I saw a sign once, a pithy saying that someone had hanging up in their house, and it struck me as a very healthy encouragement, towards good relationship with those around me the saying was this: "Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out."
As we’ve been reflecting on the power of "salty" words in our summer sermon series, the power to bless or to curse, to kill or to make alive, to hurt or to heal, that expression has come to my mind more than once. There is a deep and rich power in what words can do. They are one of God’s greatest gifts to us, and whether they are produced by the vocal cords in an organic, natural way, or written down to be passed along throughout generations, the power of words is matchless. If we’re not careful with them, we could misuse this amazing, powerful gift that God has given us. Hence the advice of the saying on the wall.
I think it goes even deeper than that, too. When John describes the coming of Jesus the Messiah into our world, he talks about Him as the Word made flesh, the eternal Logos that brings everything into existence, gives it life, loves it, fights for it, and carries it along. If Jesus is the Word made flesh, and He moves into our world and our space and our neighborhood, what kind of impact could that have? It makes all the difference in the world! The cross is God's signal to us that He has not abandoned us, and that He loves us more than we could ever imagine.
How did Jesus accomplish this great and amazing work? It was His ministry to and love of people before He faced the cross that had the most immediate impact. John tells us in his Gospel account that Jesus came "full of grace and truth" (1:14). This matches very well with Paul’s encouragement in Colossians to have all of our words salted with grace (4:6). If Jesus came with truth in His language, not shying away from the things that people didn’t want to hear, but delivering those words graciously, does that set a precedent for us? I think it does. Should we shy away from the hard truths? Certainly not! In a world that will often deny even the most fundamental of truths (not to mention the actual existence of absolute truth), especially when it is inconvenient, we must be willing to speak the truth. At the same time, the truth MUST be accompanied by a loving, tender heart, and a gracious posture towards people around us, people made in the image of God, people as much broken by sin at the foot of the cross as we are. What makes our words savory? The grace of Jesus, added to the power of pertinent, unwavering truth.
This summer, as people get outside into the warm weather a little bit more, as we go different places on vacations or other trips, the words of Jesus go with us. We have opportunities to interact with friends or relatives that we see along the way, as well as brief interactions with servers, cashiers, public servants, and a whole host of other people. We may see our neighbors more often as we tend whatever patch of ground God has given us in this world. How can those interactions be opportunities for the powerful, truthful, gracious, salty words of Jesus to come alive in the lives of others?
My prayer for you is that you trust the Spirit of Jesus gives you the relationships in which those words are needed, the courage and confidence to speak them boldly when the opportunity arises, and the wisdom to salt all of your words with the gracious, loving posture of the One who died for you. As you engage in that most important work of being a follower of Jesus, I am confident that you will find once again that…
Adventure is out there!
Pastor Aaron