S.A.T.-onics or Word Made Flesh

1 Christmas       December 29, 2013

Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21

Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Lectionary Link

Katie:  Well, here we are again in the pulpit.  Are you up for this gig today?

Connor:  I’m not sure.  I’m feeling rather laconic, how about you James?

James: I don’t know if I’m up to homiletic discourse today.

Katie:  Puh…..leeze guys….You’ve finished your S.A.T.’s.  You don’t have to throw around those fancy words anymore.  There should be a special dialect of English for the S.A.T. test.

Connor: What would you call it?

Katie:  I guess you could call it S.A.T.-onics.

James:  So S.A.T.-onics is a special dialect of English that High School juniors and seniors are forced to learn in order to pass a test to try to get into the college of their choice.

Connor: So surreptitious, recondite, arcane are all important words to know in S.A.T.-onics?

Katie:  Yes and in order to be a college freshman, a group of people have decided that we should know some words even though we will probably never have the occasion to use them.

James:  So the purpose of S.A.T.-onics is to learn language for the purpose of passing an exam.

Connor:  That’s about it.  But I guess it never hurts to increase our knowledge about more words and vocabulary.  It is like a painter looking for more color combinations to paint a picture.

James:  It could be that Word and Vocabulary are involved in life itself as a great test.

Katie: The Gospel of John opens with: In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

Connor:  This expression tells us that our human consciousness is created because of words and our language ability.

James: Using words then is the big test in life, even a greater vocabulary test than the S.A.T.

Katie:  Our language ability is what makes us as human being different from other animals.

Connor: If we are unique because of our ability to use language, then the biggest test in life has to do with how we use language.

Katie:  We need to learn how to speak well.

James:  Does that mean we have to have a big vocabulary?

Katie:  No, I think the purpose of the S.A.T. vocabulary is for reading and writing in an academic setting.  Speaking well means something else.

Connor:  Like what?

James: Speaking well probably means learning to say the right thing at the right time and in the right way.

Katie:  It takes our entire life time to learn how to do this.  Controlling our tongue can be very difficult.

Connor:  It can be difficult to speak the truth.

James: To learn how to speak well means that we need good models and examples.

Katie:  The writer of the Gospel of John believed that Jesus was a very good example to show us how to use our words.

Connor:  But there is a more profound use of words than even our speech.

James: What would that be?

Connor:  It is what might be called “body language.”

Katie:  Our bodies do speak a language.  Our bodies have something like a dance choreography about them.

Connor:  The Gospel writer said, “The Word became flesh and lived with us.”  The Word of God was expressed fully in the entire life of Jesus.

James:  It is very important that the words which speak agree with the things that we do.

Katie:  It is called walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

Connor:  Well, I find it quite easy to say, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

James:  Learning to walk the walk is the greatest word test in life.

Katie: Other names for our body language are morals and ethics.  What do the actions of our lives say to others?

Connor:  Once you think about it, learning S.A.T. vocabulary seems quite easy compared with the great word test of life itself.

James:  Well, it is about the end of the year.  And some people use this time to review what they have done during the past year.

Katie:  And other people use the end of the year to think about what kind of changes they want for their lives in the New Year.  Have you guys thought about your new year’s resolutions yet?

Connor:  New Year’s resolutions have to do with the great word test of life.

James:  How can we learn to say the right thing, at the right time and in the right way in the new year?

Katie:  And how can we let our bodies do some good talking in the New Year?  How can we let the good word be made flesh in the actions of our lives in the New Year?

Connor:  What should we use for the test of our word life in the New Year?

James:  Is what I say and do kind?  Is it creative?  Is it appropriate to the situation?

Katie:  I think this Gospel for today require all of us to ask this question:  How will the Word of God be made flesh in our lives in the New Year?  Let the love and kindness of Christ be our guide in the New Year.  Amen.