WEBVTT 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:03.520 Thank you. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:06.320 How's everybody doing? 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:07.759 Very good? 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.760 See, I intended that to be awkward. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:35.600 And that was, I I expected I would have to do that for 20 or 30 seconds for someone to just say, this is too awkward, I have to say something. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.240 And it was like five seconds it took. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:41.359 That's exactly what I'm talking about this morning. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:50.719 That awkwardness, maybe you've had this in a social setting, where there's a little bit of silence, and you know someone should be saying something, and I can't let this stand. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.759 I'm just gonna jump in and say anything, I don't care if it's right or wrong. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:55.439 We have to fill the space. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:58.079 And that's kind of the way we are as human beings. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:00:59.280 We're made to speak. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.399 We're made in the image of God, and He's given us a voice. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:11.760 Uh they say an average person, man or woman, no stereotypes here, will say an average of about 16,000 words every single day. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.799 They say some people will say as many as 48,000 words in a single day. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:18.560 You know who you are. 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:22.159 Please be quiet right now. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:28.959 I'll probably say at least 4,000 words just in a regular length time this morning. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.879 So we're geared to do this, to constantly communicate and to speak. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:40.480 But as God's kids made in his image, we are made to do so much more than just fill the gaps. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:42.879 We are made to speak life. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.760 And that's what we're gonna be talking about this morning. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:55.920 So I grew up uh taking piano lessons, probably like a lot of you maybe did, uh, but unlike a lot of you, I just kept taking piano lessons. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:00.000 Uh you s most of you stopped after a year or so, and you regret it now. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:03.920 Uh, but I only had two or three main teachers. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:06.000 Let me remind you of your regret. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:07.040 It's good. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:11.680 And the I had a first teacher for about four or five years. 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:13.199 She was a tremendous influence. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:24.319 But as I got a little bit older, like uh junior or senior year in high school, she said, it's time for you to move on and have a different teacher maybe can challenge you at a different level since you've decided to study this in college. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:28.800 And so I got set up with uh a professor at Kennesaw College. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:30.639 Years ago it was Kennesaw College. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:36.800 So I went into the the very first lesson, and uh it was the first time this guy had ever heard me play. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.199 So I really wanted to impress him. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:48.400 So my plan was I'm just gonna play these two or three pieces as loudly and as fast as I possibly can, just as powerfully as I can. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:50.319 Cocky little kid, you know. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:54.240 My attitude was like, that's how you play a piano, you know? 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:57.360 Just boom, drop the mic on the ground. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:01.680 So, which, you know, with a classical piece, you know. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:08.879 So his response was he just kind of folded his his hands like this and he leaned back. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:15.840 And he said, you know, Ben, there was a lot that was going on there, but I'm not sure you really said anything. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:22.000 So he said, what I want you to do is I want you to go back home, and for the next week, I want you to try this one exercise. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:27.680 And the exercise that he gave me uh is really it was beyond insulting. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:43.840 He said, uh, if you ever try this, like on a grand piano, uh, it's not the same thing on like an upright piano, but on a grand, if you play a key so softly and so slowly, you'll actually notice like a little release point towards the bottom, and that's when the hammer is gonna activate. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:49.120 So if you press it so slowly, you could actually hit that point without engaging the hammer. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:53.439 And what you get is just kind of a click, click, click, click, click. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:04:03.360 And so he said, What I want you to do is I want you to go home and play the same piece, one of these, but so slowly uh and so softly that you don't even engage the hammers. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:05.599 So that's what I had to do all week. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:09.280 Just click, click, click, click, click, click. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:10.879 It's so hard to do. 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:12.879 You have to be really soft. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:18.319 And it was an exercise in intention, and it made for a really long week practicing, too. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:22.000 You know, my parents would be like yelling downstairs, what are you doing? 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:23.680 You're supposed to be playing the piano. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:25.680 I'd say, I am playing the piano. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:27.680 I'm just, you can't hear it. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.319 It's this new teacher you hired. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:32.399 It's basically your fault, you know. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.519 Just click, click, click, click. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:37.120 But it was a really important lesson. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:37.839 It was like my Mr. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.720 Miyagi moment, you know, it's wax on, wax off. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:45.360 Because the lesson was every note is a decision. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:53.360 You know, you're just learning a bunch of phrases and licks, and you're just spitting them back out from memory, and it's an honor to play every single note. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:01.680 And it's really hard to not make music, and it needs to be really hard for you to play it and not make music. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:07.120 So I came back the next week and I was a much different player. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:11.439 Every note is a decision. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:18.240 So we don't think about it a lot, also, but you know, Jesus grew up with a family, just like we did. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.199 His mom and his dad taught him to be a carpenter. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:25.600 He had uh four brothers we know about from little details in the Gospels. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:30.560 Uh, it was James, Joseph, Simon, Jude, and at least a couple sisters. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:32.959 We don't know their names, unfortunately. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:38.800 And at least a couple of those brothers grew up to become really strong leaders in the church. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:46.720 Maybe most notable is James, Jesus' younger half-brother, and he was one of the main leaders of the Jerusalem church. