What Is Your Sound Bite?

        Text Hebrews 13: 1-8

This past weekend marked the Chinese New Year; the Year of the Rooster has begun. I suspect that for many of us, this news, this sound bite- was lost as North America focused on Trump, a Mexican wall, NAFTA; and the shooting in a Quebec Mosque.  Of course, a sound bite is a short extract from a recorded interview, chosen for its pungency or appropriateness; but, lets think of it in a broader sense. The sound bites we hear, the social media we see, the conversations we have --- form our contexts and communities and shape our foci.

Not to belittle the life altering events of the past week, but, rather, to shift and expand our foci, Chinese New Year is a big deal. It affected many. In China alone, there are 1.3 billion people. Around the world there are millions more of Chinese decent. Unless you have been to the post office recently and purchased Chinese New Year stamps (by request) this sound bite -although affecting billions- was relatively silent.

I just finished reading, Gary V’s book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.” Gary V. is an entrepreneur who invests early in new waves of social media.  Not only does he invest in the platforms, he figures them out, uses them to his advantage, and then teaches others how specific platforms work.  He takes real life examples from Twitter, Instagram, FB, Snapchat, and so on, commenting on those that are exceptional and those that completely fail.  Much of the mainline church today, would get a failing grade.  This should trouble us.  Social media platforms are an evergrowing menagerie of how people tell their story, and listen to other peoples’ stories.

This should trouble us because the Good News is about telling the story of Jesus of Nazareth; the Gospel is sharing our personal experiences of the grace of God--- our story, God’s story.

Once upon a time the church captured the Gospel story, the experiences of the disciples, and stories of people in the early church, by writing the stories down so they would not be mixed up or forgotten.  Collected together we now have quite an array of story --- of sound bites.  We have the Gospels and loads of Epistles.  I wonder though, for the average person today, are these sound bites silenced; not heard because they are presented in an archaic way, or in a inauthentic way on platforms of the day.

Take the passage read from Hebrews a moment ago.  How did it sound to you?

 It is not the poetry of Isaiah, it is not a narrative as in Genesis, it isn’t a parable for thought, or a point to argue.

As I read the passage from Hebrews the thought struck me, it reads a bit like sayings found in fortune cookies.  Confucius says: life is really simple, but, we insist on making it complicated. Hebrews says: let mutual love continue.  Hebrews says: show hospitality to strangers, you may be entertaining angels.  Hebrews says: be content with what you have. This chapter of Hebrews, like fortune cookies, is full of wisdom, aphorisms, and vague prophecies.  The honest truth, my experience of the sayings, is that the “wiser” the saying, the more disappointing I find it – when I open a fortune cookie, I want to be told that I my luck is changing, that I will be awarded a prize, or meet a handsome stranger; I don’t want to be told how to act, or what to do.

The Joy Luck Club, a novel written by Amy Tan, tells a story of two Chinese immigrant women who find themselves employed manufacturing Chinese fortune cookies, which is a complete laugh to them, as no such thing exists in China.  They are to translate the fortunes into Chinese, which after a few ill attempts is found to be impossible.  The women conclude that the fortunes are not wisdom, but, rather, bad instruction.

I wouldn’t say that this last chapter of Hebrews is bad instruction, rather, it is leaving the readers with closing practical advice, whether or not the reader wishes to hear it.  The advice was not fabricated but, pulled from the recesses of sacred tomes -the wise knowing that the words written have been part of the faith story for centuries, passed from person to person, and people to people, because in them there is some truth.  The wise remember that,  “entertaining angels” refers to the story of  father Abraham and his experience with God; that the words, “I will never forsake you” is a reminder of the promises made to God’s people and tying them to the story of Moses. “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid” is a snippet of a song of victory, sung by the people for generations.  Jesus words are revisited in, “remember those in prison, as though you were in prison;” which is really a snippet of advice recorded by Matthew, garnered from the prophets of old. These are the sound bites that have traction, some truth, continually passed on in the telling of God’s story and peoples’ telling of their experience of God.  Do you hear these same sound bites in the world today? Are these the sound bites your share as part of God’s story?

