Monday, September 17, 2012

Reflection: The Tell Tale Tongue (September 16, 2012)

The 16th Sunday After Pentecost
Isaiah 50:4-10; James 3:1-10; Mark 9:14-29


In Edgar Allen Poe’s classic short story “The Tell Tale Heart,” a man commits the perfect murder only to give himself up to the authorities and confess his crime. Why? Because he could hear the heart beat of his victim and it drove him to reveal his crime. While Poe’s story is fictional, it gets close to the point of James 3:1-10 which tells us about a part of our body that reveals our inner sins and exposes our evil thoughts. But rather than the heart, which can be hidden away, James identifies it as the tongue. Through our words we show people our true motives and intents. Even when we watch what we say, we each have a tell tale tongue.
 
Actually, a tell tale tongue can go either way. James focuses on the tongue revealing the evil in us, but Isaiah speaks of “an instructed tongue” that brings God’s Word of hope to people. But the Gospel lesson has the most interesting example of how what is inside of us often comes out through a slip of the tongue — words that we say that we didn’t necessarily think through before speaking them. It happened when a man was seeking relief for his demon possessed son. After Jesus’ disciples tried and failed to heal the boy, the man approached Jesus. His tell tale tongue showed the doubts and weakness that he didn’t dare speak plainly — maybe didn’t even realize were in him. “If you can …” the man said to Jesus, who pounced upon the words to the man’s surprise and horror. His tell tale tongue had given voice to his doubts.

Whether its our weaknesses or our bold sins, when our tongues pour out our doubts, evil thoughts, malicious feelings, etc. they paint an ugly picture of what’s inside of us. Only when we see this are we able to lament our horrible and helpless condition and call out to Jesus to do what no one else can do: deliver us. With the desperate father of the demon possessed boy, we cry out to Jesus, “I do believe. Help me in my unbelief.” Though seemingly nonsensical, this statement captures the conflict in our own hearts — the conflict stemming from what “should not be” but is. “Help me in my unbelief” turns us to our only source of hope and help. It, above everything else that we say, captures what we are like spiritually. It is the bold, confused, and hopeful confession of the tell tale tongue of one whose heart belongs to Jesus.


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