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:56.560 And that's kind of interesting because a lot of commentators think that the book of James in the New Testament was written by this half-brother of Jesus. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:11.439 And the book of James, if you read through it, uh it's kind of unique among the other books in the New Testament because it's more than any other person, he seems to borrow some of Jesus' own phrases and kind of word pictures. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:21.839 And even in terms of tone, it kind of reads like it's it's not an easy read, it's very uh convicting, but at the same time, it's really inspiring. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.600 So it kind of kind of reads like the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:30.000 Sounds like this was written by somebody who grew up around Jesus. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:48.480 So when James tells us in the third chapter of the book of James that it's really important for us to tame our tongues, what we say and speak is important, then we know that James knows that to be true because he's seen it true in his brother, half-brother Jesus. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:51.439 So let's listen to what James says. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.959 This is starting in uh chapter three, the book of James. 00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:00.480 He says, Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:03.360 For we who teach will be judged more strictly. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:06.000 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:14.079 For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:20.879 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:28.079 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:34.000 And in the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:36.480 Kind of like I'm doing right now. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:47.040 So, already here, just a few sentences in, six sentences, a couple short paragraphs, and does it feel like it's maybe you're being sold something? 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:48.879 Did you catch that third sentence? 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:50.639 That's really an amazing principle. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:57.680 He says, if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could control ourselves in every other way. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:03.199 This one area of control equals every other area under control. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:05.920 And how does that sound? 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.680 It kind of sounds like swallow this pill and you'll never gain weight. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:15.199 Or, you know, choose this as a vacation spot and your whole family will get along all week. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.920 You know, we're we're so trained in our culture. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:26.240 You know, you hear some on the radio or TV, and it's just this filter of, yeah, I know what you really mean is it's gonna help me with my weight, and it's a pretty place. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:28.000 You don't really mean that. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:35.919 But when we read the Bible specifically here, you know, there is hyperbole in the Bible, but this is not one of those spots, I don't think. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:42.879 If we control our tongues, we would be perfect and could control ourselves in every other way. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:45.120 So, how does that work? 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:51.120 You know, the analogy he gives of uh a bit in a horse's mouth, that's really appropriate. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:56.320 I've never really done much with horses, but apparently this bit is actually on the tongue of the horse. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:06.720 And so, as a small turn, if you control this just the tongue of this massive animal, and you control the direction of the entire beast. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:14.000 Like a small turn in a rudder on a ship, it's translated into a change of direction for the entire vessel. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:17.759 James is saying, that's the way human beings are made. 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:23.679 Small turn of phrase in our words in the whole course of our day changes. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:27.120 You know, one little yes, and that can change everything. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:27.679 No. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:29.679 I forgive. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.879 These things, words are really powerful. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:37.039 But how is that how's that tied together? 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:44.480 Um probably the first thing we should should note is there's some some obvious personification that's going on here. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:49.039 Like when James says the tongue's a small thing and makes a grand speech. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:53.759 It's a figure of speech, not uncommon, like in the Bible or anywhere else. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:59.360 So, like in Romans 3, when Paul says, our feet are swift to shed blood. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:08.559 Uh or 2 Peter 2, when Peter says, our eyes are full of adultery, or James says, our tongues is a small thing, but it makes a grand speech. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:15.759 This is not like, you know, a campy horror flick or something with severed body parts that come alive and start doing things. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:22.159 When that's that kind of thing is written, our gut level response is to say, well, don't blame the tongue, it's not the tongue's fault. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:25.600 Somebody told the tongue what to do, and that's that's it. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:26.320 That's the point. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.879 The author's just tricked you into making his point. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:33.519 Because the tongue's really connected to who we are on a heart level. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.480 And that's what Jesus teaches. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:47.360 Jesus is talking to the uh Pharisees in Matthew 12, and he says this a tree is identified by its fruit. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:50.399 If a tree's good, its fruit will be good. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.039 If a tree's bad, its fruit will be bad. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:54.960 You brood of snakes. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:58.559 How could evil men like you speak what's good and right? 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:03.039 For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:09.039 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:15.519 And an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.840 So our tongues are connected to our hearts. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.919 Our hearts are connected to our tongues. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:23.919 Don't blame the tongue by itself. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:26.080 This is really a heart thing. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:33.360 The tongue is the first place that kind of tells on us whatever's going on on a heart level. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:48.080 Jesus says, when you speak, it's the words that come out of your mouth, not necessarily the things you think about saying or the things that you maybe would say if the time were appropriate, but nobody really expects me to say that right now. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:52.799 But the words that actually come out of your mouth, those are the ones that are most telling. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:58.240 And Jesus says, those come out, they spill out of this treasury, whatever you've treasured. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:07.200 So you either speak out of this abundance that you have, living before God and His grace and His leadership in your life. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:16.960 It just spills out there, or it spills out of the abundance that we feel, the abundant lack, trying to live life apart from Him. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:21.200 It's very clear reflection of who we are. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.200 It's a heart thing. