Shy would not be a word that describes me. I have always loved to talk and interact. I have learned to embrace and be thankful for how God has created me and uses me to fulfill His created purpose for me. I love words and in the Back 9 have enjoyed learning new words and the millennial abbreviations for some words such as SMH, LOL, etc. I have also learned to embrace and enjoy silence.
As a communicator, and seeking to always be a better one, I am enjoying all facets of silence. Being silent and still before God, realizing His voice is soft and gentle, is the best way for me to readily and easily hear His voice. It may not be audible but it is the way He speaks to my spirit. To have quiet all around me is the very best way. I have also really taken the opportunity to do the best I can, with the Lord’s help, to shut my mouth and listen. If my lips are moving, I’m not learning. I thirst to learn. One of many things I have learned is that our lives can be a “silent sermon.”
I can think of at least four times in Scripture when the “silent sermon” was so loud and it still speaks today……
The first is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace when they refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 3:26-28, “Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most high God, come out! Come here!’ So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects and governors and royal advisors crowded around them. They SAW that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched and there was no smell of fire on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘PRAISE BE TO THE GOD OF SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO, who has sent an angel and rescued his servants…'” (emphasis added). The three men did not need to say a thing. It was obvious to all who SAW.
Then there is Mary. John 12:3, “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair.” She said nothing but was criticized by others. What did Jesus say? “’Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ‘It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me’” (John 12:7-8).
You see, Jesus loved that Mary saw the value in using possessions wisely and that she valued her time with Him. It was her “silent sermon.”
Then we have the story in Luke 21:1-4, “As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘Truly I tell you,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’” Wow! One of the most powerful “silent sermons” in all of Scripture to me.
And I love the example Jesus set when the teachers of the law and the pharisees brought before Him a woman caught in adultery. They wanted to stone her and were looking for Jesus to agree. What did Jesus do? “But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his fingers.” As they kept badgering Jesus He finally looked up and said, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her'” (see John 8:6-7).
I am learning so much about the “silent sermons” of our lives. They can be so much more powerful than words. Simply ask yourself, as I have learned to do, “What is my silent sermon today?”
“Whatever we do, we must not treat the Great Commission as the Great Suggestion.” ~Charles Swindoll
Sometimes we need to realize…
Don’t Talk–Just Act,
Don’t Say–Just Show,
Don’t Promise–Just Prove.
How are you using your silent sermons to fulfill the Great Commission?