East Main
Church of Christ
hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop
He Opened His Mouth
I have a speech problem. It is not a physiological problem – most of the time I can get the sounds and the words out just fine. It is not a knowledge problem. I am capable of engaging in conversation about enough topics to talk to most people. It is not a problem of talking too much (at least I don’t think so). I listen enough to keep a conversation balanced. It is not a problem of using offensive language. It is rather a spiritual focus problem.
Although Jesus said it while condemning the attitude and teaching of the Pharisees, it is true that. “out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks”. (Matt. 12:34). I have to be careful what is in my heart and what I am focused on. There are too many times in my life when I am either in too big a hurry or too distracted to take the time and see
what is in front of me. I am certain that I miss opportunities “open my mouth” and speak an encouraging word, or even tell someone about my faith in God through Christ.
As a congregation all of us need more prayer and study and thought about God. Our faith and thankfulness to God should so fill our lives that it spills over into the this world, so that wherever we are we leave in our wake a pleasing aroma of Christ.
Here is the challenge if you call yourself a Christian. Are you prepared to speak a good word for Jesus when the opportunity arises? I want to point to three texts this morning that have to do with teaching – what to say when given the opportunity. All of them have in common the phrase, “he opened his mouth.” This is not an easy “how to” it is rather a place to start to challenge us to know what to say. If you are saying to yourself “I don’t know what to say”, let me suggest two things: first, study and second, have faith in God.
Matthew chapters 5-7 contain the teachings of Jesus we call the Sermon on the Mount. In 5:2 the text says, “and he opened his mouth and taught them.” That lets us know that these are things that Jesus wanted us to know in order to understand what it means to be a citizen of the kingdom of God. Get the Sermon on the Mount and you get what it means to be a Christian.
Acts 8:26-40 recounts for us the story of Philip’s encounter with an official from Ethiopia. In this case the official was a believer in God who had been to Jerusalem to worship. Philip explained to him – beginning at the Scripture he was reading – the good news of Jesus. If we learn this story we learn that we are to begin with what people already know and teach from there.
Acts 10:34-43 tells us of the teaching of Peter which led to the first recorded Gentile conversion to Christ. The Holy Spirit was working with both Peter and Cornelius to bring together an eager learner and a faithful witness. We can learn from this story that it is God who causes some paths to cross and those with whom we cross paths are not always those whom we would choose. We must be prepared to speak when given the opportunity.
Sean Niestrath
