Words that Heal ~ James 3:1-12 ~ Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ September 16, 2012

They say “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Wouldn’t it be great if that were true?  If hurtful words could run off of us like water off a duck’s back—never again to be remembered?

Unfortunately, words can be like bullets that go straight to our hearts.  It takes only words to make us feel worthless and unloved.  It takes only words to ruin our day.  Some words can even wreck entire lives—with wounds that not even time can heal.

Words are like bullets; our tongues as guns. 

This is the essence of what God’s Word is speaking to us from the third chapter of James.  There, it is written that the tongue is a flame set ablaze by hell.  It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison; something that cannot be tamed. 

Our tongues commit evil whenever we speak first and think only later about what we said...  Or we’re caught in the heat of a moment; we can’t keep our emotions in check, and we speak either out of anger or frustration or envy or insecurity. 

But the tongue is at its deadliest when it is used to deliberately wound another person.  This is what bullying is.  The bully uses their skill and cunning to inflict maximum harm on another person for reasons as petty as their own enjoyment. The bully gets high by using their words to bring another person down.

But as much as other people’s words can hurt us, we can hurt ourselves just as much with our own words.

James reminds us that none of us is perfect—and therefore, we all say things we wish we could take back.  But we can’t.  Words cannot be unsaid like pencil marks erased from paper.  And if we have any kind of conscience at all, we become burdened with guilt and shame when we realize we’ve spoken hurtful words.  And what’s worse is that we recognize that our words break relationships and damage our reputations.  In the end, our own words end up making us feel worthless and stupid and evil.  And saying “I’m sorry” cannot take back the hurt we cause—and more than it can take away our shame. 

If we need any proof of our need of divine grace, we need look no further than our hearts that are wounded by the hurtful things we say and the hurtful things said to us.  Time cannot heal a wounded heart—but Jesus can.  His forgiveness takes away our guilt and our shame; his wounded hands and feet show us how much we are loved even when people treat us like garbage.

God’s invitation to us today is to listen to a Holy and Sacred Word that gives life.  At the font, Jesus says to you that you belong to him.  At the table, Jesus says, “this is my body and my blood given for you,” and this is what he gives us in bread and in wine.  And all throughout the Scriptures, God speaks to us to assure us that we are loved, that you are forgiven, and that all of the evil and chaos in this world cannot defeat God’s redemption of the cosmos.  Therefore, we must close our mouths, still our busy hands, and listen as God speaks this life-giving Word to the world.  This is the discipline part of living as a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

When we discipline our ears to listen as God speaks, we become kind compassionate and forgiving.  We become Christ-like.  We receive the grace to discipline our tongues.

Ultimately, we show Christ’s compassion most powerfully not in what we say, but in what we do—and one of the greatest gifts we can give to our neighbors is in listening to them.  You can never go wrong in helping someone when you listen and make the effort to understand what they’re saying.  The world doesn’t need more advice givers.  It needs more listeners.

And when we do speak, we must choose our words carefully.

I remember a three-fold test my pastor my confirmation class:

1)      Is it nice? 

2)      Is it true?

3)      Is it necessary?

If you can’t say “yes” to at least two of those three, you should probably keep your mouth shut. 

Sometimes, it will be necessary to speak and it won’t be nice, such as when we learn that someone is suffering unjustly—and that they will continue to suffer if we remain silent.  Another case is when someone does us wrong—and the only way to heal that broken relationship is to tell that person that they’ve hurt us.  Therefore, the ultimate test of our words, is this: “do my words speak the love of Jesus Christ?

An uncontrolled tongue can create hell on earth—but hands and mouths that proclaim the life of Christ will heal.  So let your words and your deeds speak Jesus’ love.  Be quick to listen, and slow to speak.