Tag: word

Living Word

Read Hebrews 4:12

What makes a book come alive? A book by nature is pages of paper with words written upon them bound together with a cover surrounding them. If you are like me, there are a number of books scattered all around your house. Yes, these days many tend to purchase more copies of digital books to read on e-readers than physical books. None of these books are alive until someone picks them up and begins to read them. Once a person reads from a book, the words become alive in the person’s mind. Images form as the words are read. Scenes take shape, characters materialize and a person is transported to another place in the mind’s eye. The words come alive metaphorically.

The verse today speaks of a special type of “Word.” In Scripture this specific word has multiple meanings. One understanding can be the written or spoken form of communication, i.e., Scripture. Another understanding comes from the prologue to John’s Gospel. Here the reference is where it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) In this verse, the writer speaks of God’s word as living and active, Jesus Christ.  When considering the reference being associated with Jesus, we are reminded of the resurrected and living Christ. If applying the first sentence to Scripture, it points us to the importance of human interaction with the Bible. Our reading and/or hearing of the verses contained in the Bible is what causes them to come alive and move them into action in our own lives.

The second sentence in the verse stands as a warning to us. We are told that the Word will cut through all the human pretenses. The true aspects of our humanity will be made visible as the following verse states. Again, this is true of both Christ and Scripture. Jesus could penetrate the hearts and minds of people he encountered. Throughout the Gospel accounts we see scenes where Jesus cuts through the facades created by individuals and shows forth the true natures and intentions, especially among the Jewish leaders. When read or spoken, the Bible verses can call us to account and disturb our own self image.

The Word of God is not a dead entity that no longer impacts lives. The Word is active in and through each of us, not to be hidden away and only brought out on special occasions.

Communicating A Message

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;
    today I have become your Father”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father,
    and he will be my Son”?

6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

7 In speaking of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels spirits,
    and his servants flames of fire.”

8 But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

10 He also says,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
12 You will roll them up like a robe;
    like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
    and your years will never end.”

13 To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet”?

14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

Hebrews 1:1-14 (NIV)

There are a variety of ways to communicate a message. The introduction of the internet, smart phones, and online meeting places have only multiplied the options. Throughout the course of my life I have seen significant changes in message delivery. As a child, the available options for an average person included letter writing sent through the postal service, phone calls on landlines, or face-to-face conversations. After graduation from college, the use of early design mobile phones began to add a new dimension to communicating a message. A few years later personal computers and the advent of the internet took us tremendous steps forward through AOL and Netscape Messenger. We then moved from mobile phones to cellular phones as the phone size decreased. Then an explosion occurred and the social media platforms opened hundreds of ways to communicate a message.

The delivery of a message is the subject of today’s reading. The message is coming from God to the people. At the start of this letter to the Hebrew people, the writer points out that the preferred method of communication God utilized was the prophets. But God has chosen to change the performed spokesperson to the Son. Through the Son, God has revealed God’s self to the people. The letter continues to give a description of the exalted Son who has communicated God’s most important message for the people, for us.

Here the actual message is not detailed. Instead we are pointed to the exalted Son, the Christ. As we look to Christ, we are drawn to examine his words and actions. In the midst of this examination, we discover the message. The message of love is what is presented to us. In Christ we see God’s love demonstrated through word and action. This love is for us from God, and this love is what we are to extend to God and one another. It is Christ who tells us that the greatest instruction is to love the Lord, our God. He then continues by saying the second greatest is to love our neighbor. The message which God gives through the Son is LOVE.

Evil

Evil is one of those words which we attribute to a variety of people and situations, but I am not sure any of us have the ability to give a full definition of this word. Some definitions on dictionary.com which caused me to pause are these:

morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked

harmful; injurious

the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin

There are aspects of each of these definitions which resonate with me. They easily fit within my understanding of this word. Yet there are also some questions which these definitions raise. Questions like…

Who defines “morally wrong”?

Is there one understanding of harmful or injurious?

Where does this force in nature come from?

Here is where deriving a definition for the word evil becomes a difficult task. As you can see by the questions I raised, there is some degree of subjectivity here. There is also a need to grapple with the spiritual aspect of the word. Add to these the historical impact of the interpretation and use of the word. Maybe this was not a wise subject for me to tackle in a blog post. In fact, you can find volumes of books and papers dealing with this subject.

Yet I am drawn to say something about this word. I have seen it used in a variety of ways and in a variety of contexts over the last few months. Each time I have read it or heard it on television, I have paused to consider what the writer or speaker was trying to communicate when using this word. The application of the word was definitely not consistent. I had to ask myself how I understood this word and would apply it.

Remembering the struggles in creating a definition which I raised earlier, I caution you that my definition is far from being fully encompassing. I am sure there will be noticeable gaps you can find in my definition. You may have questions that arise like those I listed above. However, I am going to make an attempt.

My definition: Evil is the absence of the recognition of God in an action taken by a human being.

Let me unpack that definition a little. First, I want to point out the last two words. These are important words for me because it states that evil is attributed to a person or persons not to some spirit. One can argue that the state of mind of a person who does evil can be somewhat spiritual in nature. A person who does evil may have some physical or psychological issue which prompts them to act such as a chemical imbalance in their body or the impact of experiences in their lives. What remains is the fact that evil is done by a human being.

Next is the phrase, “the absence of the recognition of God.” I am stating here that God is not absent at the time an evil act is committed but that the perpetrator of the act does not recognize God at that time. The reason I state it this way is because I have a strong belief that God is always present so stating that evil is the absence of God does not align with this belief. Since God is love as I understand God, anything which is harmful to any of creation is inconsistent with God. So there must be an absence of some sort here. For me the absence lies with the person committing the act. Whatever the reason, this person does not recognize God in the particular setting and so is destructive in some manner. If the person recognized God in the situation, the person would refrain from a destructive behavior.

Another important point concerning evil is that a person is not evil. Every person is created in the image of God and God is not evil. In fact God is the antithesis to evil. Because of this, the other vital word in my definition is action. The evil exists within the action and not the person. So often we wish to portray a person as evil but that is inconsistent with my understanding of who we are as a creation of God.

There you have it. My current working definition of evil. I would love to hear your viewpoints on this definition. I would also like to hear how you define the word evil. We can learn from each other.