Your Words Are Revealing More Than You Know

Pastor Pat starts with an apology: the week before he said “hamajang” when he meant “jimmy-rig,” proof that after 14 years in Hawaii he is still learning the language. Then he tells a more serious story. About two years into marriage, living in a duplex in Washington, he told his wife he was fine with her but hated everything about where his life was going. She pointed out that she was part of his life. His words revealed that he saw her as an accessory instead of a teammate, and that he was angry at God for not following his plan. “Words tell the truth even when we don’t know it. Our words tattletale on us.” The fight over the dishes is rarely about the dishes. “My words reveal what my heart conceals.”

Matthew 12 is the peak of Jesus’ conflict with the Pharisees. They object to his disciples eating on the Sabbath and to his healing on the Sabbath, and after he frees a man who was blind and mute, they say his power comes from the devil. Jesus draws a line: whoever is not with him is against him. Then he warns that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Pat explains that it is not an accidental word. It is a settled, hostile refusal of the Spirit’s witness to Jesus, to the point of calling God’s work evil. If you are worried you have committed it, that worry is evidence the Spirit is still working on your heart.

Jesus then says a tree is recognized by its fruit and calls the Pharisees a brood of vipers, the same phrase John the Baptist used. They were sincere, Pat says, but they loved control, position and being seen, so they called God’s good work evil. Our culture does something similar. It calls self-determined identity and many paths to God good, and calls the gospel’s call to die to yourself evil.

Then Jesus says everyone will give account for every empty word. Pat admits the Holy Spirit convicted him of being a complainer, and that his wife jokes he is headed for grumpy old man status. The good news is that Jesus took the judgment our words deserved.

Pat’s application: examine your words, listen to what God has already said, and decide where you stand with Jesus. He closes back in Washington, screaming at God on Highway 5, until a thought broke in: if you will not do this with your wife, you won’t see what I have for you. He went home and apologized.