Body Language
John 17: 20-26
(A friend’s sermon – used without permission)
I found this bit of advice for public speaking on the
Internet, under the heading;
‘6 suggestions for using body language to enhance the
quality of your talks’
1.
Consciously
try to erase frowns from your face a few minutes before it is your turn to
speak. Try to relax the facial muscles and try smiling from the time you are
introduced. If you don't feel like smiling, put your facial muscles into the
"shape" of a smile. This sounds silly, but it works.
2.
It is
important to smile as you introduce yourself and your topic. Even if the
occasion is a sad one, an appropriate smile of sympathy can put the audience at
ease. Try to concentrate on the genuine concern and liking you have for the
audience. Even if you don't like the audience, a smile will make them more
amenable to what you have to say.
Of course, a "Cheshire Cat" grin is not appropriate.
3.
Make
eye contact for a fraction of a second, with as many of the audience as you can.
People will then feel you are really communicating with them and that you are
not treating them like a herd of cattle. However, try not to "fix" on
a particular person or a particular spot in the room or hall as this may begin
to make people feel uncomfortable.
4.
Stand with your feet slightly apart and firmly "planted", and
stand tall. Try to remember not to slouch. Putting your feet together
encourages swaying or swinging. Don't lean or hang on chairs, tables, the flip
chart or any other piece of equipment. Apart from looking sloppy, equipment
sometimes breaks - and you might fall over.
5.
Practise holding your hands in different ways. Try just keeping them at your sides, clasping them in front of
you, then behind. Fold your arms now and again or use the "thinker
pose". Keep hands out of pockets, avoid over-gesticulation, avoid the
hands-on-hips position, and become conscious of fiddling with coins and keys in
pockets, and with pens or paper clips. Watch out for scratching, picking and
pulling; your hair, nose or any other
more interesting parts of your anatomy.
6.
Think
about how your audience will expect you to dress and meet their expectations.
It is a fact of life that we are judged to some extent on how we dress. Think about what clothes are appropriate for
the occasion. For example, a short skirt or plunging neckline may not be
appropriate. (Which is probably why the Anglican cassock goes right down to
the ground and buttons up to here!)
The point is that Body Language is important. It communicates far, far more, than words!
Which is why, of course, God's love for the
world is not expressed in words on a page but in the body of the Father's
son stretched out on a cross. From the
moment of his arrest, Jesus hardly says anything - it's what he does that
proclaims, or rather, shouts out, God's deep love. Body Language says far more than words.
Which is why God's victory over death and sin and
all the evil in the world is not expressed in spiritual language but in the
physical resurrected body of Jesus.
Real, physical, touchable, authentic.
Body language.
And of course that is why the reality of the new
creation, the evidence for the presence of God in the midst of his world as
never before, the beginning of the time to come, is not expressed in a dusty
book, but in a new community, the people of God, neither Jew nor
Gentile, Male nor Female, Slave nor Free, reconciled into one - the body of
Christ.
God's not daft. When he speaks, he uses body
language.
What do people see in us? Not, what do they see in me, or you, as
individuals, but what do they see in us, as a body? It’s like apple trees. Apple trees produce apples. That’s their body language. If an apple tree doesn’t produce apples,
something’s wrong. What about us? What do we look like? What do people see?
Addie Banks said, “If God has reconciled us to
himself but cannot reconcile us to each other then the whole thing is a fraud.”
Body Language is significant because it shows what’s
going on behind the words. It reveals the
heart. And, as we come to Pentecost,
and to celebrating the birthday of our partnership together, this morning I
want us to think about the body language of our ecumenical parish.
If you remember the picture of the early church in
Acts:
Acts “
42 They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord's Supper and in prayer. 43
A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many
miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met
together constantly and shared everything they had. 45 They
sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. 46
They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's
Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – 47
all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And
each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
It showed. It
showed didn’t it. People knew something had changed in the lives of these first
Christians. They could tell that the
Spirit had been poured out.
How?
