Sometimes It's What You Don't Say That Matters The Most

Sometimes it’s not what you say that matters, but what you don't say that matters the most.

Such was the case when Jesus preached in his hometown synagogue. He was handed the scroll from the prophet Isaiah to read. Jesus intentionally chose these words:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

    and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

When he finished reading he rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the attendant saying:

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Well the crowd became incensed and violently attempted to drive Jesus off the edge of a cliff.

What?

Now when I was a young Christian I wondered why these folks got so angry with Jesus by what he said.

Well perhaps it wasn't what he said that angered them but rather what he didn’t say. Did you get that?

What he didn’t say!

So what didn’t Jesus say?

Jesus actually stopped short of reading what was next in the Isaiah passage:

“ . . . and the day of vengeance of our God.”

Now look, when you omit the idea of a vengeful God from one’s view of God this can cause some serious pushback.

When you eliminate the image of an angry vengeful God this will anger a lot of folks. Apparently it did for Jesus’ hometown synagogue worshipers:

“What! Are you telling us that God isn't going to fry all those sinners?”

I remember preaching a sermon several years ago questioning whether God would eternally punish someone for not praying some prescribed sinner’s prayer (a prayer not found in the Scriptures). I questioned whether God would be so cruel and vengeful. I asked: “Why would he do such a thing?”

I told my congregation that I didn’t believe in the traditional version of hell. I no longer believed in a vengeful God who punishes sinners without end. “Does such an eternal punishment match the crime,” I asked.

There were folks in my congregation who became angry with me over that sermon. One lady came to my office the next day and scolded me for suggesting that God was not a vengeful God.

I guess it didn't occur to her that it was Jesus’ own silence that suggested God was not vengeful, not me.

Perhaps what disturbed her the most was that if God was not vengeful then she would have to give up her own impulse for revenge. She would have to take Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies” a bit more seriously. Was this why she was really angry? I wonder.

Could this be why the angry crowd wanted to throw Jesus off of a cliff?

Was vengeance and revenge that important to them? Is it to us?

So it’s not always what you say that matters but rather what you don't say that matters the most.

I guess silence can say more than words.

Maybe we could learn to say a lot less about what we think we know about God and start living quietly in ways that reflect his love for the whole world.

Wouldn't that be awesome?