The Word: Spoken, Written, and Living
Advent 1
December 1, 2024
Fr. Tim Nunez
We are going to try something a little different this Advent. Each Sunday we will take a closer look at different aspects of how the Word of God shapes our lives according to his will and purpose for us. Next week, the Second Sunday of Advent, we will consider how we use words in worship. The Third Sunday of Advent will reflect on enacting, living the Word and the Fourth Sunday will focus on prayer.
This Sunday we start with a focus on God’s Word spoken, written and living. I picked up this prayer in England a couple of years ago from Fr. David Trustram. We should pray it now:
May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
That prayer draws us into a right order or operation for the preacher. I cannot say everything about everything, and surely you could not bear to hear it. But what I do say must be consistent with the Gospel. If my words do not faithfully comport with God’s written word and, more importantly the “living Word”’ of Jesus himself, then I demand correction.
This points us to the deep resonance of God’s written Word preserved in scripture, which literally means “writings.” We have an immeasurable treasure in them that we can mine for our entire lifetimes and never approach the fullness of them. As we do, we are able to lean on the great minds who have studied and pondered them across centuries. We discover and rediscover truth in them which applies on many levels to our lives today and beyond.
For example, when Jesus references “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” he is bringing the written Word shared by the prophet Daniel to that moment. Daniel served the Lord during Israel’s exile in Babylon hundreds of years before Jesus. You may recall the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. That’s chapter six. In chapter seven, Daniel has a dream about the end times. Four mighty beasts, which represent four great kings, ravage over the world.
The fourth beast destroys the other three, then rebels against “the Ancient of Days.” Then the “Son of Man” comes and to him is given dominion over the everlasting Kingdom forever.
Is Daniel referring to the interplay of the great empires of Babylon, Persia, Alexander the Great and the Romans, then the coming restoration of Israel? Is he referring to Jesus as the Son of Man?
Is Jesus referring to his own trial, suffering, death and resurrection, which will occur over the coming days?
Is he referring to the coming destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, forty years down the road, and the Gospel spreading to change the world?
Is he referring to the End Times, the Day of the Lord, when all wrongs will be righted, all hurts healed and God will wipe away every tear?
Is he referring to our mortality in general and exhorting us to be prepared for when he comes for us individually?
I suggest yes, yes to all of that. Are these portents to be feared? No! “Now stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Watch for the signs and be ready, for the Kingdom of God is near.
The magnitude of God’s Word resonates when Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” We can and do point to the age of the Old and New Testaments to underscore their lasting value. Time does sift the jewels out of the rubble of history. It’s tempting to say, “See! Here we are 2,000 years later still engaging his words.” Which is true as far as it goes.
But here, Jesus is saying much more than that. Two thousand years, or even five thousand years, are a mere blip, a moment in time.
We can talk about the revealed truth of God being akin to the physical laws of the universe like gravity or the math that philosophers developed and physicists today develop and use to dig ever more deeply into the way things exist and work. The bigger and more distant they look at galaxies and beyond, the farther they realize they have to go. And the smaller they look into molecules, atoms and subatomic particles, the farther they realize they have to go. It’s tempting to say, “See! The Word of God is within and around everything.” Which is true as far as it goes.
But here, Jesus is saying much more even than that. Jesus, the Word of God, was with God and was God before the universe began about 13.8 billion years ago. And he will be with God and be God after it all ends, whenever that may be. But it isn’t relevant to say that he lasts longer. God isn’t real in the sense this pulpit or your seat is real – a thing to be seen, touched and measured, that ages and winds up dust. He’s beneath, behind and beyond time and space. He’s more real than reality, more true than truth as we can experience it.
What does this mean for you and your family this Advent? Jesu said, “Be ready.” Don’t be weighed down and distracted by the worries of this life. This is a season of preparation; preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus, God’s greatest gift to us, and preparation for his coming again. So that your words can be true to God’s written Word, and bring us all closer to the living Word, Jesus Christ Our Lord. That prayer is not just for a preacher in a pulpit.
If your speech is going to reflect God’s Word written and Jesus himself, you’ll need to become familiar with the texts. If you’re going to be alert to the signs, you need to learn to see them and understand them in context with God’s movement.
God’s spoken and written Word are best engaged together through using a good devotional, a study Bible or commentary, with a spouse, with your children, with a friend or in a group. We’ve got Advent devotionals for you to use as well as Advent calendars for the children.
Always engage God’s Word with prayer. We will focus on prayer the Fourth Sunday of Advent, but it needs to be said here and now that prayer is key to gaining God’s wisdom from these texts.
Do not be discouraged if this is new and seems daunting and very dense, like hacking your way through a jungle. It’s more like a giant loom. Once you start hooking threads of knowledge to your life and experience, they begin to weave together and you wind up with more threads and more hooks, looking very closely at times then backing away to see the larger patterns.
All we really need to know is that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Start there and see what other blessings he holds for you.
AMEN