I like words. I’ve always been a fan – reading, talking, playing with meaning – and a good thing too, considering my vocation.

So I pay attention to the ways that words get used – by authors and translators – and I’ve discovered something strange.

Big words may be impressive (and who doesn’t love it when someone trots out their favourite vocabulary) but it’s the tiny words that really matter.

Aaron Sorkin – my favourite writer of TV shows (The West Wing and The Newsroom among his best) can put more meaning into the word ‘okay’ than any author I know.

The same is true of our ‘word of the day’ from this morning’s readings. If.

In English, If is a word for dreamers AND doers. If opens doors and invites us to see what is on the other side.

(if) can set the scene for an imaginative story, or set conditions on behaviour. If can express a desire or a regret. A legal contract can hang on the (if) – benefits or bonuses are bound by if. You can probably think of more examples, but my point is that when someone uses “if” in a sentence, we begin to make assumptions.

We assume that there are choices to be made, or that there is a bit of work to be done before things can be resolved. So when a prophet puts a series of ideas out there following this tiny (in Hebrew too) word of potential and promise, you can be sure that there are some questions being raised.

Once again, human behaviour seems to be keeping the community from the good things of God. The Uber-religious will suggest that ‘God is withholding’ God’s favour, but the text would suggest that the arrival of the promised benefits waits on human action.

This has long been a theological nightmare. God (we say) is supreme. Powerful. Omnipotent, omnipresent. And we mere mortals live or die – suffer or prosper – according to God’s mood on the day. Our religious institutions are built around the principle of KEEPING GOD SATISFIED, and any deviation from the path of righteousness gains us nothing but grief at GOD’S HAND. This is standard stuff…except for this terrific and tiny word. If.

The conditions for joy and light – the gift of God’s favour that we long for – are connected to our actions. On that we can agree. But the idea that God acts badly in response to our misbehaviour is where it all falls down.

God offers goodness and grace in the midst of a created order that is full of good things. We can choose to move toward God’s grace or run from it. And the prophet’s ‘if’ points that out. Isaiah offers a list of poor choices and bad decisions, each one the result of a calculation (on our part) of whether to do A or B. And the prophet grieves the choices that have been made. If only you had acted differently…

Jesus makes the same point in a much more dramatic fashion.

On the Sabbath, of course – the day held aside for only holy things. A convenient way to measure human obedience, the record of what was allowed was (and in some places, still is) a matter for public discussion.

One thing was certain. The folks in charge of the list of forbidden things were to be properly feared. Your personal holiness (and therefore ultimate happiness) depended on their judgement – on their interpretation of the rules. They were there to ensure that you were keeping God happy.

Jesus has other ideas.

Our new favourite word doesn’t appear int he gospel text. It is implied.

Jesus points out that our behaviour changes when we are personally affected.

Jesus reminds the official (those he calls ‘hypocrites’) that there are exceptions to the hard and fast rules. Acts of mercy – for working animals – are allowed. For purely practical reasons.

You can imagine the sarcasm in Jesus’ response: ‘if this were one of your animals – if your livelihood depended on her good health – then you would act differently.’

If it affected you personally – if this was your  mother, or daughter, or sister…and then Jesus names her ‘daughter of Abraham.’ And with that he changes the game, for if that is the case, this woman is sister and daughter and mother to them all.

The community is connected – all the way back to an ancient, common ancestor – and compassion is required. Not because God demands it, but because our best interests are intimately connected. What brings joy and freedom to one benefits all.

The old theological conundrum continues today. A world is torn apart by the unbearable weight of questionable human decisions. Some people of faith allow that this is only to be expected, since God is not pleased. But is God can be credited with any human emotion, it is not anger, but sadness. God waits for us to recognize our shared circumstance – to acknowledge that what is good for one, is good for all.

The holiest thing – the most God-honouring thing – is not quiet reflection one day of the week. It is considered, compassionate action every day of the week.