The Intersection of God and Us

Psalm 131 & Romans 10:5-21

I finished reading the Buttrick assignment last night while sitting at a high school fastpitch softball game – yes, sometimes double tasking is a must for a seminary student. What a great read. Is there something wrong with a person when they actually can’t wait to turn the page of a Homiletics book so they can see what the author is going to say next!?! In his first chapter, Buttrick boldly and deliberately unpacks the power and authority of language. (and as a side note, he is also unashamedly liberal. At moments, I found myself laughing out loud while reading, thinking, “did he really just say that?”) First, he argued, words give name and meaning to the world around us. He reminded us of Helen Keller, “Did not [she] admit that, deaf and blind, she had no “world” until a first word was grasped? Then, in spite of blindness, she was able through language to conceive the populated world in which she lived. Language thus assembles a significant world in consciousness.” Secondly, stories give us our meaning and place in the world conceived and created by words. Memory allows us to store significant stories from our past and then link these events together through a “plot” in order to define “who we are.” And finally he argued, the Christ event, is the major “plot changer” in the story of humanity for those of Christ and in Christ. Jesus Christ reveals to us the Gratuitous Love, that is God and gives all of us a “pre-story” to define our current context and a post-script to point us towards God’s ultimate goal. And for Buttrick, it is preaching that allows these elements to come together within the church.

Reading the Romans passage this morning, I stumbled upon a phrase quoted directly by Buttrick – I love it when coincidences like this happen – “faith comes from what is heard.” We are converted, and re-converted, as we discover ways that our story and God’s story intersect. I find myself reflecting back on my many church camp experiences. These events are powerful experiences in the spiritual development of young people. One of the reason’s they are so powerful is because participants are given the opportunity to create safe space and then are given time to unpack the stories of their lives within the context of a small group. Within this small group, community is formed and stories of scripture are shared, and in the midst of this, young people are given an opportunity to discover how God has weaved in and out of the “plot” of their lives as they reflect and share together. It is in these moments that God becomes real and intimate in their lives. “Faith comes from what is heard.”

Psalm 131
Oh LORD, my heart is not lifted up,
My eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with its mother;
My soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time on and forevermore.