What Flows from the Mouth

What Flows from the Mouth
Inspired by Gospel of Thomas, Saying 14

Opening Scripture:
Jesus said,

“If you fast, you'll bring guilt upon yourselves; and if you pray, you'll be condemned; and if you make donations, you'll harm your spirits.
If they welcome you when you enter any land and go around in the countryside, heal those who are sick among them and eat whatever they give you, because it's not what goes into your mouth that will defile you. What comes out of your mouth is what will defile you.”

Sermon:

Brothers and Sisters in Spirit,

Today we gather beneath the hushed branches of Saying 14, a teaching both unsettling and illuminating. Its words blow against the grain of conventional piety. We are taught from childhood that fasting disciplines the flesh, that prayer opens heaven’s gates, and that giving purifies the heart. But the Gospel of Thomas, this strange, bold gospel, tells us: be careful. These sacred acts can just as easily become chains.

Why?

Because when ritual becomes routine, it drifts from spirit.
Because when prayer is performance, it drowns out the whisper of the Divine.
Because when generosity is a transaction for moral credit, it leaves the soul bankrupt.

To fast without a hunger for truth is to merely starve the body.
To pray without presence is to echo into silence.
To give without love is to wound both giver and receiver.

The way of wandering insight and inner remembrance, urge us not to wear our righteousness like robes, but to walk with bare feet upon the mystery. We are not here to dazzle the heavens with displays of devotion. We are here to be real.

Jesus says: “Heal those who are sick among them.”
That is the mission. Not to preach first, but to heal. Not to judge what is served at the table, but to eat with gratitude. Not to question what goes into the mouth, but to be vigilant about what comes out.

What flows from the mouth reveals the state of the soul.

A word can be a sword. A whisper can be a balm.
What we say builds bridges or burns them.
It is not our consumption, but our communication, that declares who we are.

So what flows from your mouth?

Is it blame? Boastfulness? Bitter prophecy?
Or is it gentleness? Courage? Stillness wrapped in sound?

Every phrase is a seed. Every sentence a sculptor’s hand.
Speak in such a way that hearts feel lighter after hearing you.
Let your presence be the healing, not the spectacle.

We are told: Eat what is given. Heal who is hurting. And speak with fire, not fire that scorches, but fire that warms and reveals.

Let your tongue be a vessel of clarity, not condemnation.
Let your silence be full of intention, not neglect.
Let your fasting be from illusion.
Let your giving be without strings.
Let your prayers begin not with your lips, but with your ears.

This is not a path of rules but of realness.

Presence over performance. Mystery over mechanics. Love over liturgy.

Meditation Questions:

• When I speak, do I echo others or express what is truly mine?

• Have I fasted from noise lately? From ego? From needing to be right?

• Do my prayers begin in silence, or only in speech?

• When I give, do I expect a return, even if only in thanks?

• Do my words carry light?

Closing Prayer:

Cleanse our mouths not from the food we eat,
but from the venom of careless words.
Let us hunger not for praise but for presence.
Let our speech become a stream of healing.
Teach us to accept what is offered in love,
and to offer what is needed without pride.
We step into the world now, not as performers,
but as vessels, open, listening, ready.
May what flows from our mouths bless what it touches.
And may you remember us,
not for what we consumed, but for what we kindled.

Amen