JAMES 3:1-12

[3:1] Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

[2] For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

[3] If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.

[4] Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

[5] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

[6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

[7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,

[8] but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

[9] With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

[10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

[11] Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?

[12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.  Did you say that when you were growing up?  I know I did.  It sounds good but theologically speaking you and I know that it’s a bunch of baloney.  That’s because you and I both know that sticks and stones may break your bones but words hurt even more.

They may not break your bones but they can certainly break your heart or spirit.  All it takes is for someone to say “I don’t love you anymore” or someone to tell you that you’re stupid and will never amount to anything.  Words are dangerous and they can get you into all kinds of trouble.  That why you have to wonder what happened to the church secretary who obviously wasn’t thinking when she put an announcement in the local newspaper.   The announcement read as follows: “Weight Watchers will meet this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church.  Please go to the side of the building and use the large double door.”

Words can get you into all kinds of trouble.  The Apostle James knew that which is why he described the tongue as “a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”  He then goes on to say that the tongue is a fire that is full of “unrighteousness” and points out that “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”

Does your tongue ever get you into trouble?  Have you ever said something and immediately regretted it?  Gossip, profanity, hateful criticism and insults are just some of the poison that can roll off your tongue if you’re not careful.

Now this is where James gets a little discouraging.  He points out that human beings have managed to tame every kind of beast and bird “but” he writes, “ no human being can tame the tongue.”  He may be right.   What do you think? A teenager seemed to those lines when he sold a lawnmower to the local minister.  A couple of days later the minister brought the lawnmower back.  “It doesn’t work,” the minister complained.  He then demonstrated by pulling on the chord.   “Well,” the teenager said, “if you want it to start you have to cuss at it.”  The minister shook his head.  “Son,” he said, “I’m a Baptist preacher and I haven’t cussed in 18 years.”  “Well,” the teenager said. “Keep pulling that chord and it’ll come back to you.”

Maybe James was right.  Maybe you can’t tame your tongue.  Maybe no human being can tame the tongue but that’s okay.  It’s okay because maybe the solution to the problem doesn’t lie with you.  Maybe the solution to the problem lies with God.   Do you remember what the angel Gabriel says in Luke’s Gospel.  Gabriel says that “…nothing will be impossible with God.”  (1:37)  By the way the angel Gabriel says that to Mary when she asks him how she can possibly conceive a child since she was still a virgin.  Now the way I see it if God can bring about a virgin birth then God can certainly help you and me when it comes to taming our tongues.  So the way to tame the tongue is to get closer to God.

Here’s another way of looking at it.  It may be just a coincidence but have you notice that as our society has become more and more secular it’s also become more and more mean spirited?   As we’ve moved away from God our words have become more rude and crude and full of poison.

So, the way to deal with an untamed tongue is to get closer to God.  Just look at Archie and Edith from the television show “All In The Family.”  Edith was the one who was closer to God which is why her words were always filled with kindness and love while Archie’s words usually included a lot of cussing and cursing.

That difference between them can be seen in an episode where Edith goes back to Fillmore High School for her class reunion.  Archie goes with her after he hears her talking about Buck Evans.  Buck was the class president and captain of the football team and all the girls had a crush on him. When they get to the reunion Archie  happens to meet Buck first and he’s thrilled to see that Buck is now bald and overweight by about 100 lb.   So he quickly brings Edith over to say “hello.”  Archie can’t wait to see the disappointment in Edith’s face but instead of being disappointed she immediately smiles and says, “Buck Evans.”  Buck is just as surprised as Archie and asks, “How did you recognize me?” That’s when Edith says, “Your eyes.  Your eyes are just the same.  I can see right inside you.”  Edith then turns to Archie and says, “See, Archie, ain’t he beautiful?” Archie is fit to be tied.  He pulls Edith aside and says, “I’ll never be able to figure you out.  You and me, we look at the same guy and you see a beautiful person.  I see a blimp.”  Edith thinks about it for a moment and then says, “Yeah.  Ain’t that too bad?”  Then she smiles again and says, “But you’re beautiful too Archie.”

So why does getting closer to God help you tame your tongue?  Once again the answer is simple.  It’s because the closer you get to God the more you realize that God really does love you.  You realize that in Jesus Christ God came to dwell among us because God really does love you.  You understand that in Jesus Christ God went to the Cross because God really does love you.   You understand that there really is a room for you in that heavenly mansion that Jesus talked about because God really does love.  The closer you get to God the more you understand that God put you on this earth for one reason and one reason only, to love and be loved and the more that love from above fills your heart the less room there is for bitterness and back biting, nastiness and name calling, cursing and spirit killing criticism. 

So, instead of being filled with deadly poison you’ll see that your words can inspire people.  You words can bring healing to someone who is broken hearted.  You words can fills someone’s heart with laughter and love.

There’s a story that I shared with you several years ago.  So I apologize for sharing it with you again.  It’s a story though that shows how the words that flow from your tongue can a blessing for someone.   You’ll find the story in Mary Ann Bird’s book, The Hearing Test .  She writes these words, ““I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it.  I was born with a cleft palate, and when I started to go to school, my classmates – who were constantly teasing – (there are those sticks and stones again) made it clear to me how I (looked) to others; a little girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth, and hollow and somewhat garbled speech…by the age of seven I was convinced that no one outside my own family could ever love me.  There was, however, a teacher in the second grade that we all adored – Mrs. Leonard…Annually we had a hearing test….Mrs. Leonard gave the test to everyone in the class, and finally it was my turn.  I knew from past years that as we stood against the door and covered one ear, the teacher sitting at her desk would whisper something, and we would have to repeat it back – things like, ‘The sky is blue,’ or ‘Do you have new shoes?’  I waited there for those words which God must have put into her mouth, those seven words that changed my life.  Mrs. Leonard said, in her whisper, ‘I wish you were my little girl.’”

Yes, it’s true.  Sticks and stones may break your bones but words can truly save you.  Amen.

September 16, 2012

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes