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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