HoHum:
“Opie’s Newspaper” is an episode on the Andy Griffith Show. Opie’s friend, Howie, received a small printing press as a gift, and the boys decide to go into the newspaper business. They work hard and produce an initial issue of what they call the Mayberry Sun. The boys soon find that business is pretty slow, so they ask Andy and Barney for advice. It seems that the boys’ newspaper is full of information about their class at school, but that’s about it. Barney advises Opie that they need to widen their scope to attract more readers. Opie and Howie decide to examine the real Mayberry paper to determine how they might improve their own publication. After reviewing some sections they come across one called “Mayberry after Midnight”, the gossip column. Howie and Opie conclude that if they are going to be successful, their paper will have to contain similar information. So they put on their reporter hats and set out to gather as many “exclusive stories” as they can. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how we look at it), there is no shortage of such news in Mayberry. Opie and Howie collect all this information for their second edition of the Mayberry Sun. Barney, Andy, and Aunt Bee are all in the Taylors’ kitchen when Opie delivers the second issue of the paper. Opie leaves to continue his delivery, and at first no one notices anything wrong. They compliment the hard work and effort of the boys and how they are really trying their best. But just as Opie is getting ready to leave, Barney notices a headline, “Barney Fife says Sue Grigsby Blonde from a Bottle.” Then it all breaks loose! The scramble is on to retrieve all the newspapers before it’s too late. The consequences of this are minimal because Andy and the others involved are able to gather up all the newspapers before anyone has a chance to read what was printed. That is, except for the preacher. Andy is forced to endure a very embarrassing moment on the preacher’s front porch because of the “dry as dust” sermon comment from Andy. The irony in the situation is that Andy was actually in the process of giving the preacher a compliment when that particular comment slipped out and got into the paper. He was really commenting on how blessed the town was to have a preacher such as this man, but the uplifting comment by Andy never made it to press.
WBTU:
The main theme of this message is the tongue, but in today’s time we need to include not only our speech but also what we type on the internet. It can be like the newspaper that Opie and Howie published and the consequences can be quite severe. Many have lost their jobs, their marriages, and many friends because of what they typed and published on the web.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?” This is a lie. Bones broken by sticks and stones usually mend. But wounds inflicted by words may never heal. But it works the other way too. Our words have an awesome power to do good, to impart grace and therefore bring joy.
The gospel makes it clear that when God sends out his word, it is God himself who goes. His ultimate word is Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 3, 14, NIV. When God spoke his heart to us, he spoke Jesus, full of grace and truth. He used the power of his word to bless, not to curse; to create, not to destroy.
Since we are made in God’s image, it should not surprise us that our words also have power. Something powerful happens when we speak. The ancient Hebrews understood this better than we do. We have difficulty understanding the blessing from Isaac to Jacob and Esau. When Jacob duped his father Isaac into giving him the blessing intended for his brother Esau, Isaac could not take back the words he had spoken. They had done their intended work. We wonder, why couldn’t Isaac just revoke the blessing and give it to the one he meant it for? We think that way because we regard words lightly. Think of it this way: Has anyone ever lashed out at us in anger, later regretting it and apologizing by saying something like, “I didn’t mean that?” We accept the apology but the words were agents of the person who spoke them, and they did their work. We may forgive and be healed, but we know the words were meant when they were spoken, and we know the damage that they did.
Look at the opening verse this morning. Ephesians 4:29. There is to be no unwholesome talk, and there is to be only helpful talk. Period. No qualifications. The Greek here for “unwholesome” is a word often used for rotten fruit. This is a good picture of the way negative speech affects a community. One piece of decaying fruit in a bowl will eventually spoil the rest. Every insult, every juicy piece of gossip, every coarse joke is an invitation for others to join in.
Paul uses other words to broaden his picture of sapros. All these talk about rotten speech. Ephesians 4:31. Brawling here can be an insult shouted across a room or a savage letter to the editor. It is meanness, derision and harshness shown in public. Slander is a more private thing. This is something said behind a person’s back, usually in private. Rage is a hair trigger temper. Anger is a more smoldering wrath. Rage explodes; anger oozes. Malice is general ill will and bad feeling toward others. Bitterness is longstanding resentment and holding a grudge. Brawling and slander, rage and anger are the things we do. Bitterness and malice are why we do them. The former are the fruit, the latter are the root. All are rotten.
Thesis: Sapros “unwholesome” speech is a three fold poison
For instances:
The person spoken against is poisoned.
““Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”” Romans 3:13, 14, NIV. Isn’t this a bit exaggerated?
No, I’ve found this to be quite true. Nothing I could do about this, not there to defend myself. “He (God) will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin” Psalms 64:8
But when we have it in our power shouldn’t we try to track down these false accusations against us? Oh, some value in that but we will find after presenting our case and pinning down who they are that the words still have soiled our reputations. Undoing damage of sapros speech is like cutting away the heads of Hydra; for every head severed, two more grow back. Damage is enduring and limitless.
The Person who speaks is also poisoned
Have we ever felt dirty after we’ve engaged in sapros speech? I have.
There’s a good reason for this effect, and Jesus explains it. Many religious teachers of his day thought people were polluted by what they ate, by what went into them. Jesus said it was the other way around: people are polluted by what comes out of them. ““Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean’.”” Matthew 15:17-20, NIV.
In other words, it’s not what goes in that’s dirty; it’s what comes out. When we sin with our tongues, that’s what we taste on our tongues: soul dung.
“but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8, NIV. It poisons others but it also poisons those who speak it.
The Holy Spirit is grieved
Ephesians 4:30 is a verse that gives us information on the HS. Often discussed under HS
However, in the context, what does this have to do with sapros speech? Sapros words hurt God. Certainly this has something to do with his great love for us- people who were made in his image and bought with the blood of his Son. When those he loves are damaged by unwholesome words, He grieves, whether they are perpetrators or victims.
Ben Patterson- When I was in the 5th grade I developed a strong dislike for a boy called Dennis. I think the reason for my hostility had something to do with the fact that he wore his shirts buttoned all the way to the top. Naturally I felt I had to punish him for this breach of custom and manliness. One day at lunch I challenged him to a fight after school the next day. The next morning as I was walking to school, I saw Dennis a few blocks away getting out of his father’s car. His dad had driven him to school and was getting out of the car to give his son a hug and kiss before he left. I watched as his dad knelt down to Dennis’s level and drew the boy into his big arms. The whole scene lasted only a few seconds, but I was forced, against my will, to see Dennis through his dad’s eyes. I couldn’t fight him that afternoon. Everything had changed. He was no longer Dennis with his shirt buttoned at the neck. He was now Dennis, his dad’s son, precious and beloved.
So What?
See end of Ephesians 4:29. Gracious speech has 3 characteristics:
It is constructive (building others up)
It is tailor made for those who hear it (according to their needs)
It imparts grace (benefits those who listen)
Does this mean that we should never speak a harsh or unfavorable word? No, some times we must tear down and then build up. It is according to their needs and benefits those who listen.
“Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.” 1 Timothy 5:20
