Let Your Yes Be Yes

Matthew 5:37 NRSV

Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

INTRODUCTION

THE DELIGHTFUL & INSIGHTFUL AMERICAN SCREENWRITER, PRODUCER AND AUTHOR SHONDA RIMES IS SOMEONE

WHO IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH......HER GIFTS TO THE WORLD INCLUDE TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS LIKE

GREY’S ANATOMY, INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE FOR HBO, AND THE PRINCESS DIARIES SERIES FOR DISNEY

ONE OF HER GREATEST GIFTS TO THE WORLD MAY HAVE BEEN A BOOK SHE WROTE, CALLED “A YEAR OF YES” WHERE

SHE CHRONICLED HER JOURNEY OF SAYING YES TO EVERYTHING, EVERY OPPORTUNITY, EVERY DIFFICULT

CONVERSATION....YES…SIMPLY YES TO IT ALL......SHE WONDERED HOW THE JOURNEY WOULD CHANGE HER, HOW IT

WOULD TRANSFORM HER THOUGHTS, HER SPIRIT AND HER RELATIONSHIPS....

IN THE FINAL CHAPTER OF HER BOOK SHE WROTE HOW SHE MARVELED AT HERSELF AS SHE OWNED THESE

POWERFUL WORDS FOR HERSELF THAT SHE’D WRITTEN FOR A PROJECT SHE HAD WORKED ON IN CHICAGO:

“I am different. I am an original. And like everyone else, I am here to take up space in the universe. I do so

with pride.”

OF COURSE, IN THAT SAME YEAR SHE SAID YES TO AN INTERVIEW WITH OPRAH WINFREY THAT SHE HAPPILY

TOOK....IT WAS HER REFLECTION FROM THAT INTERVIEW THAT HELPED HER POSITIVELY SEE THIS:

before the Year of Yes, the old Shonda would have suffered some kind of nuclear panic attack, resulting in

total amnesia. Oprah will always be amazing in this INTERVIEWING scenario. The difference was me.

I had no armor on. I had nothing to hide. I was worried about nothing. I was . . . fearless. And so we had a

conversation. We had a chat. We talked. What had I always been so afraid of? What had I been guarding?

What was I so nervous about?

IT HAS BEEN NOTED THAT IN LIFE OF JESUS’ MOTHER MARY HER YES TO THE PURPOSES OF GOD IN HER LIFE LED TO

A CASCADE OF OTHER TIMES WHEN SHE SAID YES:

Once Mary had said yes to the angel, GABRIEL, she kept on saying yes to whatever God was doing in her life

and her home. "She said, ‘Yes, I’ll go to Bethlehem with my husband even though I am very pregnant.’ She

said, ‘Yes, I’ll settle for a stable.’ And ‘Yes, I’ll agree to let all those grungy shepherds see my newborn.’ Much

later, she said, ‘Yes, I’ll let my Son leave home to become an itinerant preacher.’ And ‘Yes, I’ll be with Him no

matter what — even at the foot of a cross.’”

THE POWER OF WHAT YOUR YES CAN DO

ONE THEOLOGIAN WAS HEARD TO SAY THIS ABOUT THE POWER OF OUR SAYING YES TO GOD:

a “yes” to God is now both an outflow of God’s grace in an individual’s life (a humble submission to God

enabled by God’s grace but experienced as an act of surrender to God’s will) and an intentional, willing

participation in a life in the Spirit (again, a response enabled by God’s grace but experienced as an act of the

will and disciplined decision to focus on the mind of the Spirit.) Jesus, of course, modeled one big Spirit-led

“yes!” in his devotion to serving God’s purposes, culminating in choosing to endure brutal treat­ment and

martyrdom on the cross.

WE REMEMBER AND CHERISH AND CELEBRATE THE WISDOM THE APOSTLE PAUL SHARED WITH THE PHILIPPIANS

IN PHILIPPIANS 2: 13

Philippians 2:13 BBE

For it is God who is the cause of your desires and of your acts, for his good pleasure.

