James 3 1-12
A friend of mine recently told
me that she is dealing with monsters and trouble everyday; a vicious
ex-husband, his family slandering her, money problems, a lot more than I think
I could deal with at this point in my life. Her point was that life was
overwhelming, and most of it bad. And I hear that. So to that person, I want to
say that you are treasured by God, He is with you, knows your problems, and
knows and loves you. But our bad circumstances don’t give us the license to do
whatever we want; it is in times of stress and pain that God wants us to turn
to Him more and more for peace, for comfort, for love. It is in those hardest
times that we say the worst things to people; people made in the image of God
and loved by Him. As we’ve been going through James there has emerged the theme
of what we do mattering, in more ways than we might suspect. One of the main
ways we live for Christ, or not, as the case may be, is in what we say.
Sometimes it is what we do that matters, but often what we say is a window to
the soul.
There is ample evidence for
all of us that we are not yet who God created us to be; you, me, all of us have
a way to go. God is still in the process of changing our lives, still in the
process of helping us become ourselves. The evidence is our lives. We stand
condemned in many different areas of our lives. We stand condemned by how we
treat others, by the things we think, but primarily we stand condemned through
our own testimony. It is our voices that really condemn us all. It is what
comes out of our mouths that mark us as still on the journey of perfection,
rather than those who have already arrived.
Jesus talked about this. He
said in Mark 7:14ff “Then He (Jesus) called the crowd again and said to them,
“Listen to me, all of you and understand: there is nothing outside a person
that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” So
with all that in mind, let’s take a look at James chapter 3.
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you
know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If
anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his
whole body in check.
3 When
we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the
whole animal. 4 Or take
ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds,
they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise the tongue is a small part
of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on
fire by a small spark. 6 The
tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts
the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set
on fire by hell.
7 All
kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and
have been tamed by man, 8 but
no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father,
and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise
and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same
spring? 12 My brothers, can
a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring
produce fresh water. [1]
Let’s
pray.
We’ve
been looking at James over the past month or so. We’ve noted that James is the
half brother of Jesus, who initially found Jesus claims to be the Messiah a
little hard to believe, but later believed and became one of the important
leaders of the early church in Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem was perhaps
the most important church in the early days of Christianity. Jerusalem was
where Jesus died, and was resurrected; Jerusalem was where many followers of
Jesus initially believed, the church in Jerusalem was the one sending out
missionaries like Paul. So a letter from a church leader in Jerusalem was
important to the other churches, and James has continued through the centuries
to bless Christians, especially those who are struggling to live as followers
of Christ during tough times. James’ letter, from one believer to others, is
extremely practical; it resonates with us because James is one of us; a believer
during hard times.
Having
gone through the first 2 chapters, we’ve listened to James talk about trials
and temptations, we’ve heard him speak about being doers of the word, not just
hearers. We’ve heard James speak about the importance of the things we do, not
just the things we believe. What we really believe will effect what we do;
faith without deeds is dead. James has taken on particular example of this,
favoritism, and condemned those actions because it is a violation of who we are
in Christ, it is evidence of thinking and acting as the world thinks and acts,
rather than living into the new life we are offered and have in Christ. This
theme, this focus on what we do as followers of Christ, how we live mattering
takes on a new example. It’s not just favoritism, but how we use our tongue,
and the taming of the tongue that James wants us to consider. Both our actions,
and what comes out of our mouths, show what’s in our hearts. If Christ is in
our hearts, we should be acting a certain way, and if not, we’ll act as the
world acts, and speak as it speaks.
Please
note that our text this morning is the second time James has mentioned
speaking; in chapt 1 verse 19 “…let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak,
slow to anger…” With that in mind, let’s take a look at our text.
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you
know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If
anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his
whole body in check.
3 When
we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the
whole animal. 4 Or take
ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds,
they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise the tongue is a small part
of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on
fire by a small spark. 6 The
tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts
the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set
on fire by hell.
7 All
kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and
have been tamed by man, 8 but
no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
James first speaks about teachers, and about mistakes. I have my own private theory that the Presbyterian system was constructed in order to minimize mistakes, but that means when they inevitably happen it’s an explosion of a problem rather than an apology that sets things right. Being a teacher of the Word, being a spiritual shepherd is not easy, and if you would remember to pray for me I would appreciate it very much. Pray especially for wisdom and patience.
Because all of us sin, even pastors, James pulls no punches in describing the damage and importance of the tongue. There are a myriad of images here to illustrate what James is saying. The first couple images are about control; the bit in a horses mouth, and the rudder of a ship. Small pieces of equipment change the direction, in fact, guide the ship through troubled waters, guide a horse in need of guiding. It is the mature Christian that is able to hold their tongue when the time is right, to confront in a helpful instead of hurtful way, to speak in a way that helps others and glorifies God. The reverberations of what we say has come back to haunt many of us. I will not tell you the number of times I have wished I could take back something I’ve said. I imagine it is even more dramatic, the hurt and the forgiveness, in a marriage. We’re going to be celebrating 30 years of Jan and Al Durden being married with them taking their vows again at the end of the service, so what an appropriate time to preach about the taming of the tongue.
