Sept. 15, 2024 Text: James 3:1-12
Dear Friends in Christ,
Hello. You have heard a lot about them. Here they are. My headphones. These help me survive in public places. Ball games – I wore them to the Illinois football game last weekend. Grocery store. Airports and airplanes – needed going to and from Germany. Will be on my head this Tuesday and Friday, flying to and from my trip to see my friend.
Why are they needed? Because the world cannot control the tongue. I see more and more people doing what I have been doing for five years. Verbally we have reached what one commentator calls a sad state of “hyperinflation” in our verbal tools of outrage. One can no longer say anything shocking enough to grab anyone’s attention. We might rightly ask, “How did we ever arrive here?”
The tongue as a means of destruction is as old as the Bible. James under timeless truth given from the Holy Spirit says the tongue “is a fire.”
“CAN YOU SMELL THE SMOKE?”
Our speech is burning our decorum and kindness down to a mere ember. Like the western wildfires that gave us a haze in the Midwest, the smoke of our language makes its way throughout our country.
Our tongues set “fires.” A small bit can direct a horse, a tiny rudder can direct a massive ship. A tiny fire can engulf a forest. The language we use matters. We have been in the gutter for quite some time.
The path or course of human existence is engulfed; the source of the devastating flames is hell itself. Hurtful words do damage not only to the one who speaks them; the hearts and mouths of those who hear such sin-soaked speech are set ablaze as well. Sin multiplies sin. James observes that for one and all the tongue influences the course of life – and seemingly not vice versa.
We are told in verse 7 that every living creature can be tamed by man. To control the tongue is the faithful Christian’s constant quest, never finished, always under God’s grace. The goal is so near and yet so far. The best way to control one’s sinful tongue is simply to keep thy mouth shut before damaging words and hurtful thoughts emerge. No human being since the fall has completely succeeded in this straightforward task. This is why we must turn to Christ and His Gospel constantly for the healing balm of the forgiveness of our sins.
The last warning James gives is the pitiful irony of our sin. This same mouth can curse and bless. James says that a tongue on fire, creating a lot of smoke is like freshwater and salt water. You mix the two and the saltwater is going to overtake the freshwater. Our society is the pro facia case of the salted tongue making all of us a bit salty. We are trying to be freshwater in our words, but it’s tough. Even Christians use forms of the word “God” in their speech. I learned in confirmation that this breaks the 2nd commandment. Knock it off with God’s help.
I don’t buy the argument that the tongue cannot be tamed. I know from my own history it can. I also recently saw it played out in a very public place. A football team. Name – Chicago Bears. They were on a TV series called “Hard Knocks.” A behind the scenes look at their day-to-day operation. There was no profanity. Do you know why? Out of respect for the McCaskey family who owns the Bears. Amazing. If ballplayers and coaches can do it there is hope.
We need restoration. We need someone to clear the smoke. Control the fire, the bit, the rudder. Jesus has restored our tongues to his great good by enduring the fire of God’s wrath against all our sins – including the sins of the tongue – in our place. He undoes the chaotic damage that has been done. He suffered scorn and abuse, physical and verbal, on the cross. His death there has effectively extinguished the fiery danger of God’s judgment into hell for all who use their tongues to confess his name.
He has undone the damage by preaching the healing, life-giving, divine Word that sets all things right where all has gone terribly wrong. Such preaching continues today – for our forgiveness, for our life, and for our salvation.
Let us continue, through the strength of the Holy Spirit to train and use our tongues as instruments that able to accomplish good. May our blessings be stronger than our curses. May our compliments be more numerous than our complaints. May our tongues show the non-Christian and struggling Christian that words make a difference. The cleansing, pure fountain of the Gospel can spring forth so that it changes hearts, puts out fires and diminishes all the smoke around us.
Amen.