Skip to main content

February 27 Talk is cheap!

The wise in heart accept commands. But a chattering fool comes to ruin. ~Proverbs 10:8

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith. I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ~James 2:14-20

What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.” “I will not!” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will sir,” but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you [religious leaders].” ~Matthew 22:28-31

Oooooh, I remember one time, back in Maine, when I got my sons, Matt and Chris to help me act this out. I’ll never forget it. They were seated in separate parts of the congregation. I was going along with my sermon and then I acted as if I had forgotten something and I said, “Hey Matt, could you grab my briefcase out of my office and bring it to me?” Matt loved it. He stood up and in as loud of a voice as he could he yelled, “NO!” That shocked the congregation. So, I turned to Chris and said, “Hey, will you go get it for me?” He stood up and said, “Sure, Dad,” and promptly sat down. Well, I acted a little stuck. I mean, I was in the middle of a sermon, so I just kept going. Meanwhile, Matt quietly left the sanctuary and was seen, a few minutes later walking up the aisle and quietly placing the briefcase beside my pulpit.

Just a little side note, I told you a while back about an elderly lady, Mildred, who hadn’t learned to read until in her 60s. Anyway, she confessed to us later how shocked she was at our sons’ behavior, but she really got the point of the sermon that day by seeing it acted out. She told me later, “When I heard Matthew be so defiant, I almost ran to your office myself to look for it just to help.” I had to tell her that I was glad she didn’t, because I wouldn’t have quite known how to cover that point.

Jesus’ point was to let everybody know that in His judgment the religious leaders were like the chattering fools of Solomon’s Proverb. Their hearts did not accept the command of God to listen to Jesus. Meanwhile, tax collectors and sinners were wisely listening to Jesus and changing their minds about their lives! And what about our lives today? Some people observe that unbelievers often seem to be more generous and charitable than Christians, who keep to themselves in church.

Our proverb today isn’t the same as the neighbor we talked about a while back who promises too much, puts too much on his plate and then is overwhelmed. That person at least wants to help and be useful and has just taken on too much.  In this case we are dealing with a person who is all talk and has no clue, and in the end, he is the only one who listens to himself, because everybody else has figured out that all he is all talk and no action.

The musical “The Music Man,” comes to mind. A con man comes into town selling band uniforms and musical instruments, promising to give the boys in town something more wholesome to do by creating a band, rather than shoot pool all day. He has this “thinkology,” system that he promises will work if the kids just think hard enough about how to play their instruments. Of course, his plan was to get the money and run, but that’s not quite how things worked out. Not all talkers are cons, but the story illustrates pretty well, how someone who is all talk will eventually come to ruin if he doesn’t wise up.

Solomon says instead: “The wise in heart accept commands,” in other words, they listen and obey the one over them. They are not all talk, they are action. In so doing, they are not only shown to be trustworthy, but they are demonstrating their faith.

In the passage from James above, James is pretty much saying the same as Solomon. “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, (as a chattering fool would), “go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, (the wise person knows), faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” The wise one knows, that we earn the right to speak through our love in action. Isn’t it amazing how this keeps being repeated? It must be very important!

Prayer: Lord, bless me today with opportunity to act on what needs I hear of, so that I am a doer of the word, all action to please You Father, and less talk, except to bless and pray and praise you Father. In Jesus' name, amen.

Song:
 Does Anybody Hear Her?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...

These Boots are Made for Walking

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-15 These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness. That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he h...

186. Ten Healed, Or One?

Luke 17:11-19 Key Verse: Then He said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:19 At last, Jesus has left the crowd behind and again is continuing His journey toward Jerusalem. His path takes Him and His disciples along the border of Judea and Samaria, between the pure Jews, and the hated half breeds of the day. On His way, Jesus encounters an interesting group of people. We only learn the nationality of one of them and, though we don't know the nationality of the others, because Jesus sends them to the priests in Jerusalem we can probably assume that at least some of them are Jews. Isn't it interesting that through leprosy, a disease that causes much suffering, the dividing wall of hatred has come down for the sake of companionship? We encountered one leper earlier on our Journey. Lepers were the dreaded untouchables of the day. Their disease cut them off from all they loved. It was a very lonely life. No wonder these people had ...