January 11, Baptism of Our Lord

Lesson: Matthew 12.33-37

Sermon Title: Word of Mouth

(Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2003-2004)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

INTRODUCTION:

"Picabo's problem." The Washington Post, January 29, 2003, C13.

Picabo [pronounced "peek-a-boo"] Street, the well-known Olympic gold medalist in the Super G, is more than a famous skier. In fact, between training on the slopes and traveling around the world to compete, she managed to get an education and earn a degree in nursing. Early in her nursing career, she was assigned briefly to work as an ICU nurse in a large metropolitan hospital.

She did outstanding work. But there was a problem. The head of nursing had to tell her not to answer the phone in ICU because of the confusion it caused when callers would be connected to ICU and hear Picabo pick up and say in her best professional voice: "Picabo, ICU."

True story? No way.

Picabo is not now a nurse, has never been a nurse, and doesn't particularly want to be a nurse.

But she gets the joke. Since she was a child, she's been teased about her name. Her parents got it from an Idaho town that takes its name from a Native American word meaning "shining waters."

  1. We have all heard the old saying: "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me."

    1. Words can hurt worse than a knife. They can cut deep into a person and damage the spirit.

    2. Words can hurt a person worse than poison. They can destroy the soul.

    3. Words can hurt a person worse than a gun. They can end a life.

  2. Words are evidence of our conduct.

(top)    (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2003-2004)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

MAIN BODY:

  1. Today we have study in opposites.

  2. We begin with TREES AND FRUIT.

    1. A tree is an old metaphor.

      1. Psalm 1:1-6, NRSVA

1 Happy are those
    who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
    or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

4 The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

        1. Tree is a metaphor for people.

        2. What kinds of people?

        3. What is being produced?

      1. Go back further than that to what is probably the oldest book in the Bible. To Job 19:1-3, NRSVA

1Then Job answered:

2"How long will you torment me,
    and break me in pieces with words?
3These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
    are you not ashamed to wrong me?

        1. Job is emphasizing the power of words.

        2. In his case the words had a very negative impact.

    1. Good tree - Good fruit.

      1. The Pastor's Mother and the Usher (1)

An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps. "Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely.

"The front row please." she answered.

"You really don't want to do that", the usher said. "The pastor is really boring."

"Do you happen to know who I am?" the woman inquired.

"No." he said.

"I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"No." she said.

"Good," he answered.

        1. The good tree bore good fruit.

        2. We might conclude that the pastor's mom was slightly prejudiced.

        3. It makes no difference, her goodness is very evident.

    1. Bad tree - bad fruit.

      1. This letter to the editor was recently in the Home News.

Dear River Valley taxpayers,

We are confronted with the Axis of Evil centered at the River Valley School. A sly administration that uses foxy numbers and reasons, a school board that no longer represents the taxpayers and a greedy union have combined forces against the taxpayers. We are told they need an extra million and a half dollars to operate for the next two years. They already have more than that amount in the reserve fund. They have only now become aware that the school has declined by 200 students. The birth statistics have been available for the past six years and Students projections have always been available for ten years or more. We pay these people excellent salaries and fringes to fix these problems. I believe they all know how to fix the problems. They simply don't or won't make difficult decisions to force the school district to operate within budget limits. They act a bunch of drunks, with hands extended for another million and a half. If we give it to them they will simply spend it and ask for more.

I was particularly irked to observe the school district using scarce taxpayer funds to develop, produce and mail political appeals for a "yeas" vote using the Hawk Talk as a vehicle. If this illegal activity continues, I will request an audit of the district finances to determine the extend of this fraudulent activity. Heads may need to roll to force the Axis of Evil to come to terms with the majority of the taxpayers and state and federal laws. Hawk Talk is not a political weapon and should not be used as such.

The voters of River Valley need to be heard. Give these misguided individuals a resounding "NO" on the referendum. The school district will survive. Hard decisions will be made. Those who can't take the heat will be let go or voted out.

Sincerely, Ralph Ruhland taxpayer from Plain

      1. I will not sit in judgement on Mr. Ruhland's character.

        1. I would invite you to consider the language and the images that are being used.

        2. What does this tell you about the thoughts and mind set of the writer?

(top)    (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2003-2004)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

  1. Secondly we are asked to study the contrast between PERSONS AND TREASURES.

    1. Evil person - evil treasure.

      1. Treasure

      2. Attack Ads Political

        1. Attacking Dean

        2. Pharisees attacking Jesus.

      3. It is probably significant a stretch to apply this part to our political processes

        1. But I remember when Michael Dukakis ran for president and the Willy Horton attack ad.

        2. This perhaps should not be considered evil.

        3. The election process is a highly competitive one.

        4. In the heat of competition more than desire is revealed.

      4. Here is today's CleanQuote. (2)

"You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him." --Leo Aikman

    1. Good person - good treasure.

      1. Treasure

      2. Here is a contrast between an enlightened man and an enlightened boy.

The Wonders of God (3)

A boy was sitting on a park bench with one hand resting on an open Bible. He was loudly exclaiming his praise to God. "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God is great!" he yelled without worrying whether anyone heard him or not.

