We are continuing in our series on the book of James.  James focuses a great deal on Christian practice, that is how we practically live our lives from day to day.  Last week we highlighted the relationship of faith and works.  Our faith will always carry us to perform good works.  Now James is tackling another common struggle in the Christian life.  It is the power of the tongue.   I want to give a brief review of the text and then use similar scriptures to expound on the teaching about the power of the tongue.

First, James is teaching that even though it is a small member of our body it wields power over the whole body.  James uses the examples of bits in horses’ mouth to help direct them. And James uses the example of the rutter of the ship to navigate even the largest boats.  The point here is that the tongue, though small, is able to have power over the whole person.

Second, James is teaching that the tongue is like a flame that can set the world on fire. It can bring corruption to the entire body or the entire life of a person.  Further, animals can be tamed but the tongue cannot.  The tongue is full of deadly poison.  This is an image from Psalm 5 and quoted by Paul in Romans 3 speaking about human sinfulness…Romans 3:13: “Their throat is an open sepulcher or grave; With their tongues they have used deceit: The poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”.   That is a very graphic description of human depravity, particularly regarding our tongues or words we speak.

Third, James is teaching the inconsistency of the tongue in praising God and then cursing others.  And he uses the examples and asks questions about a spring giving fresh or salt water or a fig tree not bearing olives or a grape vine bearing figs.  In asking those questions the obvious answer is “no”.  But the real point is how the same tongue is used to praise God and curse others.  The key point being there is no real consistency in the words that we speak.

In this negative imagery about the untamable tongue, James was drawing from the teaching of the Proverbs which give a lot of instructions about the tongue or words we speak.   Earlier in James there is a wonderful verse that gives incredible instruction about the tongue… It is like a Proverb… Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger  James 1:19. Now if we are honest, very often we have the order mixed up which gives rise to many of our problems today, particularly in community life.   We are quick to speak and slow to hear and quick to anger.  We live in a ready, fire, aim world that is good at giving opinions and commentary but not really good at listening or trying to find greater solutions.  Someone has rightly said you can never learn anything while you are talking… you will only learn something by listening.   Now I want to turn and look at Ephesians to parallel what James is teaching about our words as look at the power of the tongue.

Ephesians  4:25-32

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (NIV)

Three places here Paul talks about our words or our conversation. I’d like to take these three places that he mentions here and expound upon them individually for the remainder of the sermon.  So let’s begin.

First: Do I speak words that are honest?  This corresponds to verse 25 “Putting away all falsehood, let all of us speak truth to our neighbors for we all members of one another.”

I like the words of the famous Billy Joel song, “Honesty, it’s such a lonely word, everyone is so untrue. Honesty, is hardly ever heard, mostly what I need from you.”  I’m sure most everyone in this building has told a lie. I won’t ask for a show of hands. But I’m sure all of us have told a lie somewhere in our journey. Maybe just a little white lie. Perhaps it was to avoid a confrontation, to help someone feel better, or to put someone in a more favorable light, or to avoid trouble or punishment. I remember as a child, mother had rules to abide by. One of those rules was, “Don’t throw balls in the house.” Well, I broke that rule…the ball bounced off the wall and hit her beloved ceramic cat. I never did like that cat. But that’s beside the point.  The ball knocked the cat off the table, and it broke in half on the floor. I went over, scratching my head. I am thinking, “It’s a clean break!” So, I’m thinking in my warped little mind, “I can glue this cat back together. Nobody will ever know the difference.” But I want to tell you I did that, and it looked really good!  But day after day when I walked in that room, it seemed like that cat was just looking at me. I couldn’t get that cat off my mind. This deeply troubled me, and I thought, “Mom’s going to find out.” Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe sometime next week but, my conscience was screaming at me about what I had done. I had no peace over that situation. Finally, she did notice it and the masterpiece of my repair work was exposed. Scripture says, be sure your sins will find you out. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. You better believe that. You know this is a relatively small thing, but it expresses the same principle when applied to larger things in life. The scripture says there is one thing that is impossible for God to do. God can do anything; nothing is impossible with God. But one thing is impossible for God the scripture says – you know what that is? Remember? It is impossible for God to lie. Similar, Jesus said, “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.” When you have Christ in you, you have the truth in you and you are moved to tell the truth, speak words that are true or honest. It should be rather obvious why that is so important. Experience teaches us that words that are false, fracture relationships. Think about this. When you speak an untruth, you are literally fracturing the friendship or the relationship or the sense of community that you live in. Recall when someone spoke falsely to you. Your immediate response was being offended and walling yourself off from that other person. Falsehoods creates walls or barriers of distrust toward others. Dishonesty destroys trust and trust is the most foundational part of any relationship or creating peace in community.

