August 22nd

Silence Can Be Golden

Ephesians 5:15-20



I have a confession to make this morning. There are some pretty neat perks to being a clergy person. For example, I have found that when I wear my clerical collar, I am far more likely to get free coffee at one of our local convenience stores than when I am “out of uniform.” Of course, I drink so much coffee that a few of the stores wave me through whether I am wearing my clerical collar or not.

I also have to admit to a certain perverse pleasure in looking at the reactions of people when they find out what I do as a life calling. One of the best reactions came within a month after my arrival in Corpus Christi. It was early one Saturday evening, and I was at the Hidden Door. I was talking to the manager of the bar, when a man came up to us, apologized for interrupting our conversation, but he just had to tell the manager about his weekend so far. And then the young man proceeded to do just that—in very explicit detail.

Butch—the manager—just smiled from ear to ear. At the end of the story, pointing to me, he said to the young man, “I don’t believe I have introduced you to this gentleman. Please meet the Rev. Danny Spears; he’s our new pastor.”

The look on the young man’s face was priceless.

He began to sputter apologies for his language, then went into a litany of confession regarding his past. I assured him that I had heard similar language in the past, that God was always ready to listen to his confessions, and that I was looking forward to seeing him in church on Sunday.

I have to admit though, this episode made me wonder what it is that causes us—all of us—to just open our mouths sometimes and let ‘er rip before stopping and assessing the effects of our words on other people. Indeed, given humanity’s tendency to twist and torture language, you have to wonder why God seems to trust us to be divine mouthpieces in the first place.

But, while God does seem to trust us with this task, we are not left without instructions. For example, Ecclesiastes 5:1 from the New Living Translation tells us: “As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don't be a fool who doesn't realize that mindless offerings to God are evil. You just gotta love some of the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament like Ecclesiastes don’t you? No fuss, no muss, just straight to the point. I wonder if Will Rogers had this verse in mind when he said, “It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” In other words, silence can be golden.


Seems kind of harsh though, doesn’t it? I mean, after all, aren’t we supposed to pray, sing, and offer praises to God? Sure we are! But at the same time, we are supposed to be thinking about the meanings of what we are saying and doing. Our confessions—whether spoken or silent—should be sincere. Our prayers—whether written out or not--should be offered in reverence. We listen to the words of the songs and to the sermons with a desire to learn more about how to offer the very best of ourselves to God and to one another.

Our passage from Ephesians picks up on this theme of mindful living and takes it a step further when it tells us to be careful how we live, not as fools but as those who are wise. And how is wisdom defined? Well, Psalm 111:10 tells us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This is not a fear of being zapped by God; it is a holy reverence, respect, and awe of the power of God. It is a healthy fear that encourages us to be still and know that God is in charge.

So, with that definition of fear in mind, maybe one interpretation of this verse in Ephesians is, “Watch what you say and do. Listen, then, if you need to speak or act, choose your words and actions carefully.” You see, if we call ourselves “Christians,” a lot of people look at us like representatives of the teachings of Jesus Christ. So what we say and what we do matters—and it matters a lot.

There are some very good reasons for us to practice the art of wise and mindful living outlined in Ephesians. First, when we stop and take the time to prayerfully discern and assess situations before engaging not only our mouths, but also our resources of time, talent, and finances, we can do a much better job of setting God-based, Christ-centered priorities for our lives—both individually, and as a community of faith. We have to make the most of the time we have, because there are more than enough issues in the world for us to address. Amen? Put simply, wise and mindful living is good stewardship of our lives, folks.

There is another advantage to wise and mindful living, and it is related to the first. If we look at verse 18, the author of Ephesians says, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.” In the times when this passage was written, many people worshipped the Greek god of wine, Dionysus. We might call him the “god of the party” today. When the followers of Dionysus got drunk, not only did they think they were having a good time, many also thought they were worshipping and experiencing the blessing of their chosen deity.

Now, folks, let’s just be really honest here, OK? For those of us who have ever had too much to drink at various times in our lives, just how wise were those decisions we made when we were under the influence? And I’m just talking about the decisions we remember making! And worship? Oh, yeah! We worshipped all right—maybe at the foot of the porcelain god or goddess in the bathroom—but hey! We worshipped!

But I think this verse goes well beyond drunkenness, too. What I mean by that comment is that sometimes we fill our lives with the worship of many different gods. We fill ourselves with a need for power and control. We fill ourselves with the need to have more money or material things. We fill ourselves with the need to be loved to the point that this need expresses itself in some very unhealthy ways. Sometimes we are so full of ourselves that we have no room for those people or opinions who do not coincide with ours.’ And do you know that the saddest thing to me is? When we are that full of ourselves, not only do we not have room for others, we don’t have room for God, either. And folks, we need God far more than we need all that other stuff. Amen?

But this passage gives us a hopeful alternative, too. Rather than letting ourselves be controlled by all those other wanna be gods and goddesses of our world, we can open ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Sounds good; but how can we know when we are being led by the Holy Spirit?

When the Holy Spirit leads us, we begin to become more open-minded. Please note: open-minded does not mean “empty-headed.” People who are open-minded genuinely listen to the viewpoints of others and take them into consideration. And while we may still disagree on this issue or that, open-minded people do not demonize others. We share our thoughtful viewpoints with others and listen to those thoughtful viewpoints of other people so that together we might grow in understanding, wisdom, and knowledge. Such understanding, wisdom and knowledge are necessary if we hope to build communities that offer hope to a hurting world.

When the Holy Spirit leads us, we begin to become more open hearted. One anonymous writer describes open heartedness in this way: “To be openhearted to the joy of this singing Spirit is not sappy sentimentality—the Psalms confront God with genuine human fears, anger, loss, misery, joy, hope, love, and dreams. The psalmists poured out their hearts to God in song, leaving them openhearted to welcome the healing, soothing Spirit into their breast. The heart which is genuinely opened to God’s Spirit directs the words that escape our lips. No false confessions or flowery sounds of insincere piety may escape from a mouth that is controlled by an authentically open heart.” Isn’t that a great thought?

A life that is led by the Holy Spirit is also open handed. When we begin to let go of our need to control every little detail of our lives—and sometimes the lives of those around us—we are far more open to share the abundance with which God has blessed us with others, whether it is our time, our talent, or our financial gifts. When the Holy Spirit leads us, we reach out with open hands to other people without reservation. We do the best we can with what we have to worship God, build community, and offer hope to as many people as we are able. For as it has been said, “an open hand speaks louder than an open mouth.” Amen?

My prayer for all us today is that we begin to let go of the need to fill our lives with useless stuff, and rather allow God to fill us with God’s Holy Spirit. And as the Holy Spirit fills us, may we learn to open our minds, our hearts, and our hands long before we open our mouths.

For silence, my sisters and brothers can be truly golden. Amen?

God bless you and amen.