HOLY
HYPERBOLES
Sermons on Exaggerated Statements of Jesus That Get under Our Skin
by Rev. Ken Behnken
5. MINUTE ACCOUNTING. Matthew 12:36-37
Minnie was a member of a church where the listeners get involved in the sermon, speaking out words of agreement and encouragement or even disagreement. The preacher was getting worked up as he spoke of the Lord's judgment against the sins of adultery and immorality. "Amen!" said Minnie. "Tell 'em, preacher!" The preacher moved on to the area of abuse of drugs and alcohol. "You're right. Preach it!" said Minnie. Then the preacher talked about the sin of gossip. Minnie was quiet. She nudged her friend and whispered, "Now he's meddling."
We might feel that way about Jesus' holy hyperboles. We can hear him talk about numbered hairs and about the need to go on forgiving 490 times, and even hear him tell us to cut off hands and feet and gouge out eyes to keep from sinning – and we don't find it hard to agree with him. But when he talks about our having to give an account on the day of judgment of the careless words that tumble out of our mouths we tend to shy away from his "meddling". After all, there are so many of them. And sometimes they are there before we can even stop to think. Are we to be held accountable for all of them? That's what Jesus says in this hyperbole, this exaggeration – at least I, for one, hope it is an exaggeration.
At face value, you get the feeling that Jesus is describing God's doing some minute accounting as a super Big Brother, listening to everything we say so he can make appropriate marks in his ledger. But I think it's safe to say he's not so much concerned about the words themselves as about the effect they can have on us and on those around us – and about the kind of hearts that are the source of the words.
Words have great power in their effect – and that is especially true of God’s Word. When we hear God’s Word, it can influence our thoughts and attitudes and actions for good; when we say God’s Word, it can affect us and those around us in the same way. God’s Word is not just words. It is power to make things happen! It was true in the beginning, when God said, "Let there be!" – and the created universe came into existence. It's true also in God's continuing work of recreation – when he calls us and empowers us for new lives through faith in his Son. That's why our worship together always revolves around our hearing the Word and our reflecting the Word back to God in prayer and to each other in hymns and declarations of faith.
But words are powerful also in the hurt or mischief they can generate – and that is what Jesus warns us about with his holy hyperbole. Careless profanity, for example – using God's name as just an expression or exclamation. When such words come out of our mouths, they hurt us at the center of our being, our relationship with God. When they become a habitual part of our speech patterns, they effectively erode and diminish the very possibility of God being and remaining all-important to us. That's why his command is: "Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." Careless profanity may even hurt God, but it surely hurts the one who carelessly speaks profanely.
Using God's name thoughtlessly can also hurt those who hear it. Our grandson, when he was little, began to say "My God!" as an exclamation. He had heard it from an aunt, with whom it was habitual. Careless profanity hurts those who hear it because it can diminish their reverence for the name of God, and often leads them into the same kind of profanity.
Words have great power in their effect. Careless gossip or slander can undercut a person's reputation and may so demean him in the minds of those who hear the gossip that they no longer look at him with the kind of Christian love and understanding they had for him before hearing it. And it may take some time for such negative images to fade away and be replaced again by positive images.
Angry words are not careless words. They usually are spoken with the intention of hurting – and that intention is realized more easily than we think. The victim of such verbal abuse finds his self-image battered, and in self-defense he often resorts to returning the verbal abuse in kind. The result is a damaged relationship that requires time and care to restore, if it is going to be restored at all. James tells us that our relationship with God is part of that equation, too. He wrote: "Everyone should be slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."
Careless words reveal what kind of people we are inside. Dr. Alfred E. Plummer wrote, "The carefully spoken word may be a calculated hypocrisy – but when we speak 'without thinking' we speak what is in our hearts." That why it's always disappointing to read "behind the scenes" books about famous and important people. The off-the-record remarks of a John F. Kennedy or the taped words of a Richard Nixon or the videotaped lies of Bill Clinton reveal what was beneath carefully projected images put forth in carefully prepared speeches.
We know it's true of us, too. Our words pour forth – and when they are not calculated and prepared they, too, often reveal what is not so attractive about us deep inside: the anger, the pettiness, the insecurity, the vindictiveness. They surely make us see that we can't stand before God on the basis of our words any more than we can on the basis of our works. We need the gracious forgiveness he offers us in Jesus Christ so we will not be condemned when we have to give an account on the day of judgment of our careless words. Instead, we want to hear God's pronouncement of our acquittal because of other words, words spoken by our Lord Jesus as he hung on the cross as God's atoning sacrifice for our sins: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Because of his words we are able to speak words with the apostle Paul that underscore our confidence in him: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – including me."
Through Jesus' hyperbole we learn just how important our words are. But how are we then to work to correct the problem of improper, careless words? It's clear that it won't be just a matter of our trying to hold our tongues. James wrote that we can control large animals with bits, and large ships with rudders, but we can’t control our tongues. He said, "The tongue is like a fire, a world of evil that corrupts the whole person." So our correcting the problem of improper, careless words won’t be just a matter of holding our tongues. It has to begin with our hearts. It is said that success in marriage depends less on finding the right person than on being the right person. So also in this: the way to make our speech what it ought to be is to be the kind of speakers we ought to be – children of God, in whom the Spirit of Jesus lives and controls our tongues.
Then, through his life-renewing influence, the Holy Spirit will teach us to be care-full, not care-less, in our speech.
Then with our words we will show the care and love we have for Jesus and his name, as we speak it reverently and joyfully in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.
Then with our words we will display our care and love for the spiritual health of those around us as we speak the saving name of Jesus and the Good News of his Kingdom in Christian conversation -- and in Christians witness, as the Holy Spirit gives us opportunity.
Then with our words we will be care-full about building a proper respect for authority in our homes, in our church, in our society.
Then with our words we will be care-full of the feelings of others and will dedicate ourselves to helping to fill their needs with more than just a "Have a nice day."
Then with our words we will express our care and love for the Christian values that he has taught us, the values that he wants us to encourage in one another.
Then with our words we will put the best construction on the actions of others and will work to enhance their reputation in the eyes of those around us.
Then with our words we will, with God's help, influence our children and our grandchildren to develop good attitudes and proper behavior. This, of course, requires words of correction of bad behavior, lovingly spoken, but it also requires words of approval and complimentary words, words that give positive reinforcement to good behavior.
So . . . it all begins and ends with our hearing God's Good Word, our believing in Jesus as Savior, and our following him as Lord. Then, while living in Jesus' Kingdom, instead of telling him he's meddling when he talks to us about our careless speech, we will tell him: "Lord, take my life; take my hands, my feet, my voice, my lips, my intellect, my will. Take them all, and make of me what You want me to be."
Then our words, even our casual words of everyday conversation, will give evidence of the fact that our tongues – and our hearts – belong to our Savior. We will rejoice to come here to declare publicly that we belong to him and to praise his name together. We will be ready to speak up for him in our conversations with friends and neighbors, when his Holy Spirit gives us opportunity. And we will joyfully look forward to the time when we will finally praise him as we ought
All of it, a result of our knowing that we will stand acquitted on the day of judgment – just because Jesus spoke up for us.
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