Well, good morning.
We're in our ninth week studying through the book of James, and today we're in chapter three, where James revisits a topic that he hit on back in chapter one, so he's repeating himself, so it means it must be something important to James, and it must mean something profound for our lives.
So I'm gonna read sections of this passage and we'll make some sense of it.
So let's reread what Sam just read, James 1, 3, 1 through 5a.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
So a little humbling moment for me right there, verse 2.
For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
Look at the ships also.
Though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
So point number one is this words by us and to us guide our lives.
Words by us and to us guide our lives.
James uses this bridal metaphor back in James chapter one, and he reuses it again.
So I'm gonna reuse my illustration.
If you remember nine weeks ago, I said that my family went horseback riding.
We don't know anything about horses.
We have no business being on a horse.
We know nothing about horses at all, but of course we just put our precious little child up on there.
Our youngest, there's our youngest, and so all 60 pounds of her is on top of this massive, massive beast.
And we don't know anything about horses, but the the cowgirl guide comes by and to calm us all down.
As you can tell, we're freaking out.
And says, Hey, hey, sweet little girl, um, the horse has a bit in its mouth.
Those leather straps come up and around, right?
This is how horses work.
And you can control the horse.
Isn't that amazing?
That little girl can control that massive beast out of a bridle.
And James says, that's the image.
That's the image.
And then he says, Oh, I got more images for you.
And that's what James chapter 3 is.
I got more images for you on this issue.
And he says, the mouth is also like the rudder of a ship.
Maybe you saw last week this picture on the news.
So this is one of our aircraft carriers.
This is the Gerald R.
Ford aircraft carrier that last week it sailed into the Mediterranean to support Israel.
This is the world's largest aircraft carrier.
1,106 feet long.
I'll be honest, when I see pictures of this, I'm singing proud to be American.
I'll pay more taxes.
Let's build another one.
Let's do it.
Let's just keep.
We can't have enough aircraft carriers.
That's my position, that maybe whatever.
Love it, right?
Huge ship though.
Huge ship, massive ship, three football fields long.
Three football fields.
Sails across the world.
And the entire time it is guided by a rudder.
Here's a picture of an aircraft carrier rudder.
It looks pretty big, but it's actually about 0.03 the length of the entire ship.
And it, that small rudder, will guide that massive ship.
And James says, your words seem small.
But they have enormous power over your life and the life of people around you.
Now James just keeps hammering away at this point, right?
So we have the bit on the horse, we got the ship and the rudder, and he's gonna keep hammering away his point.
He brings in another metaphor for us, James 3, 5B through 12.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.
The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers, these things ought not be so.
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives or grapevine produce figs?
Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
So point number two is this there are words that hurt us.
There are words that hurt us.
James says our words can be like fire.
Maybe you've been there, right?
Like you should have held your tongue and you didn't.
Like because you were stressed or you were mad or you were upset and you just said that thing.
You said that thing to the person you love?
Have you ever said something?
I said something last week.
I said it.
You don't need to know the story, but I said it.
And 10 seconds later, I was like, I did that come, like, did that just come out of me?
Like, and what fire did I just start?
And now what fire do I need to go and try to put out?
A long time ago, at another church, so you don't have to look around at each other.
A long time ago, another church.
I always tell stories at other churches.
I was talking to a friend, and he said he was a child.
He was standing at the bottom of the stairs.
His dad was at the top of the stairs.
And his dad looks down the stairs.
He had done something to upset his dad.
His dad looks down the stairs and points out.
You are nothing but a coward.
It could have been like 10 or 15 years.
He was still living with that destructive fire inside of him.
We can live too long guided by words that should have never been said.
A good growth and grace question is what hurtful word spoken to you still holds harmful power over you.
And we can turn that question around, because James would have us turn it around.
That's holding power over somebody.
See, we can spend our entire lives building a sense of self out of a wound caused by words spoken years ago.
And we think we'll be destroyed if we move into that wound.
How we feel about it, what it caused, what it's doing in our lives.
But we won't be.
We have to know.
We have to know that God will meet us in that toxic word.
And He will give us a new word.
James lead us to contemplate our own words.
Do people avoid us even slightly because our words distract or destroy?
Maybe just always negative.
Maybe self-pity, maybe self-absorb.
Or do people long to be in your presence?
Because your words are of grace and truth.
And they just create life.
Proverbs 16, 24 says, gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul, and health to the body.
