Clean Up Your Language!
DATE: August 9, 2009
SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 4:25-5:2
History was made this week as the appointment of Judge Sonia Sotomoyor to the Supreme Court was confirmed by the Senate, and yesterday as she was sworn in. She is the first Hispanic, and only the third woman, to be seated on the bench of the highest court in the land.
Born and raised in a working class neighborhood in the Bronx, Justice Sotomoyer's story is an inspiration to many. She grew up in the projects, and has dealt with diabetes since the age of eight. Her father died when she was only nine. Still her mother made certain that she got a good education which led to Princeton and eventually Yale Law School. She worked in private practice for a time and as a prosecutor in New York, and was first appointed to a federal judgeship in 1992, by George Bush.
While Sotomoyer's confirmation process was much quieter than some in the past, it still had a bit of drama about it. In particular, there was a quite a bit of discussion about a speech she gave in 2001 at the University of California — Berkeley. In that speech she addressed the importance of recognizing how one's personal experiences can and do influence one's view of life. It is a lengthy and interesting speech, one I encourage you to read. Whether you agree with her conclusions or not, you will find within it food for thought. Unfortunately, as is often the case, most folks haven't read the full speech, and so a single sentence from it has been quoted without context over and over again. "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience," she said at one point in the speech, "would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
That line alone created an enormous furor in some circles. Bloggers and talk show hosts had a hay day with it. And a fair amount of time in the hearings was devoted to discussing it.
Now, I'm not here today to debate the pros and cons of Sonia Sotomoyer's appointment. I leave that to you to research and judge for yourself. Rather I raise it as an example of the importance of words. For while there is a long line of decisions that have been handed down by Justice Sotomoyer, many, many cases over which she presided, many actions upon which to judge her fitness for the bench, the reality is the hearings and the conversation in the media didn't focus on her actions, but rather her words.
Sometimes we fall into believing that old school yard chant: "Sticks and stone may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." But Jean-Paul Sartre was right, "Words are loaded pistols." And the truth is they can render great harm. Words can hurt. And conversely, words can heal. Words are enormously powerful, and enormously important. And so choosing our words wisely, using them carefully, is vitally important. Kathleen Norris quotes poet Diane Glancy who writes: "You build a world in what you say. Words—as I speak or write them—make a path on which I walk." (The Cloister Walk, 154)
Words make a path on which we walk. They can build a world—they can tear it down.
Our scripture reading today is from the book of Ephesians. We don't know for sure who wrote it—probably a disciple of Paul, writing in Paul's name. This would not have been considered misleading; in fact it was a very common practice in the ancient world. The letter was probably written in the last part of the first century. The church had been in business for a couple of generations, and was experiencing some of the trials and difficulties that always seem to surface when people try to work together in community.
This particular section of the letter looks like a behavioral covenant. It seems to be a list of things to do and or to avoid, when living in community. On one level, it may seem rather idealistic. Yet it is, in fact, very down-to-earth.
The author, for instance, doesn't say, "Don't get angry." That would be idealistic—and arguably, humanly impossible. Rather he says, "Be angry but do not sin." He even offers a practical "how-to" tip: "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." Look, he's saying, people in the church are going to tick you off. Just like they do in your family. Just like they do in your place of employment. Anger is a natural response when we don't like something. But don't stew about it. Don't keep going over it again and again and again in your mind. Deal with it. Deal with it in a truthful, but considerate manner. Because if you don't, your words may come back to haunt you.
In many ways the crux of the passage is verse twenty-nine. "Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear." Scholar Jaime Clark-Soles writes: "I daresay that (a) it takes no great exegetical work to figure this out; (b) if we took this to heart, we would think before we spoke far more often; and (c) we would speak far less often. . . . [For] speech matters . . . it can either build or destroy community." (Feasting on the Word, B:3, 329)
When I was a boy it was not uncommon to hear a parent or a teacher say, "Clean up your language!" Usually this was said in response to one of us youngsters using a word like damn or hell. Or maybe using some sexually explicit term. The author of Ephesians is also telling us to "clean up our language" — but he's not refering to scatological words or swearing. He is reminding us that the words we use when we talk to other people have the power to inflict great harm if not carefully and lovingly chosen. So what does it mean for you to clean up your language? How do you need to take greater care with your words?
Six years ago as a congregation we adopted a covenant, the preamble of which we now use whenever we receive new members. It is a powerful statement of our basic understanding of how our church community should function. In part the Preamble reads: "We covenant with God and each other to strive to follow Christ's way, walking with our brothers and sisters in faithfulness to Christ's command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves." It is a wonderful statement. But it is not a how-to statement. That part of our work on the covenant is often forgotten, or not even known.
For you see the second part of the covenant was a list of suggestions, much like this passage from Ephesians. Practical ideas of how we can indeed be church together. Among other things, the expanded version of the covenant includes the following promises:
"To practice the covenantal relationship that we affirm," it reads, "we commit ourselves to: Praising God by . . .Welcoming and practicing hospitality toward all people as children of God . . . . Respecting, trusting and honoring our ordained pastors and lay leaders and remaining open to transformational leadership . . . . Listening with open and non-judgmental minds to the words and ideas of others; Communicating openly in a spirit of trust, love and respect and seeking constructive solutions to problems; and Forgiving one another our failings as we expect to receive forgiveness ourselves."
As my father used to remind me, sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it that makes a difference. The words we use, and how we use them, count. They can build up community or tear it down. They can give a friendship life and energy, or destroy it in an instant. Words and how we use them can strengthen a family or bring it to the point of despair and demise. Words and how we use them can bind us together as a church or rend us asunder. Words and how we use them can create a world at peace, or a world at war.
In the years ahead Justice Sotomoyor will have a chance to write decisions which will impact the lives of millions. Her words will help create the future. But so can yours—for you don't have to be appointed to the Supreme Court to use words for the good.
You too build a world in what you say. You create the very path upon which you walk. So let no evil talk come out of your mouth. Let the words you use truly give grace to those who hear them.
Amen.
John H. Danner