Sermon Title: “WORDS: How Loudly DO They Speak???”
Date: Sunday, October 1, 2017
Church Calendar: Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost
Our Theme Today: Words.
Our Question:
Words.
We often hear people say, “Actions speak LOUDER than words.”
But what do the Scriptures say about the power of the tongue?
We’ll talk about that, and more, during our sermon time today!
Scripture (For Reader): Proverbs 15:1-4 (New International Version)
15A gentle answerturns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
3The eyesof theLordare everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
4The soothing tongueis a tree of life,
but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
1
It’s something many of our mothers told us when we were small:
“Sticks and stones may break our bones; but…
words can never hurt me.”
Have you ever heard something so ridiculous?
OF COURSE, WORDS CAN HURT YOU.
Over & over & over & over again,
the Scriptures talk about the power of words - -
the power to do good, or,
the power to do ill.
And through it all,
the Scriptures want us to know 1 thing
& to know it well:
IT MATTERS WHAT YOU SAY.
IT MATTERS WHAT YOU SAY.
Take our Scripture passage this morning.
Listen to what the beginning portions of Proverbs 15 say about this.
Proverbs 15:2
“A gentle answer turns away wrath;
but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Translation: WHAT YOU SAY MATTERS.
Proverbs 15:4
“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life;
but a deceitful tonguecrushes the spirit.
Translation: WHAT YOU SAY MATTERS.
2
And lest you think this is just an Old Testament notion;
listen to an excerpt from the New Testament.
Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brothers (and sisters),
whatsoever is TRUE,
whatsoever is NOBLE,
whatsoever is RIGHT,
whatsoever is PURE,
whatsoever is ADMIRABLE,
if anything is EXCELLENT
or PRAISEWORTHY,
think on these things.”
And it seems that the Bible ASKS us to
“think on these things”
because the Bible is in touch with how we operate as human beings.
(Let me illustrate what I mean.)
Anybody here ever hear of a fellow by the name of Dr. Gerhard Dirks?
(If so, who was he.)
Gerhard Dirks is often referred to as “The Father of the Modern Computer.”
The guy holds more patents for IBM than anyone else in history: over 140 of them.
And if you were to probe how he invented the computer,
he would say he did so by looking at the human brain.
And his point was
that the human brain is largely a function of how well it is programmed.
3
In fact,
he coined a phrase that gained an acronym.
The acronym is “GIGO” - - G-I-G-O.
Sound familiar to anyone?
It stands for: “Garbage In, Garbage Out.”
And that is the point, I think,
that Paul is making in this Philippians passage.
Be careful how you program your mind!
Because what comes in here (eyes/ears)
can come out here (mouth).
AND WHAT YOU SAY MATTERS.
And if we were to go a little further in Proverbs 15 than we did,
we hear these words:
Proverbs 15:23
“A (person) finds JOY in giving an apt reply - -
and how GOOD is a timely word.”
What this passage Is saying
is that when “apt” words are spoken,
it is not only good for the person HEARING it;
it is also good for the person SAYING it.
Have you ever had an occasion when
you said something that was just right
and just at the right TIME?
And how did it feel?
It felt pretty good, didn’t it?!
4
I read a true account some time ago
of 2 teenage boys:
Mark & Bill.
Mark was walking home from school
& noticed that the boy walking directly in front of him
had tripped
& dropped all the books he was carrying,
along with:
- 2 sweaters
- a baseball bat
- a baseball glove
- small tape recorder.
Mark said,
“Gee, let me help you”
and bent down and helped the boy
pick up all the fallen articles.
Since they were going in the same direction,
Mark offered to continue carrying some of the goods.
On the way there,
Mark discovered the boy’s name was Bill - -
that he loved
video games
baseball
history
that he was having a lot of trouble with other subjects
that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
Well,
they arrived at Bill’s home
& Mark joined him for a snack
& to watch some t.v.
It was a good afternoon.
5
They continued to see each other around school,
had lunch a couple of times
& had brief contact over the years.
Three weeks before high school graduation,
Bill asked Mark if they could talk.
Bill said,
“Remember the lst day we met
& I had dropped all my stuff
& your first words were,
“Gee, let me help?” (Mark nodded his head.)
Bill then inquired,
“Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?”
Mark hadn’t thought about it.
So Bill continued:
“You see, I cleaned out my locker that day
because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else.
It was going to be the last day I used my locker.
I had stored away some of my mother’s sleeping pills;
I was going home to commit suicide.
But after the time we spent together - - talking, laughing,
I thought if I had killed myself,
I would have missed that time, and others.
So, you see, Mark,
when you offered to pick up my books,
really what you did
picked up my life.
Mark, you saved my life. Thank you.”
WHAT WE SAY MATTERS.
KINDNESS MATTERS.
You think about that!
6
Let us pray.
“O God,
it is tough.
We have a tough time with our words.
Lord,
show us how to say an “apt” word.
Teach us to be kind.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”