Paul Walker, “The Voice of the Comfortable Word”
Near the beginning of “The Magician’s Nephew”, C.S. Lewis’ chronological beginning of the Narnia series, the White Witch describes the downfall of the world called Charn. She was attempting to usurp the throne of her sister, the rightful Queen, when she employed what she called “the deplorable word.” The deplorable word, of course, was a magic word. When the deplorable word was spoken, the world would crumble and all living things in that world would die. Everyone would perish, except the speaker of that deplorable word. She spoke the deplorable word into existence, and all but her ceased to exist.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. So not true. Marilu gave me a daily calendar – each day includes a Shakespearean insult. Some of my favorites thus far: “Thou clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou obscene greasy tallow-catch!” and “Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brains than I have in my elbows!”. But the insult that speaks to the heart of this sermon is this one: “More of your conversation would infect my brain.”
Words, deplorable and otherwise, wielded and weaponized against us can’t help but burrow in and infect our brains. The burrowing brain infection is usually inflamed in the middle of the night, is it not? You may give a presentation, or paint a painting, or write a book, or just make some kind of parenting decision or whatever. And you may have 100 comments about what you have done, 99 of which are glowing, praising, and laudatory. But the one you will dwell on is the 1 negative response. It doesn’t even have to be negative; it can just be neutral rather than ecstatic and that will seed the infection.
I take it as a given that we are all vulnerable to words that hurt us. The corollary is that we need words that are right and true and good. To fend off the deplorable word we need a comfortable and life-giving word. This is part of what Jesus is talking about in John’s gospel today. “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
All the passages today are sheep/shepherd passages. We are the sheep in need of a shepherd. And Jesus, of course, is the shepherd – the Good Shepherd. The sheep recognize the shepherd by his voice. There are other voices – thieves, bandits, strangers – those whose voices woo and tempt the sheep, who speak deplorable words to the poor sheep. But in the end, the sheep want to, need to follow the voice of the Good Shepherd who speaks a comfortable and life-giving word.
How easy it is to fall prey to the deplorable words, especially when they come dressed in finery – wolves in sheep’s clothing, you might say. When Odysseus sails home after battle, he is warned to stay away from the lure of the sirens. The sirens sing sweet songs to sailors, luring them to their deaths. They lived on a rocky island, filled with rotting bones and skins of sailors who were enchanted by their sweet song.
This was their song to Odysseus: “Odysseus, bravest of heroes, Draw near to us, on our green island, Odysseus, we’ll teach you wisdom, We’ll give you love, sweeter than honey. The songs we sing, soothe away sorrow, And in our arms, you will be happy. Odysseus, bravest of heroes, The songs we sing, will bring you peace.” Sounds a lot like the voice of the serpent in the Garden of Eden – God said you would die if you ate of that fruit? You won’t die – you will live and be like God! Sounds silky smooth, but there is a reason the bible calls Satan the “father of lies.” He is the speaker of the deplorable words. Like the thief in the passage today, Satan’s lies kill and destroy.
Since we like sheep have gone astray, we need direction and protection and comfort. There is a reason that the verses spoken after the confession of sin in our liturgy are called “The Comfortable Words.” There are four of them: “Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “If anyone sin, we have and Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” “This is a true saying and worthy of all to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
In the end, Odysseus had his crew tie him to the mast and made them put beeswax in their ears. He instructed them to lash him more tightly to the mast when he heard the sirens songs and begged them to unleash him. Thus, they sailed unscathed passed the siren’s song.
The most important thing to know about our Good Shepherd is that the shepherd laid down his life for his sheep. The devil spoke the siren song to Jesus on the night that he was betrayed, tempting Him. You hear it in Jesus’ prayer: “Father, if you are willing take this cup from me.” Is there any other way to bring salvation to the world – any other way except the cross? And yet he finishes his prayer, “Yet, not my will, but yours be done.”
Jesus was lashed to the mast of cross. His ears were open to the jeers and taunts and abuse of the soldiers and passers-by. On the cross He speaks a word of comfort and grace: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And there on the hill of calvary, Jesus, the Word of God, embodies the fourth comfortable word, undoing the power of all deplorable words henceforth: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Amen.