Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The scriptures referred to are mentioned in the text.

Small children tend to believe what adults or even older children tell them. They trust people and they trust in the power of words. And then comes the day when they realize that people can say one thing and do something else. Or do nothing. And as their heart breaks, they say, “But you promised!” And they learn they cannot trust everyone and they cannot always trust in words. They learn that actions speak louder than words.

In the first chapter of Genesis, there is no difference between God saying something and doing it. He said, “Let there be light!” and there was light. That's how he creates for the most part: he says it and it is so. Then he goes about separating things and putting them in order. God is active. His Word is active.

A peculiar thing happens, though, when humans are involved. God tells them not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, saying, “for when you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Yet when they break this rule, the only prohibition in the world, they do not die—physically. You can argue that they die spiritually. But we see God act mercifully. The humans do become mortal. They are barred from eating the fruit of the tree of life. But God not only lets them live, he clothes them. That is grace, God's undeserved goodness towards us. It is the first of many times when God is merciful and gracious. When Cain kills his brother, God banishes him. When Cain worries that someone will now kill him in return, God puts a special mark on him that protects him. The first murderer doesn't deserve this. It is God's grace. (Genesis 4:10-15)

When God promises good things, he fulfills those promises. He promises Abraham that he will be the father of many nations and that the world will be blessed through him. (Genesis 12:2-3) And the Old Testament shows how God works through the descendants of Abraham all the way through David to carry this out. This climaxes in Jesus Christ, the descendant of David, the Son of God.

Last week we talked about how Jesus' death saved us from what our sin would ordinarily result in: spiritual death and exile from God's presence. But if Jesus' story simply ended with his atoning death, we wouldn't be here worshipping. Socrates was unjustly condemned to death and forced to drink poison. And while he gets a lot of respect as a philosopher, not a lot of people go around today saying they are followers of Socrates. There are many martyrs throughout history. We may honor them and quote some of their sayings but we don't radically change our lives. Their words have some power but their death shows that they were simply mortals, only a bit more insightful than others.

Jesus said a lot of things that people like, such as “Treat others as you would like them to treat you,” (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31) and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31; Matthew 22:39; Luke 10:27). But Jesus also said things a lot of people don't like, such as “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6) and “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23 and 14:27) These are just some of the things that many people wish Jesus never said. Because they demand that we do things that are hard. We are to follow only Jesus. And we must do so by denying all rights to ourselves, and carrying with us something that could mean our death and following in his footsteps. That's asking a lot of us—too much in the eyes of some.

So if we are going to go that far, we might ask Jesus to show us that he means those things. Actions speak louder than words.

And he does. Jesus asked his disciples to leave their homes and their families for his sake. (Matthew 19:29) And we see that Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth. (Matthew 4:13) He left his family (Mark 3:31-35). He had no home and often just camped out in the wilderness. (Mark 1:45; Luke 9:58) He does what he says we should do.

Jesus said, “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35) And he did. At the last supper before his death, he washed all the feet of all the disciples, including Judas. (John 13:2-5) He celebrated the first Lord's Supper, declaring the bread and wine his body and blood and giving them to all his disciples, including Judas. (Luke 22:14-21) And from the cross he said of those who were in the process of executing him, “Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) He does what he said to do.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) And he raised the dead: Jairus' daughter (Matthew 9:18-25; Mark 5:22-43; Luke 8:41-55), the son of the widow at Nain (Luke 7:11-15), and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). And, after Jesus predicted his death and resurrection at least 3 times (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:32), God did indeed raise him from the dead. He did what he said he would. This confirmed that Jesus was more than just a philosopher or a prophet. This meant his words were more than just the ravings of a cult leader or would-be messiah. His resurrection vindicated all he had said. He was truly God's Anointed One. And more. He was God's Word made flesh.

And resurrection was a promise made long before Jesus. There aren't a lot of references to resurrection in the Old Testament but they are there. Job says, “As for me, I know that my redeemer lives, and in the end he will stand upon the earth. After my skin is destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another.” (Job 19:25-27) Isaiah says, “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” (Isaiah 26:19) Daniel says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2) And in Jesus we see that resurrection isn't just wishful thinking but a promise that our merciful and gracious God fulfills.

Of course there are skeptics. We don't have it on video. But that's true of everything in the ancient past. Everything we know about the historical past is based on archeology, which is the discovery and study of rubbish, ruins and remains, and on writings which have survived. And the earliest writings we have about Jesus, Paul's letters, were written only about 20 years after Jesus' crucifixion. And in every one of the letters that he wrote to the churches he proclaims that God raised Jesus from the dead. In his first letter to the Corinthians he gives us the earliest account of Jesus' resurrection appearances. “For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) Did you notice him saying that of the 500 who saw the risen Jesus, most were still alive? That is in effect saying, “If you don't believe me, go ask any or all of them.” I think the reason the gospels were written later was because eyewitnesses to the risen Jesus, like Peter and Paul, were being martyred and people like John Mark, who worked with both men, decided he must write down what they remembered about Jesus' life and teachings. Matthew, Luke and John followed his lead.

Secular historians won't say that Jesus rose from the dead but some will admit it is hard otherwise to explain why the shameful death of a construction worker in a relatively unimportant part of the Roman empire didn't bring his movement to an end the way it did those of other leaders. It becomes even less understandable when you consider that the first people to say he was alive were martyred and that eventually it became dangerous even to say you were his follower. Yet the might of the largest, most merciless empire of the time could not crush this movement. Within 300 years even the emperor was a Christian. 2000 years later 2.3 billion or 31% of the people in the world say they are Christians.

God backed up Jesus' words with the most spectacular action imaginable: he raised him from the dead. And how did his followers respond? By taking action, telling everyone who Jesus is, what he did for us and what he can do in us through his Spirit.

What should our response be? To take Jesus seriously and do what he said to do: love God and everyone else, whether neighbor or enemy. Love each other as he loves us. (John 13:34-35) And to go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Unfortunately we have treated Jesus as if he were our mascot rather than our Master. We have not acted as his disciples but rather as dilettantes, showing mild interest in his teachings rather than serious intent to put them into practice. When what he said comes off as too idealistic for us, we treat him like a crazy uncle, a member of our kin, rather than our King.

God not only speaks to us but he acts. His Word took flesh and his words became actions. And so he doesn't want us to merely serve him with our lips but also with our lives.

Jesus' brother, James, says “Be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourself.” (James 1:22) He also says, “Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works.” (James 2:18) He may be remembering how his brother Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) Every time we say the prayer Jesus taught us, we say, “May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

Jesus said that God's will is that we put our trust in him. If your doctor says “Stop drinking and smoking or you will die” and you trust him, you do what he says. If you were in a burning building and a fireman said, “Follow me and I will save you,” and you decide to trust him, you would follow him no matter how scary the way he was leading you looked. Jesus says, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 6:23-24) If we truly believe in him, we will disown all rights to our way, take up our crosses daily and follow him.

Jesus said, “For this is the will of my Father—for everyone who looks on the Son and trusts in him to have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:40) That's a huge promise. But Jesus can back it up. Actions speak louder than words. And on this day, many years ago, God raised Jesus from the dead. And when his followers saw him, the victim on the cross who had become the victor over death, they acted and turned the world upside down. (Acts 17:6)

Do we trust him? Are we willing to act on his promise? Are we willing to share our hope with a world drowning in despair? Are we willing to proclaim the good news not only with our lips but with our lives?

And what is that good news?

Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!