WORDS TO THE WISE: Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Matthew 7:21-23
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Introduction
William Sloan Coffin, one-time pastor of RiversideChurch in New York City, tells the story of a friend of his who as a little girl visited her grandmother in a little town in the South. She attended a very emotional religious service where people expressed their feelings by jumping about and shouting. It was a completely new experience for her, and she asked her grandmother if all the activity really meant that people were being touched by the Spirit or whether they were just having a high emotional release.
Her grandmother spoke a profound thing. “Honey,” she said, “it doesn’t matter how high they jump up, it’s what they do when they come down that will tell you if it’s the real thing.”
I want to talk about ‘the real thing’ today. I want to talk about what we do when we land back down on our feet. I want to talk about actions speaking louder than our words.
That little theme of action is heard in life in many times and ways:
Remember the Nike commercials? “Just do it.”
“All talk and no do…” says volumes about a person’s character.
“Put your money where your mouth is…” speaks about our willingness to act on belief.
“After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done…” says we too often fail to put our feet on our thoughts.
And it was Lewis Cass who said, “People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.”
It was the Pot-Impressionist painter, Vincent van Gogh who told someone, “I dream my painting, and than I paint my dream.” That is the thought of our Lord today in our text. It is putting onto the canvas of our lives the dream of the kingdom, it is to act. As Jesus says in our text today: “he who does the will of my Father in heaven…” is the one who catches the kingdom.
Are you acting it out? When your feet hit the ground what do you do? Are you painting the dream on the canvas by action?
- It is easy to be Apathetic instead of One who Acts.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Verse 21.
I want to ask you a question this morning. Would you consider this world a dangerous place? If so, why? Because of evil in the world? Is it because of terrorism? Is it because of those in this world who would use violence to achieve their ends? It is because of free will that enables people to drink and drive and hence kill other’s on the road? What makes this world dangerous?
Albert Einstein considered this world a dangerous place and it wasn’t because of the evil he saw in abundance around him. It was for a different reason. Listen to this quote:
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but
Because of those who look on and do nothing.”
Inaction is sometimes worse than action that is wrong. That’s the idea of Einstein. It is so very, very easy to sit back and do nothing.
But there is a problem with that. The problem with that is spoken of by Pastor Martin Niemoller who lived in Germany during the rise of the Nazi era. He himself had been an early supporter of Hitler, but by 1934 Niemoller had come to oppose them. It was only because of his connection that saved him until 1937 when he was imprisoned in Dachau in a concentration camp. He survived to be a leading voice for the German recovery after WWII. He wrote a poem about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the rise of the Nazi party to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. Today you can find it inscribed on a stone in the New England Holocaust Memorial. Here is that poem:
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
There was no one left to speak out.
Don’t forget the power of action, even action by one single person in time. Jesus makes a distinction between those who talk and those who do. One anonymous author put it this way:
One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey,
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true.
One life can make the difference
IT'S UP TO the one, you!
- It is Easy to Have Appearance Without Being Authentic.
“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness!” Verses 22-23.
Things aren’t always what they seem. Things aren’t always the way they appear. We can look one way, but be very different. Jesus condemns those who have the appearance without the actions. They look one way but don’t know him or his heart very well.
Appearances can be deceptive. Charles Swindoll pointed that out in a comical way one day in a speech. Listen to him tell the story:
“On one of my birthdays my sister gave me a full-face rubber mask…one of those crazy things you slip over your entire head. She told me she’d give me ten dollars if I’d wear it into the pulpit one Sunday (my kids raised it to fifteen dollars), but I just couldn’t do it! One night I wore it to a speaking engagement. Without explanation, I just stood up and began to speak on being authentic. There I stood pressing on, making one statement after another as the place came apart at the seams. Why? Anybody knows why! My mask canceled out everything I had to say, especially on that subject. It’s impossible to be very convincing while you wear a mask. I finally pulled the thing off and the place settled down almost immediately. As soon as it did, everybody got the point. It’s a funny thing, when we wear literal masks, nobody is fooled. But how easy it is to wear invisible ones and fake people out by the hundreds week after week.”
Is your life authentic? Or are we living like the Greek actors long ago who wore huge masks through which they spoke their lines. Those masks in the Greek were called hypocritos. We get the word hypocrite from this.
Is your life authentic? Or is it all about appearances?
- Life is Best Lived Overcoming Apathy with Authentic Action!
Who enters the Kingdom? Those who do the will of the Father. Verse 21
We have been given the keys to authenticity in chapters 5 up to this chapter in our study and sermons on the Sermon on the Mount. How can I summarize them? It’s difficult to do, but I’ll try:
- Look Up! You are not alone. Your life has meaning when you look up. You find strength when you look up. You find a message to live when you look up. God the King reigns! Look up!
- Look Within! The law of love will be found there when God seeks to place it.
- Look Around! You are not alone. Your life has meaning when you connect with those about you! The way you treat others is paramount to our Creator God.
Listen to how Joseph Bayly puts it in this poetry from his book Psalms of My Life:
A PSALM OF SINGLE-MINDEDNESS
Lord of reality
make me real
not plastic
synthetic
pretend phony
an actor playing out his part
hypocrite.
I don't want
to keep a prayer list
but to pray
nor agonize to find Your will
but to obey
what I already know
to argue
theories of inspiration
but submit to Your Word.
I don't want
to explain the difference
between eros and philos
and agape
but to love.
I don't want
to sing as IF I mean it
I WANT TO MEAN IT.
I don't want
to tell it like it is
BUT TO BE IT
like YOU want it.
I don't want
to think another needs me
but I need him
else I'm not complete.
I don't want
to tell others HOW to do it
but to do it
to have to be always right
but to admit it WHEN I'm wrong.
I don't want to be a census taker
but an obstetrician
nor an involved person, a professional
BUT A FRIEND.
I don't want to be insensitive
but to hurt where other people hurt
nor to say I know HOW you feel
but to say GOD KNOWS
and I'll try
if you'll be patient with me
and meanwhile I'll be quiet.
I don't want to scorn the clichés of others but to mean everything I say including this!
from Joseph Bayly, PSALMS OF MY LIFE
Live a life of authentic action!
Conclusion
Now that is our job, to live authentic active lives. There is a very well-known story of a young boy in Austria giving his first professional recital. He studied very hard for years under the guidance of one of the great masters of violin in all of Europe. The boy had tremendous talent, and he had learned his lessons well. As he stood on the stage before an audience of hundreds, he performed with confidence and skill. Following each piece, the crowd cheered loudly. And yet the young man seemed not to notice their expressions of approval. At the conclusion of the recital, the entire audience rose as one to give the young performer a standing ovation. They shouted “Bravo” and “Encore!” Other words of praise and appreciation came. However, the young musician seemed not to even hear them. Instead, he stood looking up into the balcony where an old, withered man sat looking back down at him. Finally, the old gentleman smiled and nodded his head in approval. Only then did the boy seem to relax, his face beamed with joy. You see, the cheers of the crowd meant nothing to him without the approval of his teacher, the old gentleman in the balcony, the master teacher.
I look for the nod of the Master – Jesus – to a life that is lived looking up, looking within, and looking around. Are you looking for that nod too? A life authentically lived will get that nod.