As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And set me before
Your face forever.
Ps. 41:12
Integrity, character,
honor- are these traits dwindling in today’s pop culture? It is harder to find men and women who will
do what is right just to do what is right without all the accolades and recognition.
In a society in which everyone gets a pat on the back just for showing up to
get a job done and doing what is expected, why do we think anyone would want to
step up if it doesn’t pay off, much less speak up? What leads people to action
is words. If we want to change our world we must say something. Nothing can get
done without words. Yet at the same time it’s words that get us into trouble
too. Our words can also lead to devastating consequences. Words are powerful because by our words our thoughts are revealed.
In
this week’s teaching our Master Teacher gives us a heart lesson about the words
that come out of mouths, and how carelessly we tend to use them. It’s a much deeper
than just a few words. He’s cutting deep here and dealing with an integrity
issue. He is saying to us that we need to walk the talk to maintain our
integrity, our character, and to be a person of honor. In a world where the bad
boys are rewarded with riches and seem to get ahead, and the good people appear
to suffer, it’s hard to decide to live this way. Take courage, Christian, this
world is not our home. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for
Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who
brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it
only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the
LORD, They shall inherit the earth.” Ps. 37:7-9
Jesus
directs us back to the commandments. It is important to remember why He does
this repeatedly. Jesus said, ”Do not think that I came to destroy the Law
or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Matt. 5:17 He
is not giving us anything contrary to what God has said, but further explaining
it, since we haven’t gotten it thus far. A good teacher will go back and show
the student why they did wrong, and how to make it right. Since we are having
trouble with what we say not matching what we do, Jesus is going to help us to
have greater understanding so we can make improvements in this area.
“Again, you have heard that it was said to
those of old, ‘you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the
Lord’.” Matt 5:33 The live audience on the mount by the sea of Galilee
was very familiar with this text. They had heard it many times coming from the
mouths of the Pharisees and the temple tax collectors. “If a man makes a vow to the
LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break
his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” Num.
30:2 Can’t you just picture the people sitting on the grass with a roll
of their eyes, picturing the temple tax collector reciting it with them while
they nod their heads? But it is important that we keep our word when make a
pledge to God. If we say we’re going too fast for a day, we don’t give up at
the first twinge of hunger. If we say we’re going to pray for someone, don’t
walk away and not pray for that person. Learn to stop on the spot and pray
right there. If we say we’re going to read our Bible’s every day, but we can’t
seem to find the time to sit and read, then turn off the car radio and put it
on an app and listen to it, or turn off the television for a half an hour and
listen to it. If we say we’re going to meditate on God’s word, and we can’t
seem to find the time, take time before a meal and tune out the people around us,
take out our verse of the day, and read it over and over. Do lunch with God
alone in our cars. We need to find the time to get alone with God. We will
sneak away with someone we love for a private moment, but we keep God public,
or worse, we keep Him at arm’s length, or act as though we don’t even know Him,
when the whole time all He wants is time with us, to hear us.
The Master Teacher knows the importance of the promises
we make to the LORD because it reflects our intention. What we base those
intentions upon also says something about us.
“But I say to you, do not
swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; not by earth, for it
is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.”
Matt. 5:34.
“Oh, my heavens… what on earth…what in tarnation…”
does that sound familiar? We swear by so many things all the time in our
frustration with the simplest of things around us. We need to be more mindful
of our words. Jesus explains that all of creation is the Lord God’s, so who are
we to condemn it? All that God has made should remind us of how great He is. “He
who builds His layers in the sky, and has founded His strata in the earth; Who
calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth—The
LORD is His name.” Amos 9:6 A few years ago, while visiting my daughter,
we were in Portland, Oregon. We went to a botanical garden and we were walking
through a rose display, rather quickly, just reading the signs about what kind
of roses were around us. A man watched us for a minute and then shouted at us, “Take
the time to smell the roses!” My daughter burst out in laughter at the cliché,
but we did slow down and take the time to smell the roses. We discovered that
roses do indeed have very different scents. The man, who was not a gardener
there, but just another visitor, took a few seconds and pointed out a few of
his favorites to us. In
our busy lives we really do forget to take time to smell the roses and in the
process, we miss the blessing of the fine aroma God intends for us to enjoy.
“Nor shall you swear by your head, because
you cannot make one hair white or black.” Matt. 5:36
A man’s word is his bond, right? If his
word is not worth anything, if his bond is worthless, then what good is it? To be powerless is a place we all eventually
find ourselves in at one time or another regardless of what we think we have
control over. It is best to recognize our limitations before we get ourselves
into trouble. Over promising what we can’t deliver leads to difficult
situations, and for many people the temptation to cover for those limitation
leads to lying. Lying is a slippery slope. One lie leads to another, and to
another, and to another until finding the truth is almost impossible to do. No
matter what we do we cannot make black into white or white into black. As my
father always says, “it is what it is, and you can’t make it what it’s not.” Once something is out of our mouths we cannot
take those words back.
Jesus knows the limits placed on us by our fall from the
Master’s plan. He has direction for us to follow to restore us. Until He
returns, He gave us grace, and instructions on how to conduct ourselves. When
it comes to how to have integrity in our speech He kept it simple:
“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No”, ‘No.”
For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” Matt.5:37
The Teacher is saying to walk the talk, mean
what we say, and let our actions match our words. If we say we’re going to do
something then we need to do it, and if we’re not sure then we need to say we’re
not sure. If we’re not going to do it, then say we’re not going to do it. It’s not enough to say the right things if we
can’t follow through with doing the right things. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and
of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging
cymbal.” 1 Cor. 13:1 Being articulate and having an expansive
vocabulary means little if what we say doesn’t bring others to salvation, but
condemns them by our actions. “Therefore, the Lord said: Inasmuch as these
people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, But have
removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the
commandment of men.” Is 29:13 & “Even a fool is counted wise when he holds
his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.” Prov. 17:28 We
aren’t to keep silent, however. Jesus commanded us to use our words and our
actions. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them in the to observe all the things that I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you to the end of the age.’ Amen.” Matt. 28:19-20
Since we’ve been given our marching
orders, we’ve also been given our message. Jesus has given us not just the what
we need to do, but the what to say. “Now when they bring you to the synagogues
and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer
or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour
what you should say.” Luke 12:11-12
We are judged by what we say and the
follow through on what we said we were going to do. Our Lord made promises He
kept. Since we are expected to reflect Him, and to demonstrate the lessons we
have learned, shouldn’t we also be keeping our word?
Better is the poor who walks in his
integrity Than one who is perverse in his lips and is a fool. Prov. 28:6
