Today’s Reading: Matthew 12:15-37
Optional readings: Matthew 8:1-22, 11:1-30, 12:38-13:58, Mark 3:20-4:34, Luke 7:1-8:21
Capernaum, Galilee
There is so much in these passages, but I am going to pull out a particularly powerful section on which to focus today. I was a fairly young girl when I read, “everyone will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every empty (some translations say ‘careless’) word they have spoken” (vs 36).
My eyes got wide and my heart sank. What a warning! He didn’t say “every curse word” or “every cruel word,” but every careless word, like the things we say that we didn’t think through.
That’s a new level of intentionality. I not only need to avoid saying sinful things, but I need to only say things I’ve thought through carefully. That seems like an impossibly high standard (and indeed it is– Thank you Jesus, for covering my shortcomings!).
Words flow freely in our culture, maybe too freely.
We write letters to the editor
We post and comment on Facebook
We give “public service announcements” (read: criticism)
We whisper the latest bit of social news
We react quickly in arguments
We protest and picket
We chitchat as entertainment
Is communication inherently sinful? Well, no. Is Jesus warning us that “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” (Prov 10:19)? You bet!! The more we talk, the more likey we will sin.
I giggle at the New Living Translation of this verse:
Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.
Hey, Solomon said it, not me.
Even still, words are just words, right? They’re not actions. Why would my words carry such weight at the Judgment?
When a medical doctor looks at lab values, it isn’t because he or she is that worked up about the chemical content of your blood by itself. The doctor looks at what is happening in your blood because it is an indicator of dysfunction in other parts of the body. The diagnosis is not “high troponin,” that’s just a symptom. The diagnosis is “heart attack.”
God looks at our careless words because they are such an accurate indicator of what is in our heart. You want to really know a person’s heart? Listen to the way they speak when their guard is down, like when they’re speaking to their family at home or on the phone to their spouse.
“For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (vs. 34b)
The immediate context here is calling the work of the Holy Spirit the work of the devil. And that is a sin you do NOT want to commit.
Other New Testament writers have a lot to say about the tongue as well. Let’s listen to Jesus’ brother as an example:
“Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, set the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. …It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:5-8)
So no, it’s not okay to share that piece of gossip “because she won’t tell.”
It is a big deal when you slander anyone, even your enemy.
We cannot use the same mouth for both praising the Lord and cursing others.
That strategic little deception is the sin of dishonesty.
And Jesus is not laughing at that dirty joke.
Everything that comes out of our mouth is a big deal. If we can get this right, we are well on our way in sanctification. Lord, help us.
Okay God, maybe I should just stay quiet more often. I don’t have to speak everything I think. Will you remind me? Help me to speak “only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph 4:29). I pray that I would be filled with your Holy Spirit, so this doesn’t feel like such an effort, but that my words would just flow from a heart that sincerely honors You and Your creation. Amen.