Sermon: God’s Wordle (Luke 4:21-30), Feb 6th, 2022

Reflection:  God’s Wordle

Scripture: Luke 4:21-30

Have you seen the online game, ‘Wordle?’ It has recently become very popular. You may have noticed friends talking about the ‘word of the day’, or posting cryptic grids of coloured boxes on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Have you, perhaps, joined this trend? 

Wordle challenges players to deduce a five-letter word in six guesses. A new puzzle is published every day and players can post how quickly they solved the colourful grid on social media - - but in a way that does not spoil the answer for those still playing. Wordle was put online in October, gained popularity over the next two months, and is now played by millions of people every day. Players begin by guessing any five-letter word. If any of the letters are in that day’s word but in the wrong place, they turn gold. If they are in the word in the right place, they turn green. If they are not in the word, they turn grey. 

I remained uninterested in the game even as my Facebook friends began to post their results every day, writing, “Humble-brag, whew!” or, “It’s ridiculously satisfying, First time trying the #Wordle craze, fun! First time to get it in two tries!!” until, last week, my 15-year-old son, Peace, joined the club and urged me to try it. 

Initially, engineer Josh Wardle devised the game during lockdown for just two people - himself and his partner. The inventor said, “It has been incredible to watch the game bring so much joy to so many and I feel so grateful for the personal stories some of you have shared with me - - from Wordle uniting distant family members, to provoking friendly rivalries, to supporting medical recoveries.” Wardle’s game definitely worked for me and Peace - - building a bond of rivalry between a mother and her son! 

The reason why I share this Wordle story in today’s reflection is because I am inviting us to look at today’s Gospel story as a game. Wordle is not about testing how big your English vocabulary is. It is more about how quickly and efficiently you can make logical “deductions” from the set of vowels and consonants. Each group has a restricted number of letters without repetition. For example, if, after two turns, you see that M, S, and T are in the wrong places but I is in the right place, and E is not in the word, how many deductions must you make to get to the right answer? The word can’t be TIMES, but MISTY should work! 

Let’s talk more about “deductions.” Recently, I was introduced to a Logic Game that is part of the test for the Law School Admissions Test (called the LSAT). Like solving Wordle questions, in order to “attack” Logical Games which look like this one (showing the image on the screen) deductions are very useful. “A restaurant must choose its main dinner entree for each night of one week, beginning on Sunday and ending on Saturday. The possible entrees are beef, lamb, manicotti, pork, spaghetti, trout, and veal, each of which will be used on a different night. The following conditions must be met when determining the menu:” (The image on the screen shows the four conditions.) Then, the first question is “Which one of the following is a possible menu in order from Sunday to Saturday?”  It’s a difficult problem, but there are many harder Logical Game questions in the world. 

Now, what I would like to highlight for today’s reflection is one of the LSAT textbook writers’ instructions I found on-line. I find it interesting because it is so relevant to the ways we can read Gospel stories and reflect on Jesus’ words and actions. It’s a way to explore and develop skills to be good at God’s Logic Games, God’s Wordle. 

For example, students can encounter a difficult, complicated Logic Game question in which the question writer put in many logical wrinkles. The problem-solvers can be stunned and shocked by the seeming complexity, and just stare at the game, not knowing where to start. The instructor says: “Don’t panic! Some of the new LSAT questions may look different from the games you have practiced on. Once you understand how games work and can recognize the structures the test writers use to build them, you can see how consistent they really are. Just stay calm and take a step back to evaluate the information. The details will change, but the basic ingredients won’t! Focus on the big picture. Focus on the similarities to other games you’ve already done. Don’t simply stare at a game that seems confusing. Focus on the underlying similarities to games you’ve already seen and get to work applying the process. 

Let me repeat the last sentence: “Focus on the big picture. Don’t simply stare at a game that seems confusing. Focus on the underlying similarities to games you’ve already seen and get to work applying the process.” Just like in our own lives, analogous to challenging Wordle or LSAT Logical Game questions, in Gospel stories, Jesus’ words and actions can seem very confusing and complicated. That’s why, actually it’s not surprising that the townspeople in today’s Gospel story were so upset about what Jesus said to them. 

If we only focus on how a new challenge looks, its differences from what we have known, we could lose confidence, we could be “filled with rage” (like the townspeople in the Gospel story), or look for guidance from outside rather than the wisdom within. We might even try to avoid that challenge altogether. A better strategy is, rather than being frightened by the difference, we try focusing on the deeper similarities and elements/conditions that are consistent to what we have known and which we have worked through. We know which “deductions” worked, or didn’t work. If we were not able to figure them out in the past, now is the time to explore the possibilities, especially to find which conditions, or elements, have hindered us from experiencing wholeness, success or joy. 

Today’s Gospel tells the story about Jesus, acting like a Logic Game instructor. As soon as he preaches in the synagogue in his hometown, citing Isaiah, speaking of bringing good news to the poor, releasing the captives, and letting the oppressed go free, the majority of the congregation praises his clarity and gracious words. However, there are also those who murmur amongst themselves and ask each other, suspiciously, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”.

On hearing this, Jesus outlines what the Good News can mean to the poor. Jesus says to them, “You might think that you are the insiders of God’s grace, the direct recipients of God’s Word, and that you are not a Syrian or a widow who you believe are out of reach of God’s favour.”

Then, Jesus, like a Logic Game instructor, provokes people to remember, which means to “make deductions” to understand God’s logic, God’s law, the Logos, the Sophia, the principle of how God has intended to create the world, to create us, as a community of the faithful. Jesus reminds the congregation of what their ancestors explored, solved, and recorded in the scripture. In the time of Elijah, there was a three-and-a-half-year long famine that made the entire country starve. God sent Elijah, the prophet, only to a widow in Sidon, while none of those who believed they were the true insiders of God’s favour received God’s grace. Jesus adds that also, in the time of Elisha, God sent Elisha, only to a foreigner, Naaman, the Syrian, when there were many inside the Jewish cohort who needed the same cure. Jesus presented these two clues to show how God’s Logic Game works. God’s love and Word knows no restriction and is not constrained by the logic of exclusivity that is focused on defining who is in and who is out. 

In God’s Logic Game, the deductions we must remember to factor into our lives are the stories that tell us God’s love gives preference to the poor. This preference of God’s good news is profoundly countercultural, creating life-giving and life-sharing challenges to the logic of power and privilege in the world. 

If church is like school, a learning community of disciples of Jesus, we certainly have learned, explored and practiced God’s favourite logic:

 

“The last will be the first, and the first will be last”

“The Kingdom of Heaven is among you.” 

Then Jesus told his disciples, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” 

These are great conditional logics: 

(i.e. 1) If last, then, First (L -> F) and if first, then last (F -> L); 

2) If the Kingdom, then, Kingdom is always among you. (K -> KY); etc, etc), 

daring us to study, practice, and share God’s logos, sophia, widely. 

The last tip from the online LSAT instructor is this: Don’t just stare at the game, even if it looks difficult. Keep your pencil moving.

Focus on the underlying similarities to games you’ve already seen and get to work applying the process. The clues and deductions to explore God’s logic games, God’s Wordle, in our own lives, in church outreach, in politics, in society, have already been presented to us. We may add more along the way, and need to be flexible and still be very creative, but God’s logos, sophia is our guide. Focus on the similarities (Gospel/life), and keep our faith/pencil moving.

 Hymn:  VU 87    I Am the Light of the World