[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 24B: “Why Do You Talk So Much and Know So Little?”

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded: 
-------- Original message --------From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> Date: 10/20/18  6:49 PM  (GMT-05:00) To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org> Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 24B: “Why Do You Talk So Much and Know So Little?” 


Dear
Friends,

 

This
Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Why Do You Talk So Much and Know So Little?” or 

“Words
Have Power, so THINK before You Speak!” and deals with the Old Testament Lesson
(Job 38:1-7).  Here it is:  

 

Did you hear the words
that God asked Job: “Why do you talk so much and know so little?”  That’s the title of today’s sermon; and
that’s what I’d like us to focus on this morning- because we’ve all been guilty
of running our mouths when we didn’t have all the facts.  Just to refresh your memory- Job was a
righteous man whom God had blessed with family, riches, and health.  One day as God and Satan were talking, God
pointed out how wonderful Job was- obedient, loving, and positive.  Right away, Satan challenged God.  “Of course Job does what you want!” exclaimed
Satan.  “You’ve blessed him
mightily.  But take away his blessings
and watch how quickly he curses you!” 
God replied that Job would be faithful- no matter what; but Satan
disagreed.  “All right,” said God.  “I’ll prove to you that Job doesn’t simply
worship me because of what I do for him. 
I give you my permission to take away all of his blessings; but you may
not take his life.”  “It’s a deal!” said
Satan.  Now obviously, Job didn’t know
any of the agreement between God and Satan. 
What he did know was that one misfortune after another fell upon him and
he lost his health as well- painful sores broke out all over his body.  Friends came to visit, but they basically
told him that he must have committed some terrible sin for God to punish him so
severely.  Job never did curse God, but
he did challenge God to give him some answers- to explain why he was so
terribly afflicted.  God’s answer- what
does Job know?  He had no business
questioning God.  This is when we heard
God say to Job, “Why do you talk so much and know so little?”  That’s not only a good question for Job- but
it’s a good question for us as well.

 

A problem with running
at the mouth is that our words carry such a significant weight for good or
evil, and once out- we can’t get them back. 
One of my internet friends shared this story to show the power of
words.  “A man bought a donkey from a
preacher.  The preacher told the man that
this donkey had been trained in a very unique way (being the donkey of a
preacher).  The only way to make the
donkey go is to say ‘Hallelujah!’  The
only way to make the donkey stop is to say, ‘Amen!’  The man was pleased with his purchase and
immediately got on the animal to try out the preacher's instructions.  ‘Hallelujah!’ shouted the man.  The donkey began to trot.  ‘Amen!’ shouted the man.  The donkey stopped immediately.  ‘This is great!’ said the man.  With a ‘Hallelujah’ he rode off, very proud of
his new purchase.  The man traveled for a
long time through the mountains.  As he
headed towards a cliff, he tried to remember the word to make the donkey stop.  ‘Stop!’ said the man.  ‘Halt!’ he cried.  The donkey just kept going.  ‘Oh, no...!’ he exclaimed.  ‘Bible...Church!...Please! Stop!!,’ shouted
the man.  The donkey just began to trot
faster.  He was getting closer and closer
to the edge of the cliff.  Finally, in
desperation, the man said a prayer...’Please, dear Lord.  Please make this donkey stop before I go off
the end of this cliff, in Jesus name, AMEN.’ 
The donkey came to an abrupt stop just one step from the edge of the
cliff.  ‘HALLELUJAH!’ shouted the man.”  My friends, words have power!

 

We all realize that we
are as guilty as Job when it comes to committing the sin of talking too much
and knowing too little (and therefore hurting other people).  Our Bible lessons suggest four times (three
from Job and one from the gospel) when we are especially tempted to commit this
sin and cause evil, havoc, and pain in the lives of others.  One factor that made Job especially vulnerable
to running his mouth was his sickness and pain. 
How many times have you said something like, “I don’t feel good- I’ve
got a migraine or my blood sugar is too low or too high, so watch out!”  Sickness, pain, misery- they make it harder
to allow Jesus to have control of our mouths, but they weren’t an excuse for
Jesus as he hung on his cross and they aren’t for us either.  The sicker we are or the more miserable we
feel; the more closely we must watch our tongues.  Have you ever felt so miserable that you
wished everyone would just go away?  Be
careful!  Watch your mouth!  My friends, words have power!

