The Rev. Jimmy Abbott
August 17, 2025
Hebrews 11:29-12:2

The Power of Speech

“Sticks and stones,” they say, “may break my bones; but words will never hurt me.” What a bunch of baloney. I know, from bitter experience, that it is often words that hurt the most. I have, in fact, broken bones before. They’ve healed quite nicely. But some things that have been said to me, or about me, well, those have stuck. The emotional scars are still there. Those words have made me believe all the worst things about myself that I’m afraid are true anyway. And I know, and I confess, that words I have said have surely caused hurt. Words have power.

And not just for the worse. Words hurt, but they also bless. In the beginning, God creates the heavens and the earth with words – “Let there be light, and there was light.” Jesus will heal the sick, raise the dead, forgive sins through the power of his words. Saint Paul and the early Christians talked and argued and preached and persuaded with the power of their speech. Words have power. It’s why your high school English teacher made you read Shakespeare. It’s why the Lincoln Memorial has the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Speech chiseled in stone. Words have power. The power to bless, create, condemn, heal. Our political leaders, we remember them for what they said – and we hold them to account based on what they say. I know I’m a strange duck, but I do keep a book of Winston Churchill’s speeches on my bedside table; it’s to remind me, to warn me, of the power of words. 

And it’s a lesson I have learned from you all. You have told me stories about each of my predecessor’s sermons, dating back to the 1950s. You know, that’s terrifying. To think that my sermons might be a topic of conversation in the year 2100. Words have power.

And that, that is what draws me to this reading from Hebrews. The letter to the Hebrews is the great example in the New Testament of the power of words. You could look at the whole book as a speech, or like an oral argument in the courtroom. The author spends eleven chapters constructing this tightly wound argument that finally lands with what we read this morning. I’ll tell you, when I read this, I know that words have power.

See, the book of Hebrews has been going on and on describing great heroes of the past; people like Abraham and Moses, and Gideon, Barak, Samson Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. They administered justice, they were tortured, mocked, flogged; stoned to death, sawn in two, they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented. These are the saints of God who have gone before. The ones “of whom the world was not worthy.” And Hebrews is painting a picture with words, inspiring us to be like them. Think of it – it was an oral society back then. So the most powerful tool that the early church had was its words; its stories. And through words like this, the early church was motivated, inspired, called into being. It was not easy to be a Christian in the first century when the book of Hebrews was written. You could be kicked out of your family, you could lose your business. You could be thrown to the lions. The biggest sacrifices we make as Christians today is usually our time and our money – back then it could be your livelihood and your very lives. Imagine if you were a Christian whose friends had been killed for their faith. Imagine if you were maybe thinking about giving up on Jesus in order to go back to an easier life. And it goes on – “Therefore, since we surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (12:1). It gives me all the feels. Two thousand years on, the words in this passage give me the courage to keep going in my faith. This whole thing is like a motivational speech, a halftime pep talk. Because that’s what it is. It’s a sermon to a group of fearful Christians facing a complex and menacing world. Kinda like today. Words still have power.

And, and it’s not just about the words they did say, it’s also about the words they don’t say. That’s just as important. So, the book of Hebrews was written to Christians at a time when it was not easy to be Christian. But notice, notice what Hebrews doesn’t say. Hebrews never tries to answer why it is that Christians were being tormented. The letter never tries to say how it is that God could allow those things to happen. The book of Hebrews never whines or complains about why Christians were suffering. Hebrews accepts that as fact. Pay attention to what is said, but also pay attention to what is not said.

This is critical. Yes, Christians are facing pressures today. That is obvious. Our faith is being co-opted by all sorts of people. Our faith is being used by many to make a quick a buck. Much of the world has moved on from any sort of faith at all. But it sounds so hollow when we spend our words telling other people what they ought to be doing in their lives. The book of Hebrews, and really the whole New Testament, focuses on how we Christians ought to be living. It’s words among ourselves. And this passage is saying that if this is the life you choose – following Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith – then this is what we will get. The cross. Again, Hebrews never attempts to explain why it is that Christians are humiliated; it does not offer a single word complaining about how hard it is to be Christian. No, it simply acknowledges that this is the life of Christ, and that hardship and sacrifice will be part of it, and the power of words is for our encouragement, to keep going, even when we are also mocked, detested, and shamed. 

Words have power.

The lesson for today is obvious. I hesitate to even spend my words on it. Our words have power. What we say has the capacity to wound and to heal, to bless and to curse, to inspire and to depress. Sticks and stones can break bones, sure. And words can most definitely hurt us. So choose your words carefully. 

And sometimes, as we learn from Hebrews, the most important things are the things we don’t say. Silence is also an option. 

As someone who speaks for a living, this is the hardest thing. Over the summer, a priest friend of mine asked me what it was like to be the rector of Trinity Church and School – I said, no joke, “my job is to walk around and talk to people all day.” It’s figuring out what not to say that’s hard. And I do think that our world, our culture would be a whole lot healthier, if we all decided to say fewer words. 

So I’ll leave my sermon here. I simply want to say that the first century is not so different from today. And that if you ever need some encouragement, if you need to steel up your faith, go back and read these words. Listen for what it says, and listen for what it doesn’t say. When you are faced with difficult decisions, about how to follow Jesus, remember these words of power:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”