Consider the following.  In one year 3 billion fortune cookies are consumed around the world, the vast majority of these are eaten in the United States. The largest manufacturer, Wonton Food Inc, in Brooklyn NY, makes 4.5 million cookies a day.  Each cookie contains words of wisdom or bad instruction, depending on your interpretation.  This many cookies, this many phrases, that’s a lot of sound bite.  Imagine the potential of these seemingly silly treats, for carrying Good News, for relaying truth, for bringing light, growing hope, and spreading grace.

The precise history of fortune cookies is debated.  Agreed upon is that they are not Chinese at all.  Japanese immigrants to California (to which city is still in question) introduced the cookie to eat with tea, sometime in the late 19^th, early 20^th Century. For an unknown reason, Chinese restaurants adopted the treat to serve at the end of meals, and voila! a tradition in Western countries was born.

The precise date of Hebrews – is unknown; the author – is unknown; the audience – unknown.

We do understand that Hebrews was written to encourage continued faith and hope in the face of hardship and persecution.  The words were written to build up the body and community of Christ, even as members were renouncing their faith.  Of continued importance were sound bites of scripture and Jewish tradition, and Jesus part in the fulfillment of God’s covenant.

If you were to find yourself as a writer for Wonton Foods Inc., what would you write for their fortune cookies?

A silly question, but, translate that into the Gospel story that you have heard and the Good News, your experience of God, that you have to share --- your story?

I’m asking you:  what makes up your sound bite?  What is the sound bite of your 144 characters on Twitter?  The sound bite given by your church sign or bulletin board real estate? The sound bite of your FB banner? What is the sound bite of: the phrase you say to someone at a funeral? Your quick response to politics? The first words you say to a bully? Your words at moments of fear? Or to a person dying? What is the sound bite you give to the world?

I’ve been reading the book, “Pastrix,” by Nadia Bolz-Weber, Lutheran pastor at House for All Sinners and Saints, in Denver Colorado.  Her comments are precise, good Lutheran theology (once you think about them), and are presented in an off-coloured kind of way in comparison to other Lutheran colleagues.  This said, she serves a part of God’s church that is everything that traditional mainline is not: young, tattooed, recovering addicts, bikers, beyond the alphabet of the LGBTQ community.  Yet, Lutheran liturgy, sola Scriptura, sola gracia, sola fida are the foundation.  Her sound bite always always always comes back to God’s grace and that this grace makes human beings whole.   Her sound bite, that often includes the “f” word is heard by the hearts of the people drawn to God through the community she serves. They have a specific sound bite.  The words are not everything for everybody – they have found a way to speak to a segment of the population, not at the exclusion of others, but, with no apology for the sound they make. 

Perhaps that is some of our problem, we are busy trying to keep up appearances, to compete, or copy what others are doing – rather than being ourselves and being specific about our sound bites; not trying to please others, but, rather, being unapologetic about the way God’s grace has touched our lives. And expressing it in a way that is truly us; bringing light and hope to the world.

Now, my sound bite is colourful – not in language- rather, in creativity.  This is normal eye wear, there are always earrings (usually worn with intention for the day), I visualize, I  am whimsically philosophical, and at the core, my foundation is the same as Nadia’s.  The sound bite is the same, yet because of who I am my sound bite is spoken differently (and excludes the “f” word).

The fortune cookies --- the Gospel, Good News cookies--- I would write for the world after the events of this week, and in the face of an unknown potentially daunting and chaotic future, include the words heard in the letter of Hebrews. In fact, this week my sound bite was directly from Hebrews:

“Let mutual love continue:” --- this was translated into a variety of sound bites --- it was a private FB message on behalf of  Resurrection Lutheran to the Al Rasuol Islamic Society telling them that as a church we sent our sympathies and are holding them in prayer; the sound bite of the church sign on Windsor St. says “As Salam u Alaikum;” my sound bite was retweeting neighbour’s of the mosque up the street – thanking the Muslim community for being present in the neighbourhood.

Learn to tell the Gospel, the Good News, in ways and on platforms familiar and comfortable to present day listeners. You light in the world is the way you use your sound bite; God’s sound bite – working through you--- perfect it and unapologetically drench your surroundings with love, hope, and grace for the healing of the world.