This Message Has No Content
I received a strange email on my iPhone. There was no name. There was no subject. There was a date and a time. But there was no message. In fact, the mail system on my phone informed me, "This message has no content." A bit puzzled I went to my computer to see if perhaps the message was too long to show up on my phone. Again: "This message has no content." Then, I wondered, "Is there a message in this message that has no content?"
I thought about all the messages I send in a single day, a week, a month, in a year. Of all those messages how many of them could have, or should carried a label: "This message has no content." I send dozens of emails every day, numerous text messages, and who knows how many verbal conversations. Are there people on the receiving end of these messages saying, "I have a message from Tom, but there is no content?"
At the conclusion of this article when I click the "send" button on my computer I will have sent 575 "A Norvell Notes." I wonder how many of those could have carried the same title as today: "This message has no content." (If you have been keeping count you don't have to tell me. I really don't want to know.)
I have taught hundreds of Bible classes, preached hundreds of sermons, and delivered of messages to thousands of people on a variety of Bible-related topics. I shutter to think how many people left those gatherings thinking "The message had no content." (Again, no response
is needed.)
Some are possibly on the verge of asking, "Tom, is this one of those messages that has no content?" Hang on. I'm not finished.
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke these words in Washington D. C., "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Now there was a message that had content.
When the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, spoke of the coming Messiah with these words he delivered a message with content:
"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:6-7)
When Jesus stood in synagogue and spoke these words He delivered a message with content:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, ?
because he has anointed me ?
to preach good news to the poor. ?
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners ?
and recovery of sight for the blind, ?
to release the oppressed, ?
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)
When Peter stood before the people on the Day of Penetcost and uttered these words he delivered a message with content: "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36)
When Paul stood before the people in Athens and proclaimed is faith in the only true God, he delivered a message with content:
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" (Acts 17:24-28)
In another place Paul said, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Ephesians 4:29) Paul is reminding us that the messages we deliver should be messages that have content.
If we share words of life, if we speak words of hope, if we speak words that build up, if we speak words that express our love, if we speak words that enlighten and encourage, we will share a message that has content.
"We can!"
I received a strange email on my iPhone. There was no name. There was no subject. There was a date and a time. But there was no message. In fact, the mail system on my phone informed me, "This message has no content." A bit puzzled I went to my computer to see if perhaps the message was too long to show up on my phone. Again: "This message has no content." Then, I wondered, "Is there a message in this message that has no content?"
I thought about all the messages I send in a single day, a week, a month, in a year. Of all those messages how many of them could have, or should carried a label: "This message has no content." I send dozens of emails every day, numerous text messages, and who knows how many verbal conversations. Are there people on the receiving end of these messages saying, "I have a message from Tom, but there is no content?"
At the conclusion of this article when I click the "send" button on my computer I will have sent 575 "A Norvell Notes." I wonder how many of those could have carried the same title as today: "This message has no content." (If you have been keeping count you don't have to tell me. I really don't want to know.)
I have taught hundreds of Bible classes, preached hundreds of sermons, and delivered of messages to thousands of people on a variety of Bible-related topics. I shutter to think how many people left those gatherings thinking "The message had no content." (Again, no response
is needed.)
Some are possibly on the verge of asking, "Tom, is this one of those messages that has no content?" Hang on. I'm not finished.
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke these words in Washington D. C., "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Now there was a message that had content.
When the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, spoke of the coming Messiah with these words he delivered a message with content:
"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:6-7)
When Jesus stood in synagogue and spoke these words He delivered a message with content:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, ?
because he has anointed me ?
to preach good news to the poor. ?
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners ?
and recovery of sight for the blind, ?
to release the oppressed, ?
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)
When Peter stood before the people on the Day of Penetcost and uttered these words he delivered a message with content: "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36)
When Paul stood before the people in Athens and proclaimed is faith in the only true God, he delivered a message with content:
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" (Acts 17:24-28)
In another place Paul said, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Ephesians 4:29) Paul is reminding us that the messages we deliver should be messages that have content.
If we share words of life, if we speak words of hope, if we speak words that build up, if we speak words that express our love, if we speak words that enlighten and encourage, we will share a message that has content.
"We can!"
