Sermon Tone Analysis

Proverbs

 

! Introduction

            A period of silence followed by saying “sound, isn’t it an amazing thing?”

There are a lot of things that make sound.

By taping on the pulpit, I make a sound.

The musical instruments make a sound.

Have you ever tried to sing into a piano?

Without even touching the piano, you can make it make a sound because of sympathetic vibrations.

Whenever we open our mouths, and force air through our vocal chords, we make a sound.

How old is a child before the sounds they make are more than sounds?

It is interesting watching a child grow up and begin to discover their voice and all the different parts that make sound more than crying.

They discover their vocal cords as soon as they are born, but then later they discover that their tongue and their teeth and their lips and the way they shape their mouths and the volume of air that passes through their vocal cords makes a difference in the sound they make.

When do their sounds begin to have meaning?

When do they begin to form sounds that are intended to communicate different ideas?

When do the thoughts in their mind begin to be expressed through the sounds that come out of their mouth?

Somewhere along the line, the wonder of sound becomes the wonder of communication.

We learn to talk and to express what is going on in our mind and also in our heart.

That is where the trouble starts.

Last week, I had a little conversation with Abby.

Her coos were obviously communicating pleasure.

I suspect that her mother and father know when her voice is communicating other things like frustration and anger.

That doesn’t change as we grow older.

We are able to be an encouragement to others with the same voice that moments later can speak words that can deeply hurt and wound another.

One of the teachers I had when I was in grade 9, used to have a saying.

When things got a little out of hand in the classroom, he would begin to turn red and he would warn us and then he would say “let a word to the wise be sufficient.”

I did see him go beyond this saying a few times, and so when we heard that, we knew that he was serious.

The book of Proverbs has a word to the wise about words.

Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death…” Let us learn the lessons of Proverbs so that our words can bless instead of hurt.

!

I.

The Connection Between Heart and Mouth.

A moment ago, I mentioned that at some point a child discovers that the sounds that come out of its mouth are able to communicate.

It is at that point that the child discovers the connection between what is in our heart, what is in our mind and what comes out of our mouth.

Please turn to Proverbs 10 where in verse 11, 20, 21 and 31, we read about this connection.

There we read that those whose heart is righteous have words that are good.

These verses describe the speech of the righteous in verse 11 as a fountain of life; verse 20 as choice silver; verse 21 as words that nourish many and in verses 31,32 as able to bring forth wisdom.

In each of these verses, the speech of the wicked is contrasted.

If a person has a wicked heart, the speech which comes out is, according to verse 11, violence; verse 20 of little value; verse 21, death and verses 31,32, perverse.

This is a connection that Jesus also made.

In Matthew 15:18 he said, “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart…”

So it is pretty clear that if we want to speak blessing into the lives of others instead of destruction, we will need to begin with a change of heart.

Of course, that is what the gospel is all about.

The first step in changing our words is to have our hearts changed by becoming followers of Jesus.

God is in the business of changing our hearts.

However, even people who are Christians still have a lot of bad word habits.

We continue to need our hearts changed.

If we find that angry outbursts, hurtful words or rash words are pretty common to us, we need to find out what it is in our heart that is producing these words.

Proverbs 16:23 says, “A wise man’s heart guides his mouth…” If we are wise, we will examine our heart to see what is there that is resulting in negative speech patterns.

Do we have jealousy in our heart?

Then it won’t be surprising if we sometimes wound other people with our words.

Do we have anger in our hearts that has not been resolved?

Then it won’t be surprising if angry words come out of our mouth.

Proverbs 29:22 says, “An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.”

Do we have a heart that is impure?

Then it won’t be surprising if we are easily tempted to tell off color jokes.

If we are wise, we will want to learn to know what is in our heart so that we can overcome the sins of the tongue.

If we don’t we will end up destroying and being destroyed.

Proverbs 6:12, 15 warns, “A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth…disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.”

!

II.

Watch Your Mouth!

Of course, discovering what is in our heart is only the starting point.

Growing a pure and loving heart is a life long process which God is engaged in.

At the same time as we have our heart changed, we also need to be aware of the sins of the tongue and avoid them.

Did your parents ever tell you, “watch your mouth?”

Well, that is good advice.

What are the specific areas in which we need to watch our mouth?

!! A. Rash Words

It was his first day on the job.

He was a new clerk in the grocery department of a super market.

A lady came up to him and said she wanted to buy half of a head of lettuce.

He tried to dissuade her from that goal, but she persisted.

Finally he said, "I'll have to go back and talk to the manager."

He went to the rear of the store to talk to the manager, not noticing that the woman was walking right behind him.

When he got into the back of the store, he said to the manager, "There's some stupid old bag out there who wants to buy half a head of lettuce.

What should I tell her?"

Seeing the horrified look on the face of the manager, he turned about and, seeing the woman, added, "And this nice lady wants to buy the other half of the head of lettuce.

Will it be all right?

Although he stuck his foot in his mouth, he recovered quickly, we don’t always.

- Bruce Thielemann, "Because," Preaching Today, Tape No. 105.

How often do we speak words that we wish we could stick back into our mouth?

Perhaps you have heard about the guy who stuck his foot in his mouth so much that they said the only time he opened his mouth was to change feet.

Proverbs has a lot to say about the folly of speaking rashly.

Proverbs 10:10 talks about how “a chattering fool comes to ruin.”

Proverbs 12:18 says “Reckless words pierce like a sword…” Proverbs 12:23, “…the heart of fools blurts out folly.”

In Proverbs 10:19, we are warned that “When words are many, sin is not absent.”

Such foolish speaking takes many forms.

Proverbs 29:20 identifies the person who speaks without thinking when it says, “Do you see a man who speaks in haste?

There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

Such thoughtless words may even sometimes seem like positive words, as for example in Proverbs 25:20 which says, “Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.”

In a similar way, Proverbs 27:14 says, “If a man loudly blesses his neighbour early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.”

Another form of rash words is described in 26:18, 19 when it says, “Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor

and says, “I was only joking!”

We all do it.

Most of us have probably been caught saying things that were inappropriate.

Proverbs 6:1-5 has some good advice for what to do if we have stuck our foot in our mouth.

It says, “…if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.

Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.”

A quick confession and request for forgiveness is the best way to recover from words that are not appropriate.

Of course, it is better still to learn to avoid stepping into such a situation in the first place.

Proverbs advises in 11:12, “…a man of understanding holds his tongue.”

May God helps us to learn to be quiet instead of blurting out folly and hurting others without thinking what we are saying.