The tongue, and our attitudes that we speak out of are so crucial to our lives as disciples of Christ. Our tongues can build up or tear down; they can insult and demean or they can encourage and give hope. Your tongue can enlighten someone, give them the truth of Christ, or it can confuse them and send them away from God. We can comfort someone in need, or heap criticism onto someone when they are down. The tongue is us, we all have the capacity for great evil or great good. Getting a grip on our tongue is as important as having a hold of the reins of a horse we are riding; it is as important as having our hands on the tiller while navigating through the seas of life. A bit can save us; my friends raise horses in California, north of Sacramento. If a horse gets the bit up into its teeth, that’s a problem, because all of a sudden there is no way to really control the horse, you’re just along for the ride. In the same way, any sailor knows, Harold can testify, that being able to steer a ship is a pretty good thing. In fact, if you can’t control the ship, now as then, you and the crew are likely dead.
Then James uses 2 more analogies. It is like a spark that starts a forest fire; it is worst than a wild beast because wild beasts can be tamed. How many fires have we all started with our comments, when our disdain or contempt for someone, often someone we love, comes to the surface and then comes out in what we say. What we say, and how we say it, can damage someone, or help them live in Christ. What a responsibility. We’ve been looking at James as he tells the early church to act like Christians, but hear him also say how important it is to the community, to the people of God, that we control our tongues, that we bite back what we’d like to say to someone who has hurt us, what we’d like to say to someone for their “improvement”, what we’d like someone else to know about a third person because we like to gossip. This hits home most closely when we are dealing with those we love. When we call our children names, like brat or bad, rather than taking the time to say “What you did was wrong, and I don’t want you to do it again”, or “think for a moment how that makes so and so feel before you speak again…” It really doesn’t make us look better when we cut others down. Someone once said that great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people. I don’t know if that’s right or not, but it sure sounds like something we ought to be striving toward.
Remember the overall theme James is hammering on; that what we do matters, how we speak speaks to who our Savior is. How we speak, the things we say matter to the Kingdom of God. When we begin to see ourselves as important members of the kingdom of God, what we do and what we say matters. We stand for ourselves when we are out in the world, but more than that we represent our Risen Savior to the world. We represent our Lord to each other in the congregation, we represent Him to the world. We have to watch our tongues; use them to God’s glory to increase His kingdom, not to mollify or entertain ourselves. Speaking, taming the tongue is an important theme throughout the Scriptures, often appearing in Proverbs, and in different places in the NT-I’ll just give you one quote: Col 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father,
and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise
and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same
spring? 12 My brothers, can
a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring
produce fresh water.
You understand the
analogy. We were created and gifted by God to praise Him, to love Him, to
testify about the wonderful things He has done. And we do these things.
Sometimes our tongues are used to great effect to further the kingdom of God.
But other times, we struggle to restrain our anger, our curses, our putdowns,
our anger. Here’s the main point, the real dilemma. We are capable of great
good and great evil, great love and great hate. And our words give expression
to all those feelings, all that is within us comes out on our words. Out of us comes one thing; not two. It
shouldn’t be cursing at some points, and words of compassion at others. There
are springs in the Middle East, some have salt water, some fresh, but never both.
What an image. In the Middle East, where fresh water brings life, saves lives,
and salt water kills. One of the things Staff of Hope, the ministry I have with
some friends of mine does is drill for fresh water. Kenya is just recovering
from a drought, a terrible one, and the wells we drilled saved many people’s
lives. Water is that important, that precious. Fresh water brings life; salt
water doesn’t.
We don’t think our
words have that kind of power. But they do. Our words have the capacity to
kill, they also have the capacity to bring life. Think of the painful things
that have been said to you. I’ll bet you can remember some of the most painful
things that have been said to you, just like it was said 20 minutes ago. The
pain is still fresh. And think of the best things that have been said to you.
Those are words that you’ve treasured in your hearts; the love, the respect,
the closeness and friendship behind those words we treasure. Today we get to
witness again the most powerful and wonderful words Jan and Al ever said to
each other…in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, for as long as
we live, I do. What a great way to illustrate this taming of the tongue. Does
that mean they have never said a bad word to one another? Of course not. That’s
not reality. But they have lived off those life affirming words for 30 years
now, and will until death takes them home. Those are powerful words. I promise,
I love you, I do. Some of the most powerful words one person ca say to another.
Not every thought you have needs to be given voice. If it isn’t helpful, or necessary, or kind, or inspiring or true, then just be quiet. Instead, give voice to the very best you have in you; I love you, I’m praying for you, you can do it, God loves you, you are known by God, I think you are an excellent person. If these things don’t naturally flow from you, then we need to think about why. It’s possible you haven’t committed your life to God, or you need to be more mature in your Christian walk before you should be saying much of anything. If you need a new inside from which to speak, Jesus is willing to come into your heart and remake it in His image. That’s why He came, that’s why He died. He came so that your inside, the words of your mouth might be remade in His image; to fit us for Heaven. Live into that command to speak as a disciple of God.
Let’s pray.