Words and actions

from Helen

I have a reputation, that I think may be unfair that I talk too much. To be honest my favourite things are words. You can make sense of life when you have words in front of you. Words are one of our best forms of communication.

There was once an elderly lady who was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it.

She would stand by her front door and shout "PRAISE THE LORD!"

Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, "There isn’t a Lord!!"

Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood by her front door and shouted "PRAISE THE LORD. GOD I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!"

The next morning the lady went out of her front door and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, "PRAISE THE LORD."

The neighbour jumped from behind a bush and said, "Ah! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn't."

The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, "PRAISE THE LORD. PRAISE THE LORD ! He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them !"

Words mean so much but they also come with actions. As I said the other week how we are inside affects how we are outside and if we appear to be a good person we need our thoughts and inner feelings to reflect that too.

In our readings today we heard of words and the warning of the  power of our words. In the epistle of James (3:1-12) we were reminded that we need to watch what we say as this is what guides us, basically our words direct us. If we are saying good things then we need to behave in that way. In the reading it spoke of a bridle directing a horse in the same way when we talk out of turn that affects the way that we live and what we do. It is back again to the inside and outside matching up. 

In our gospel reading (Mark 8:27-38) we heard of the disciples being asked by Jesus not only who other people said He was but who they said He was. A bit like words directing our mouths it was much easier for the disciples to say who other people said Jesus was than it was for them to answer who they said He was. 

If you think of it for the disciples they were being asked to say in words how they saw Jesus. There wasn’t a greeting card with an appropriate verse that they could use, they had to make a decision for themselves and voice it. After all once you have said something there is no taking it back. 

I suppose it is not surprising to us that the one who jumped in with an answer first was Peter. Ever to be trusted to jump in and be driven by his thoughts first Peter announced that He knew who Jesus was. It was a moment of triumph for Peter. It was one of the moments like when you were in school and you got the answer right to a question, Peter had got it, he had understood who Jesus was and he had the right words to say so. 

Peter was learning about Jesus and whilst he was brave enough to tell Jesus who He was, He was also ready to make himself look silly if he got it wrong. How encouraging for us !

In the gospel reading Peter was learning that words and actions go together. He was understanding that your outside and inside need to match, this meant a change in behaviour. 

As Jesus spoke to the disciples and taught them about faith and who He was, He was also teaching them that following Him was not always going to be easy and it required complete commitment. Commitment to a way of life where Jesus is the centre. As He did this the disciples were being trained as followers. 

In those words of Jesus about what it means to be a disciple so we have the words that are for us as well. The ways that we may need to deny something that gets in the way of our relationship with God aren’t always easy. However how much better to be in a relationship of love with God than not to be.

Jesus said that to follow Him means that we must take up our cross, we must be more like Jesus. Then our words that say we believe, really show meaning in the way we live our lives. 

Back to those first disciples. As Jesus told the disciples what was going to happen next to Him He was speaking to those who  had been through a whirlwind already. The disciples had seen Jesus whom they wanted to follow. They had seen Him perform miracles, they had heard him teach about a better way to live, they had seen Him be confronted by their religious leaders and they knew that He was something special. 

They must have thought that they were on the winning team. Messiah to them meant a new King, a warrior who would overthrow the Romans and rescue people. 

Jesus began to teach the disciples that things would be different. The disciples felt they were on the winning side but the actions that would happen to Jesus certainly didn’t seem like winning. Jesus used Old Testament passages that the disciples would understand to help them see that He needed to suffer but that it would all be right in the end. That glory would come and life would be better.

Being a disciple is not easy we have to match our words and actions. Martin Luther said that a religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. To be a follower of Jesus our words need to show by the way that we live. By the people that we are. Our inside and outside need to match, our words direct our behaviour. This is what it means to live as a disciple that our words and actions will mirror Jesus.

Jesus said, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.’ 

May we make sure that our words and actions point to Jesus.AMEN