Abracadabra
1. Gossip: A man in a small village was found guilty of starting a malicious rumor about another man. This rumor was not only untrue, but it had seriously damaged the other man’s reputation and family. As is often the custom in small villages, the accused was taken before the chief, who heard the case and decided the man’s punishment if found guilty.
After hearing the facts of the case, the chief found the accused to be guilty and handed the man a large bag of feathers. He told the guilty man that his only punishment would be to place a feather on the doorstep of every person to whom he told the rumor. The man was relieved at such a light punishment and quickly took the bag and went about his task. Four hours later, the man returned to the chief with the empty bag and said, "I completed your task, sir. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, the wise chief replied. Report to me in the morning, and I’ll give you the second half of your punishment." The man arrived the next morning and was instructed to gather all the feathers and place them in the bag. "But sir," the man replied, "didn’t you hear the storm that raged through our village last night? It would be impossible to know where those feathers are now."
The wise old chief raised his index finger and pointed knowingly at the man, "Now you see the damage that you have done to another. For although you told only a few lies here and there, the storm of gossip took hold of those lies and spread them far beyond your grasp to undo them. You can regret what you said, but you can never fully undo what you’ve said."...
· James uses the word fire when describing the tongue. James 3:5-6 (NKJV):
5 Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
2. The Bible emphasizes the source of words – God’s thunder and ours.
a. A Christian man who got angry on the job and let loose a string of profanity. Embarrassed, he turned to his co-worker and said, “I don’t know why I said all that. It really isn’t in me to talk that way.” His co-worker replied, “It had to be in you or it couldn’t have come out of you.”
b. Matthew 12:34-37 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
3. The Bible reveals the power of words.
The word "abracadabra" is primarily understood as a magical incantation or charm used in magic tricks, symbolizing the moment a magical effect is supposed to occur. Its meaning is more accurately translated as "I will create as I speak" or "It will be created as I speak," a concept derived from proposed Aramaic or Hebrew origins. This interpretation suggests a powerful link between spoken words and the creation of reality. While the word is widely associated with magic and illusion, it can also be used more broadly to describe nonsense, meaningless talk, or complex jargon.
I. God’s Word(s) Are Creative
A. Creation in the physical realm: “And God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light.” Each part of creation begins with “And God said.”
B. The indwelling word produces
a. Worship – Colossians 3:16 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
b. Inward Transformation Expressed Outwardly – Colossians 3:12-15 12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
C. Accomplishes His Purposes – Isaiah 55:10-12 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
II. Our Words Are Creative
A. Affirmation or Rejection
1. Encouraging Words to Build Up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
2. Damaging Words to Tear Down Ephesians 4:29 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
3. Empty Words to Deceive [Politicians Ephesians 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
B. Blessing or Cursing
1. God and Israel
2. People – Isaac/Esau and Jacob
C. Life or Death – Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
D. Chaos or Peace – Christ in the storm – “Peace! Be Still!”
In 1994, a Korean Air jet skidded across a rain-soaked runway and rammed a safety barricade while landing in Cheju, Korea. All 160 passengers escaped safely just moments before the plane exploded into flames. According to news reports, the pilot and the co-pilot had gotten into a fist fight over who oversaw the landing controls. The issue of who oversaw those landing controls should have been covered in the flight manual! No one read the book and knew who was in charge, and the ensuing confusion that followed resulted in absolute chaos and destruction.
E. Opportunity for Loyalty or Betrayal Matthew 10:32-33 32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.//Judas
III. The Power Combo – His Words and Ours
A. God Partners with Us in His Work
B. Our Words Express His – with Power – Romans 1:16
1. Transforming Individual Lives [Cannibal and the Atheist – “If it weren’t for this book, you would be boiling in my pot.”
2. Transforming Communities – Armenia = the first Christian nation in the fourth century
3. Power to Reveal the hidden – Veiled/awareness – use of parables like KOG in Matthew 13
1. Carefully choose our words
2. I saw a T-shirt the other day that said, “Lord, make my words sweet as honey because tomorrow I may have to eat them.” If you ever wished you could take back something you said, you can identify with that caption.
3. Rudyard Kipling was a great writer and poet whose writings we have all enjoyed. Unlike many old writers, Kipling was one of the few who had the opportunity to enjoy his success while he lived. He also made a considerable amount of money from his trade. One time, a newspaper reporter came up to him and said, "Mr. Kipling, I just read that somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings amounts to over a hundred dollars a word; Mr. Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, "Really, I certainly wasn't aware of that." The reporter cynically reached down into his pocket and pulled out a one-hundred-dollar bill, and gave it to Kipling and said, "Here's a hundred-dollar bill, Mr. Kipling. Now, you give me one of your hundred-dollar words." Mr. Kipling looked at that hundred-dollar bill for a moment, took it, folded it, put it in his pocket, and said, "Thanks." I would say it is more like a million-dollar word.
