James 3.1-12
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A neglected part of scripture
and an unheeded message.
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Infused with the teaching of
Jesus. Written by the most respected leader of the Church at the time of Peter
and Paul. The man who decisively and sensitively chaired the most important and
potentially controversial Council of the early church (Acts 15). A Council at
which Paul, Peter and all the other apostles were present. The Lord’s brother
(older half bro or younger full bro?) who needed no introduction or references.
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Today’s passage from James’
letter to the churches gives a firm warning in strong language about the
dangers of the tongue. How this small body part has disproportionate influence
and is prone to cause all kinds of damage.
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Every week we can see examples
in public life of people and organisations trying to limit the damage of things
which have been said.
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This week we’ve had the Mayor
of London Boris Johnson and the Sun newspaper trying to undo the damage of
crass statements they made in the wake of the deaths at Hillsborough football
ground over 20 years ago. A storm of riots, attacks on US branded restaurants
and consular staff and properties was started by the words of an idiotic film
maker. A well loved and respected US diplomat with a great love for the Arab
world was one of the tragic victims.
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Then seeking to gain political
capital in the wake of that tragedy, presidential candidate Mitt Romney made
some regrettable and factually incorrect accusations, potentially damaging his
campaign and making a lot of work for his campaign team. President Obama took
advantage, claiming that Governor Romney “tends to shoot first and take aim
later”.
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A nice quote from the
President, but isn’t this true of all of us? At least some of the time? We
actually don’t have to look further than our own families, ourselves in
particular, to find many examples of the damage caused by careless or angry or
foolish words!
Teachers beware
It was certainly true of the early church leaders
– look at Peter in today’s gospel passage Mk 8.27ff). And James is pointing to
himself as much as anyone else when he speaks of the special responsibility of
teachers (of the Christian faith).
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Teachers will be judged more
strictly, because of the influence their words have on the lives of others. And
one of the reasons teaching Christianity is a high risk occupation (to be
avoided if possible!) is that the main tool of the trade is this desperately
dangerous instrument, the tongue.
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Take a look at verse 2. A well
known Christian teacher with a prophetic and healing ministry once announced at
a conference that he was pleased to say he had finally fulfilled the conditions
of this verse and reached a state of maturity where he was in complete control of
his whole body, including his tongue. This claim was unfortunately proved false
when the man next to him on the platform poured a cup of cold water over his
head!
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But before you relax and switch
off, thinking these warnings are for someone else, bear in mind that there is a
sense in which we are all teachers, people who teach others what Christians or
British people (or whatever our nationality is) are like.
Tongue metaphors
Look at the illustrations James gives to
show the power and danger of the tongue.
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Both the horse’s bit and the
rudder of a ship are far smaller than the animal or vessel they control. And
yet they do control it, making it go in directions and reach destinations it
would not have gone to.
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His main point is that the
tongue is also very small in relation to the influence it has. But perhaps he
also has in mind the way the tongue and its words can lead us off course,
astray, into dangerous territory.
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Certainly the next image, of
the tongue as the spark, the carelessly dropped cigarette end which starts a
forest fire, speaks of the devastation that words can cause.
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Of course we can’t blame the
tongue itself; we need to pay attention to the source of the words it speaks.
As Jesus said in our gospel reading a few weeks ago; “What comes out of a man
is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil
thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit…”
and so on (Mk 7.20-21)
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In his final illustrations
James also turns to the source of what comes out of our mouths and points out
that fresh and salt water cannot come from the same spring.
Lessons we can draw
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Verse 9 relates directly to the
great commandment. We need to learn to love both God and neighbour
wholeheartedly and consistently. If we do we will be less likely to use the
same tongue to praise God and also to curse our neighbour.
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Know your trigger points –
tiredness, provocation, feeling undervalued for your work, sitting in traffic
jams – the situations where you are most likely to put your foot in your mouth.
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Silence is golden – ears and
mouth should be used in the proportion that God gave them to us, as the saying
goes. And I think it was the writer of Proverbs who said somewhere that even a
fool appears wise, so long as he keeps silent!
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We also need to be people who
actively seek reconciliation for the damage caused by our words, or the words
of our community. Don’t just let it fester – deal with it, take responsibility.
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Our success in all of this will
be much more likely if we are part of a loving Christian community where trust
is growing, where forgiveness is practiced, where the example of Christ is
studied and followed, where honesty and compassion are prevailing. That’s the
underlying theme of the letter of James and that’s what we are trying to build
here at St George’s.
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May God help us and enable us
to go beyond the superficial to a deeper engagement with God and each other, in
a way which pleases God and which draws others into friendship with him.
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