 

Job’s friends were even
worse than he was in terms of talking too much and being absolutely wrong
because of a faulty knowledge base.  We
call it “jumping to conclusions,” and that’s exactly what Job’s friends
did.  They were sure God was punishing
Job for some terrible sin he had committed, but (as we know) this wasn’t the
case at all.  The more they told Job to
repent of this supposed sin, the worse Job felt, because he knew he was
innocent.  Yet they kept up at it.  James (Jesus’ brother) really knew what he
was talking about when he said that not everyone should be a teacher (James 3:1-2).  We must be especially careful when we take it
upon ourselves to tell other people what they should do, because we run the
risk of misunderstanding them, their situation, or God’s will for their lives-
and therefore being really wrong.  Have
you ever been tempted to give advice to your friends?  Be careful! 
Be sure you have all your facts. 
My friends, words have power!

 

Job was vulnerable to
letting Satan have control of his tongue for another reason: his life was
spinning out of control.  Not only was he
in terrible pain from the sores all over his body, not only were his friends
judging him wrongly and giving him hurtful advice, but one confusing,
frustrating, awful thing after another was happening to him and those he loved.  On top of all of this, he was powerless to
change a thing.  Have you ever felt your
life was getting more and more out of control? 
Be careful!  Watch your mouth!  My friends, words have power!

 

The final Bible example
from scripture comes from today’s gospel (Mark 10:35-45) where we hear how
James and John tried to upstage the other disciples and get special positions
of power in Jesus’ kingdom.  They would
certainly have qualified as unpleasant and difficult people at this point- you
can imagine how the disciples felt?  Since
Jesus had just poured out his heart in terms of his impending torture and
execution, their behavior was insensitive toward him as well- to put it
mildly.  How did Jesus respond?  Did he fall apart, lose his temper, call them
names, send them away?  No.  I’m sure he sighed a huge sigh and tried
again to reach them.  Dealing with
difficult people really makes us vulnerable to judging our neighbor.  I want to be perfectly clear.  I’m not talking about risking yourself.  I am perfectly aware that some people are
dangerous or have immoral habits or are huge gossips or have unchristian
values.  We should not hang around such
people, but Jesus surely expects us to treat them with compassion.  Another story illustrates this.  It’s not from the Bible, but is from ancient
Hebrew tradition.  I heard it from an
internet friend, the Rev. Bass Mitchell. 
“Abraham was sitting outside his tent one evening when he saw an old
man, weary from age and journey, coming toward him.  Abraham rushed out, greeted him, and then
invited him into his tent.  There he
washed the old man's feet and gave him food and drink.  The old man immediately began eating without
saying any prayer or blessing, so Abraham asked him, ‘Don't you worship God?’  The old traveler replied, ‘I worship fire
only and curse all gods.’  When Abraham
heard this, he became incensed, grabbed the old man by the shoulders, and threw
him out of his tent into the cold night air. 
When the old man had departed, God called to his friend Abraham and
asked where the stranger was.  Abraham
replied, ‘I threw him out of my tent and sent him away because he curses all
gods, even you.”  God answered, ‘I have
suffered him these eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure
him one night?’”  Think about it. Is
there someone who rubs you the wrong way? 
Be careful!  Watch your
mouth!  My friends, words have power!

 

In closing, I leave you
with our thought for the week: “I’m always careful of the words I speak; I keep
them soft and sweet; I never know from day to day which ones I'll have to eat!”
(Anonymous)  May God give each one of us
the grace and power to get our facts straight before we speak, to watch our
mouths, and to always remember: words have power.

 

And, while we’re on
this topic, let’s remember to THINK before we speak:

“T”: is it True?

“H”: is it Helpful?

“I”: is it Important?

“N”: is it Necessary and is Now the best time?

“K”: is it Kind and loving?

Speak if it meets ALL
of those criteria.  Just being true is
not sufficient.

May God bless us all.

 

For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated
African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under
“Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org
.

 

Blessed
preaching,

Judy
Boli

St.
Paul's Episcopal Church

Saginaw,
Michigan





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