7 Easter May 8, 2016
Acts 16:16-34 Psalm 97
Revelation 22:12-14,16-17,20-21 John 17:20-26
We are told that money laundering is a crime, though we in the church encourage the laundering of money by giving a tithe portion of it to the church as a way of sanctifying all of the money of our lives. I would like to introduce another kind of laundering today.
"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.... and the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us."
The Gospel of John indicates that God is most accessible to us as human beings because God is Word. And we are caught up within and without in a totally worded existence in active and passive ways; passive ways because our entire existence is structured because we have language ability. In our seeing, tasting, feeling, touching, intuiting, and hearing we have all this experience funneled through our word ability and we are always reading and interpreting our experience because we cannot help but do so.
What would God as Word look like if completely manifested in a person? God as Word would look like Jesus. Jesus is the flesh and blood person that God as Word came to us.
Why is word important? We live and move and have our being in a vast field of words. And there is lots bad use of words and bad use our language. We speak, feel, see, touch, taste and hear in some ways that are unhealthy to our lives and the life of our world. Our bad use of words shows itself in our sin, the sin of failed stewardship in the gift of words into which we have been born.
If God is the Word from the Beginning and Jesus is the Word made flesh as exemplary life of our worded existence, how do we look to Jesus to launder or clean up our language?
In the good ol' days when I was a child my parents had a very literal way of cleansing one of the organs of language. "Phil, I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap, if you keep saying those bad words." Back then, I didn't know that I could have a lawyer on retainer to report such extreme threats from my parents. And it was no threat; I have had my mouth washed out with soap more times than I want to remember. Did any of you ever have your speech organ laundered with soap? "I'm sorry mom and dad, such external washing of my mouth with soap did not go deep enough; the real organs of speech are the mind and heart which needed a much deeper cleansing." And that is no lie, even though the soap was made with lye. (bad pun groan here).
So how can Jesus who is the living representative of Word of God help us to launder or clean up our lives of words?
When the church quit seeing Jesus, where did they believe that he was? They believed that he had ascended to be seated next to his Father. And what is Jesus doing next to his Father in that place of highest elevation? The early church believed that the Risen Ascended Christ lived with his Father in order to make intercession for us. Jesus prays for us and as the Risen and Ascended Christ, Christ has the manifold ability to be universally involved with everyone because he has returned from being the particular word made flesh in Jesus Christ to re-assume his association with being the eternal Word as God.
So what example does Jesus provide for laundering or cleaning up our language? Jesus gives us the example of prayer. Jesus, in his life of prayer, invites us to clean up our language by joining him in the life of prayer. Prayer is the way that you and I can launder the words of our lives, the words of language events, speech and writing; but also the words that are poignantly evident in our body language of deeds and actions.
We can let prayer take over our lives and launder our language use if we accept that Christ is the Word of God who has given us the worded existence. Since God has given us the worded existence with manifold language use and abilities, we need to practice the best stewardship our language ability. How do we launder our language use?
We do so by emulating Jesus Christ in being committed to the continual life of prayer. The main task of life is to be at the laundering of our life of words. And we can do this through the practice of prayer. Prayer is accepting that our particular words have derived from God who is Word, and as such, we have the obligation to perform our words worthy of God who is the Eternal Word from the beginning?
How did Jesus show a holy and pure life of words. He did it in action. He healed, he comforted, he fed, he encouraged, he taught, he confronted oppressors, he confronted lying with truth, he prayed, and he taught his followers to pray. If life is relational, then we need to clean up the main way of relating, namely our life of words. Prayer is the way in which we can launder our words. In our unhealthy word environments we have learned unhealthy habits of word and we have soiled and stained results in how we use language and how our body language is trapped in some unhealthy repetitions.
Words, themselves are neutral. Clothes are neutral but they can be dirty and soiled or they can be laundered. The example of Jesus praying for us while he lived on earth and the presentation of the Risen and Ascended Christ as one who still prays for us, is an example for us to adopt the life of prayer as a way of living, as the best way to launder our words..
Today, we believe the Risen and Ascended Christ prays for us. We accept the dispatch of the Holy Spirit to help us fulfill what Christ desires for us. Jesus desires that we should pray. And if we believe that Christ prays, we too should commit ourselves to the practice of prayer as the best possible way to work at the endless task of laundering our language: Our total language repertoire, of words and deeds. You and I are called to life of prayer and our prayer chain spiritual director is always happy to have new intercessors join our prayer chain. Let us never grow weary in the task of endlessly laundering the language of our lives toward words and deeds which reflect the very best of the love and justice of God. Amen.
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