Words
‘Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light
upon my path’ proclaims the Psalmist. Which is nice.
But what does he mean?
Well, when the Psalmist is speaking, and
indeed when the compilers of the proverbs are writing the definition of the
word is quite clear – it is the law.
God’s law – the commandments, all 613 of them. For in the commandments – far from the
impression we have in Christian circles, is a sense of liberation and joy, a
sense of ‘this is how we please God – by living by these commands’
And these commandments are so special, so
wonderful, so life-giving that even now any adult member of the Jewish
community becomes, on their transition into adulthood a bar or bat Mitzvah – a
son or daughter of the law. Even now, as
they have done for hundreds, thousands, of years, Jewish scholars and writers
dedicate themselves to an understanding and interpretation of the commandments
– believing that fullness of life is found within obedience to the word, the
law of the Lord. Or as it says elsewhere
in the Psalms ‘your statutes are my delight’.
How often do we think of delight, of joy, of freedom when we consider
the law of the Lord – the word to which the Psalmist and the Proverbs
refer? How often is this idea of law
taken as a liberation and as an expression of the freedom God desires?
For within the law are not just the ten
commandments – that’s a particularly Christian concept – nor are there only
laws about religious ritual. In the law are considerations of justice and
fairness, of how we live together with care for one another, of how each member
of the community should behave in order that there might be peace- Shalom –
wholeness. There are considerations towards the stranger, the alien, and
towards the poor and needy and sick. There are guidelines about what to eat not
just for religious but practical reasons – I mean, eating shellfish in the
desert before refrigeration… not a sensible idea. Pork, when it is not subject to the kind of
rigour that pork farming is now, is stuffed with all sorts of unpleasant
parasites and diseases. These laws
became part of a ritual food code, but started as some pretty sensible advice
for the wandering people of Israel! The
law is meant to take away the stress of living, and show us how to relate to
God and one another, faithfully and joyfully.
As Christians we kind of hijacked the idea of
law, taking a cue from Paul and holding up the law as oppressive, negative,
bound by rules and regulations, and in sharp contrast to the life found in
grace in Christ. I don’t actually believe that this is what Paul meant, for in
Chapter 7 of his most exquisite and nuanced theological work – the letter to
the Romans – he says ‘I delight in the law of God’. And I am certain that this
negative view of law is not what Jesus meant when he talked of himself as the
fulfilling of the law. Or said that not
one iota of the law would pass away until all is fulfilled…
The law, the word of God is considered to be
life-giving, life affirming, life-changing.
It is meant to be a way in which we see God’s inmost desired and we are
encouraged to meditate on this law and to live by it.
But like so many bits of scripture, I would
say that it is not the words themselves that are to be our focus – but the
meaning behind the words. The law seeks
to frame an attitude towards God, not to bind us in a blind obedience, but
calls us into deeper, richer, more profound relationship with God. Indeed, in
our Christian tradition the whole of scripture calls us that way – and though
the Church often focusses on the words of Scripture it is the Word within
Scripture we are called to discern.
Ooooer, I hear you think, what does the
Rector mean by that?
Don’t get me wrong, I love words, I love
reading, I love playing with words. And I am the same with Scripture – I love
to meditate, consider, struggle with, think on, pray on and learn from
scripture. But the words in themselves are not where God resides – I do not
worship the Bible, I worship the one Word, who we call Christ. In the well known prologue to St John’s
Gospel we hear the words used at pretty much every Christmas Night service ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God and the Word was God.’ In
the Greek the term is logos. The logos is the expression of God – the breath of
God gone forth in substance. The reality of God made manifest.
Within the words of Scripture, I seek the
Word of God. I look for where the Christ leads me, I listen for the voice of
God and long to feel breath of God ruffle the pages of my Bible. It is this
word which brings the words of our Bibles to life.
We don’t worship ink and paper. It is
disturbing to see how many seek to enshrine the living, breathing, vibrant
spirit of God in words and phrases pulled from a book.
Christian faith, following Christ, is
actually a much harder, higher, more exciting calling than that. It is to be in relationship with a God who is
experienced in prayer, in worship, in sacrament, in love, and yes in study of
scripture. But not a God trapped in
scripture, we are called to discern the word behind the words, the life behind
the scriptures.
And it is the task of each of us to set our
minds and hearts on this discovery – together, seeking to discern the life of
God. When we trap our understanding of
God in words, or traditions, institutions or even just habits of worship then
we miss out on the true and living Word.
For a faithful Jew, the life of the law comes
from being excited about and by the life behind the commandments. For those of us who follow in the footsteps
of Jesus, our fullness of life comes from a relationship with him through our
common life, through our care for one another and of all in need, through our
shared experience of worship and prayer.
And as I said at the early service this
morning (my last sermon, found below), taking my cue from the Gospel reading where the disciples are sent out
with nothing, not even money or bread - we are not to be distracted – whether
it be by the minutiae of biblical verses, or our own comfort, or the way we
like Church to be – but to live fully in the life of Christ, abundant,
transforming, hopeful, loving, faithful life – that all the world might know
and be transformed by it.
