The Power of Words

Can you remember back to Sunday?

You know, this past Sunday – when the headlines included news of violent threats in Springfield, Ohio, and another assassination attempt on President Trump. And that’s in addition to continued updates on wars and conflicts around the world, floods and wildfires, and whatever it is we’ve got going on in our own lives.

It was all weighing on me. And so I was grateful that one of my “job requirements” was to attend Candlelight, our 9 p.m. Sunday worship service. I knew I needed to pray and sing and be with students who make me laugh.

It was a particular gift that our student speaker that night – a junior named Cassie Gortner – decided to address the way she herself was feeling the weight of national news. She shared a memory from summer, when she was caring for kids at camp even while the political news filled her with an anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her. Cassie found herself praying these words, once sung by Mary while she was pregnant with the messiah:

“…[God’s] mercy is for those who fear him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
And lifted up the lowly;
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
In remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
To Abraham and to his descendants forever.” [Luke 1:50-55]

Cassie, in her moment of big anxiety about the state of the world, prayed those verses. She sang every musical version of them that she knew. Because, she said, they reminded her: God doesn’t just provide for us today; God provides for a better future.

When Cassie finished her reflection, everyone responded with the same hopeful truth we proclaim every Sunday night: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). It felt especially powerful in that moment. Then, together, we all sang Mary’s words.

Cassie’s reflection blessed me. Speaking hope with a group of other people blessed me. Singing an ancient song of faith in God’s promises blessed me. All these words spread hope to me like a candle catching a flame.

My Sunday night experience proved true what Pastor Jim had preached that morning: the words we speak to each other have great power. As James, the brother of Jesus, wrote: “…the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest fire is set ablaze by a small fire. And the tongue is a fire…” (James 3:5-6).

As the news broke about threats of violence in Springfield, Ohio, my colleagues in ministry at Lutheran universities sent emails to the university pastor at Wittenberg University, asking how we could support her; Wittenberg was in lock down on Sunday in response to those threats. 

Pastor Tracy Paschke-Johannes shared with us her own reflections on that verse from James, which she had also sent out to her students in lock down:

It is weeks of falsehoods spread online about our immigrant neighbors that has led us to this place today. What started as hateful, local rumors exploded this week on the national stage, and now it has directly touched each of our lives. Let us be mindful of the power of the tongue, both to cause harm and to preach the Gospel.

For it was the tongue of a few women who spoke “Christ is Risen” after seeing the empty tomb that spread resurrection home. It was the tongues of fire on Pentecost that flooded the world with the Holy Spirit. And it is our tongues, and the tongues of the saints of all ages, who are called to proclaim the Good News to a hurting world.

Be aware of the power of the tongue. Speak the Good News. Keep the faith.

Christ is Risen.

What good words can we say to each other today? How can we use the power of our own words in times like these?

Pr. Kate

Rev. Katherine Museus and Rev. James A. Wetzstein serve as university pastors at the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University and take turns writing weekly devotions.

September 18, 2024