The Gift of Gab
Several years ago, when I was visiting my parents in Beaverton, Oregon, I found myself sitting out in the courtyard under the gazebo in Bridgeport Plaza in Tualatin, Oregon. As I sat there, a man came and sat across the gazebo from me. The gazebo is large, so he was about fifty feet away. As most people are wont to do these days, he pulled out his cell phone and commenced a rather loud conversation. It became apparent early on that he was a minister and was speaking with one of his parishioners. The phone was one of those equipped with an earpiece and a microphone attached to the cord that connects into the phone. Because of this I could hear every word of his conversation, including his prayer. Not only was I uncomfortable with him broadcasting the sensitive details of his parishioner’s personal problems across the whole plaza, I also wanted to go up to him and ask him if he had ever read Matthew 6:5-6:“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
As humans, we are blessed and cursed with the gift of gab. I say that is a blessing and curse for what should be obvious reasons: the power of our words to inspire, encourage and build one another up, or the power of our words to dishearten, discourage and tear one another down. The author of the New Testament Letter of James does not mince words in this regard:
“If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.” (James 3:3-10a).
It may be true that sticks and stones may merely break our bones, but only words can pierce to our hearts and minds and do lasting damage. Ask any child on any schoolground. Ask any child who has been cyberbullies, who has received insulting, threatening or demeaning texts from their peers. Ask any gay young person who has been beaten down by taunts, put-downs and destructive theologies to the extent that they commit suicide.
How we use our words makes a difference. Our very consciousness is a tapestry woven of words, knitted together by language, threaded and knotted by attitudes, intentions, hopes, and feelings.
How we use our words makes a difference.
Prayer is a spiritual practice that is intended and designed to heal the destructive effects of words that have been used against us, and to direct that healing effect outward into the world around us. In fact, prayer is that form of human speech that is directed toward the will of God, in order to be directed by the will of God. I have a quote in my office here at the church that says “Prayer is that part of the Will of God that requires the vehicle of human speech in order to be manifested in the world.” Prayer, properly disciplined and directed, helps manifest the will of God in the world. It does this in the following ways:
- First, by changing our internal chatter. We have at any one point in time probably a dozen or more internal conversations going on in our heads. It is this internal chatter that influences most how we get along in the world. Prayer changes the internal conversation, the interior “tapes” we play each day. To have an inner conversation with Jesus – to think on him and in him – is to change the inner conversation, and to begin to conform our mind after His mind.
- The second way prayer manifests the will of God in the world builds upon this first way by conforming our mind to the mind of Christ. Paul in Philippians talks about this powerful aspect of the Way of Jesus:
“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:1-5).
The mind of Christ gets us out of our myopic focus upon our own concerns and dramas and shifts our focus upon the needs of others.
- The third way that prayer manifests the will of God, is that aligning our will with the will of God magnifies the power of God in the world. This especially is what happens on the spiritual level. Our wills and intentions are like little amplifiers that increase the “signal strength” of God’s love and mercy and comfort and guidance in the world. Mist importantly, by earnestly seeking to discern the great and overarching will of God, we attempt to avoid projecting our petty biases, prejudices and self-centered concerns upon an already hurting and damaged world. The trajectory of God’s will is towards healing, justice and right relationships between all beings, and for our prayers to be truly godly prayers, they must reflect this trajectory.
In summary, then, If you can talk, you can pray. It is as simple as that. And so as we consider the stewardship or our prayers, our presence, our gifts and our service, I would invite you to seriously consider making a commitment to pray.
- Pray in order to change your inner chatter.
- Pray in order to refocus your mind according to God’s priorities.
- And, finally, pray for this church community. Pray for those people we lift up in prayer, and pray for the ministries of this church. Pray always for your ministerial family, and we especially crave your prayers at this time. Powerful and incredible things happen when a whole congregation commits to pray for the ministries that God raises up in their midst.
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