Not Our Own Word

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.

John 16:12-13

And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

I used to be a copy editor, and I think a competent one, but the job egotized me. To an extent I saw the copy of the writers I managed as the unworked media of my art, clay in my potter's hands. As a consequence I became possessive of writers' work and thought little of rewriting at will to make it right. I became very particular about what words should be used and how they should be arranged. After all, I was the editor; I knew better. And I wasn't about to let the writers embarrass themselves, or me, in print with their errors, obscurity, or poor style.

Being an editor also made me a more surly subject when it was my turn, as a writer, to submit to the prerogatives of other editors. You want to see me at my most human, all-too-human moments? Return my writing to me with (unwanted) emendations. What have you done? You've butchered my words! That's not what I meant at all! Ah, but turnabout is fair play.

God is like many things, but thank goodness God is not like some misunderstood genius, autocratic copy editor, or aggrieved writer. I say this in relief, because if any persons were entitled to a grievance for being taken out of context; if any persons were justified in reproving us for using their words unwisely; if any persons were permitted righteous indignation for getting their story wrong, it is the triune God.

Yet the Word of God continues to be entrusted to the Church through its custody of the Scriptures. God suffers this Word to be incarnated in the flesh of human language. Through our own mortal words -- language is born, lives, changes, and dies -- the Word of eternal life is spoken. This Word is not of our own creation; rather, we are created by it. We are not the Author who manipulates the Word; we are the medium through which the Word speaks. We are the medium, in spite of ourselves.

The Word that speaks through us is not our own, and so we must be on our guard not to act as if the Church "owns" the Word. The Church does "own" the Scriptures in the sense that the Bible belongs to the assembly of God's people who believe in its power to reveal the Word. But believers' birthright does not entitle the Church to "copyright" the Scriptures or "trademark" the Word.

The Word is free, disarmingly so. It is so free that God risks its distortion, moment by moment. God speaks the Word and lets it go. It pleases God to leave it to us, and to the Church, to the get the Word across. No matter how many times we end up speaking on our own and not purely what we would hear, could we hear the Word without the interference of bias. The Word is left vulnerable. It comes to us broken, and it echoes from heart to heavy heart, chamber to stony chamber, in broken language.

God, we praise you for your mercy. Forgive us for mangling your Word. Give us your Spirit so that we may hear what you say. Let your Word resound more truly, more clearly and more beautifully. Amen.