Perhaps one of the most well-known stories comes from the life of King David.  He slept with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba after he saw her bathing on the roof top. Bathsheba became pregnant. Uriah, her husband was on the battlefront fighting for the king in Israel. David eventually sent Uriah back to the battlefront, placing him in a vulnerable position where he would be killed. All of that to cover up his adultery. And this is from a man after God’s own heart. If you follow that story, it is one deception after another, after another. Someone said honesty is built upon one truth after another. Dishonesty is built from one lie or untruth upon another. Wesley Pipit writes, one of the most effective disciplines I know is not to do something for the very first time. Don’t ever do it for the first time, because repetition will only cause it to get easier. Not doing something for the first time is a tremendous bulwark to not doing it later. Similar, moral philosopher, Melissa Bach wrote, “It’s easy to tell a lie but it’s harder to tell only one.” Discipline will often help the guilt we experience by dabbling into things we shouldn’t. Later as David was confronted by his sin, his treachery and deceit, he confessed his sin and he made a remarkable statement about this, speaking of honesty in Psalm 51, verse 6. “You desire truth in the inward being, therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.” First and foremost, what he is talking about here is not covering up our sin but confessing it and allowing God to create in us a new an right spirit that always desires truth in our words and actions.  So the first question…Am I honest in my words and conversations with others.

Second, “Do I speak words that honor God and others?” He instructs in verse 29, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouth but only what is useful for building up.” The words used here for evil talk is translated in a lot of different ways. The New International Verse says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth.” The New Living translation reads, “Do not use foul or abusive language.” The English Standard Version reads, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth.” And the literal Greek word for evil is poneros, which means properly rotten. This is like over-ripe fruits or vegetables. Overdone, overripe, and hence corrupt.  So literally what he is talking about here is “rotten speech”.  And like rotten fruit our speech spreads rottenness to others. Now, I realize we may say things, put our foot in our mouth, and say things that are not intentional. We may say things without really thinking. But it still has an adverse effect. In many cases we speak words that are unnecessary, commonly termed today, TMI – Too Much Information. We are constantly given too much information. Years ago, famous actor, David Niven, was at a large dinner party in Hollywood. The event was at a large two-story house, with a large spiral staircase and at the top of the staircase Niven spotted two women. There was a guy standing next to him and Niven said to him, “I believe that’s the ugliest woman I have ever seen in all of my life.” And the man next to him said, “I beg your pardon, that’s my wife.” Niven trying to edge himself out of that conversion said, “Well, I wasn’t talking about that woman, I was talking about the other woman.” And the man spoke back, ready to hit Niven, “You idiot, that’s my daughter!” We often say words that are unnecessary. At those moments, we may be saying or thinking to ourselves, “I wish I had never said that.” “I wish I could take it back.” But words are irretrievable once they are spoken. It’s like feathers in the wind. You can never get them back. It’s no less embarrassing with texting or when you hit reply all on an email that’s not meant to go to all. You said something to the group, and you never intended everybody in the group to get it. There are a couple of Proverbs that speak very appropriately to this. The first one, Proverbs 21: 23, “Whoever keeps his mouth and tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” That applies to texting also and other forms of social media. Proverbs 13:3, “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his live, whoever opens his lips comes to ruin.”

One thing that I find quite distributing in our time and I see it on television, big screen movies, shows, and lyrics to some music have very, very profane language. What is more troubling to me, is our children and youth are being used to propagate that as if it’s something cool, when indeed it is very profane. As the prophet Jeremiah put it “we have forgotten how to blush” as there is no shame in our language and vocabulary.  Statistics show the rise of this, unfortunately. One in five elementary teachers have been verbally abused.  I think that is actually higher now.

Two-thirds of secondary teachers talk about language being harsh or abusive.

Seventy-five percent of all secondary teachers see it among students.

Sadly, our culture has become callous and complicit in the impact of rotten words. Words that hurt, words that injure and words that kill the potential inside of people. You remember the old slogan…Sticks and stones make break my bones…but… help me out here…but words will never hurt me!  Whoever said that is not living on this planet!

You might have seen the news a few years ago where a young lady, Michelle Carter, who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Her text and then her phone call encouraged her friend, Conrad Roy, III, to take his own life. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Now, I know that might be a larger, exaggerated case but, it is a sure indication of the gravity and power of our words and our communication. And the responsibility of what we share and the words that we speak to others.

And even more than language is the acts of violence seen way too often in our school settings.  Most recently, the shooting in Georgia by a 14 year old boy.

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, wrote a text intitled, “Words that Hurt and Words that Heal.” He teaches at weekend seminars talking about the power of our words. One of the questions he asks at his weekend seminars is this, “Can you go twenty-four hours without saying something negative about something or someone else?”   Let me repeat the question, “Can you go twenty-four hours without saying something negative about someone else or something?” Most everybody could not answer, yes. At least they were honest!  But that’s still a problem. Think about that for a moment. Truthfully, going twenty-four hours without saying a negative word. If you cannot go twenty-four hours without something, you might have a problem. If you cannot go twenty-four hours without alcohol, you may have a problem with alcohol. If you cannot go twenty-four hours without smoking a cigarette, you might have a problem with nicotine. If you cannot go twenty-four hours without saying something negative, you might have a problem with communication.

