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hearing the words

a few years ago i did a sermon called "who made my God a wuss?"  as the line formed to shake my hand on the way out an elderly man approached me and started to shake his finger at me saying, "did you know that you used that word 'wuss' over 20 times in your sermon?  this is God's house and you had best watch your language."  with that said he stormed off - complaining all the way

that evening i received a call from a elder of the congregation who said that the elders wanted to meet with me that evening.  when i arrived, i noticed that all the elders and deacons were present.  as i went in they mixed no words, "we have a complaint with your sermon."  one of them said.  "we demand you explain yourself." another one added.  "we listened to the tape over seven times and we figured you used the word "wuss" over 32 times.  do you know what 'wuss' means?" added a third.  "yes." i said, "i know exactly what the word means."

"let's take a little while and go over the sermon, alright?"  i asked.  they all agreed - one refused to stay saying something about hearing enough "@#$% foul language," go figure.  as we were listening to the tape, the elders kept close account of the words used - as we got close to the end i stopped the recorder and asked that they all put down the pencils and listen to the ending.  as we started the recorder again, all pencils were down and they listened very intently, apparently for the first time.  as they listened, their hearts fell and i watched as one by one they through the papers away.

the end of the sermon dealt with the fact that people got so tied up in the word 'wuss' they refused to listen to the teachings - they allowed themselves to be pulled from God's word, because of the definition of a human word.  my words were something to the effect of "we get so hooked into the meanings of words, we forget what we are hearing."  it's an, 'can't see the forest through the trees.'

read these words:

Yesterday while walking,
Beneath an overpass,
I saw the figure of Jesus,
Standing barefoot on broken glass.
His beard was graying,
The smell of urine filled the air,
Asking if I had some change,
Anything that I could spare.

Emaciated,
His shaking fists balled up,
Influenza and pneumonia,
Begging God to take his cup.
So different from his pictures,
Breathing air through yellowed tubes,
Jesus Christ, dying of AIDS,
Can look right through you.

And all have hated,
Crucified and walked away,
The Savior of the prostitutes,
Drunkards, rapists, and the gays.

Under bridges,
With hands raised,
From the ghettos they praise his name.
Broke and crippled in the dark of night,
Raise your voices to Jesus Christ,
Hallelujah.

some of the christians i know seem to have a problem with this song, and when i ask why - it's because of the words.  one man told me that it was insulting to think of jesus dying of aids, or as he put it, "jesus would not die of aids, that would be to controversial." - i told him that it was controversial during the first thousand years to think of jesus dying on a cross also, it was the death of a criminal not of a savior.

i find this song powerful, and i praise the writer - it has the power to move and to shake people out of their complacency - as all good songs should.

brave saint saturn is a group on the move - powerful and emotional - get the cd, you will love the songs - and pray over the lyrics.  when i started this i promised i would not turn this into a record review - but get it, you'll be happy.

blessings

pastor john

John O’Keefe is the founder of www.ginkworld.net.  John sees a desperate need for the church as a whole to change and reach a new people for Christ.  He is straightforward, honest and calls it the way it he sees it.  John is a graduate of Drew and has been a Senior Pastor and Church Planter