James 5

Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say

Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay. James 5:12.

There is a quaint proverb which says that “a hero's word and an elephant's tooth remain fixed.” I never tried acting dentist to an elephant, so I can't answer for the tooth; but I know that it takes a hero to stick to his word through thick and thin.

Now, of course, we are all going to be heroes; we haven't quite got there yet, but we shall some day, and so one of the things we have to notice is that our word “remains fixed.” And that just means that when we say a thing people can depend upon us: they know that we are speaking the truth and intend to carry out what we promise.

I think there are two things we have to remember if our word is to remain fixed.

1. The first is that we say what we mean.

There was a boy once who was sent on an errand to a farm on a hot summer's day. The road was long and dusty, and when he arrived at his destination he was tired and thirsty. Now, the farmer's wife had just been baking apple tarts. She had them all set out on a wire tray to cool, and they looked most “scrumptious.” And through a door at the back of the kitchen the boy could see into the dairy with its great basins of creamy milk. The farmer's wife asked the boy if he would take a glass of milk and a tart. He said, “No,” and he meant, “Yes,” and she took him at his word! I don't know why he said “No”; perhaps he felt a bit shy. But years after, when he was a grownup man, he still regretted the glass of cool milk and the juicy apple tart he missed that hot summer day.

Now if we are going to stick to our word, it is a good thing, first of all, to make sure that we say what we mean, and that what we mean is something wise and good. Don't be in too great a hurry. Think twice before you speak. Think twice before you make rash promises.

There was a king once who was very much delighted because a young girl danced beautifully before him. And because he was so pleased, he made her a foolish promise. He promised to give her whatever she asked, even to the half of his kingdom. And the girl asked for the head of a good and great man. Then the king was exceeding sorry. Yet because he had promised, and because he was afraid of what his friends would say if he broke his promise, he granted the girl's request, and John the Baptist was beheaded.

2. The other thing we have to remember is to mean what we say, to mean every bit of it, and to mean to carry it out.

Once upon a time a French sailor was caught in a storm. And he cried aloud to St. Christopher of Paris, promising that if the saint would save him he would give a candle as big as himself to be burnt before his statue in the great church in Paris.

“Be careful what you promise,” said a friend who was kneeling beside him, “for I don't suppose you could pay for that candle if you sold all you possess.” “Hold your tongue,” retorted the other rudely. Then he added but in a whisper, lest the saint should overhear “You don't suppose I shall give him so much as a tallow candle, if I once get safely out of this!”

Now, you are not going to play shabby tricks like that. You are not going to make promises that you have no intention of carrying out. Nor are you going to break your promise just because it is going to cost you a little pain or trouble to keep it.

One day a gentleman was walking along a country lane when he heard a sound of sobbing. On turning a corner he came upon a little girl crying as if her heart would break, while on the ground lay the shattered remains of an earthenware bowl that had contained her father's dinner. Well, the gentleman tried to comfort her as well as he could, and the little girl asked him if he couldn't mend the bowl. No, the bowl was past mending, but he would give her money to buy a new one. When he took out his purse he found it was empty, but he promised to bring her the money to that spot at the same hour the following day. So the little girl dried her tears and went home smiling.

Next day at the appointed hour he was about to set out for the lane when a note was handed to him asking him to go to Bath at once to meet a friend who was spending a few hours in the town. He had not seen the friend for many years, he might not see him for many years to come, but there was the child in the lane. She was counting on his coming and a gentleman could not break his promise. So with regret he put the idea of going to Bath out of his mind and kept his promise. That man was Sir William Napier, a great historian.

This sermon seems to be all stories, so I shall give you one more.

You know that it is the custom for witnesses in a court of justice to swear a solemn oath on a Bible, that they will speak “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Some centuries ago an Italian poet called Petrarch was called as a witness into a court of justice. All the witnesses in front of him swore their oaths as usual, but when it came to Petrarch's turn, the judge closed the book. “As for you, Petrarch,” he said, “your word is sufficient.”

Boys and girls, if we keep to our word always people will believe in our word, and a “yes” or a “no” from us will be enough.

And that reminds me that we had almost forgotten the text, which would never, never do. You will find it in the fifth chapter of James and the twelfth verse “Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay” and that just means “Say what you mean, and mean what you say, and stick to it.” Let your word be fixed like the elephant's tooth.