Humble but Powerful

"Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me!" Think again. Words are incredibly powerful; and James tells his parishioners that in no uncertain terms! His thoughts are worth pondering, especially in a world that believes that "talk is cheap."

If I asked you to name the most powerful muscle in the body, what would you say? Would you name the biceps, the large muscles in our upper arms that enable us to pick up loaded bags of groceries? The muscles in our legs are good candidates; they enable us to walk and run. Or do you think that the heart is the most powerful? That mass of muscle beats about 60 times a minute, every single day of our lives! All those muscles are very powerful; and it’s a good thing that they are. The one that wins the power prize, though, is that humble muscle, the tongue.

Now, the tongue isn’t as physically strong as other muscles in the body. You’re never going to see anyone doing a bench press in the gym with his tongue! But the words that it forms are incredibly powerful! They can make a life better or ruin it. The tongue can encourage a hopeless student to keep trying; or it can ridicule that same student until she gives up. It can convince a potential suicide to keep on living; or it can ruin the reputation of an innocent person. Even young children have the power to wound or to heal with their tongues. When Junior first says, “Mama,” it’s a joyous day for his parents. But when Junior picks up his first four-letter word at day care… Well, that’s a difficult day. The tongue is a powerful muscle, indeed!

James is making just that point in the part of his letter that I read this morning (James 3:5-12). James doesn’t think much of the tongue. He says that it can be a real problem! The tongue can “corrupt the whole body.” It is a “restless evil, full of deadly poison.” In fact, it is “set on fire by hell.” Those are strong words. You have to wonder what in the world was happening in James’ church to cause him to write in such strong terms. If we read between the lines, his letter gives us a few clues. First, James wrote, “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.” Apparently folks in that congregation were bragging about themselves at other people’s expense. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it? We hear it all the time these days: “I’m right and you’re wrong!” Even people who don’t really know anything claim to know everything. Putting people down is an art form these days.

James’ folks were probably telling lies about other people, too. Today, some people call that “offering alternative facts.” James would have laughed at that. He would have called a spade a spade, and said that they were liars and that they were ruining other people’s lives. His opinion was that the tongue can set “the whole course of one’s life on fire.” Lives can be burned to cinders because of the lies that people tell. Those fires are still burning today.

And if all that weren’t enough, those good church folks were cursing other people! They went to church on Sunday and shouted, “Praise the Lord,” and then they went to the market on Monday and cursed the guy who was in line ahead of them. James lamented that “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing;” and things haven’t gotten any better. Now we not only curse people to their faces, we curse them on social media. Anyone who has spent any time at all on social media knows how nasty the comments there can be. I ran across this post recently that refers to the relationship of two internationally-known people that none of us know personally: “He should have married another woman instead of this slut. He would be much happier.” That’s actually a relatively mild comment; many are much worse.

If you are horrified by all of this; well, so was James. “My brothers and sisters,” he says, “this should not be!” And he’s absolutely right! We Christians shouldn’t brag, lie, or slander. But how can we fix things? We say things that we don’t really mean to say, and then we regret what we’ve said; but we can’t take back our words. James is the first to admit that. “No human being,” he says, “can tame the tongue.” Despite all of our accomplishments – taming all kinds of critters in the natural world, building climate-controlled homes to tame our environment, and even soaring into the heavens to tame space – we can’t control our own speech.

The reality is that we can’t control our own speech because we can’t control who we are! James asks the question, “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” knowing full well what the answer is. The source of water determines whether it is palatable or not. People are the very same way. Jesus himself said, “the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart. And out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, theft, false testimony, and slander.” (Matthew 15:18-20) Our heart is the source of our words; and those words are a dead giveaway as to who we are. If our hearts are rotten; well, then, our speech will be rotten, too. Now, I’m not talking those times when we throw the mixing bowl at the wall and yell, “Goll durn it!” We all have to verbally unload our frustrations now and then. But over time, a person's speech is generally loving, encouraging, and compassionate; or it is cruel, hateful, and vile. Our words always reflect what is in our heart.

But how can we possibly change our hearts? We can’t do it by ourselves; but we can do it through the grace of Jesus Christ. And that, friends, is the good news of the gospel: Jesus can change us. He can take our hearts that are full of anger and envy and hate; and he can scrape out every last bit of those things. Then he can replace all that crud with peace and compassion and love! And that is something that he is eager to do! Now, getting rid of all the crud in our hearts isn’t an easy matter. It can take a long time. It can take years before our hearts are the way that Jesus wants them! Hate and envy and anger are burned into our hearts like the caked-on crust of an old cooking pot; and it takes all of Jesus’ strength to get it out. But Jesus is the one who conquered death, so surely he can conquer our hearts, too. And when our hearts are new, our speech will be new. We won’t brag and slander and lie any longer! Instead, we will listen to others, encourage them, and tell the truth in love. Our tongues will no longer be tools of the devil, but instruments of the kingdom of God!

Are you happy with your speech right now? If you aren’t proud of it – if you know that your heart could use a makeover – then ask Jesus to help you change. If you have said things that you regret, come to Jesus for forgiveness. If you want to be an instrument of God’s kingdom, all you need to do is to ask. And, friends, asking Jesus to change your heart are the very best words that could ever come out of your mouth!