Talking the Talk
Pulpit and Altar of The Church of The
Holy Spirit in Heidelberg
We sometimes say that some good can come from a bad situation, but we also believe we need to be wary of words spoken by those we suspect as having bad intentions.
‘Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of judgement you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.’ - Matthew 12:33-37
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is once again attacking the leaders of the faith for said one thing and doing another. Beware, he says, of those who are evil, for everything that comes from them is evil.
I guess that is the safe approach. Don’t be led astray by those who talk the talk, but walk a different walk. We all know people like that, even though at times we may be reluctant to admit it. We want to give people the benefit of the doubt. He or she means well, we say, because we like them, even though what he or she does doesn’t match how they present themselves.
So, I guess Jesus had given up on the Pharisees and Scribes, believing they couldn’t be saved. They failed to listen to him, and that got his back up. It is better, he says, to avoid them than to let them smooth talk us into following their ways.
Sounds cynical. I guess we tend to get that way when those who lead us lose our trust. But we should try to figure out if people are truly good or evil.
Not easy to do, is it?
If we all believed we will be held accountable for every word, more of us would speak the truth, but I don’t have faith in that. People do what people do. But if good words can come from bad people, how do we know what lies behind the words?
What Jesus warns us about is difficult to carry out. We have to be judges. So, maybe all we can do is be true to ourselves. And then others will not have to judge us, for we will do and say what is true.
More to come...