Creating Space That’s Holy

by Pastor Stephen Carl

Fred Rogers, a man who inspired millions of children through his television program, once said, “The space between my mouth and a child’s ear is holy ground.”

Holy Ground – those are the words of God to Moses when he stood before the bush that burned, but was not consumed by fire.

Holy Ground.

Sacred Space.

A Place Set Apart.

What makes a place holy? Or a particular time sacred? For me, the answer to these questions is: God’s grace. But God does so through the heart we bring and the words we choose to hear and share.

In our media-saturated and information-soaked world, words are flung around casually, carelessly, hurtfully, insensitively. Words are powerful and yet we sometimes overuse them or misuse them so much that they lose their power. Words are sometimes like weapons used to cut another down, but they can also be used to create a holy space, to convey love and blessing, to share Good News.

A cliché we’ve all heard and perhaps used is “walk the talk.” In other words, match your actions with your words. Perhaps it’s an impossibility – especially for those who are claimed by grace but are still weighed down by sin. Yet it is something to which we should aspire. Too often, knowing that our earth-bound actions do not perfectly match our lofty words, we lower what we speak in order to have our speech more closely aligned to our behaviors. This is certainly one way to “walk the talk,” but I think it misses the point. Instead, no matter how difficult it may be we are to bridle our behaviors (and all those feelings that motivate us to act in critical, harsh, anti-redemptive ways) in order to rise to the life of the Word that was and is and is yet to be, the Word that transforms even hypocrites into the real estate of holy ground.

I encourage you to let the space between your mouth and everyone else around you be holy ground. We are stewards of our words. We can use them carefully or carelessly. And using words as weapons because others do so is no excuse for those who confess to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

By the way, on February 12, the children of Westminster will be leading us in worship, leading us on our walk through the holy ground, the sacred space of worshiping God. Your presence in worship speaks affirmation to the children beyond words. After all, being there to be led in worship by our children is a way to walk the talk of caring about our kids.