Cobra escape the house into the suburban neighborhood. Vast amounts of police resources were poured into hunting this 8-foot reptile because its venom is strong enough to kill 19 people. James tells us today that our words can either bless or curse and he uses same word used to describe the poisonous venom that comes from a snake bite. There are far too many snakes in the world, my beloved, and there are far too many venomous snake bites happening in the Church of Jesus Christ.

The Church of Jesus Christ is a microcosm of culture in that it shows both what God dreams to happen with the bestowal of love on worthy and unworthy recipients alike; it’s also a microcosm of culture because it is made up of broken people like you and me who are hell-bent on hurting one another with snide remarks, or venomous backroom or parking lot grumbling or gossip.  The deal is though, friends, the Church is the re-presentation of the Kingdom, the Presence of God, in the world; as such Church, we need to be vigilant in trying to harness the unharnessable – nasty words, gossip and innuendo.

The last piece of the church’s four-way test for using words is obvious: Is it true? Beloved, the second essence of God’s character is Truth as Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the life.” In contrast, Jesus says in John 8 while speaking to his detractors says,  

44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Lies, my beloved, are a cancer in both a Christian’s life and in the life of the Church. 

The harnessing of our words requires constant vigilance on our part. This is why we need this four-way test. This is why we need the help of these four filters every time we open our mouths.

So, consider this week and notice whether your words unite people and spirits, or do they divide and crush?

Do they bring healing and refreshment, or do they cause pain or a person’s spiritual and social death?

Are they words that show the character of God’s Royal Law of love or do our words show the destructive cacophonous den our culture is promoting?

Are they true?

The Spirit of Understanding bring clarity to my words and our hearts and minds. Amen.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, 400 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801, and not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission.   All rights reserved.

[1] James 2.8.

[2] John 1.1.

[3] See Matthew 12.36.

[4] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[5] Miriam Jordan, The New York Times, September 12, 2024, After Bomb Threats and Political Vitriol, Ohio Mayor Says Enough. See https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/us/politics/springfield-ohio-bomb-threat-trump-pets.html.

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Refilling Surge Capacity: The Impact of the Syrophoenician Woman on Jesus | Sermon Reflection, Mark 7:24-31

Posted on September 9, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

A Sermon delivered on Sunday, September 8, 2024, by Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase, “I’ve hit the wall”? It is a phrase used to describe someone who has reached her limits and has nothing left in the tank to give anymore. They are exhausted. They have hit the wall. If you think back a few years, you will remember how many of us felt that when the pandemic thrust itself into our everyday lives. It required all of us to adapt most uncomfortably and inconveniently to life as it played out around us.

It happened to me in the church. One Sunday, we have several hundred people in worship and the next week, we have set up a make-shift TV studio in my office trying to figure out this thing called Livestream. Full-time parents with full-time jobs all of a sudden had to work at home along with their children who were full-time students online for school learning how to not only get along but learn how to do life together 24/7. Week after week I would get calls, “Why aren’t we meeting back in person yet? Why aren’t there Bible Studies? Why not this, or how come that?!” After a year of it, I was exhausted. How about you?

I noticed there were changes in how I related to both people and life. I grew emotionally tired of trying to be a cheerleader and encourager for a large staff and congregation. Every single day was a new pivot I had to make in my leadership because all aspects of everyday life had turned upside down. Every day was a continuing education workshop as I had to adapt to leading a staff and congregation daily in ways I never imagined I would. My dear wife had congestive heart failure, so I had this nagging fear that I would bring the virus home and kill her. It got to the point I was physically there, but I was not there. It got to the point I had to go talk with a counselor about it because I just wasn’t my old self.

So there, in my first ever Teladoc appointment (have you ever had one of those?), I am told, “Mr. Wrisley, I am seeing this a lot lately. The problem is you have depleted your surge capacity.” Huh?

Surge capacity is our human ability to draw upon spiritual, physical, and emotional reserves in times of crisis or high stress. We look back on a situation and wonder, “How did I, how did we, ever get through that?” We got through it because we had stored reserves in our surge capacity. A person’s surge capacity is those reservoirs of strength, clear-headedness, faith, and pragmatism that we dip into when we feel like we are hitting the wall. The problem appears in us when those reserves are depleted because the crisis or stress has lasted too long. My counselor told me, “Patrick, you have depleted your surge capacity. You have nothing in the tank, and we must figure a way for you to fill it back up so you can be your old self again.”[1]

As you think back over your life, whether from the pandemic, time in the armed services, natural disasters, or simply from the frenetic pace of life your job and other commitments demand of you – have you ever had depleted surge capacity? My guess is an unqualified, Yes! We human beings can only absorb and do so much.

