Mouth
James 3: 1-12
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
September 16, 2018
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.
For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it 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. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. - James 3: 1-12
It really could have happened to anybody.
It was Thursday evening and the sanctuary was nearly full. Everyone gathered to remember the Last Supper that Jesus had with the disciples before his arrest and death on the cross.
The lights were dimmed and the choir sang that slow and solemn hymn, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?....Oh-oh-oh-oh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble….” The song made everyone sit with bated breath, just listening for the Spirit’s presence.
Suddenly, a woman’s high heeled shoe flew off of her foot and went flying over head through the sanctuary. In that split second, her mouth opened and yelled, “SHOOT!” except that was not the word that fired off. Hearing that word fly out of her mouth in that sanctuary caused the woman to tremble.
The pastor was singing baritone in the choir and could not quite restrain himself from laughing. Some silently wondered, “What just happened!” A mother gave her child “the look” when he giggled.
This gives a whole new meaning to James’ words, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing” (James 3: 10). We never really know on any given day what might fly out of our mouths, do we?
The mirror of God’s Word encourages us to mature in our Christian character. Maturity comes through the wisdom of reflecting upon our lived experiences; the good, the bad, and the ugly in our successes and failures.
The best thing we can ever do is learn from our mistakes and help others to do the same. James implies that our spiritual growth allows for us to keep the whole body in check by honing the Holy Spirit’s gift of self-control. Spiritual maturity also acknowledges when our sense of restraint breaks down.
Therefore, the mirror of God’s Word challenges us too. When we look into God’s mirror of truth it reflects the shadows of human sin in the light of God’s mercy. James’ words today are moving us to confess the sin of our speech: All of us make mistakes…but no one can tame the tongue, a restless evil, full of deadly poison…With it we bless the Lord and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God (James 3:2a, 8-10).
As we become adults we are to put an end to childish ways. There was a time we all have said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But that is not really true, is it? The truth is we wield words like weapons that create deep wounds in others. Our words dishonor God and dishonor the gift of faith.
Jesus taught that our words matter to God. He said, “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles a person” (Matthew 15:11; Mark 7: 14-15). The heart in the Jewish culture is the gut; the center of human will. And the words we choose to say come from the heart.
If our hearts are far from God and if we are not daily keeping in step with the Spirit then we easily talk the talk and do not walk the walk. This is what disgraces the face of faith we project to God and to others.
We bless the Lord while we curse those who are made in the image of God (James 3:9). Our rash words become sword thrusts and our harsh words stir anger for death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 12:18; 15:1; 18:20). And if we honor God with our lips but our hearts are not Spirit-filled and if mouths do not embody the gospel we proclaim, then our worship and faith are worthless (Isaiah 29:13; James 1:26).
The greatest temptation in our society today is to say words behind a computer screen or a cell phone that we normally would not say face to face.
Our words are like fire that fuels the embers of dissension in an already polarized world.
We dehumanize those we disagree with. We have lost the finesse of civility and decorum.
We fail to revere the image of God in the face of the other – the poor, the immigrant, the refugee, the prisoner, the disabled, the Republican, the Democrat.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters this ought not to be so (James 3:10).
And yet the confessional nature of James’ words today asks us to look in the mirror and ask:
How has my mouth, my tongue, my words stained my face of faith and the larger body of Christ?
How am I complicit in fanning the flames of dissension?
When have I dehumanized those I disagree with?
Do my words embody the gospel I proclaim?
The past few weeks I am again deeply reminded that our human divisions are leveled when a national tragedy or national disaster strike. When the day that no one imagined arrives, we go out of our way to reach across the road, the sidewalk, and the aisle to help the other – the neighbor we do not know and to speak words of love. Every time we do this, we act with a renewed spiritual reality - we need each other.
We need one another in the midst of all our differences to rebuild a sense of meaning and purpose in life. This is a God-given insight and it is intrinsic to who we are and whose we are.
The world and all of creation was brought into being through the power of God’s spoken Word (Genesis 1:3). God breathed life into humanity, making all of humankind in the image of God (Genesis 2:7). God gave humanity the gift and responsibility of naming all creatures of the earth (Genesis 2:19). Therefore, speech is a gift from God to bless all God has created.
We are called to speak and teach the language of God’s steadfast love. But we can only speak and teach the language of love if we are committed to be students of God’s Word. We teach by living into Jesus’ example. We speak and teach by walking the walk and using words when necessary. James says as teachers we are held to a higher example. But truthfully – as disciples of Jesus Christ we are held to a higher example just the same.
All of us make mistakes, but we must look into the mirror of God’s Word daily to see ourselves in light of the Law of Love.
I put my foot in my mouth daily, so Psalm 141:3 is an important verse to keep in my back pocket: “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” As we grow in God’s wisdom, the Spirit will be at work in us to restrain our tongue.
The Apostle Paul says our face of faith is most authentic when we remember Christ teaches us to put away our old self and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. You and I are children of God, created in God’s image of righteousness, and connected as members of one another (Ephesians 4: 22-25).
We are God’s co-creators of right relationships. Our mouths are to use the gift of speech to speak with words that build up, as there is need, so that our words may give grace to those who hear. We are to be kind to one another, compassionate, and forgiving. We are to be imitators of God, as his beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us, and gave himself up for us. (Ephesians 4:29, 31-32, 5:1).
God sends us back out into the world this morning with a new word in our hearts and on our tongues: love. God’s self-giving love is the bridle that keeps our individual bodies and the communal body of Christ in check. God’s love leads us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1:19). God’s love shapes our mouths with wisdom to speak words of healing (Proverbs 12:18).
God’s love leads us to be patient, kind, and rejoice in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:4, 6). God’s love leads us to bear God’s truth with our actions and especially with our words when the society says, “It’s a dog-eat-dog-world”. God’s love leads us to believe God’s truth will rise up to reveal the best of humanity in times of turmoil. God’s love leads us to hope for and endure in God’s truth against all odds (1 Corinthians 13:7).
You and I are members of the body of Christ. We each have an individual and a communal responsibility to remember the purpose of our speech is to glorify God and to build up one another. Our speech is to be infused with this rich vocabulary of faith. The power of our words reaches well beyond the church walls and into our homes, our schools, our work, and our civic life.
In a polarized world it is time for the Church to reclaim God’s influential voice of mutual respect, humility, and Christlike love. The transformation God desires does not point fingers at other Christians. The transformation God desires begins with me (please say these 7 words with me).
May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to God.
In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
Sermon Influenced by the Following:
New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary Volume (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015), pp. 655-656.
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