The Word and new ways for words

Gutenberg Printing Press

Almost five hundred years ago, Martin Luther and some Christians who wanted reform in the church seized on the latest technology to spread the word: the printing press. You would think that adopting the new media of blogs and facebook would be obvious to this Christian in Luther's line, but I have been slow to embrace this new media.

As John 1:1 says, the Word became flesh. The eternal infinite God entered the temporary, finite creation in Jesus. And after the Word dwelt among us, the Word became words: stories told in synagogues, house churches, marketplaces. These stories moved people to put their trust in God, that in Jesus God was truly making the world new. They wanted to follow this Word, for it to be their Light and Life. They wrote letters to one another, encouraged one another, corrected one another--all with words: spoken, written, lived, embodied. The words became flesh and the flesh became words.

The Word for Christians is always Christ. Each week, I will reflect in words which direction God may be leading me as I meditate on the scripture readings for the coming Sunday.

For the last four weeks, we've been looking at four small letters of Paul to leaders: Philemon, Titus, 1 and 2 Timothy. This week we will be listening to Paul's second letter to Timothy, especially the first chapter.

I'm musing on the fact that Paul is concerned that Timothy may be shrinking back and ashamed of his faith. Paul encourages him to be courageous and self-disciplined for the sake of the "treasure entrusted to him" (2 Tim 1:14).

How do we need courage today? In what ways do we hide our faith under a bushel basket? I'm not thinking we all need to walk around with a pious look on our faces and say "God Bless you" but is our relationship with God a treasure? How do we demonstrate its value in our lives? I think of a hymn, "Jesus, Priceless Treasure". Check it out:

Jesus, Priceless Treasure