Speaking of Faith

We continued in our Journey with James this week. We looked at the power of words. Hopefully, we can become people that choose life and speak blessings.

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“Speaking of Faith” / Brimfield Faith UMC
July 18, 2010 / James 3:1-12

INTRO
As I hear this passage there are two familiar childhood sayings that come to mind. The first is “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” The other is “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” One of these sayings is supported by Scripture and the other is utterly contradicted by Scripture. As we continue in our Journey through the letter of James this morning, we will explore both of these children’s sayings.
“Sticks and stones…” is one of those sayings that has always rubbed me the wrong way. Growing up, I got picked on with some regularity. We moved several times as a young boy and fitting in and acting cool weren’t always the easiest tasks. Thankfully, I never got into many physical altercations since I was usually one of the scrawnier kids in my class. Nonetheless, I remember the emotional scars that were created by other kids’ words. I remember the nicknames and the hurtful things that were said to me over the years. I think most people that have been the recipient of a verbal assault or been picked on by a bully know this childhood saying rings empty. Many times I would have rather been punched than teased.

THE TONGUE IS POWERFUL
Words have power. James understands the power of the tongue. It is because of this power that James writes these strong words found in this section of the letter. He opens with a strong word to the teachers of the congregation. “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” The English doesn’t fully convey the passion James feels over this point. In the Greek, it opens with the word, Mae, means no, but is better translated: “Forbid it!” May it not be that you want to teach!. Historical context helps us to understand James’ passion. He is dealing with a group of church teachers and leaders in the ancient city of Antioch that are creating problems for their congregation. The position of teacher was of high esteem. With their influence they were speaking incorrectly and creating considerable chaos.
Verse 2 helps support this context: “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.” When James refers to the body, he is referring to the church congregation and the well-known imagery of the body of Christ. This explanation is helpful because we all know that the tongue does not control our bodies. We know of many people who say they are or are not going to do something with their mouths and then do the exact opposite. James’ reference in verse two is in relationship to a church congregation, the body of Christ. The tongue is always powerful but especially in the mouth of a teacher and leader in the congregation.
James believes that when the teachers of the church speak correctly, the congregation is led properly. Their words carry tremendous power of the direction and health of the congregation. These words are equally as pertinent today as they were two thousand years ago when they were written. The words of our church’s leaders carry significant weight and they have the ability to do much harm.


SMALL BUT MIGHTY
We have all experienced this: words hurt. This is one of the reasons I invest significant amounts of time to sermon preparation is because what I say up here has the ability to do great harm. In James 3:3-6 there is vivid imagery to the power of the tongue: “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. 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”
The bit, the rudder, and the spark all have the ability to effect and control large things. In the same way, a person’s words can corrupt an entire organization. Dave Ramsey, a financial guru and Christian teacher, talks about five things that can destroy any organization. They are: poor communication, gossip, unresolved disagreement, lack of shared purpose, and sanctioned incompetence. Four of these five are related to the tongue. How we speak to one another and what we speak to one another in the church will determine in large part the success of our church.
During my first year at Brimfield Faith, we began to talk about making considerable changes to the way we did church and worship. As you may have guessed, not all of these changes were met with opened arms. Generally speaking people resist change and are fearful of the unknown. After about a year of prayer and discussion, we made a clear decision in the direction of the church. We had solicited the necessary feedback and the leadership team made a decision. As we made the choice, we asked the people to refrain from negative talk about the decision, especially during worship. We needed their positive support or no support at all if we were going to move forward. We weren’t trying to be tyrants or dictators, but we knew that negative talk could set the entire forest on fire and ruin our new found mission and vision. I attribute much of the progress we have seen at the church to that commitment.

THE TONGUE IS HURTFUL
All that James speaks to the leaders and teachers of the congregation pertain to each of you as individuals. Your tongue has power to bring life or to bring death. To bring cursing or to bring blessing. In Deuteronomy 30:19, Moses speaks to his congregation: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses…” We have a choice whether to choose hurtful words or helpful words. We recall our mother’s teaching us, “If you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything at all.” This is good advice but sometimes hard to follow.
James writes about the difficulty: “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.” Our words matter but they can be harder to pick than we would like to admit. We all can recall times when we regretted the words that left our mouth. The problem is we cannot take back hurtful words once they are spoken. It is for this reason that the Bible strongly warns us against sins of the tongue.
Sins of the tongue can do as much damage as physical acts of violence. Gossip, slander, lying, cursing and using the Lord’s name in vain are all sins of the tongue. If you have ever been the recipient of these crimes, you know how hurtful they are. A week and a half ago, Northeast Ohio felt the effects of poorly chosen words. When Lebron James said on national television, “Next year I’m going to take my talents to South Beach,” we experienced the damaging effect that words can have. Lebron cannot take those words back and he has felt significant consequences from those words. We have all experienced to negative power of words as a result. Gloria James must have forgotten to teach his son that old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

THE TONGUE IS LIFE-GIVING
While our words often seemingly betray us, we can learn from what comes out of our hearts. In reality, words reveal our hearts. In Luke 6:45 Jesus says, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” The mouth reveals that we double-tongued and double-minded. James points out the hypocrisy of our double-tongued ways. “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.”
The Scriptures teach us that we do not have to be condemned to this conflicting way of life. We can indeed choose life and blessings when they are set before us. Ultimately words carry power that we choose for good or for bad. Like the water that gives life can make a person ill when dirty. Like the drug that either poisons or heals. Words can either bring cursing or bring life.
Ultimately the call to you this morning is to train your heart and mouth to choose life and to speak blessings. When I do premarital counseling, one of the homework assignments is to practice daily compliments. This can be a challenge for couples because words of criticism roll off our tongues much easier that words of compliment. Nonetheless, it is important for couples to speak blessings into their marriage if they want to a happy successful marriage.

SOUL TRAINING - BLESSING
Learning to speak blessings and life can be challenging. We can train our hearts and mouths to chose life and to speak blessings. I want to spend a few minutes as we wrap up this morning talking about how to speak blessings.

#1. Practice silence: (James 1:19)
This may seem strange but the first act in learning to speak blessings instead of curses is to practice silence. In James 1:19 it says, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” Engaging in times of quietness, we learn to control our tongues. Instead of blurting out the first thing that comes into our heats, a la, Dan Gilbert, we step back and quite ourselves. Silence is a power spiritual practice that trains our mouths and hearts to choose life and gives us the opportunity to speak blessings.

#2. Listen to the Lord (1 Kings 19:12)
As we practice silence and quietness, our hearts will be able to listen for the voice of the Lord. Elijah the prophet, teaches us that the Lord frequently speaks in a still, small voice. If we want to speak words that are truly blessings, then we need to listen for the voice of God. The Lord wants to bring life to his children. By quieting ourselves and then listening, we will be able to hear words of blessing for others.

#3. Speak words that encourage, strengthen, and comfort. (1 Corinthians 14:1)
Finally as we prepare to choose life and speaking blessings, we need to choose words that are encouraging, strengthening, and comforting. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul writes, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy… Everyone who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.” When we speak a true word of blessing from the Lord, we are invoking the presence of God into someone’s life. A blessing calls upon God to act in a person’s life. Blessings are more than just words they are powerful declarations of life.

ILLUSTRATE AND DEMONSTRATE

To conclude worship this morning, I want to demonstrate the power of the blessing.