I hope to share a few words this morning, this afternoon now, about words. I think most of us would agree that words are powerful and in some cases they can become very powerful. And if you think about folks' perception of words, I think you would agree that there is really a pretty broad-based consensus that words are important and significant and can affect us in many ways. You might think about the child who goes to school. and has someone say something really pretty mean to him. And at that moment, though they may not be able to articulate it, they know that those words have been powerful and have maybe hurt them in some way. A whole different perspective on words. Maybe that child gets a little older, and they're a teenager or a college student, and they're in a class setting. oratorical words of a professor happen to catch their imagination and even their motivation in their very lives and thinking, their course of their life and the vocational interests they have. It's changed by the effect of words that they've heard in such a setting. This is a totally different perspective, but I think the lesson is the same. History has been filled with illustrations of dictators, ancient history, current history. The leader of Venezuela, I read this week, has been given complete authority in his country. Literally, the law says whatever he says is what you do. It's a dictatorship. And sometimes it's a person or it may be an oppressive government, That form of rule is a form of rule that knows the influence of words and typically is a setting where everything is done to control the words that people hear because they don't want people to hear the words of truth and the words of truth about what is taking place and many of the restrictive laws that show up in a setting like that are restrictions on words. Because words can really be powerful in people's lives. Oh, this is good. I knew we could have an open question here today that will take advantage of our setting. Who's Samuel Clemens? Somebody here knows. Mark Twain. OK. And some of us would sit there and go, that sounds familiar. Who is that person? Well, it is Mark Twain. And Mark Twain said these words. Listen carefully. He makes the same point, but in a very different way. He said, be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. The power of words. You read something, you take it to heart, you put it into practice. And in that case, he spoke of how they could lead you astray. In many ways, that's a description of the potential interaction we have with the Internet. where you go on the internet and there are lots of words and we've all been told you have to be careful what you read there because so much of it can be misinformation and it's sometimes purposeful misinformation as people try to take advantage of how we all can respond to words. But today we're going to look at something that is a refraction of the fact that God, who is in fact the author of words, the author of language, more than any other person, understands the significance and the importance and influence of words in people's lives. And for this, there are lots of places we could have turned to, but today I'm going to turn our attention to two different passages. that I think you'll see quickly, really, I believe are intertwined. The one that's printed in the program is taken from James, one verse from the Epistle of James, and it's verse 12, and here James said, and God said through him, but above all, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath But let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may fall, not fall under condemnation. One of those well-known passages of let your yes be yes and your no be no, an address related to our use of words. But the related passage goes back to the Gospel of Matthew and actually comes from the Sermon on the Mount. And it was here that Jesus spoke these words in Matthew chapter five, beginning in verse thirty three. Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God or by the earth, for it is the footstool or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply yes or no. Anything more than this comes from evil." Well, in a very fascinating way, these two verses, when looked at together, are a living illustration in their own of the influence of words. Because, I think it's not a stretch to conclude that James' epistle, written 20 years after the time that Jesus would have given this sermon, was an epistle that was greatly influenced by the words that Jesus spoke in this sermon 20 years earlier. Two passages, I think, is an illustration of that. And there's actually a couple of other places that are a clear reflection that it was Jesus's words in this sermon that 20 years later still lived in a way that James, the apostle, would write. James, the brother of Jesus, would write these words. One example, Jesus said in the sermon, ask and it shall be given to you. And James wrote, let him ask God who gives. Another example, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? And James said, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of light. Well, some may say, well, you know, James was most likely the half-brother of Jesus. And, you know, he was probably there for that sermon, probably heard it. And yeah, it did make an impact on him, so much so that years later, as he wrote his own epistle to Christians, that much of what he said was still impacted by those words that he heard. But it's interesting. People aren't sure if James really would have been hanging around Jesus during Jesus's earthly ministry. If you were to go into the scriptures and check out James, James begins to show up actually after the resurrection. James is a person who clearly reflected a belief and trust in Christ. It's not a James who followed Jesus around. It came after the resurrection. Actually, to the point where James became an important, significant leader in the church in Jerusalem. But he's largely a no-show, at least in writing, during the gospel time. So, was James at the sermon? We don't know. And one of the possibilities is that he wasn't there. which in its own ways illustrates, maybe even further, the power of the words that Jesus spoke when he gave that first sermon, that it made such an imprint upon those who did hear it, such an imprint on those who had become the first believers, That it was just entwined into the life of the early church, so that when James, if you will, did get his act together, and when he had the opportunity as a leader of the church to write a book, those words were still so alive that they showed up in this epistle that he would write. But the real question, I think, for us as we consider these verses is to really ask the question, what was it? that Jesus was seeking to say, and then James in his epistle, about words as he taught in the Sermon on the Mount, and then as James