Jesus knew the power of words. He was the Word made flesh. Here is what Jesus said in Matthew 12, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you everyone will have to give an account for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be justified or acquitted. And by your words you will condemned.”  I find those very convicting.  So do I speak words that honor God and others?

Third: Do I speak words that help or heal?  This corresponds to Ephesians 4:31 put away all bitterness, and slander, and wrath, and wrangling, and malice and be kind to one another. There’s a story of a young man who was always in trouble at school. He was in junior high. His parents received one more call from the office that they needed to come in and meet with the teacher and the principal. They knew what was going to be the end of the meeting. Perhaps their son would be expelled. The teacher sat down with the boy’s father and said, Thanks for coming, I wanted you to hear what I had to say tonight. The father crossed his arms in anticipation and waited to find how he was going to respond to what the teacher was going to say. The teacher went down a list of ten things. Ten positive affirmations of that young man. When he had finished the father said, What else? What’s next? Let’s hear the bad things. The teacher said, that’s all I have to say. That night when the father got home, he repeated the conversation to his son and not surprisingly, his attitude and behavior changed dramatically.

We are living in a very divided world. So many different viewpoints and opinions are placing people in so many polarizing positions in our society. We see so much bitterness, wrath, and anger, and wrangling, and slander. The atmosphere is often terse and tense. There are times when we do disagree or might disagree and sometimes that might mean that people go in different directions. But that does not mean that we fail to love people. Or we fail to operate with words that do not slander or incite more anger. There are necessary endings in life. Jesus had one. But that does not mean there was bitterness or malice.  Here is what was spoken about Jesus from Isiah 53 “He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to its’ slaughter. Like a sheep before it is sheared in silence so, he did not open his mouth. They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth.”  Jesus did not curse his enemies.  He prayed for them.

But there is another important part of this. I want to say in closing that perhaps I am more guilty than any of these other struggles with our tongue. Sometimes we leave things unsaid when we need to say something. The times that we should have said something and didn’t. This is regret over words that I never said when someone needed something said to them. I never spoke the word of encouragement that was needed.  Or a word of warning or instruction. I’ve shared this story with you before and I want to share it with you again because it is so powerful. While I was in seminary in Kentucky, I did an area of supervised ministry. I was the chaplain at the Burn Unit in the UK Med Center. It was a very moving experience for me. AND it was a very big learning experience for me. On this one day I saw a particular man pacing outside the floor of the unit. He was crying uncontrollably. I knew by his rough exterior that this was a man who had not cried much in his life. But he kept crying, profusely crying. He was absolutely broken. I waited for him to stop crying and I told him that I was a chaplain. I said, you are obviously very upset, how can I help you? And then he started crying again and finally he stopped. He said, my son is in the unit today. He was life flighted here from Eastern Kentucky. He worked at a coalmine there.  He said, “I saw my son pick up a high voltage wire. I saw fire fly from his body and then his body grew limp and I thought surely my son was dead. I went over to him. I called 9-1-1. But I couldn’t believe he was still alive. I don’t know how he’s alive. But he is and we are here”. He said, “but I know why he’s alive. I have figured that out – God has helped me figure that out. I never told my son that I loved him. Never told him I was proud of him. Never told him he was a good man”…He started crying again and then I started crying. We were crying together. He looked over at me and said, “Will you help me speak to my son? Will you help me tell him I love him?  I put my arm around him, and we went in and spoke to his son. A word of affirmation. It was like was God speaking again from heaven, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” He spoke the word. He was not silent. That’s the word that he needed to speak and that his son needed to hear.

So how are your words today? Perhaps some of you need to ask for forgiveness because you have spoken false words, rotten words, hurtful words. Others of you may need encouragement because you have remained silent and you never spoke the word of grace  or truth that was needed. Perhaps there is a word you have withheld that you need to speak to someone, maybe even someone very close to you. May the Lord give us grace to speak words that are honest, words that honor God and others, and words that bring healing to the brokenness around us.   Let’s say this last statement together as a prayer: “Lord, may the words of my mouth, our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, for You are our Rock and our Redeemer!”

May we pray. “Lord, I ask that through Your Holy Spirit that You will help us, that this word would be planted in our hearts and that God, we would be changed into the new person that You want us to be. And God for those need to find a place of prayer that Your Holy Spirit help us find that place today. God, we pray just for the renewing, transforming work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, particularly in the way that we use the words in the conversations that we have with others. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”