This week's text is from Eugene Peterson's interpretation of Mark 1:21-28. He is best known for The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, which he wrote to make the original meaning more accessible to the modern reader. Peterson explains:
When Paul of Tarsus wrote a letter, the people who received it understood it instantly. When the prophet Isaiah preached a sermon, I can't imagine that people went to the library to figure it out. That was the basic premise under which I worked. I began with the New Testament in the Greek--a rough and jagged language, not so grammatically clean. I just typed out a page the way I thought it would have sounded to the Galatians.**
The text begins with Jesus and his disciples attending Sabbath in Capernaum. Those who heard him speak were surprised, flabbergasted, bowled over not only by what he taught, but also by the authority and power of his word. After the power of his word rebuked and overwhelmed the unclean spirits, they marveled once more at the power of his word.
Words are common stock in the church. Luther says that "one must see the word of the preacher as God's Word." He elaborated on this in his Operationes in Psalmos: "The apostles wrote very little, but they spoke a lot..." The ministry of the New Testament is not engraved on dead tablets of stone; rather it sounds in a living voice. Through the living Word, God accomplishes and fulfills his good news.
As children we often retorted to bullies that "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me." Yet we all know the power of the word to inflict great harm to others, whether it is the word spoken on a play ground or words penned in social media. In the 21st century, we are casual about words. We carelessly let words spoken flow over us as we multi-task with our internet games. We speed read in our electronic books to get the message, often missing the poetic beauty of the author.
Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, last week, we recalled how the words of this man moved us and our society to look at ourselves with new eyes... eyes of love and care and compassion rather than words of hatred and prejudice. King's words began a movement to walk our words into change. How much more powerful are the words of the Word made flesh offering us forgiveness, hope, life everlasting!
So, how do we hear God's Word in our lives? Do we listen to God's word with half an ear to the word spoken, the word sung? And, how do our spoken, sung and penned words walk with us into our communities to be the hands and voices of God's Word, God's story?
By your word, eternal God, your creation sprang forth, and we are given the breath of life. By your word, eternal God, death is overcome, Christ is raised from the tomb, and we are given new life in the power of your Spirit. May we boldly proclaim this good news in our words and our deeds, rejoicing always in your powerful presence; through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.
