Word Power: James 3:1-12 - 17th Sunday after Pentecost

¹Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ²For 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. ³If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. ⁴Or 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. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
  How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ⁶And 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. ⁷For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. (NRSV)

Simple by 6000.co.za on Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

“It only takes a spark to get a fire going.”

This was the line from the hymn we sang last week called “Pass It On,” about sharing God’s love.

By Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Association of State Foresters and the Advertising Council - http://gis.nwcg.gov/gist_2004/logos/federal_logos.html, Public Domain

You could also attribute this line to Smokey Bear, the icon of forest fire prevention.  It only takes a tiny spark from a discarded cigarette butt, an engine spark, or a power line to create incomprehensible destruction.  This year’s Mendocino Complex Fire, the largest in California state history, caused a quarter billion dollars in damage, incinerated half a million acres of forest, and took the life of one firefighter.  I should point out that this is only one of the five wildfires California has suffered this year alone.    

So consider that, then, in light of what James says about the human tongue: “the tongue is a fire.  It sets on fire the whole cycle of nature and is itself set on fire by hell.”

James certainly wouldn’t believe the adage “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  I know I don’t.

Words kill.  Young people are dying of bullying.  Social media weaponizes the bully’s words to make their victim’s life a living hell—where there’s nowhere they can go to escape it. 

History has shown us that the words of a charismatic leader can brainwash nations, inciting apartheid, war, and genocide.

Politicians exploit your fears and anger to get your vote.  Advertisers use words to persuade you to buy their goods and services, even when you don’t really need them.  Talking heads use words to distort your sense of reality.  If you hear a lie repeated enough and spoken with conviction, you start to believe it.  Abusers use words to manipulate you into doing their bidding.  The human tongue truly can make hell on earth.

Words are the fastest and most effective way to hurt someone or build yourself up by trickery and deception.

But words are like fire in another way: fire, when spoken with care, they can be life-giving and life-saving. 

Think about it: we use fire to warm our bodies and cook our food.  Fire gives us light.  Fire is used to refine precious metals and mold steel.  You can even use fire and heat to cauterize a wound.  Humanity would cease to exist without fire.

In God’s kingdom, words also give life.  At the beginning of time, God’s spoken Word brought life into being.  The spoken Word brings human beings into faith in Christ.  It exposes human sin and the destructions that it wreaks and announces God’s forgiveness.  God’s spoken Word reconciles us to God and each other.  God’s spoken Word heals broken hearts and comforts tormented souls.  It conquers death and the devil.  God’s Word is truth in a world so full of lies.

And there are no words you will ever hear that are more important than these three: “Jesus loves you.”

James and Isaiah emphasize that words teach—and given that we are always bombarded with words that either destroy life or tell us that life is found in something other than Jesus, we desperately need to be taught.  It’s not enough just to read God’s Word.  God’s Word is a living Word and there is always something new to be learned from it.  The Church always needs faithful teachers: pastors, chaplains, lay leaders, Sunday school teachers, and more. 

As the Body of Christ, we’re all teachers.  You are all teachers.  Never underestimate God’s power to teach the truth of Jesus Christ by telling others of what Jesus has done for you.  Do not underestimate your power to teach the truth of Jesus Christ by speaking the words “I love you” and “I forgive you.” 

But like St. Francis once said, “preach the Gospel; if necessary, use words.”  Your actions teach.  They validate the truth of God’s Word.  The message behind everything we do from VBS to the clothing closet, GriefShare, Pink Day, Relay for Life and more is eternity’s most important truth: “Jesus loves you.”

The benchmark of a good teacher of God’s Word is the fundamental confession of our Lutheran faith: God reconciling the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

At the same time, God is going to send teachers into your life who may not even be Christian.  They may be old and wise, or they may be little children.  They may or not be “nice teachers” (so to speak).  But they will teach you about life, about God, about yourself!  They will inspire your faith and spur you on to good deeds.  And God can speak above the nastiest words you’ll ever hear to speak the most important words you’ll ever hear: “You are loved.”

It only takes a spark to get a fire going, for better or worse.  A word can destroy; but God’s spoken Word brings life.  It’s God’s Word that brings comfort, healing, and strength—whether it’s taught, preached, or spoken by one person to another.  It’s the fire that lights your way and keeps your faith alive.  It’s God’s Word that anchors you in truth in a world so full of lies. 

Never underestimate God’s power at work within you to save lives and souls. 

What the world needs now are people who speak, through word and deed, “Jesus loves you…and so do I.”