The Power of Your Word…

Water has always been an important part of my spiritual formation and journey. I remember writing my Constructive Theology paper in seminary and using the river as my spiritual metaphor. The paper was a year long process in the writing. The whole idea was that by the end of the course, between lectures, readings, and small group work, that you would have built a framework for what you believed theologically. The reason for choosing the river as my metaphor had several levels of meaning. On the surface, I believed that life was like a river. As a Boy Scout, I had spent a lot of time on the river and on lakes canoeing. When I were canoeing on the river I never knew what was around the next bend. Even though I had a map of the river (or the lakes and rivers when we went to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) in Northern Minnesota and Canada) I never knew exactly what my fellow Scouts and I were facing. Depending upon how much rain there had been and how high or low the river was, it was either smooth canoeing or rocky canoeing! So, like life, you were where you were at the moment on the river, but never quite certain what was around the next bend.

Denise and I are spending the next few weeks before we head to our new life adventure in Estes Park, Colorado (where I will be the pastor of Presbyterian Community Church of the Rockies) on the water down South. Today, we are sitting on Mobile Bay at one of our favorite hangouts (Blue Gill Restaurant). The picture above is of the bay view from our seat on the deck. Over the past five years I can’t tell you how many times I have driven over the Causeway or the Bayway to Mobile. What I can tell you is the fact that the bay looks different every time. Sometimes the water is up and choppy. At other times (like today) the water is low and still.

The differences in water level and current can make a significant difference when it comes to navigating any body of water. Isn’t that true of life in general? Some days the “water” seems calm and clear… other days it is stormy and choppy… the challenge is to be able to navigate life’s waters with grace and make it to your destination.

On a deeper level, water has a spiritual significance in my own life and journey. As a young kid I used to ride my bike all over town during the summer. I spent a fair amount of time on creek and river banks reflecting on life and simply being still (although I really didn’t understand the spiritual significance of being still at that point). Canoeing the BWCA the summer of 1977 was an incredible opportunity for me and the memories of our time on the lakes and rivers there still stay with me to this day. It was on the banks of the Chippewa River in Eau Claire, Wisconsin that I received my call to ministry in uniform as a USAF Chaplain in 1980 and it was along the shores of the Emerald Coast (Gulf of Mexico) that I discerned my calling to ministry as a civilian pastor in 2010.

When I was first called to ministry in uniform, I had NO idea what sort of journey that would be or where it would take me. The river of my professional life slowly unfolded during my time in the Air Force Reserves (1985-1990) while I was pastoring two small churches in Northern Minnesota. When I entered Active duty in 1990, the river unfolded in an incredible way as this small town country preacher was exposed to life as a chaplain on a massive training base (Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX) as a part of a staff of 12 chaplains (yes, I was the junior ranking chaplain). By the time I retired from Headquarters, Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field in Florida, the “river journey” had been amazing. Not all of it was pleasant or smooth canoeing though. There were plenty of rocks and rapids and rough water during that time in my life/career. However, there was one constant presence on that journey, whether I admitted it or not… God was present every step of the way. And after every misstep, God was always there to get me back on course.

The one constant in all of that was a Word or a Promise.”After all, he said, I will never leave you or abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5b CEB)  The power of that Word was and is strong in my own life today as it has been all along. No matter where I find myself in the river journey, God’s presence has always been a promise… a hope… an assurance.

Sadly, I don’t think many of us (myself included) realize the power of our words. As Proverbs 12:6 says, “The words of the wicked kill; the speech of the upright saves.” (Message Translation) We see this played out in deadly detail in the Gospel reading for this Sunday. In Mark 6:14-29 we read the account (or more accurately, the reflective memory of Herod Antipas (born before 20 BCE, died after 39 CE)) of the death of John the Baptist and the dance of Herodias’ daughter (unnamed, but traditionally named Salome).

Antipas wasn’t exactly known as an innocent choir boy during his life and that is part of why Herod was on John the Baptist’s radar screen. Herod Antipas was condemned by John the Baptist for, among other things, divorcing his first wife to marry his half-brothers’s wife, Herodias. After growing tired of the Baptizer’s condemnations (and quite likely his second wife was also tired of the condemnations), Herod had John thrown into prison. Why didn’t he have John executed for treason as would be his right under the law? According to Mark 6:20, he “feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him.” Somewhere deep down inside, I am guessing that Herod knew the power and the truth of John’s word despite the fact that it upset Herodias and Herod both.

The power of a word came into play during Herod’s “birthday bash” with his courtiers. By all study, it wasn’t as much a birthday party as it was a drunken dinner with a stage show. What was especially sad was the fact that the “entertainer” for the event was Herod’s daughter (the name in Mark is Herodias, but Josephus reports in his work, Jewish Antiquities that she was called Salome to avoid confusion between mother and daughter). His daughter didn’t come out and do a cute little tap dance either. A bunch of drunken men were “pleased” by her dance, and her father, fueled by booze gave her his “word”. Whatever you want, including up to half of my kingdom, is yours… name the price for your dance and our pleasure!

Herod, did you even think about what you were saying? Did you even think about the power of your word? Well, his words came back to bite him so to speak. After conferring with her mother Herodias who had an ax to grind with John the Baptist, the daughter gave her response. While I am sure the family dynamics in that household would likely have crossed a Rabbi’s eyes or sent a Family Systems Therapist over the edge, I see the girl being caught in the middle. She had been essentially prostituted by her parents and then put in the middle of a grudge/death match between her mother, father, and John the Baptist. Give me the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter!

Well, there it was… his word given in a drunken haze to a daughter whom he had just prostituted in front of his so-called friends was thrown back in his face! Kill John the Baptist! Herod had to decide whether his word or his fear of and respect for John the Baptist would win the day. In the end, the biggest loser was John the Baptist.

It wasn’t until Herod Antipas was faced with the results of his words coming back to bite him that he saw just how dangerous his words were. While John the Baptist had spoken harsh words of truth about Herod Antipas, those words were carefully measured and true. Herod couldn’t deny the truth of what John said about him.

So what do these words about rivers, journeys, and Mark 6:14-29 have to do with us today? I think they have quite a bit to say to us (or at least to me). Remember what I said about the life journey and river analogy? How out of that journey I came to see the promise of the Word of the Lord to never abandon me? That is a powerful promise or Word that I have held on to for many years in many different and often difficult situations. I have also seen more times than I care to admit where my word has been less than stellar or has come back to bite me.

To paraphrase Proverbs 12:6, your words can either kill or heal… destroy or save… it is up to you! Herod’s word ended up costing John’s life. Jesus’ words to us from Matthew 11:28 give life… “Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” What do your words give to others? Social media sadly shows more venom than love… more vengeance than forgiveness… I sometimes use the words of that great theologian we know as the Father of Thumper (from the movie Bambi) when replying to hate-filled rants on FaceBook–“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Do you know the power of your words, dear reader? Do you know the power of the Word of Love, Grace, and Mercy the Lord has for us? Where do your words find there source? I thank God for grace and forgiveness because all too often I know the source of my own words, and the source isn’t good. But thanks be to God I am always given another chance to source my words and my life in the Love of Christ.