Haven't you experienced that?
Point number three is this there are words that heal us.
There are words that hurt us, and there are words that heal us.
About a year ago, our family had a major conversion, big transformation in the Masterson household.
We had been eating rolled gold pretzels for years, reliable pretzel.
It's a solid standard pretzel.
And then you know what we had.
You know what we had.
Dots.
That's exactly what we had.
Unbelievable.
I didn't know a pretzel could improve.
It's unbelievable.
But they pre-coat them with butter.
They bake them.
Then a top secret seasoning.
Top secret.
But then they rebake them.
And I can't get enough.
No, we buy that big Costco bag.
It just stays on the counter.
I just keep circling by, right?
All day.
Just circle by.
So good.
Gracious words are like that.
You just can't get enough.
You keep circling by.
You find yourself circling by a certain person at a party because you're like, I want to be around them.
Those words are good words.
Can't get enough.
It's like sweetness to the soul, help to the body.
Yet, just a little evaluation on my words.
A lot of times I barely listen.
Kind of waiting, like waiting to talk, right?
We've all done it.
You're listening, but you're kind of waiting for your moment.
Because I got a lot of opinions.
I got opinions on all sorts of stuff, and I can't wait to share them about Fat Bear Week, about Israel, you know, Travis and Taylor.
That's a big thing right now.
I got opinions on that.
I've got lots of theories.
Just waiting to share my agenda.
But gracious words are for the good of the other person.
You're actually thinking about the other person.
Encouraging, loving, comforting.
My wife says over and over in our family, to our children, but I think she's saying this to me, I think she's saying that to me.
Is it true, necessary, and kind?
Because that's like honey, right?
We just can't get enough of that.
True, necessary, and kind.
In John chapter 1, Jesus meets Peter.
Remember this story?
First time Jesus meets Peter.
Looks at him, Jesus looks at Peter and says, You are Simon, son of John, you will be called Cephas.
Which means the rock.
Solid leader.
This guy's gonna be a solid leader.
But that's crazy because at this point, Peter has done nothing.
He has proved nothing.
He has no resume.
He has no record.
He has performed not at all.
Nothing.
And Jesus says, you're the rock.
So this is a word spoken over Peter.
Spoken into Peter.
This is imputation.
This is the word spoken.
Something given to him he did not cause, he cannot maintain.
Jesus deems Simon something long before he actually became that very thing.
Now, at the end of Jesus' life, you remember the story?
Peter messes up, denies him three times.
Not the rock.
Then we read in John chapter 21 that Jesus pursues Peter in this mess that Peter's created.
And Peter is probably waiting for some word of condemnation or some word of like, hey, you can do it.
Get your act together.
Be brave.
Come on, man.
That's not what Jesus does, right?
Jesus says, Simon, do you love me?
Then feed my sheep.
Do you love me?
Then feed my sheep.
Do you love me?
Then feed my sheep.
It's interesting that later in the New Testament, when Peter is writing, he always introduces himself.
He's become a force of faith at this point.
And he always introduces himself as Simon Peter.
See, we slowly and perfectly become that which God has lavishly already deemed us to be.
That is the power of God through imputation.
God's word to us shapes who we are and how we live.
Now, back to our speech.
Jesus taught in Luke 6, 45, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
So out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths speak.
Point number four is this.
See, James says in verse 8 that no one can tame the tongue, which is really discouraging because he just told us how powerful the tongue is, and then he says, oh, by the way, it's super powerful.
You can cause a lot of destruction.
And, verse 8, you're helpless.
It's like, thanks, appreciate it, James.
Thanks a lot.
We appreciate that.
James does this, right?
Because James is always assuming the gospel and telling us the effects.
He's not as thorough as Paul is on the outworkings of the gospel.
But James hints at it in verses 11 and 12, because he says it's about the root.
Right?
He takes his destruction, you can't tame it, but go to the root.
The inner will affect the outer.
Paul writes in Colossians 4, 6, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
It's an amazing verse.
Good tip.
That on its own, we're all just horrible failures, right?
Horrible.
We need more than that.
Well, fortunately, Colossians 4 comes after Colossians 3.
And Colossians 3 is about how the Christian should live.
And in chapter 2, it begins with the life we have only in Christ.
Performance is over, pretending is not needed, because Jesus plus nothing equals everything.
So the heart that wants to prove, wants to earn, wants to justify itself before God, wants to justify itself between each other, is at rest.
