Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC October 18, 1992
I want you to look up here and then feed back to me what I am saying. I’m asking you to watch me and then tell me what I am saying to you.
(Clumped shoulders): “I certainly am glad to be here.”
What did I say?
My mouth said, “I certainly am glad to be here.” But what did my body say? It said, “Groan.” Groan, here I am again, why did the Lord put a Sunday morning in every single week of creation? Groan! The words and the body did not agree, did they?
Let’s try again.
(Fist on hips): “I love everybody in this room.” What did I say that time?
My voice said, “I love everybody in this room.” But my body, with fists on hips, said, “You miserable peasants. I can hardly stand the sight of you.” Words and body did not agree, and although you heard the words, you understand the words, somewhere down deep you felt offended. You felt unwelcome. Why?
Why? Because body language is a very eloquent language. The way we use our bodies to communicate is very powerful. Many of us, even though we say one thing, express something quite different with our bodies.
My wife tells me every Sunday after church what I communicated. She doesn’t quote my sermon. She tells me what my face and my shoulders said about what was going on. Body language.
We’ve now endured three nationally televised debates. One of the reasons it’s so important to watch these debates on TV is that we can get a better sense of who the candidates are by watching them than if we just read their statements or listened to their voices. Their body language speaks to us. In fact, the other day the newspaper ran an article about the candidates’ body language after the first debate, and commented on the ways they communicated composure, friendliness, and initiative. We may not learn everything there is to know about them by watching their body language, but we discover a good deal.
Some of us are old enough to remember President Franklin Roosevelt. I wonder if in the television age we would ever elect a man who took pains never to be photographed in his wheelchair or his braces. His body language would bother people today, wouldn’t it?
And if I have not yet made my point clear about the importance of body language, then just take a look at the vice-presidential debate. I made a videotape, since I couldn’t be home that night. Watch that video with the sound turned off, and you’ll learn a lot. Maybe even more than if the sound were turned on! You have your choice of Gore chopping wood, or Quayle trying to fly, or my personal favorite, poor old Admiral Stockdale holding his head between his hands, trying to shout out the buzz! The body language was incredibly eloquent.
Now, what does your body language say about your relationship to Christ? If it is true that “what you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say,” then what are you and I saying to Christ with our bodies? Most of us can talk a great game. We know the right words to say. We’ve mastered the right formulas. But our body language has the power either to confirm or to deny what we have spoken.
The 23rd Psalm, loved by everyone, is full of body language verbs. It speaks with clarity about what you and I can choose to do with our bodies. The 23rd Psalm is wonderful body language.
And its message is, “We are to follow the shepherd, the leader, wherever He leads.” Wherever Christ the shepherd leader leads, there also we can go.
I
Notice, first of all, that we can put our bodies into places where we can be refreshed and replenished. If we are to be faithful to what we believe, we are to use body language and put ourselves into places where refreshment and restoration can happen.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.”
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures [and] beside … still waters.” Why do some of us push ourselves so hard? Why do some of us find it more virtuous to work ten and twelve and more hours a day on our jobs, frantically trying to achieve more and more? What is the real value of that?
“He maketh me to lie down …” Why do some of us feel guilty every time we sit down to read a book or listen to some music? Why have we made our lives an interminable checklist of things to be done, which, when they are done, give way only to another, longer list of things which have not been done? Why do we not lie down? Why do we not value quiet and reflection and simply being with our God? What is this agenda-driven thing we have?
Oh, the body language: “… to lie down …” To stop, to think, to dream, to listen, to be present to the Living God.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters.” We can put our bodies in places where there is nourishment and where there are the deep, still waters of refreshment.
Let me be perfectly candid. Le me speak to us about us. Why is it that many of us in this church have never really chosen to speak the body language of lying down in green pastures and still waters? Why is it that many of us do not value worship enough to be here on a consistent, disciplined basis? If there’s a little rain, that stops us; if there’s a little sunshine, that tempts us away. And if we do not happen to care for the minister of the morning or the music of the moment, we shut down. But our Christ calls us to “ lie down,” to lie down and stay there a while, “in green pastures and beside the still waters.”
