Speak, Do Not Be Silent (with audio)
Scripture
Ephesians 4:25-32
Ephesians 4:25-32
Rules for the New Life
25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
I have spent many many days on park benches. When my children were little we were blessed with wonderful play groups and a park nearby. We would spend hours as mothers and fathers sitting on the benches sharing stories, pouring out our fears, wondering if the kids would ever be potty trained or stop using pacifiers or if we would ever sleep again.
Generally in my generation, it has felt inappropriate to reprimand another person’s child. My parents tell stories of days when it was acceptable for everyone in the neighborhood to discipline each other’s children, but such is not the case in our current community structure.
As parents we would watch the children play. There were always kids who were more aggressive, kids who were more passive. We would watch like hawks to make sure the biters and the hitters (stages that my children both took turns dabbling in) were watched carefully as they too learned how to live in community.
Generally we kept our opinions to ourselves, never wanting to condemn another child or parent. We tried to find common ground, to exist in the mentality that there are parts of our own parenting and our own children’s behavior that we can’t quite figure out how to get right.
But I can remember clearly, vividly, sitting on a bench at Sesame Place when Noah was about 2. He was playing in a water trough, happily splashing, and an an older boy came over and wanted to be in the same spot where Noah was. He started to roughly push Noah aside and take the toys Noah was playing with. When Noah grabbed for the toy he had been playing with, the boy pushed Noah roughly to the ground, with Noah’s sweet little 2 year old skull crashing onto the cement.
There was so much emotion, a power that rose up within me and ran over and picked up my child and held him close. I yelled out to all of the parents gathered around: Whose child is this?
I could feel my emotions in every part of my body, my fingertips were pulsing, my heart was pounding. I could not just sit on the bench. I could not be silent. I had to speak.
Let us Pray.
His life was threatened in Damascus
His life was threatened again in Jerusalem
He was persecuted and run out of Antioch
He was stoned and left for dead in Lystra
He was imprisoned in Philippi
Forced out of Berea
Mocked in Athens
Threatened, persecuted, beaten, stoned, imprisoned and mocked. And this is only part of what we have covered about Paul’s journeys in the book of Acts.
We find our fearless evangelist in a new place, Corinth. While in Corinth, Paul made some new friends, Aquila and Priscilla. He worked a day job of tent making with them and then after work he went out to the town square to preach and to teach about Jesus. The Bible tells us he was hoping that the Jews and the Greeks would believe that Jesus was God’s Messiah, but he wasn’t having much luck.
All they did was contradict him and argue with him at every turn.
I can’t even imagine how difficult this journey must have been for Paul. If you think about how easily deflated we are when someone doesn’t like our ideas or someone doesn’t support our goals. How quickly we retreat within ourselves or abandon our cause altogether.
How many new year’s resolutions or September re-start goals have we set out to accomplish but after a few weeks time we abandon our own best intentions?
At this point in the journey, I just imagine Paul must have been so tired. So many miles, so many attempts, so many rejections, so many struggles.
But Paul keeps going. He moves on to the next home and he finds some who believe. And he keeps trying, keeps pressing on, and in Corinth they are many who believe and are baptized.
One night God spoke to Paul in a dream: ““Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.” 11 He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent.
God’s precious words to Paul are also instructive for each and every one of us.
We have a precious and powerful word of Good news for the world. We hold it near and dear in our hearts. We claim the power of God’s love for us. We sing of the might and the might and the triumph and the victory of God’s power over sin and death. We hold these nuggets close to our hearts.
But somehow the precious words of truth struggle to make their way from our hearts to our lips. We watch as other people and other people’s children live lives we aren’t sure will bring them joy or hope or new life and yet we maintain our polite and silent judgment, wary of speaking up or speaking out, afraid that they might reject whatever little morsel we might have to offer. Whatever small bit of hope we feel fit to proclaim.
Somehow, despite our struggle to speak boldly about our faith, we also mourn the loss of the mainline churches. We watch the statistics that show that a great decline. A 2019 galllup poll notes that in 1937, 76% of Americans were members of a church. The poll shows that now only 50%, the lowest number in American history, claim membership in a church.
And so, must look closely at Paul. Yes, his zealous nature is terrifying in some ways. If we encountered him in the public square, we might likely to walk the other way, to avoid eye contact. To draw the shades and pretend we didn’t hear the doorbell ring.
But what we cannot deny is that Paul was gripped, completely, 100% gripped by what God had done for him. By the life change that he experienced. And it simply wasn’t possible for him to stay silent. He could not sit on the bench.
How many times do find ourselves wishing we could speak a word of the gospel to someone? Perhaps there is someone at work or someone in your family that you wish you could muster up the courage to talk to about Jesus? Someone who is really struggling and could use more than ordinary thoughts and prayers but might really benefit from a real live Christian praying with them and showing up for them.
Listen for that prompting. That thought — maybe I should say something? That is the holy spirit! Listening for that nudge is the beginning of getting the truth from your heart to your lips. Perhaps it will take ten times of God tugging on you heart with these words in Acts for you to be able to utter a single word, but hold these lines close: Do not be afraid, speak, do not be silent.
Perhaps you know someone who likes pulled pork or corn hole, perhaps you have a new neighbor with kids who would love a balloon event.
But what is more important than any function or event or item on the calendar is that we, we must be gripped, our hearts must feel 1/10000th of the passion that paul’s heart felt.
The way to feel that passion is to spend time with the Lord. In the fall Vista that is coming out soon, you’ll note that I wrote about how we are most influenced by the people we spend our time with. But it is even bigger than the people we spend our time with. It is how much time we spend with our savior.
Yes, God tells paul in the dream, do not be afraid, for I am with you, but our lives in Christ are so much bigger than being afraid of speaking out. Our faith tells us:
God will not fail you (Deut.31:6), God will not forsake you (1 Chron. 28:20), God is with you (Isaiah 41:10), God will help you (Isaiah 41:13), God knows you by name (Isaiah 43:1), God can do marvelous things (Joel 2:21), It is God’s pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32), and Christ is the First and the Last (Rev.1:17).
This was the best news for Paul, news that he would have put on a banner on the front lawn, on a car magnet, on a t-shirt he would proudly wear. He would display it more boldly than his favorite eagles jersey and more openly than if he had won the lottery.
Because he had. He had won without ever purchasing a ticket.
I sat on a bench watching my child play in a water trough.
And my love for him was so great that I could not, physically could not stay silent. I was gripped by my love for him and my desire to protect him and save him from harm.
This is the love, times a million, the love that our God had for Paul and has for each and every one of you in this room, but keeping this love in this room is holding that precious nugget in our hearts and stopping from coming out of our mouths.
Paul could have given up at so many points on his journey, but he heard the words of the Lord in a dream: Speak, Do No be silent.
Offered in Worship on Sunday, September 1st, 2019
Grace Presbyterian Church
part of a series, On a Mission, Paul's missionary journeys
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