would reflect these things years later. And one thing that would tend to jump out, and maybe as you've heard these verses read, or read them, the one thing that jumps out is that Jesus says, and James really repeats it, he says, do not take an oath. And James would repeat that his own way, saying, Do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. Well, there are Christians who have lived throughout the history of the church who have on hearing those words come to certain conclusions, and the conclusions that they have come to is that under no circumstances should I ever take an oath. So that. current day illustration, if they were called to testify in court, what happens if you're called to testify in court? Well, before you give your words, somebody shows up usually with the Bible in hand. And do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? So help me, God. And you swear an oath. Well, such Christians with that perspective will refuse to take that oath. and out of conscience, and it's good that they don't, being persuaded that that was the conclusion to be drawn from these words. I think another illustration is such a person with such views, in most cases, would have a very hard time becoming a public servant, because most public servants, before they take office, we say are sworn into office. They take an oath. And unless they take that oath, We won't let them serve, so if that's the conclusion one comes to, that is one of the consequences that come there. But the question that really is surfacing, and should be surfacing, is that really the correct way to view these statements? And I think most biblical scholars would say that really isn't the complete understanding of what Jesus was saying here. that in some ways that's an over-reading of the words of Jesus and of James at this point. And they say that because it was really a certain kind of oath-taking that Jesus was addressing here. It was a certain kind of oath-taking that he had a real problem with and that he was seeking to address with these words. And this oath-taking that was a practice of his days was something that was happening because of certain teachings by the Pharisees and religious teachers of that day. And these religious teachers had made an art form of taking oaths, but not for the reasons that we might think of taking oaths. The reason they developed certain oaths, and not just certain oaths, but the way of taking those oaths, was not so that the oath could be kept, but they made these oaths so that they would not have to keep the words which they had just stated. For example, A person might take an oath and swear to God who is in heaven or, by a lesser appeal, might have sworn to the gray hairs or the gray hairs that are left in my head. I swear this oath. In Jesus, he talks about making oaths related to hairs on your head, whether they be black or gray. So I'm sort of making that oath up, but who knows what that is an exact reference to. But that oath is made. to some entity, and you say, I swear by the gray hairs left on my head that I will meet you at five o'clock today. Well, in saying that, the oath was stated in such a way and developed in such a way that in reality, the concern wasn't on showing up at five o'clock. The concern was in the appearance that was made to those who were hearing the oath. It was a concern that they sounded good. And it was said in a way that they really didn't, if you showed up at five, OK, but if you didn't show up at five, you know, no big deal, because it really wasn't the promise that was made. It was the floweriness of the oath that was made. Another example that likely was also taking place is that there were oaths that would be stated. And in certain circumstances, the oath taker would take it and look towards Jerusalem. towards the place where the temple was. And if you swore an oath in that way, facing Jerusalem, those were words that you should keep. But if you didn't really want to worry about the words that you kept, you turned and faced a different direction. You'd swear the same oath. You'd use the same words. But by not looking towards Jerusalem, you, in theory, were left off the hook of having to keep the promises that you had just made. It was, in fact, a very calculated, orchestrated way led by the Pharisees to cheapen words and to be more concerned about outward appearances than the real substance of what was said before people and ultimately, really, what was said before God. Well, as you hear that talked about, we really don't have anything quite like that, I think, going on around us. But my guess is, as you've thought about this cheapening of words and this lack of concern to keep the promises that have been made, you've begun to think about present-day situations where, in fact, you know, the same thing happens. Because the truth is, the cheapening of words is a result of men's rebellion towards God that has lived with us, really, since the time of Adam and Eve. I know one of the examples that came to my mind was the fact that there are certain cultures where there is this high premium placed on trying to please a person by giving them the answers to questions that you think they want to hear. It doesn't matter whether it's the right answer to the question, You think they want to hear a certain answer. That's the answer that you give them. So that if you're in that sort of setting and that sort of culture, and you go up and say, how do you get to Joe's Pizza Shop? And they think he wants an answer of how to get to Joe's Pizza Shop. But I've never heard of Joe's Pizza Shop, and I don't know where it is. But you proceed to tell them, go down this street, turn left, go another three blocks, and there will be Joe's Pizza Shop. They think they've made you happy. But they've told you something that is absolutely not true. And if you are like we are, you take them at face value, go off and you obviously discover that, you know, they didn't know what they were talking about. Well, I'm not sure that that happens for that reason all that much in our society. But I do think there are people that if you ask them for directions and they know they don't know it, sometimes they'll go, ah, is this my chance to get this person? And for really worse motives than trying to please someone, they give you false information just to give you a hard time. So that may be one illustration. Another that comes to mind is something that I bet every one of us, or most every one of us, has already done today. How many people have you asked today, how are you? And how many of those people did you ask counting on spending the next five minutes hearing how they really work. Yeah, we all do that. Most of us do that. And in reality, it's not meant harmfully. How are you has sort of become a greeting for us. I'm not that late. Excuse me, Duff will go get them. This is a good