The Price of Words

The Price of Words--June 27, 2017

"Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, 'Let Jesus be cursed!' and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." [1 Corinthians 12:3]

Talk is cheap, they say.

I understand why, and surely you do, too.  It is easy to say something.  But it is much harder to follow through and act in line with what you say.  We are great at saying we will give our time, or show up for someone, or follow through on that commitment, but we find it is much more difficult to do what we have said.

And one of the unavoidable consequences of that disconnect between the ease of speaking and the difficulty of doing is that we often assume that no one takes our words very seriously anyhow, and that words simply do not matter.  It is easy to believe, once you grant that "talk is cheap" because "actions speak louder than word," that there is no cost at all to our words, because no one puts any stock in them anyhow.  The old joke from Jack Handey's "Deep Thoughts" puts it like this: "Broken promises don't bother me--I just think, 'Why did they believe me?'"  In an era when I can spout off in some social media posting and then delete if it find it is embarrassing later on, an era in which we are saturated by so many people's comments, thoughts, and selfies that it can feel like any one message doesn't mean much, it sure is easy to believe that my words have no consequences.  After all, I can always delete what I said off the screen, or always tell someone that I didn't really mean what I said, or that I wasn't making a promise, just, y'know, saying stuff....

And of course, in so much of the world around us, we act as though words really don't matter.  We don't expect people to follow through on promises, because we don't hold ourselves to living up to our commitments if we stop "feeling like" keeping them.  We have practically given up on holding politicians accountable to keeping their promises, or owning up to things they say--that all just seems so naïve and passe now.  Once we grant that talk is cheap, it is awfully easy, then, to assume that all talk is counterfeit, too--all just fake money that cannot be trusted, and that carries no value or cost.

And so, it is hard to believe that it means much, one way or the other, to say "Jesus is Lord" or "Jesus be cursed," in our era, isn't it?  It is hard to believe that Paul could say this is a matter of great importance, because, after all, can't I just delete my tweet if I communicate the wrong message?  Can't I just erase my words, or issue an apology, or say, "Well, of course, I didn't really mean it!"?  Can't I say, "Look, isn't it enough that I occasionally go to church and put my offering in the basket?  Isn't it enough that I have a cross necklace and a Bible on my coffee table?"

Perhaps in our era where words are taken to mean so little, we might think that saying, "Jesus is Lord" is virtually meaningless, especially because it is quite possible to mouth those words in one instant and then do very un-Jesus-like things in the next.  We are all too aware of folks who mouth religious talk and claim the name "Christian" but whose actions, priorities, and attitudes bear very little resemblance to Jesus himself.

But I would suggest, before we write off the whole notion of speaking the sentence, "Jesus is Lord," or shrug it away like it is merely religious lip service, that at least for the first few centuries of the Christian story, the stakes were impossibly high when one spoke those words.  We in the 21st century hear the word "Lord" as simply a religious term--we are used to "Lord" as a title for God, and so we assume that the sentence "Jesus is Lord" simply means "Jesus is God" or "I believe Jesus is divine."  And while, yes, it is true, and even essential, to the Christian faith, that God enters into the messiness of human life by taking on a human life in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and while, yes, it is true that a great deal of ink was spilled in the process of thinking through just what we mean when we say that Jesus is "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God," in the first century, people didn't first think of "God" when they heard "Lord."  They thought of Caesar.

The empire's decree was that all subjects of Rome had to confess "Caesar is Lord."  And by that they didn't mean to make a statement of theology, so much as a statement of allegiance.  To confess Caesar as Lord was to say that Caesar, and the whole empire he commanded, got your final and ultimate allegiance.  Rome didn't really care what other gods or goddesses you worshipped, what other philosophies or spiritualities you practiced, what other sacrifices you offered, as long as you were willing to concede that Caesar got your allegiance, and that Caesar was indeed lord over the world you lived in.  

And beyond that, confessing "Caesar is Lord" was also a way of accepting Rome's view of things--that might makes right, that "winning" matters most, that you can do whatever you like as long as you have the power and status to back it up, and that you should do whatever Caesar says or else you can be crucified or thrown to the lions.  In Rome's view, you can tell who matters because they have conquests and crowns, treasures and titles.  In Rome's view, you know the gods have smiled on you when you have wealth and power.  And you know to be afraid at night of ever falling out of line, because the Empire can always string you up to make an example of you if you question it.

Over against all that, it took quite a lot of courage to say, "No, Caesar is not Lord.  Jesus is."  And truthfully, that is what was at stake in Paul's letter here.  When Paul talks about confessing, "Jesus is Lord," it was inescapably heard as a jab at the powers of the day, at Caesar, who demanded to be recognized as "Lord," as well.  To say "Jesus is Lord" is to say Caesar is dedicedly not, and neither is Rome or Babylon or Britain or America or my job or my political party or my 401(k) or Google or Amazon or Apple, either.  To say that Jesus is Lord is to make a statement of allegiance, and that means, too, that I am surrendering my view of the world to Jesus, and to his surprising way of blessing the poor, lifting up the lowly, welcoming strangers, washing feet, winning by losing, and living by dying.  And it is to say that Caesar's way, and Caesar's view of things, is a sham.

In the first century, saying that out loud could not only get you into trouble with the empire if they heard you say it, but it began a chain reaction in the heart to reprioritize and realign one's heart, one's loves, and one's attitudes.  To say "Jesus is Lord" is to say that we are daring to live as though Jesus' picture of the universe--in which enemies are loved, truth is told, bread is shared, and the dead are raised--is the way we will see the world, and that we will learn to say no to the cheap talk and smokescreens of the pretenders like Caesar.

And so, yes, it is a costly thing to dare to say, "Jesus is Lord."  It always has been--we perhaps have just forgotten what we were committing ourselves to as we said it.  It is not only costly, but it is the kind of thing so subversive to our old Caesar-approved, self-centered ways of thinking that we would never dare to speak it out loud except that the Spirit of God lights a fire inside our bones and they break out of our pursed lips like a rocket.  Only by the directing of the Spirit will we dare to see the wisdom in the foolishness of saying the poor are the blessed, the first shall be last, the least are the greatest, and the rightful ruler of the universe is a homeless rabbi who got strung up with the approval of Caesar. 

If we have forgotten the power of the those words, it is worth remembering that the people who first dared to speak them knew that they would get rounded up by the powers of the day for saying them, shared their possessions because they were convinced their Lord ran the universe on an economy of mercy, and welcomed people very different from them because it was what they had seen Jesus himself do.

May we consider the cost and power of those words as the Spirit leads us to speak them on this day: Jesus--and not Caesar--is Lord.

Lord Jesus,  give us the courage and vision to see the world as you do, to see ourselves as you to, and to give our allegiance to your movement of love for the outcast and welcome for all.