Thursday, June 2, 2016
When I was a young man, a very popular song entitled “You Talk Too Much” stayed in the top ten for a long time. The song was written by Fats Domino’s brother in law but since he turned it down, a fellow by the name of Joe Jones recorded it and reaped it’s rewards. If Fats Domino had recorded it, it may have been as big as “Blueberry Hill.” It’s first stanza says: “You talk too much / You worry me to death / You talk too much / You even worry my pet / You just talk, talk too much.” When I catch myself talking too much, I often remember that old time tune.
The songwriter may have not been aware of it but it’s message is quite biblical. Proverbs10:19 says: “Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.” The Good News Translation (GNT) says it this way: “The more you talk, the more likely you are to sin. If you are wise, you will keep quiet.” The simple message is: “By all means talk, just don’t talk more than you have to.” I believe that most ministers will agree that it is not always easy to limit the length of our sermons for the simple reason that we feel we have so much information to share. We don’t want to short change our members; we want them to get the full benefit of the Lord’s message. With the Holy Spirit’s leading, however, we can find the middle ground. I was always amazed at the fantastic results Billy Graham got from his evangelistic sermons even though he always preached less than thirty minutes. By the same token, I have been in churches where visitors got up and left in the middle of the pastor’s sermon. I have seen the same in many funeral services. To be fair, it is not always because the message was too long.
While having breakfast Tuesday at a popular restaurant, a departing customer confronted the floor manager to complain and gave him a menacing and lengthy earful. The man just kept on going and going and the poor manager just kept apologizing. For me, it would have been way out of character, but I was really tempted to go tell the griping gentleman, “Sir, I think you got your point across a long time ago.” Do you know people like that, those who always hog a conversation or those who just keep on rambling, believing that the more they say, the more convincing they will be? Words are like energy, we should use them wisely and save as many of them as we can for when we really need them.
Memory verse for the week (John 8:36) “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
