A Closed Mouth

So during the Thanksgiving season, most of us have our thoughts on what food we can stuff into our mouths. After all, I built an entire sermon a couple of weeks ago around my Grandma Orvin's dressing.

Today, the Lord has been dealing with me about a closed mouth. I am certain there are many times, every day that you are faced with situations where you just want to lash out... where you want to respond to other people's thoughtlessness and disrespect with your own vitriolic rant. I hear it all the time. I see it on Facebook every day (several times a day). I am often guilty, too.

I suppose the bigger question is: is this an appropriate frame of mind for the Christ-follower? I think the obvious answer is no. However, we are humans with human emotions. People hurt us and we want to get back at them. We want them to hurt, too. Most times, our vitriol has nothing to do with the person we are unloading on. You have heard the addage: hurt people hurt people.

How do we adjust? How do we deal with this? Is it even possible? Let's look at Jesus for our answers. After being taken prisoner by the Jewish Council, the High Priests were conspiring to trump up charges against Him. Mark 14.60-62a (The Message):

^60-61In the middle of this, the Chief Priest stood up and asked Jesus, "What do you have to say to the accusation?" Jesus was silent. He said nothing.
   The Chief Priest tried again, this time asking, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?"
 ⁶²Jesus said, "Yes, I am, and you'll see it yourself."

Jesus was being accussed of all sorts of things that were not true. People were conspiring to physically and literally KILL Him. Still, He controlled His tongue. First, in the wake of the lies, He was silent. Then, after careful deliberation, He simply spoke the truth... no elaboration, only truth. He did not pick and choose Scripture to somehow show He was "right" and everyone else was "wrong." He simply spoke truth, and He spoke it to the right people, not random folks.

See, Jesus understood something that often alludes us (me especially). No amount of ranting and raving would change the circumstances. He was innocent, and He knew it. No amount of tearing His accusers to shreads (publicly or privately) would change anything or help the situation. He knew that what was happening was for a greater good. See, He was particiating in humanity's tendency to do the wrong thing, then God turning that into His own glory.

At vC, we are doing something similar with the Complaint Jar. Our whining and complaining will be turned into blessing for kids in Jamaica. If we can see how this is a good thing, can we not also see how God can turn our negative circumstances into an opportunity to increase our faith and bring glory to Himself?

Here is the kicker... a little while later, as Jesus is SUFFERING through His crucifixion, He actually asks God to forgive those who have hurt Him.  See Luke 23.24. He knew that God would be glorified if He (Jesus) was obedient. He knew that the choices made by His persecuters would be turned to bring honor to Himself.

I have talked about this before, but it is a matter of changing our default, by the power of the Holy Spirit. When hurt, our default is to become defensive and lash out. This often makes matters even worse. Jesus' default was silence, then truth, then forgiveness. Never once, even in the midst of His suffering, did He verbally attack, demean or belittle His persecuters... not even passive-aggressively on Facebook.

Today, I am thankful for Jesus' example of a closed mouth. I want to be more like Jesus.

Pastor Brian