Along came a man who had recently completed some studies at a local university. Feeling himself very enlightened in the ways of truth and very eager to show this enlightenment, he asked the boy about the source of his joy.

The boy replied with a bright laugh, "Don't you have any idea what God is able to do? I just read that God opened up the waves of the Red Sea and led the whole nation of Israel right through the middle."

The enlightened man laughed lightly, sat down next to the boy, and began to try to open his eyes to the "realities" behind the miracles of the Bible. "That can all be very easily explained. Modern scholarship has shown that the Red Sea in that area was only 10-inches deep at that time. It was no problem for the Israelites to wade across."

The boy was stumped. His eyes wandered from the man back to the Bible lying open in his lap. The man, content that he had enlightened a poor, naive young person to the finer points of scientific insight, turned to go. Scarcely had he taken two steps when the boy began to rejoice and praise louder than before. The man turned to ask the reason for this resumed jubilation.

"Wow!" Exclaimed the boy happily, "God is greater than I thought! Not only did He lead the whole nation of Israel through the Red Sea, He topped it off by drowning the whole Egyptian army in 10 inches of water!"

      1. Is there a revelation of the good treasure of the boy?

      2. I believe that there is.

(top)    (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2003-2004)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

  1. There is one more and that is ACTIONS AND REWARDS

    1. By your words you will be condemned.

    2. By your words you will be justified.

    3. We are talking about more than words.

      1. In speaking to the same condition, Jesus said in Luke 6:45: "The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks."

      2. The spoken word represents the inner condition of the mind and the spirit.

  2. What we are talking about is what appears on the outside.

    1. What appears on the outside comes from what is inside.

      1. There is no way to hid what is inside.

      2. It will eventually be revealed.

    2. This is counter to what we often seek to do and that is to work on the outside.

    3. What we better ought to do is work on ourselves from the inside out.

      1. Then no matter what happens we will have a good outside.

      2. This will assure us of the best possible life.

      3. We will be justified, rather than being condemned.

  3. To reiterate

    1. CONDUCT IS THE FRUIT OF LIFE.

      1. It is not possible without life.

      2. It is determined by the character of the life.

    2. LIFE MAY BE ESTIMATED BY CONDUCT.

      1. We judge of the tree by the fruit it bears, and we judge of the man by the conduct he displays.

      2. Other estimates are delusive.

      3. Conduct is a sure test. This is real.

      4. Slight actions are tests of serious conditions of character.

        1. We shall be judged by our words.

        2. Even thoughtless, light words will be taken account of, because they too spring from the tone and temper of the mind.

        3. They are the straws that show which way the stream is flowing.

        4. Sometimes they are "better tests than more important actions, because they are unpremeditated, and therefore true to our characters.

        5. We reveal ourselves when we are off our guard.

    3. THE REFORMATION OF CONDUCT DEPENDS ON THE REGENERATION OF LIFE.

      1. This practical conclusion necessarily follows on the principles which determine the growth of conduct.

      2. Manners may be improved by a superficial polish.

      3. But the really moral character of our actions cannot be transformed by any external process.

      4. Do what we will, the fruit must come according to the nature and character of the stock on which it grows.

      5. Therefore Christian work must be directed to the deep inner needs of the soul.

      6. This is not unpractical, as some assert.

        1. Lectures on ethics are not the best means of improving the morals of a people.

        2. Evangelical teaching is the source of moral improvement.

        3. We cannot imitate Christ until we have the life of Christ in our hearts.

(top)    (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2003-2004)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

CONCLUSION

  1. "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me."

    1. Words can hurt worse than a knife. They can cut deep into a person and damage the spirit.

    2. Words can hurt a person worse than poison. They can destroy the soul.

    3. Words can hurt a person worse than a gun. They can end a life.

  2. Consider the implications of the following illustrations

    1. The poem of an unknown author:

If I knew that a word of mine,
A word not kind and true,
Might leave its trace
On a loved one's face,
I don't think I'd speak it-
Would you?
If I knew that the sting of a word
Might linger and leave its mark,
With a deep dark scar
On a loved one's heart,
I don't think I'd speak it-
Would you?

    1. Here is a humorous story from Today's CleanLaugh. (4)

A couple phoned a neighbor to extend birthday greetings. They dialed the number and then sang "Happy Birthday" to him. But when they finished their off-key rendition, they discovered that they had dialed the wrong number.

"Don't let it bother you," said a strange but amused voice. "You folks need all the practice you can get."

    1. Here is an illustration from Today's CleanQuote. (5)

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where all the fruit is." --Mark Twain

1. Beliefnet Religious Jokes [BeliefnetReligiousJokes@partner.beliefnet.com]

2. posts@cybersaltlists.org

3. Beliefnet Religious Jokes [BeliefnetReligiousJokes@partner.beliefnet.com]

4. posts@cybersaltlists.org

5. posts@cybersaltlists.org

(top)    (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2003-2004)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)