Can come to a peace.
And then we learn that the misuse of our words, that exhaustion of it, so often just reveals how we're trying to secure something for ourselves that Jesus has already deemed to us.
Acceptance, justification, worth, value, security, love, position, meaning, affection, righteousness, forgiveness.
Here's what God speaks to you in Christ.
God says, in Christ, you are already forgiven and already righteous.
God says in Christ you are accepted enough and at peace with Him.
God says, in Christ, you have a friend and are worthy.
God says, in Christ you are free from performance and welcomed into grace.
God says in Christ you are lavishly loved and empowered to love.
God says in Christ you are deemed godly and empowered toward godliness.
God says in Christ you are safe and your heart has a home with him.
As we rest in the lavishness of that goodness, of the promises of Jesus for us, what kind of healing, what kind of security and peace might that give us in the core of who we are?
And then James says, what might that do for our words?
This past Wednesday morning, I hiked up the back of Kennesaw Mountain.
It was an amazing fall morning, kind of like this morning.
Vest is on, crisp weather.
I start the hike out.
I put some AirPods in, shane and shane worship.
I'm worshiping my way up this mountain.
I'm gonna have literally I'm gonna have a religious mountaintop experience.
I mean, this is an amazing fall morning.
I got the worship going, I'm worshiping, I'm walking up this mountain, hiking in the beautiful woods, the leaves are changing along the way.
I'm I'm so kind to the other hikers.
You wouldn't even believe it.
It is so over the top, as I'm in such a good mood.
I'm at peace with myself and Jesus and the world, and I'm worshiping, and I'm like, good morning, good to see you, have a great day.
Isn't it lovely?
Look at the leaves.
I even said a God bless you.
I mean, it was it was it was amazing the amount of sanctification that was going on.
I get to the top, turn back around.
On the way up, I got a little warm, so I took my took my vest off.
I carefully folded it.
I wanted to really communicate some I care for this vest.
I carefully folded it and put it on a very particular rock along the trail.
Put it there.
Hike up.
I'm coming back down.
Good morning.
Beautiful fall.
Have a great day.
So kind.
It's unbelievable.
You wouldn't even believe it.
I get to the rock.
No vest.
Okay.
Hike back up the trail a little bit.
Maybe I ended up at the wrong rock, right?
First thought.
I passed it.
So walk back up.
No, no, no, no.
That's all the peace in me.
It's gone.
I ain't worshiping.
Turn Shane Shane off, tell you that much.
That's done.
That's not what this morning's gonna be about.
Come back to that rock.
It's gone.
Somebody, somebody took my vest.
20-year-old Patagonia hunter green vest with a big sky Montana patch in the upper left corner because I was once at a campfire and a spark flew out and burned a little hole right there.
So if you're wearing that vest, I know.
Start hiking back down.
I'm passing other hikers.
No good mornings.
No, have a great day.
The only thing is, did you steal my vest?
You got my vest?
Can open your backpack.
Let me see.
That's it.
I mean, like all the kindness was gone.
It was gone.
I mean, forget it.
All that was left was ignoring people, not welcoming people, and then just fire waiting if I see a dude wearing my vest.
Right?
I mean, it's kind of a silly story, but think about that inner experience that results in outer behavior.
I went from pouring out kindness to ignoring people really quick.
Because I went from living in peace to living from a wound.
Remember Peter?
Jesus pursues him while he's a mess, which is my only rescue that morning or any other time.
I need God to love me in as much as my inability to be kind is as much as my ability when I am kind.
Right?
Jesus shows up to Peter and he says, Do you love me?
Do you love me?
I mean, why not blast Peter?
Why not just be like, hey man?
Be brave.
Come on.
Be brave, man.
But Jesus goes after love.
For the same reason that James takes us from our words to the root of a fig tree.
And for the same reason that Paul births are encouraging words and the lavish promises that we have in Jesus.
Because the more we rest in God's pursuit and word of approval over us and to us and in us, the more we speak loving words to others.
Let's pray together.
God, thank you for your grace and mercy to us.
Forgive us for the ways that we have caused destructive fires in people's lives.
Forgive us for the times that we have spoken too quickly and too harshly.
Help us to remember that we are fully forgiven and fully righteous this morning, no matter what we have spoken.
That you have spoken over us full forgiveness and full righteousness.
And Jesus, may that word of acceptance and approval and justification be the defining power of our hearts.
And may our words be encouraging others.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.