Thought for Today
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.
Matthew 5:37 Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
Luke 11:2 He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.
In prayer, poetry, prose, oratory and/or rhetoric, is there a correlation between eloquence and duration? If there is, are they directly or indirectly proportional? Are longer prayers or speeches more effective than shorter ones? Must the one presenting the prayer, poetry, prose, oratory and/or rhetoric write or speak for some predetermined length before the prayer, poetry, prose, oratory and/or rhetoric can be considered acceptable? At some point, does eloquence merely become narcissistic droning?
My questions this morning are not sparked by any particular thing I heard or read yesterday. Rather, this is a topic I confront each morning when I write, each week as I prepare my sermon, each Sunday as I lead worship. Most Protestant worship services in the U.S.A. last for approximately 1 hour. That duration is not fixed in any law, rule or regulation. Neither has it “always been that way.” In colonial days, worship services regularly lasted much longer. A single prayer might last 1 hour, a sermon 3 hours or more. In other countries, Christian worship services last much longer even today.
I missed the seminary class correlating duration and efficacy. I cannot even imagine what it might have been titled: Anesthetize 101? Narcotize 203? Maybe, Dispirit 500? In prayer, poetry, prose, oratory and/or rhetoric is longer better? Does God have some minimum duration standard? If so, what happens to prayers or sermons which fail to meet the minimum standard? What happens to those which exceed the standard duration?
Even as a youth and still as an adult, people have commented on the fact that I tend to offer short prayers. I am sure that even at an early age, I was influenced by the shortness and simplicity of what today we refer to as the Lord’s Prayer. The version I have most encountered in Protestant churches is a mere 67 words, including the Amen. The only variations I have encountered in most of those churches involves whether one ‘debts’ or ‘trespasses.’ Christ’s model prayer which he gave to his disciples is short, eloquent and complete. It usually takes us less than 30 seconds to pray that prayer in worship. We ‘debt’ at First Parish Church. Were we to ‘trespass,’ it might take a few fractions of a second longer (4 letters vs. 8 letters, 1 syllable vs. 2). The prayer Jesus gave us would have been a good way to time washing our hands during the pandemic.
In my seminary classes on hermeneutics, we prepared and delivered sermons to each other. The student listeners would criticize the sermon and its delivery. We were told that our sermons should last 20 – 25 minutes. Then and now, I find that I rarely require more than 12 – 14 minutes to say what I wany to say. In prayer, poetry, prose, oratory and/or rhetoric, is there a correlation between eloquence and duration?
The whole relationship between duration and content extends beyond worship on Sunday morning. It always seems obvious to me that in politics, duration and gravitas are deemed to be directly proportional, i.e., the longer the speech the more important and meaningful it is considered to be. Has any politician in any nation at any time ever delivered a short, concise speech? President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was certainly eloquent; but, at 271 words, it is 4 times longer than the Lord’s Prayer.
Maybe all of God’s children, ministers, politicians, parents and children should carefully choose every word which we speak. Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:37 might well be applied to everything we speak, write and even think, “Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Short, simple, honest and direct communication may well be the most eloquent and meaningful communication.
Stay safe, think before you speak or write, trust God,
Pastor Ray