Prayer

God of timeless grace,
you fill us with joyful expectation.
Make us ready for the message that prepares the way,
that with uprightness of heart and holy joy
we may eagerly await the kingdom of your Son, Jesus Christ,
who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Scripture

Matthew 12:33-37

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ³⁶ I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, ³⁷ for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Meditation

Have you ever misspoke?  Have you ever said something and the minute your ears hear it come out of your mouth you wish you had never said it?  Have you ever thought you were having a thought only to find out you had expressed it out load? “Did I just say that out loud?”

We hear or have even said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”  We know full well that words can do much more than hurt.  They can destroy.  They can tear apart our relationships.  The words we say to ourselves can condemn us.  Careless words erupt or explode leaving devastation behind.

In the in between, the now and not yet, we get trapped in our words.  We justify ourselves with them.  We defend ourselves with them.  We position ourselves above others with them.  We build up and tear down.  We whisper the words of shame to ourselves; the lie of our failures.

One word is all that we need in the in between, the now and not yet.  One word, the one who became flesh and dwelt among us; Jesus is our word.  He is the word that does not condemn.  He is the Word that takes our carelessness and replaces it with His purposefulness.  He is the word that transforms our hearts to speak good out of the overflow of His good.