Taming of the Beast

James 3:1-12New International Version (NIV)

Taming the Tongue

3 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

(Set Bible, Pen, Computer, Hammer and Nail on Communion Table)

Please take note of the items I have set before you on the communion table.  I have placed a Bible, a pen, a computer, a hammer and a nail before you on the table.  A nail is the oldest of tools dating back to the Egyptian Empire around 3400 BC and the computer is the newest tool that sits before.  Without a doubt, each one of these items is a tool with a designated purpose.  Some of these items can perform many functions but their purpose is to be some sort of tool.  The technical definition of the word “tool” is: a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function.  I would say these all fit under that definition.  Depending on who you are and how you decide to use it, the particular function of each one of these may vary but each tool has its strengths, its weaknesses, and its limitations.  What I mean by that is that the nail cannot be used as a straw, the computer is not a nail, the pen is not a cooking utensil, this Bible is one translation of many  and it cannot be used as a  chainsaw.  You get the idea.  Each tool has a unique function and purpose much like the parts of the human body.  In our scripture for this morning, James talks about one of the most influential tools we possess on our bodies: our tongue and more specifically, how we communicate.  The human tongue fits under the definition of a tool and James spends a good amount of time warning us of its dangers.

Let’s start our conversation about these tools sitting before you with the pen.  Of course, there are millions of other tools that I could have set before you this morning so please allow your imagination to expand upon what other items could be up here.  The pen is really a metaphor for anything hand written or found in print like a newspaper for example.  Before the creation of email, word documents, telephones and newspapers the only way to communicate long distances was to write something down or trust someone to remember the message and send a messenger.  Before we had written language, the only way to pass anything down to the next generation was through oral tradition.  The pen, or more specifically any writing utensil, helped humans to start preserving history, tradition and law.  Most of the world’s most influential and beautiful words were put on paper with a pen: the Declaration of Independence, Shakespeare’s poetry and Beethoven’s music, to name a few.  Before pens, humans etched important information into stone so many generations could see the exact words in their written form.  The purpose of the writing utensil had a humble and honest beginning.  Eventually people started to see its power.  The power to destroy and slander others.  Many facts have been preserved with a pen but at the same time, many lies have been spread via the pen.  Its purposeful design had the best of intentions and yet that design has been manipulated to cause pain and create lies.  

Moving onto the combination of the hammer and the nail.  These tools have built some of the world’s most incredible structures.  Before we had iron, steel and concrete, humans used wood to build everything.  Houses, churches, store fronts, crosses, book shelves, you get the idea.  We can build almost anything out of wood and the nail is what holds that wood together.  The nail of course gets to where it is through the use of a hammer.  Nail guns have changed that quite a bit but for the sake of a sermon illustration, let’s imagine it is still the hammer that drives the nail.  These tools built the American West from the ground up.  As people moved west, lumber was not difficult to find.  Used in conjunction with one another these tools have impacted our lives for the better.  Many of our homes were constructed with a hammer and nail. This very building was built only using only hammers and nails.  The things humans have built using these tools are so impressive.  But just like the pen, the hammer and nail can destroy just as they build.  Nails were driven through the hands and feet of Christ and they were driven by a hammer. A nail can pierce, poke, prod and damage. A hammer can break, bend, tear down, destroy and shatter. (Those of you reading this: I broke an old window into a tub for added affect).

Next up: the computer.  What a wonderful tool! I prepare all of my sermons on one.  We communicate through any number of ways via the internet.  It can search billions upon billions of pages of information in tenths of a second.  For example, as of yesterday, there were 4.74 billion pages on the world wide web.  The google search I performed to find that information came up with 692 million results in .36 seconds.  How incredible! How amazing that we have come from moths interfering with vacuum tubes on the campus of ISU in a computer that may not fit into this church to where we are today?!  Most of us carry phones with more computing power than we give them credit for.  Take this quote for example: “Today, your cell phone has more computer power than all of NASA in 1969, when it placed two astronauts on the moon.”  That is quote by Dr. Michio Kaku from an article written in June of 2014.  When you’re reading your email and checking Facebook, you are holding more technology than it took to land people on the moon.  When looked at it that way, it seems like we should be doing so much more with our phones!  And yet it too can destroy.  Countless marriages have been put into jeopardy because of the hacking of online dating site for married couples.  Church leaders often get caught in the trappings of pornography which destroy marriages and ministries.  For everything great a computer can help us do, there are an equal number of ways it can hurt us.  The barbs of a mean spirited tweet or facebook post have led many kids to the point of suicide.  These things were definitely not the intention of those who created this amazing and powerful tool but that is where it is today.

The final object I sat before you this morning is of course a Bible.  Now, you may be thinking how can this tool be mistaken for what it is?  How can it have damaging and lasting effects like the other tools I have talked about?  The scary truth is that it too is the source of a lot of pain, suffering and death even though its teachings try to show us the exact opposite.  You need not delve very deep into the history of the church to see how its words have been twisted to make political gain.  The words found in here have the ability to save.  They are powerful and can change the world for the better.  Peace and hope are not some sort of facade.  They can be realities.  God’s love and grace transcends the messiness of the human life if we allow Him to.  The words found in here are so incredibly powerful when we use common sense, good judgment, and the Holy Spirit to help interpret them.  But when we make them our own by changing their meaning to fit however we see necessary, that is when those same words destroy relationships and cause such pain and heartache.  This life altering tool can empower.  It can create generosity.  It can save.  It can lead us into a future of hope and peace.  But when used for personal or political gain, those same words can destroy.  

James uses a bunch of metaphors to describe one such tool that we possess on our body.  A bit can steer a horse.  A small rudder can steer a huge ship.  A small spark can cause a massive wildfire.  Our words can lift up or they can destroy.  Humans have been domesticating animals for thousands of years and yet we have not been able to tame one such animal that is apart of our person.  James prefaces all of this by saying, “We all stumble in many ways.”  He is not talking about the slipping out of a curse word when we stub our toe in the dark.  He is talking about a way of life that promotes gossip and slander.  Praises and curses cannot come out of the same place, James warns.  We cannot cast down upon fellow human beings because we are all created in God’s likeness.  “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”  I do not know much about springs but I doubt it.  These words of worship that we share here on Sunday’s ought not share the same space as words of slander and gossip.  Again, James is not talking about the ways we may stumble in trying to do the best we can.  Instead, James is warning us of a way of life and dealing with one another in which we tear down instead of build up. A way of life in which we destroy instead of create.  A way of life where we slander and gossip instead of encourage and empower.  All of the tools I have mentioned have such power and potential but they must be used carefully and intentionally.  Be a tool of power, strength, love, hope and encouragement.  God designed you with a specific function in mind, He designed you to be a tool that furthers His kingdom.  The choice of exactly how that tool will be used rests solely with you.  Amen.