What We Say to Other People Matters

We have come to the midpoint in the gospel of Mark.

We have come to the point where Jesus begins to turn his focus to Jerusalem, where his mission will be fulfilled.

Now Jesus begins to prepare his disciples, his followers, for the difficult days that are to come. For the first time, Jesus tells his disciples that he soon will suffer, and be rejected, and be killed, and will rise again.

On this day, Jesus is once again traveling far from his home in Galilee. Today he is Caesarea Philippi, a Roman-controlled area located 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, at the foot of Mount Hermon, on what is now the border between Syria and Lebanon, in the region of the occupied Golan Heights.

It is here that Jesus’ true identity as the Messiah is first revealed, through the words of his disciple, Peter. When Jesus asks his disciples “Who do you say I am?”, Peter is quick to respond “You are the Messiah”.

Peter is the first human to recognize Jesus as the Messiah; that is, the anointed one; the one for whom the Jewish people have been waiting, to deliver them and set them free from their oppression under Roman rule.

Peter’s declaration of Jesus’ true identity does not last long.

Jesus begins to teach his disciples, his closest followers, that the time is coming when “the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

Peter cannot accept this harsh reality.

This is not what Peter expects from the Messiah, Christ, our Savior, Son of God and Son of Man, the one sent by God to unite us in love with God and with each other.

Peter is not ready to believe that Jesus, the Messiah, must die on the cross (the method of torture and humiliation favored by the Roman empire to execute their political enemies.).

So Peter rebukes Jesus, his friend; he sharply criticizes Jesus for saying something that he (Peter) doesn’t want to hear; something that he doesn’t understand; something that, perhaps, frightens him.

One minute Peter is recognizing Jesus as the Messiah; the next minute Peter is criticizing Jesus for saying something with which Peter disagrees and disapproves.

That’s a very human response, is it not? One minute we’re singing someone’s praises; the next minute we’re sharply criticizing them for saying something we don’t want to hear or we don’t understand or perhaps frightens us. Instead of listening and asking questions and reflecting more deeply on what is said, we rebuke the one speaking; expressing our disapproval for what they are saying.

The tongue, as we hear in the reading from James, can be “a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and curse.”

What we say to other people matters. What we say can build up a community – that is, the relationships between people – or what we say can destroy that community.

What we say to other people is so important that we have been given a commandment to teach us to do better. I’m referring to the eighth commandment – You shall not bear false witness agains your neighbor.

What does this mean, you ask? Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, explains it in this way –

We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.

Notice this – it is because we fear and love God – because we recognize Jesus as the Messiah – that we are to speak well of our neighbors. Our actions toward our neighbors – including what we say to our neighbors or what we say about our neighbors – flows from and out of our love for God. We love others because God first loves us (1 John 4:19).

What we say to other people matters. What we say can build up a community – that is, the relationships between people – or what we say can destroy community.

One way of living out the meaning of the eighth commandment – You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor – is to answer 3 simple questions before you speak. Ask yourself –

• Is it true?
• Is it kind?
• Is it necessary?

Is it true? Do you have first hand knowledge that what you are about to say is true? Or are you repeating something that someone else told you (gossip), that you may or may not know is true?

Is it kind? Does what you are about to say build up another person (speak well of them) or does it tear them down and make them look bad?

Is it necessary? Is what you are about to say useful? Does it add anything constructive to the conversation? Or is it merely idle talk?

This week our country has witnessed the destructive impact of spoken words that were neither true nor kind nor necessary.

I am referring to the words spoken in the presidential debate – and repeated in other sources – that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio have been stealing pet animals and eating them.

There is no truth to that allegation.

There is nothing kind about that claim.

There is nothing necessary nor useful about that statement.

The words spoken in the presidential debate – and repeated so many other times in social media – are meant to dehumanize Haitian people, people made in the likeness of God; to sow seeds of fear and hate; to divide people and destroy the community – the relationships among people.

The words spoken that night have led to bomb threats in schools and hospitals in Springfield, creating terror among the people of that city, who, like any of us, only want to live and work in peace.

What we say to other people matters. What we say can build up a community – that is, the relationships between people – or words can destroy that community.

Yet, that pesky tongue – that “restless evil” sometimes gets in the way – trips us up – and we find ourselves saying something that is hurtful, unkind, perhaps even untrue.

Here in this place, in this community of faith known locally as Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, you have begun the process of discerning where God is leading you next.

It is a process that involves reflection and honest conversation.

It is a process that requires speaking words to each other that are true – kind – necessary.

It is a process that will lead to the building up of the body of Christ in this time and place.

Thanks be to God that we gather as people who recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

Thanks be to God that we gather as people who fear and love God.

Thanks be to God that we gather as people who love our neighbors and seek the best for them, in our words and in our actions.