Pastor, why are you saying this to us? We’re here. We’re paying attention. Most of us are even awake. We have good body language. Why must we hear this?
Even the faithful must hear this because only a fraction of us have chosen to lie down and stay a while in green pastures. We have said that it is important to know the Scriptures, but only about half of us in this room have spoken with body language to get here for Bible study on Sunday mornings. We have said that it is important to pray and that we believe in prayer, but on Wednesday nights most of us speak with a body language that makes us couch potatoes in front of the TV rather than lying down across pastures of prayer meeting.
And let me not even begin to speak of what happens when we put together a fine Saturday seminar on some timely topic, as we did yesterday. Only about fifteen of us refreshed ourselves in those still waters.
Friends, I know that life is more than going to church. But I also know that when the green pastures of Bible study and issue awareness are provided for us, we can choose not to starve. And I know that when Christ, who is our shepherd leader, comes to meet with us and lead us beside deep still waters, we need to drink and not spit it out. Body language!
We can put our bodies into the places where we can be refreshed and replenished. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.”
II
Next, notice that we can put our bodies into the difficult places, into the places where there is despair and dismal darkness. We may analyze all we wish about the needs of the world and the awful condition of humanity, but it’s not real until we use body language. It’s not authentic unless we go into the rough, tough jungle out there.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death …” Do you hear the body language, walk? Walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
What is this valley of the shadow of death? The valley of the shadow of death is any place where there is desperation and loneliness and hopelessness. The valley of the shadow of death is any place where there is an unmet human need, and place where somebody is hurting and hopeless. And Christ calls us to walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
I need to tell you a little about what I was feeling last Sunday. Let me give you a peek into my own spiritual musings this past week.
Last week I did the best I know how to do, outlining the issues of hunger and poverty and homelessness. I tried not only to give us some things to listen for in the presidential debates, but also to provide some very specific and definite suggestions about places to get involved and ways to serve.
At the end of the service I called for a lifestyle commitment. I asked if there was anyone who would give the time and energy in order to do something concrete for the poor. That invitation, however urgently spoken, was met with a resounding silence. You spoke “amens” to the message, but the body language said, “Not on your life.” Not on your life, pastor. The body language said, “No.”
And, for that matter, so does my own body language. Can it be that my words rang hollow in your ears because you know very well that I spend all my time working for the church and none of it working for the world? My body language has to change, too.
Let’s just tell the unvarnished truth. Most of us are afraid to take this faith thing too seriously. Most of us are scared of change, we are frightened of lifestyle commitment. Most of us just cannot put feet to it and make word language into body language, because we are afraid of the consequences.
But, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” No evil, whether it be the stench of poverty or the rudeness of the displaced. No evil, whether it be the opposition of the wealthy or the indifference of the comfortable. You and I must choose; we can choose to use body language and walk through the valley of the shadow of death, where the desperate have to walk.
III
Then, finally, notice that we can put our bodies into the places where hostility now reigns. We can choose to love in some definite way those whom we do not understand and who may not understand us.
Listen again to the implied body language. We lie down in green pastures of refreshment; we walk through the valley of the shadow, someone else’s despair; and we can sit down at a table, at a table in the midst of our enemies.
“Thou preparest a table before me in the midst of mine enemies.”
Oh, this is the most interesting body language of all. You see, most of us will go to great lengths to avoid any kind of confrontation. Most of us prefer to keep our disagreements bland and non-committal. And so what do we do if we have a disagreement with somebody? What do we do if there is someone who is giving us a problem?
Well, a good many of us practice avoidance. We stay out of the way. We try not ever to deal with the person who is giving us trouble.
And others of us send messages. If Mister A has a beef with Mister B, he tells it to Mister C in hopes that the word will get back to Mister B. In fact, Mister A will make sure that happens by saying to Mister C, “Now, please don’t tell Mister B I said this!” knowing full well that when you tell somebody not to tell they are unable to resist doing the telling! “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we purpose to deceive!”
