Be Kind—Write: Jeremiah 30: 1-3; I Cor. 1: 1-9
We start our series this week on looking at practical ways we can show Christian kindness to one another. Now, when I was little, there was an “old-school” sort of virtue that my mother and grandmother taught me. Whenever someone does something nice for you, helps you out, or buys you a nice gift, you should write a thank you note. And so, I have from that time on, kept a few thank you notes in my desk drawer and used them to send a little note of my gratitude to folks who have blessed me in some way. In fact, I write a lot of notes and letters. As a lawyer and pastor, I’m a big fan of the gift of words, so I tend to write a lot when I have time.
Now, this whole idea of “thank you” notes and written letters seems to have fallen out of fashion these days. We text. We drop an email. If you’re in the younger generation, you may get a Tweet, Snapchat, Facebook message, or a hashtag. If you’re over 60, a hashtag is basically a number sign used to emphasize something. Honestly, don’t worry about it. We are surrounded by so many modes and means of communication, but nothing has the same power as pen to paper to create the written word.
The Bible is perhaps the best example of this. It’s a collection of words, thoughts, ideas, stories, and recollections of God’s power and provision for God’s people, as well as the story of a Savior, written by humankind and divinely inspired by God. It’s a book through which our God speaks to us in history, here and now, and into our future. There is power in the written word.
The Bible also refers to Jesus as the “Word.” John 1 tells us, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1 goes on to say, “The Word gave life to everything that was created,” in verse 4. When God made a covenant with the people of Israel, the terms and conditions (and in particular the commandments) were recorded in written word on tablets of stone wherein God set ten rules for the people to follow.
When God sent a message of doom and destruction to the people, he used did so through the spoken word. A prophet was sent to tell the people they had messed up and God was none too pleased. But when God offered something good or a blessing, it came to the people written down. Here in Jeremiah, God says “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: Write down for the record everything I have said to you, Jeremiah. For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people.” Write it down, Jeremiah, God’s going to send a blessing. God’s going to restore the nation. Write it down.
Paul, perhaps inspired by God, used the written word to set up the church. I believe Paul realized early that there would be many, many new churches and only one of him. In those days being a traveling evangelist was a bit harder than it is these days. Our modern televangelists may have a Ferrari and private jet (like Joel Osteen, whom I would never call out for such things,), but Paul had, at best, a donkey and a mission. He used his divinely inspired written word from God to instruct, correct, and encourage the growth of the church all throughout the land from Rome to Thessalonica.
Paul, in our New Testament, is writing his encouragement to the church at Corinth. The church there was plagued by trouble. People came in and out of it. Those in charge were powerful people who faked outlandish spiritual gifts. They were centered on show, glitz and glamour, spectacle, and a side of bad behavior both socially and sexually. Somewhere along the way from Paul’s founding, they had lost their way and become a pageant show and not a house of worship.
Paul, though, is gentle with them. He writes to them who “have been called by God to be his own holy people.” He writes to those who have called on Christ as their Lord. He writes to them calling for grace and peace to be in their midst. Paul writes to them that God has given them powerful gifts, enriched them, given eloquence and powerful preaching, and knowledge in their very midst. He prays in his writing that God will hold them fast and keep them strong until the end, and that he knows God will do this for God is faithful. Paul writes with his influence over the church he founded. He writes with the inspiration of God to reach out to those who need a loving and correcting hand.
Paul writes one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible on our duty as Christians, saying, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels but have not love, I’m like a clanging brass or tinkling cymbal.” Paul writes to them with everything in his soul, pouring out God’s word, his own understanding, and his love for them. Yes, my friends, we sing because we’re happy, we shout for joy, we pray in earnest, and we write…for the in the beginning the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The written word is very powerful. I remember years ago, a former member of this church asked me to write to her grandson who was nearing the end of his prison sentence for drugs and his long struggle with substance abuse. Over the next few months, he and I exchanged several letters. I advised him because of my law job to stick to spiritual and theological things he had questions about. We wrote numerous letters back and forth. I came to respect him and appreciate his insights and desire to learn more about faith and his own relationship to God.
All that changed on March 15, 2015. He was driving in Byron and an officer tried to pull him over. Old mindsets creeped back in, and he fled from the police. Because of the speed and recklessness, he crashed and was killed. His life, filled with so much hope, was cut short at 24 years of age. What comfort can be found? What hope can come from such a situation?
And yet, it is his own written words which spoke a hopeful truth of love and redemption. At his funeral, I let his own words speak. He wrote, “I’m truly trying to turn my life over to God. It’s not the life I want to live. I just want the proper guidance in my life with the Lord and the people I’m around.” In another letter he wrote, “I’m so very determined to do everything in my power to live up to God’s calling in my life.” In the end I was able to turn over dozens of letters to his family with his own words talking about his faith and hope in God. Even in the midst of tragedy, fault, and failure, his faith and God’s grace were scrawled confidently right there on paper in his own handwriting for all to know and see.
What words of hope and faith will we write in our lives? I’ve put two note cards in each of the bulletins today. You’re invited to write two notes encouragement this week—one to a fellow church member to lift them up, and one to someone who may not have a church home or may be in need of a reminder of God’s love and First Christian’s love. We’ll provide the stamp, you write the notes, just two of them, but it’s important. If Paul could write to every church he founded, you and I can send a couple of notes to folks as well.
As the closing hymn says, “Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life.” Writing notes and letters has gone a bit out of style with all the technology we have these days. But, there is still something powerful when we continue to write…writing of God’s love, of hope, of encouragement, of peace and grace to those who need it. Or, on the other side, in our tough times, when we know God’s love and peace are written on our hearts for all eternity. In the beginning was the Word, and so he lives today.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/567882550896872