FRANCISCAN BROTHER DAVID STEINDAL RAST CONCLUDES THE POWER OF OUR YES TO GOD IS THIS:

In my best, my most alive moments, I have a profound sense of belonging. At those moments, I am aware of

being truly at home in this universe. To say “yes” to this limitless mutual belonging is love. When I speak of

God, I mean this kind of love, this great “yes” to belonging. I experience this love at one and the same time

as God’s “yes” to all that exists (and to me personally) and as my own little “yes” to it all. In saying this

“yes” I realize God’s very life and love within myself.

There is no closer bond than the one which gratefulness celebrates, the bond between giver and

thanksgiver. Everything is gift. Grateful living is a celebration of the universal give-and-take of life, a

limitless “yes” to belonging. Can our world survive without it? Whatever the answer, one thing is certain:

to

say an unconditional “yes” to the mutual belonging of all beings will make this a more joyful world.

This is the reason why Yes is my favorite synonym for God.

HOW, BELOVEDS, HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR YESES TO GOD CHANGE AND TRANSFORM YOU?

JESUS’ TAKE ON THE YES OF A BELIEVER

JESUS, HERE IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, IS ENCOURAGING BELIEVERS TO ACT IN INTEGRITY AT

ALL TIMES…WITHOUT OATHS OR EXTRA PROMISES.......

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 5

Instead of pronouncing an oath to guarantee the truthfulness of a particular statement, Jesus requires truthfulness in all speech. An answer of “yes” or “no” is sufficient for the person of character.

When Jesus began His public, earthly ministry at the age of 30, He went out looking for DISCIPLES who were

willing to say 'YES LORD" and he found 12 of them who were from different walks of life, different

backgrounds and different occupations, who said "YES" and when they did, He told them  "Follow Me, and I

will make you fishers of men." The disciples said “YES LORD” even though it meant danger, persecution and

possibly death.

CONCLUSION

To say “yes” to the God of love and grace is to say yes to Love. We meditate, as the psalmist did, on “God’s unfailing

love.” We sit in the presence of this love. We receive this love. We let this love heal us and fill us. The prayer of “yes”

to God is the prayer of taking in God’s love and of opening our hearts to return that love.

In saying “yes” to the God of love we are also listening to God’s voice of wisdom and guidance for us each day. The

prayer of “yes” is the prayer of surrender. It is the prayer of the sheep who knows the Shepherd’s voice and follows

the Shepherd’s lead.

In saying “yes” we are “holding fast” to God, even while God “holds fast” to us. The prayer of “yes” to God is the

prayer of acknowledgment that God is our most intimate other. The prayer of “yes” to God is the prayer of engaging

in an intimate, loving, joyful relationship with the One who made us, the One who longs for closeness with us and

the One for whom our soul longs.

THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL PRAYER WHO WORDS SAY THIS:

Today I say yes to you, God.

I say yes to your love for me.

May I receive your love.

May I rest in your love.

I say yes as well to your

loving will for me.

I say yes to all you would

teach me and change in me.

I say yes to you, my Love, my Life.

THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL GOSPEL LYRIC THAT GOES ON TO SAY,

Yes Lord

My life is Yours

Yes Lord

Yes Lord

My life is Yours

And there is peace when I say yes

I might not see it now

But You save the best

For all who trust You and obey

There is an answer

No more delay

Yes Lord

Yes Lord

My life is Yours

WHEN YOU SAY YES TO THE GOOD LORD, BELOVED, YOU REDEEM A PORTION OF YOUR TIME THAT IS PRECIOUS

AND

SOMETIMES FEEL PRECARIOUS....AFTER ALL, THE ACTRESS AUDREY HEPBURN WAS CORRECT WHEN SHE SAID,

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never

throw out anyone.

Psalm 107:2 NRSV

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble

THERE ARE STORIES OF YOUR YES TO GOD, STORIES WORTHY TO BE TOLD AND SHARED TO STRENGTHEN YOURSELF

AND STRENGTHEN AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS........SURELY THE LORD, OUR GOD HAS REDEEMED YOU, OR PICKED

YOU UP FROM YOUR TROUBLES......

SURELY THE LORD OUR GOD HAS BEEN THERE IN THE TIMES OF GREATEST CHALLENGE AND DARKEST NIGHTS.....

YOUR YES TO GOD IS YOUR RESOLVE.....AND IN THAT RESOLVE THERE IS VICTORY