Sermon Cloud

Wise God, open us to your truth and move us to live by it.  Amen.

Isaiah 50: 4-5

Did your mother or grandmother ever say to you, “Use the common sense God gave you!”?  That’s an aspect of wisdom.  We come to be wise by paying attention to people wiser than we—learning from our experiences, and listening to God in scripture and in our innate common sense.  Wisdom is the path we take to live in harmony with God’s will for the world.  Wisdom literature in scripture takes note of God’s plan for the world and the order that God’s way of living establishes.  It affirms that a wise person discerns that order and then lives accordingly.  Most of the biblical wisdom literature is in the Old Testament: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Daniel, some of the Psalms.  James is the primary example in the New Testament.   

James 3: 1-12                                                                                              9-13-09

Wanted: Firefighters!

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!  The most recent California wildfire has destroyed more than 100 square miles of forest, consumed the homes in its path, and killed at least 2 people.  A tiny spark leads to terrible consequences.  So it is with one of the smallest parts of the body—the tongue.

 With the tongue, we bless the Lord and Father; and with it, we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.

Once upon a time, a king sent his two jesters out on a mission.  He ordered Chester to find the best thing in the whole world, and Fester to find the worst thing in the whole world.  They came back together almost immediately.

          Bowing low, Chester presented a small box to the king: “Your Majesty, behold: the best thing in the whole world!”  In the box was a tongue.

          Fester bowed low and announced his find:  “Your Majesty, behold: the worst thing in the whole world!”  Another tongue.

 James begins this passage with a warning to those who teach.  Of course, in a sense, we’re all teachers, for people discover our faith in what we say and how we say it, even if we’re not talking about faith.  They see what kind of person we are according to whether what we say builds others up or tears others down.   

 James acknowledges that all of us make mistakes: we mis-speak or we speak without thinking or in the wrong tone of voice at times—but whether we give wrong information by mistake or deliberately mislead someone or spread gossip or hurt others with ridicule or disparagement or misleading words, then our job is to correct it as soon as possible, to put out fires as soon as they start. 

 How do we do that?  We have to discipline ourselves in what we should say and what we shouldn’t say.

 James helps us know by telling us with the tongue, we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those made in the likeness of God.  So we have to ask, does “cursing” mean using profanity?  If so, can we just abstain from using “cuss words” and be OK? 

 That would be too easy.  Cursing is all the kinds of speech that break down trust, harm someone’s reputation, destroy relationships:

 It’s gossip: talking about people behind their backs, saying things we would never say to their face.

 Spreading rumors: passing along stories we’ve heard that we’ve not independently verified, from the person the story is about—or passing along even true stories that will do harm.

Telling secrets entrusted to us.

It’s music that glorifies violence or deprecates women.

Insincere flattery, which is just as harmful as forthright scorn. 

Name-calling: “stupid”, “dork”, “fatso”, “jerk”.  Saying, “you’ll never amount to anything”, “can’t you fix your hair better than that?”, “what a ridiculous thing to do.” —words that belittle, intimidate, damage someone’s self-esteem, may even stunt his or her growth in faith.  

Blaming the victim: women who’ve been sexually assaulted—folks who become ill from some product or environmental hazard—the poor.

Jokes that make fun at the expense of someone’s race or religion or gender or size…. 

Hate speech, which we often see in political campaigns, where candidates employ whole teams of people to find the opponent’s dirty laundry. 

Are there any toes I haven’t stepped on yet?  I’ve managed to step on my own a time or two, for sure—and with good reason.  To re-word an old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words do far more harm.”  Words can destroy a reputation.  Words can destroy a spirit.  Words can break relationships.

Christians are called, not to curse, but to bless: to bless God, as we did by singing “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing My Dear Redeemer’s Praise”, and to bless others as well.  James and Isaiah understood that, for people of faith, speech has to do with relationships, beginning with our covenant relationship with God.  The way God treats us is our model for us to relate to one another.  Isaiah tells us God gave him the tongue of a teacher, so he could build up others.  Yet he wasn’t free to say whatever he pleased:  first, he had to listen to God—not once, but every day, morning after morning.                  

Listening to God is how all of us will learn to speak blessing, rather than curses.  With God teaching us, we can teach the faith to one another and to strangers, speaking the truth in love.  “In love”, to build others up —to help them experience God’s love through us—to model for them ways to grow into the Christian God wants us each to be.  So listen for God’s guidance before speaking.  And consider that sometimes the best speech is silence.  When you do speak, let Jesus Christ be your example of speaking the truth in love.  Just as firefighters pour water or chemicals on the blaze, so Christians can pour the balm of kind words on the fires of anger and hostility.  And just as firefighters douse homes and woods ahead of a wildfire, so we can keep fires from starting by multiplying the times we say “you did a great job” (if you mean it!)—“thank you”--“I’m sorry”—“I love you.”

With the tongue, we bless the Lord and Father; and with it, we curse those made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.  Instead, be firefighting Christians from whose mouths only blessing is heard.  Billy Graham once mused, “A real Christian is the one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip.”

*****

          God whose very word creates beauty, we are grateful even for the chastisement implicit in your scriptures, because it tells us that we are valuable in your eyes—valuable enough that you want us to live as we are made—in your image.  Thank you for giving us direction.  Thank you for giving us models in other Christians.  And thank you for giving us the greatest model of all: Jesus, our Lord and savior.

Bless all who commit to study the scriptures faithfully, who pray for your guidance, who try to be for others an example of Christ-like speaking and living.         

Please manage not only our words but also those of politicians—our own and those of other nations--that we may someday, O Lord, know your peace in all the world.

As we move further into the Fall, we pray to escape the destructive forces of hurricanes.  Give us, too, the will to change the things that increase the potential and power of storms. 

Burdened by the cares of those we love, we lift them to you now in silence….

And trusting you with our lives, we ask your blessing on us as we move into another week.  May we live under your protection and by your light.  In the name of Jesus, we seek to live by the prayer he taught us, “Our Father….”

CTW: Psalm 149:1  Praise the Lord!  Sing to the Lord a new song—his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Because God surrounds us with steadfast love—because we are a people of faith—because we care about others, we bring offerings to support God’s work through the church.  Let us give as we are able. // Receive our offerings, Bountiful God, and create new miracles through us and in us and in your world.  May all we do bring glory to your name.  Amen.

Go into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Go and join Christ in the world, healing and speaking words of freedom, revealing the sacred in the very midst of life, through the ever-flowing grace of God.  Amen.