Because the body language was right. Awe, Signs
and wonders, meeting together, sharing everything they had, selling
possessions, no-one in need, worshipping God, breaking bread, having meals
together, great joy, great generosity.
The people loved them. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being
saved…... Sounds good doesn’t it.
What do people see when they look at us? At us as a group? The church, the body of
Christ, has a vocation - together we have a vocation - and it is to live
out, to express in body language rich and deep and strong, the love of Christ
whose body was broken on a cross and raised to new life. The language of the church will be its love
for one another. Jesus prayed for us,
that we may be completely one, as he and the Father are one. That’s pretty intimate. And he said when we are one the world will
know about Jesus.
Is this what the people in Old town are picking up
from our life together? Are they being
drawn to Jesus because of the body language we have?
Real Christianity, authentic Christianity is easy to
spot. It’s marked by love. Not creative services, liturgies, house
group courses, leadership, vision statements.
Not by meetings or programmes (however good). Only love. Only
love.
I don’t say all this to make you feel guilty. So often we hear a message like this and
immediately our walls go up because we feel got at. Who here would claim to love as they ought? But today is not about feeling guilty,
for guilt is a terrible way to change people.
It hardens us and crushes our spirit.
Christ came to give us freedom, and especially freedom from
guilt. No, but I wanted to emphasise
‘body language’ because its like a mirror. It shows us what we’re really like. If we know God’s love, it will show.
A woman came to Jesus. She was messed up. Things
had gone wrong. She’d made
mistakes. She felt bad. And she burst into a meal that Jesus was
having with a respectable guy called Simon.
It was all too much for her and she threw herself at Jesus’ feet
weeping, weeping, weeping her heart out.
And as the tears from her cheeks fell on Jesus’ feet she wiped them away
with her hair. And she kissed them, and
she bathed them, and she poured perfume onto them. Such body language was extortionate, over the top, embarrassing. Simon felt uncomfortable.
“A certain creditor had two debtors”, Jesus says to
Simon, “one who owed a massive amount and one who owed a little. He forgave both. Which one would have loved him more?”
“The one who had been forgiven most” notes Simon.
Which one, Simon or the woman, loved Jesus more? Which one knew that they had received
forgiveness? ….the woman. It showed….in
her body language.
Jesus looks up…“Therefore, I tell you, her sins,
which have been many, which have crushed her and weighed her down for so long, have
been forgiven, (notice that Jesus says her sins have been forgiven)
that’s why, that’s why, she has shown great love. Can’t you see it - she knows what
forgiveness is.”
But the one to whom little is forgiven,” and he
continues looking at Simon straight in the eyes, “loves little.”
I wanted to talk about body language today, because
perhaps more than anything, I am convinced that authentic Christianity,
cross-shaped Christianity, kingdom of God Christianity, is about
community. Body Language is
everything. We are out of touch. Not that we’re not trendy enough, or that
our services are boring, or our liturgies are out of date. No.
We are out of touch with people because we don’t touch
people. We are invisible. Jesus touched people. They saw his love. His Body Language communicated far more than words.
But it’s not about us trying to love. It’s about us being known by God. About knowing his love. Then it will show in our body
language. Then, only then, it will
show. It will be as obvious as apples
on an apple tree.
Where are we as a partnership of churches? Some of us are enthusiastic. We remember the vision that brought this
parish into being but feel the numbers who are holding onto it are dwindling,
and the vision is not so clear as it used to be.
Some of you are fed up, you feel like you put
a lot of effort in but see little as a result.
Some of you are on the edge, looking in,
unsure. It’s not your style, it’s not
what you wanted church to be like.
They’re not what you wanted church to be like.
Some of you are almost invisible. You’re not known. You have no name.
Some of you are tired. You need to be carried. You don’t know if you can do it on your own
any more. But you’re not sure if anyone
knows how you feel.
And some of you are scared. Scared to let God have you, all of you. You want to but you can’t let go.
Jesus. It’s all about Jesus. Know him.
Be forgiven by him. Live in him. Be known to him. Come alive through him.
Trust him. And then maybe our
body language will shout to others of being one, and we ourselves will be a
song of praise.