Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - Wednesday in the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 and Matthew 23:27-32].[F]or this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.
One of the things that we have to remember is that St. Paul had no idea that his letters to his communities would be put eventually in a single volume with other documents of a like nature along with what HE knew as the scriptures and the whole thing would be called THE WORD OF GOD and more popularly, THE BIBLE! Yet, his statement in today's first scripture is remarkably modern. The idea, indeed, is to receive the word of God from the preacher not as a human word but as the word of God at work in those who believe! The implication of this for the preacher and the listener can be truly daunting! The pulpit is not a "soapbox" for political opinions or discussions of the latest movies or books encountered by the preacher except insofar as any of these are directly impacting the community and need to be addressed IN THE LIGHT OF THE WORD OF GOD. At the same time, one has to remember that preachers and listeners are human. The preacher knows what he or she means, yet each person in the congregation has his or her own "filters" through which the preached word must pass! We encounter this in the gospel accounts of Jesus' own preaching! St. Paul complains about being misunderstood as well! On the other hand, St. Paul was not the greatest public speaker, either! (cf Acts 20:7-11) The preaching event is like the Bible - it is an encounter between the Spirit of God and human speakers/writers and listeners/readers. Both the writers/speakers and the readers/listeners can rejoice like St. Paul when the message of God manages to come through this incarnate process and bring the light of faith. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
63 ms
4
