THE SIN OF SAYING NOTHING Part I
- Robert Boyles
- Jan 29, 2014
- 4 min read
As Easter approaches we should take pause to consider times when we may be guilty of the sin of saying nothing. Many of us feel the quoting of a proverb provides the final word in any argument. As wise as that may seem to be, the best of them give only a one-sided view. They never tell us the whole truth. When we want to do a thing ourselves we may say, “Too many cooks spoil the broth;” when we want help say, “Many hands make light work.” When we think the occasion demands caution we say, “Look before you leap;” but when we want to throw caution to the wind, we say, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
There is another proverb that says, “Silence is golden” giving the impression you are never wrong if you don’t speak. There are occasions however when failure to speak works a far great wrong than could possibly be wrought by even the most bungling word. There are two men mentioned in the New Testament: Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea. They were rich and pious Israelites and both had the honor of being members of the Sanhedrin. These two differed from their fellow members in that they had a friendly attitude toward Jesus. But when the vote was taken which resulted in the crucifixion of Jesus, these two were either were not present or abstained from voting.
After the crucifixion Joseph went to Pilot and begged the body of Jesus in order to give Jesus a decent burial. He came out into the open but it was too late. He ought to have spoken, but did not. In our society today much has changed about morals and standards; what we see on TV and movies is far different from what we could watch forty years ago. You can hear Christians saying, “What is the world coming to?” Truth be told, the time for saying something in many cases has long since passed, the horse is out of the barn. Joseph should have stood for something and often we as Christians should have stood for something as well.
I cannot imagine a man more unhappy than one who had the opportunity to say a fine thing or do a fine thing and failed to take advantage of the opportunity. I do not wonder at Joseph’s braving the scorn of Pilate in asking for the body of Jesus. When you fail to do something you ought to have done (sin of omission), then there is only one way of holding your head and that is something which will prove you are still a man, since you had given a demonstration you are no man at all. We talk a great deal about God forgiving us. That is not the only problem. There is still the other problem of how are we going to forgive ourselves. Joseph of Arimathaea tried to make amends, but it was too late.
I wish to make three points what has transpired?
We have a way of justifying our failure to speak by disparaging the value of words. George Washington had a motto for his life that he endeavored to live by: “Deeds, not words.” One might argue such distinction has no validity.” Many deaf people maintain that speech is more important than anything else in our relationship with each other. The importance of which is none made more apparent than in our basic rights protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, “The Freedom of Speech.” Deaf people go on to say that the total loss of hearing is worse than the loss of sight; that a blind person is cut off from things but a deaf person is cut off from people. In light of this, how can we disconnect the value of what we say, and think it is only what we do that matters?
There is a scene in “The Terrible Meek” where the soldier who has actually crucified Jesus is discussing the deed with the captain who gave the order. The soldier is amazed at the fact Jesus was crucified not for anything He had done, but only because of something He had said. The soldier felt it was too bad for a person to come to that and just for using a few words. The captain answers: “There is great power in words. All the things that ever get done in the world, good or bad, are done by words.” Our words whether we care to admit it or not are a revelation of our personality. The words that people speak get them out in the open. We never talk about anything, with ourselves quite left out. Just look on Twitter, FACEBOOK, the newspaper, the internet, blogs, books, and Television. What we say (or write) reveals our philosophy on life and in part our attitude towards others. In the President’s State of the Union address the words are spoken, spun by the analysts, and left to the listener to decide what action or course to follow.
Words are given to constitute the forerunner of deeds. Keeping silent when we ought to speak can never be justified by persuading ourselves that words do not count.
Point #2 tomorrow God willing.