Your Accent Gives You Away

Matthew 26:73-75 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.” Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

I want to take a little different look at Peter and the scene in the courtyard than what you might expect to take during Lent. Sure, Peter was all about denying Christ. Peter feared for his life. But let’s examine another aspect of that scene. Matthew 26:75 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.”

To have an accent means there is a characteristic mode of pronunciation of a person or group that betrays social or geographical origin. If you travel around the United States you will encounter many accents. In the Matthew 26 passage above, Peter’s accent gives away his place of origin - Galilee. When we think of where people come from, how they speak can give away where they were born and raised. For example, sometimes my Michigan accent resurfaces and it gives away I am not an Idaho native. Similarly, what people say can be a clue to how they live and what they believe. If their language is filled with off-color remarks, bawdy humor and cursing, you would be hard pressed to say they were a Christian based on how they talk. If their language speaks of love and is flowered with scriptures from the New Testament you can make the connection to their faith in Christ. How we speak, and what we say can have a huge influence on how people receive us. Simply put, can others see Christ in us by how we show our faith in what we say? Do you have a Christian accent? Can people see Christ in your manner of speaking, and in what you say? Each and every believer has the opportunity every day of their lives to make a positive or negative statement to the world about who they are and what they believe. You and I can be the most devoted followers of Jesus Christ, but if our language does not carry that same commitment, we have failed. The words of Jesus from Luke 6:46-48 serve as a strong reminder to all believers. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ”

Friends of the risen Savior, when we look back at Peter in the courtyard, we cannot see Christ in his words. Each of us needs take a lesson from that example. Words are important. Others hear your words and, need to find Jesus in those words. That is the case not just on Sunday, but every day of the year.

PRAYER: Father, we have many opportunities to stand as a witness to our faith. Sometimes we make a good witness for Jesus, and other times we fail miserably. We rely on Your love and Your forgiveness in our lives. Help us to learn from our mistakes. Help us to find the right words at all times and in all places to reflect You in all that we say. Let them see you when we speak. We ask this in the strong name of Jesus, Amen.