The Word is Near You

Romans 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)…

The Word is near you

            In your mouth

                        In your heart

The word is near you in your mouth

            In your mouth?

                        In YOUR mouth?

Yes, in your mouth, the mouth that spits, chews, the mouth that bites, consumes

                        In YOUR mouth?

The mouth that gossips, curses, swears, lies, THAT mouth?

            Yes, the word is near you, in your mouth

Ezekiel, Ezekiel, eat this scroll

                                    Eat this scroll and tell me what you taste.

Is it hate, spite, bitterness, intolerance?

            No, the word is in my mouth and it tastes sweeter than honey

The Word is Jesus, in your mouth and

            He

                        Must

                                    Be

                                                There.

He is there among the gossip, venom, spit and anger.

            It is the Word that is there to forgive, to love, to change

He is there because he has to be…

            He is there to be Confessed, Consumed and to Save

The Word is near you

            In your mouth

                        In your heart

The Word is near you in your heart.

            In your heart?

                        In YOUR heart?

You know the darkness in your heart

            You know the evil that lurks in the depths of your heart

                        You know what is in the deep places that no one knows

The word is in your heart?

            From out of the heart comes all manner of evil things

                        Lust, greed, hate, pride, darkness, bitterness, envy

The word is near you, in your heart

            He

                        Has

                                    To

                                                Be.

The Word is Jesus and he has to be in the midst of the filth

            In the midst of the darkness and the sin

If he’s not there, there’s no hope

                                                No hope

The Lord, The Word, Jesus is in your heart

            The heart that is the holder of faith

                        The faith that rescues

                                    The word that cleanses

The Word in your heart, Jesus

            Is life everlasting

The Word is near you

            Jesus is near you

                        He is in your mouth

                                    He is in your heart.

A Little Goes A Long Way

Luke17:5-6 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

5-hour energy drink. It’s a tiny little energy drink that packs quite a wallop. A little bit goes a long way. Computers have gotten smaller and smaller, yet are faster and more powerful than they ever were. A little bit goes a long way. A lot of cars have gotten smaller too. Fuel economy and alternative energy tends to make things a bit smaller. And when it comes to gas in those cars the goal is to make a little bit go a long way.

The disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. What did they mean by that? Well, Jesus had just laid down a pretty tall order for forgiveness. It’s not something that we are inclined to do too readily even once, but Jesus says to them that they are to forgive someone 7 times in a single day. A little bible number code here. 7 is a number of completion and so forgiveness of seven times means forgiveness for every time. Complete forgiveness every time. “We’re gonna need more faith for that, Jesus.” And Jesus response, “A little goes a long way.”

Forgiveness is not something that we, any of us, are very good at. We are more likely to either brush off what happened with a casual, “It’s ok.” Or we may hold a grudge and not forgive someone for what happened. And to hear Jesus say that we must forgive completely each and every time someone asks for it and perhaps even if they don’t ask for it is perhaps a little ludicrous. Complete forgiveness, every time, for everything? Impossible… Luke 18:27, Jesus said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.

See, that’s what Jesus is saying. A little faith goes a long way. That little faith that comes to us as a gift from God. That’s all we need. Because really, it’s not our faith that matters, it’s the faith of Jesus that matters. His faith is what works inside each of us. If it were left up to me, it would all fall apart and forgiveness would never happen. It’s not me. It’s not you. It’s Jesus. And that’s all we need.

A little goes a long way. How much faith do we need? Faith like a child, faith like a mustard seed. Tiny, tiny. For those who think that you need to pray harder, believe more, have more faith… no. Tiny faith. If you have faith like a mustard seed you can do amazing things. Jesus will do amazing things through you. And the most amazing thing is not raising the dead, miraculous healings, speaking in tongues or any of the flashy stuff. The most amazing thing is simple forgiveness because a little forgiveness goes a long way. Doesn’t it? Literally speaking, a little forgiveness reaches all the way to heaven. Jesus said in John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven.” That means when we forgive the sins of someone else, they actually are forgiven. How amazing is that? What more do you want?

Today, that forgiveness comes to me and you. In the Lord’s Supper today, forgiveness comes and the food we need to strengthen the little faith we have. And look, the wafer is a little bread and the cup is a little wine. A little goes a long way. Do you need to drink all of the wine or eat all of the bread? No. A little goes a long way. It’s the little energy shot that replaces the giant can of sugar water. You don’t need any more than that. Because, as my professor Dr. Nagel used to say, “God does not work in fractions.” When he says the body and blood are shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins, it’s complete, total. That little bit goes a long way.

            Ultimately, the most amazing little bit going a long way is Jesus himself. One man, one cross, three nails, one Friday afternoon, one empty tomb. One Holy Spirit. One for all mankind for all time, for all eternity. The little bit goes the longest way. Amen.