illustration. In staff meeting we talked about, well they not worked during these meetings. And we were told they went to work during these meetings. And they've cheapened their words and they're running their saws. There's a living illustration. But anyway, we ask folks how they are and often we really don't mean it at that level. In fact, I know that sometimes when I really do want to know how somebody is, I'll go up and say, how are you really? You know, you kind of have to say, I mean it this time. And that's how we live with the cheapening of our own words sometimes. And of course, this can become far more serious. And we see it all around us. And the one place that we really do see it is related to, for example, the taking of marriage vows. I have no perfect insight into this, but I think we're all led to believe that there was a day, and it wasn't that long ago, that most people who took wedding vows, when they took those vows, from their perspective, thought, these are vows I want to keep. Now, life has its twists and turns, and who knows how it unfolded, but at least when they stood there and took those vows, For the most part, they were words said with the intent of keeping those vows. But we know today that's not necessarily the case. We hear stories of people who take those vows and, you know, they do this as their way of saying, I'm not sure I really want to keep these, but they say the words to fit the outward performance. Or there are people who take the vows and inwardly they're thinking, well, yeah, as long as, you know, he's still behaves, or you know, whatever. There is this diminished intention to keep the words that are said, a cheapening of the words. I actually peeked at the internet and discovered there's a real acknowledgement of that, to the point where what some people do is they change the vows. And, you know, in one sense, well, at least they're not cheapening the words. The truth is that is a real undermining of marriage and what's taking place there. But it's the sort of place that we see illustrated the fact that words can be given for outward reasons without the serious intent to keep them. So what is it that Jesus says to us in such a situation? Well, he says, don't take oaths, if that's the reason you're doing it. And more to the heart of the matter, he says, let your yes be yes and your no be no. It is a call on his part for us to be people who are truth tellers, who are truthful with our words, who at least as much as we can, try to mean what we mean. And this is really, in some ways, important in and of itself. There will come a day where we will be held accountable for God for lots of things, including our words. And Jesus himself said, come the day where every careless word will give account for it. That doesn't give us pause. There's hardly anything that will. But there are even more, I think, important implications of this, particularly for Christians, because it really begins to address the credibility of not only our word, but the credibility of the things that we might begin to want to say about those things which are most important in life, particularly Jesus. I was a college student, the best I can remember, and a person who was older and a believer, and out of very good motives, I really do believe that, came up and said to me one day that I was a person who was reliably unreliable. And you're shaking your head, but she was right. She was reflecting to me that at that juncture in my life, that there were many things that I would say, but not do. And that the one thing she viewed in me as being reliable was my ability to be unreliable. But what if over 30 years later, I, as some of your pastors and friends of others, if that was still true? What kind of credibility would my interaction with you have if that was the given lifestyle that I still had? What credibility would I have in moments like this, where I'm speaking about the Word of God or about Jesus Christ? And it's not just pastors. The truth is, for all of us who would call on the name of Christ, The credibility of our truthfulness with our words affects, ultimately, our ability to tell folks about the things that are most important, namely Jesus Christ. Now, we all stumble and fall, and our best intentions come up short. We all know that. But people can pick up the general patterns of our lives and they know whether we are folks who are seeking to be truth tellers and of letting our yes be yes and our no be no. But there's actually even one deeper level to all this that is really fascinating and significant all in the same breath. Because when we go to the world and try to tell them that there's a God who is there, And we seek to tell them that there is a God who not only is there but has communicated, has spoken, spoken in words. But not only is He there and has He spoken, but this God who has spoken has made promises. He has made covenant and divine oaths. And not only has he made him, but here's what is most important. He is a God who has kept every promise that he's ever made or will keep every promise he has ever made. And if he is a God who has kept his word perfectly, then you can trust him. So when we begin to talk about the importance of the truthfulness of words, we are addressing the very character and heart of who God is. And actually, Paul brings these things, I think, all together in a fascinating few sentences from his letter to the second Corinthians. He evidently was writing this because there were people who questioned his words and his truthfulness of words, and he links comments about his words to really, to the message that we have as Christians. He said this, Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say yes, yes, and no, no at the same time? In other words, he was saying, Do I cheapen my words like many people in the world do? Paul goes on to say, As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been yes and no, For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, was not yes or no, but in him it was always yes. For all the promises of God find their yes in him. God is a promise maker. God is a promise maker who has kept all his promises. And the ultimate expression of his promise keeping is in Jesus Christ. And as we seek to be faithful to him and honor him with our lives, there's a call there, directly and even indirectly, that we represent him as people who also take our word seriously, that our yes be yes and our no be no. Let's close in prayer. Lord, we thank you for these moments again together. the fact that you do grant us rich fellowship with your people, and that you stir and simulate us by the truthfulness of your word. And we praise you that even as people who know that this is your word and trust it, that you can help us trust it even more, even as we trust Jesus Christ more. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.