The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

October 13, 2019

Proverbs 25:11

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” That passage from the Proverbs pictures an elaborate piece of jewelry – a sculpted piece of fruit, made from gold, inside an intricate setting of silver. How many thousands of dollars would that be worth? But better than that is to have the right word at the right time. That’s what fitly means here – the right word at the right time.

Words get us in trouble from the moment we start to speak. Angry words, defiant words, crude words, lies when we should tell the truth, the truth when we should keep silent, silence when we should confess.

The Eighth Commandment governs our speech. Turn in your hymnbooks to page 321, and let’s speak the Eighth Commandment together.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

By itself, the commandment is about what we say in court. But all of the commandments are summaries for larger topics. The topic of the Eighth Commandment is our words. The Catechism shows us what unfit words are: lies, betrayal, slander, and anything that harms your neighbor's reputation. What that means is you could tell the truth and still break this commandment. Just because something is true doesn’t mean it needs to be said. 

You can’t unsay words. But you can repent. What words call for your repentance?

Have you betrayed your neighbors by making public their private faults? Repent.

Have you told secrets? Repent.

Are you guilty of rushing to judgment? Do you complain? Do you spread rumors? Repent.

The words of repentance are words fitly spoken.

Who in your life needs defending? That would be a fitly spoken word.

In his Large Catechism, Luther says,

It is a common evil plague that everyone prefers hearing evil more than hearing good about his neighbor. We ourselves are so bad that we cannot allow anyone to say anything bad about us. Everyone would much prefer that all the world should speak of him in glowing terms. Yet we cannot bear that the best is spoken about others.

“Everyone prefers hearing evil.” That’s what keeps cable news in business. That’s what keeps Facebook and Twitter in business. 

What would happen if in your home, you determined that no speech would be allowed unless it involved defending your neighbor, speaking well of him, and explaining everything in the kindest way? How would that transform your text messages? What if slander were forbidden at church meetings? 

I’ve noticed that whenever I want to begin a sentence, “No disrespect, but..”, what inevitably follows is disrespectful. 

So is it ever right to say something negative? Can we ever speak a word of judgment against another person? Here is the hard answer: only if you are the judge. 

So for example, if you are a parent, you can and should, when necessary, speak a word of judgment to your child. But St. Paul admonishes, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). If a crime has been committed, bring it to the police.

What if someone has sinned against you? Jesus says, Go to the person just you and him. The purpose of that meeting is forgiveness, to restore the relationship. If that doesn’t work, then you go again, with one or two other Christians. Only then does it get reported to the congregation. In church literature, this is often called “following Matthew 18.” But the danger is that we see Matthew 18 as the legal process to follow so we can get to the point of judging someone. The goal, Jesus says, is not judgment but forgiveness. Judgment only comes when a person refuses repentance, refuses the way of peace and forgiveness. 

About all of this, Luther says, again in the Large Catechism, 

I can indeed see and hear that my neighbor sins. But I have no command to report it to others. Now, if I rush in, judging and passing sentence, I fall into a sin that is greater than his. But if you know about it, do nothing other than turn your ears into a grave and cover it, until you are appointed to be judge and to punish by virtue of your office.

Often, then, the word fitly spoken is to say nothing. When we must speak, here is the counsel of God’s Word: “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15). The word fitly spoken is always true, and always spoken in love.

All this deals with our words. But what is the fitly spoken word? Into our world of bitter words, idle words, foolish words, angry words, hateful words, comes the Word. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. He is the fitly spoken Word. To you and me today, He speaks four words:

Repent

I forgive you

Go and sin no more

Come to Me, all you who are burdened, and I will give you rest

One Word remains, the last Word for the last day: 

Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom

Jesus is the fitly spoken Word, who speaks good words to us sinners. Let all mortal flesh keep silence before this Word. +INJ+