This morning, we are going to look at a moment when Jesus’ surge capacity is depleted. His tank was dry. He hit a wall. Turn in your Bible to Mark 7 and we are going to pick up at verse 24. It is helpful to remember all that has happened before this point in the story. Jesus has begun his ministry tour and has crisscrossed the region teaching, preaching, healing the sick, casting out demons, and trying to mentor his disciples. His cousin, John the Baptist, has been executed by the Empire. His family and kinsfolk of Nazareth did not accept his teaching or work. And now the hot-shot religious leaders from Jerusalem have traveled to Capernaum and are grilling Jesus and trying to trip him up. The Jewish Ph.D.’s of religion of the day, the Pharisees, are embroiled in arguments with Jesus about traditions and commandments about what is clean and unclean. The wall is hit. Listen to the Word of the Lord.

Mark 7:21-30

 24.21 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 28But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ 29Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.[2]

Let’s be honest. This is not a flattering text. Preachers and scholars have all made various explanations for Jesus’ salty attitude from, “He is focused on the people of Israel first because that’s his mission” to “the word for ‘dog’ in the original language means ‘puppy’ so Jesus really isn’t being so snarky.” I don’t know. We have a saying back home that you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig. Jesus uses a common saying among the Jewish people describing the Gentiles in less than flattering ways; in other words, at this point in his journey, Jesus is not what we describe as being ‘woke.’

As tempting as it was to pick another text to preach on, we must wrestle with this hard verse. Why? Because it is a visible reminder that Jesus was a human being like you and me. The human Jesus had foibles. Christians have so focused on Jesus’ divine aspects that we have neglected to remember the beauty of the Incarnation of Christmas: Jesus, God with us, became a human being. It is the human Jesus that snapped at Simon Peter when got his purpose wrong. It is the human side of Jesus we see crying tears of blood from anguish on the night he was betrayed. It is the human side of Jesus who flipped the tables in the Temple when he saw how God’s house had been turned into a marketplace. It is the human side of Jesus that burned with anger when the religious know-it-alls placed policy above human need or interest. It is the human side of Jesus who scolds the disciples telling them, “Let the little children come to me.” And, it’s the human side of Jesus, who is operating with a depleted surge capacity who tells the Greek woman, “I’m here for my people first, then…”

What I love about this story is that it shows us a Jesus who gets tired and acts impulsively. I love the bold tenacity of the woman who dared to approach a Jewish male and make a plea to him. I love this story because this woman schooled Jesus and taught him something that he was not perhaps fully aware of within himself. Just as Jesus schooled the Pharisees in verses 1-23 about what defiles a person, so this desperate mother was not going to settle for a brush-off when it came to her little girl. “Even the puppies eat the scraps of food that are dropped from the master’s table.”

This woman and her bold, tenacious behavior and demand is exactly what Jesus needed to refill his surge capacity. She taught him that unlike his very own disciples who were not sure who he was, unlike his family who thought he was a little funny in the head, unlike the religious officials who thought he was corrupting the faith and Jewish culture, this bold woman is the one who recognized Jesus for who he was. Up until this point in Mark’s Story, it was mostly the exorcised demons who recognized and knew who Jesus was. Here, the Syrophoenician gentile woman falls at Jesus’ feet in an act of worship and believes in who Jesus is.

Wouldn’t you love to have seen Jesus’ face? The woman did the symbolic “drop-the-microphone”, and I can see this look of, “I just got schooled…I just got reminded of my larger purpose and task. Go, your daughter is well and her demons are gone.” I see Jesus with a wry smile shaking his head slowly back and forth thinking, “She gets it. Now I know I need to keep pressing ahead; there are detractors, but people are beginning to understand, even if it’s not the ones I expected.”

Because of a bold, tenacious, respectful bulldog of a woman, we have access as Gentiles to come to this table. Because of Jesus’ humanity that was shaped by the desperate pleas of a mother in distress, the Table has been opened to all of us. She helped refill our Lord’s surge capacity. Through this meal, Jesus restores yours and mine. Let us pray.

© September 8, 2024, by Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, NY, and not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Tara Halle, Your ‘Surge Capacity’ Is Depleted — It’s Why You Feel Awful. Here’s how to pull yourself out of despair and live your life, August 17, 2020, Medium. Accessed on September 7, 2024, at https://elemental.medium.com/your-surge-capacity-is-depleted-it-s-why-you-feel-awful-de285d542f4c.

[2] The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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