With our voices we say that we believe in harmony and peace. But with our bodies we have said, “No way.” No way, and set each other up for heartache.
But the psalmist summons us to sit down at a table with our enemies, a table which the Lord Himself has prepared. He brings us to the place where we meet our adversaries, face to face, and have to work it out. God calls us to honest face-to-face confrontations with those with whom we differ.
This has a hundred different applications. But let me select only one for now. Do you remember that two weeks ago I challenged you to use at least one opportunity during the week to engage somebody about his or her relationship to Christ? And do you remember, further, that I challenged you to select somebody who is racially or culturally different?
Well, we all said “Amen” to that. You agreed that that was a good idea. We want a diverse church. That was our voice language.
But what was our body language? What did we actually do with our bodies? I dare say that most of us sat down at no table of sharing. I dare say that most of us sat down at no table with an outsider. I dare suggest that most of us dismissed the whole idea, or, if we entertained it at all, decided that actually encountering a non-Christian was too painful. Actually reaching across cultures was too delicate, too difficult. Our body language spoke a loud speech of avoidance. And instead of changing somebody, instead of taking others seriously, we took the easy route of talking a great game about reconciliation. But our body language said, “You stay where you are and I’ll stay where I am.”
Friends, we will never, never be what Christ wants us to be until we decide to reach out and share our faith with others. We will never get anywhere in our discipleship until we deliberately engage those who are not where we are and invite them to share in the Lord’s bounty.
“Thou preparest a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies.” And we’d better get the enemies there to share it.
Conclusion
It’s time for an update on Chloe. You remember Chloe, our puppy? She’s now nearly six months old and she is in a new phase.
You’ll remember that several months ago she taught me about curiosity. She was curious about everything, but that curiosity turned out to be destructive. I preached you a sermon entitled, “When Curiosity Isn’t Enough.”
Then you’ll recall that a few weeks ago I described Chloe as a pest, a total pest. She would not leave anybody alone, especially our old dog Scruffy. But I pointed out, in a sermon on patience, that because old dog Scruffy had developed a relationship with Chloe, Chloe the brash pest had begun to show more respect for Scruffy. Whereas, I pointed out, this old dog, being very impatient, caused Chloe to hide under any available piece of furniture.
Now it’s time to update you on Chloe. Chloe is now a marvelous study in body language.
Chloe at nearly six months is having to learn what it is to follow orders. We are trying to lead her to follow our commands. So far, spoken commands have done very little. “Come” just brings an icy stare. “Go outside” just brings a shiver and a retreat deep into the house. Our voice language is thus far ineffective.
But there is another way to get Chloe to go where we want her to go. And that is to ask Scruffy, the old dog, to go first. Wherever Scruffy goes, it seems Chloe is not afraid to go. Wherever we can get Scruffy to lie down or walk or sit down, there Chloe also will lie down or walk or sit down. If Chloe has Scruffy as her companion, she fears no evil.
Our Christ does not ask us to go any place He has not gone before. He does not require us to go alone, but He goes before us and with us.
If we are to lie down in the green pastures of study and reflection, it is He who makes us lie down there. He is the word made flesh, who dwells among us, full of grace and truth.
If we are to walk in the valley of the shadow of death, sharing somebody else’s despair, then we need fear no evil, for He is with us. He is God with us, and there is nothing which touches us which has not already touched Him.
And even when we must finally quit the games-playing and sit down at the table with our bitterest enemies, with those who challenge us hard, even there goodness and mercy follow us, for there is Christ the reconciler.
This Christ calls us to body language. It looks tough. But one thing tells me we can do it. And that is that His body has already been put on the line. This Christ calls us to body language. But His body has already been broken for us. This Christ calls us to body language. But His very life is poured out into our lives.
So lie down, then, in green pastures; walk in the valley of the shadow; sit down at the table of enemies; and surely, because of Christ, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives.