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:29.600 And if that's really the way the mechanism works, then maybe James knows what he's talking about. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:40.320 When he says in James 3, if we could control our tongues, then we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:56.399 This one area of control equals everything else under control because the only possible way that you could ever tame the tongue is to be tied in on a heart level in a relationship with God. 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:01.600 And just be talking with Him in conversation about your day and what you're doing. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:12.559 And if you have that level of intention with each word, then everything else in your life is going to be locked and loaded, ready, ready to be in control, also. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:20.159 And you're gonna say things that initiate life and that change the direct the direction of your day. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:22.000 You're gonna speak truth. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:27.279 So I I challenge you to just put this to the test. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.639 And like Bill told us last week, put this to the test. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:35.360 See if James knows what he's talking about, or if or if Jesus knows what he's talking about. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:42.159 And try to take a day and just be intentional about every word that comes out of your mouth. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:44.080 Be prayerful about that. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:52.559 And see if that does not have a dramatic effect on everything else that you do in terms of just being in control. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:14:00.080 What I think you'll find is, you know, number one, it it absolutely has an effect in a really good way. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:07.759 And the second thing I think you'll find is that we always screw this up, like spectacularly. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.200 You'd be amazed. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:24.240 And by being that in you know attentive to it, you're gonna see just how wow, nine out of my top ten regrets of the week are not things that I did or didn't do, they are words that came out of my mouth. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:28.559 And that's what what James talks about a little further in that chapter. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:34.639 He says, But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:39.039 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:43.039 It's a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:48.080 It can set your whole life on fire, for it's set on fire by hell itself. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:55.360 People tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:59.519 It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:06.879 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, sometimes it curses those who've been made in the image of God. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:12.000 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:16.000 Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:21.360 Does a spring of water bubble out of both fresh water and bitter water? 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:26.159 Does a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs? 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:26.799 No. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:31.360 And you can't draw fresh water from a salty spring. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:39.279 So the second important lesson here, you know, the first one was if we control our tongues, then we control everything else. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:42.559 Huge dividends from that level of control. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:48.879 The other side, the second lesson is, unfortunately, no one can do it. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:51.279 You cannot tame the tongue. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:53.200 It is a wild animal. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:54.799 It's like a horse. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:59.360 I don't think I have to convince anybody here that you cannot tame your tongue. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:07.039 You still say things and things spill out of your mouth, and they scare you, and they hurt people that are around you. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:11.200 But the good news is that Jesus can. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:13.360 Jesus can tame the tongue. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:15.840 He's really good with horses, I guess. 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:22.720 He and he's really good, you know, as a captain with his hand on the rudder guiding the big ship. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:23.759 He can do this. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:31.919 His spirit is in our spirit, and as we live out of that abundance, then the words flow from that. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:34.639 And then all of our actions change. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:53.360 So I was thinking maybe instead of you know these two analogies that are a little bit uh dated, you know, a bit in a horse's mouth, or a rudder on a ship, I I guess the 21st century version of this illustration uh would be you know, think of your life as like a car. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:59.279 And you're driving down the road of life, and the wheel of the car is your tongue. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:07.359 So just a small turn on that wheel, the wheel seems like a small thing, but the whole direction of the vehicle is gonna change. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.720 And it's gonna have a huge effect. 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:15.920 So basically, all I'm trying to communicate this morning is just Jesus take the wheel. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:16.640 You know? 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:18.960 Jesus take the wheel. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:26.559 Take it from my let's all stop for a moment and ponder the deep wisdom that is miscarry under wood. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:28.720 It's wonderful. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.759 But okay, but it's really not a joking matter, is it? 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:34.799 I shouldn't make light of this. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:37.920 Because this is life and death. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:41.519 It is a big responsibility to own a tongue. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.079 It's a big responsibility to drive a car. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:53.920 I remember learning to drive when I was 15, and uh, you know, I was a bit cavalier about the whole thing, as most 15-year-olds are. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:58.880 But I remember my dad, I mean, in the passenger seat teaching me how to drive. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:17:59.759 He's over here. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.400 He was not cavalier at all. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:08.559 I don't remember his exact words, but I think it was something like Ben, you you do understand, right? 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:20.160 That you are now strapped in behind the wheel, controlling a 3,500-pound steel missile that is traveling 60 miles an hour against oncoming traffic. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:36.319 You might not be particularly concerned right now about learning how to do this safely, but I promise you, everybody else on the road, whose very lives depend upon you not hitting them with your missile, they're kind of hoping that you learn to make good choices. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:39.119 Now let's start up the car. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:45.599 It's a big responsibility to sit behind the wheel. 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:47.519 So who's got their hands on the wheel? 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.240 It is a big responsibility to have a tongue. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.559 This is the power of life and death. 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:56.400 Proverbs says, this is Proverbs 18, 21. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:00.240 The tongue has the power of life and death. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:04.799 And those who love to those who love it will eat its fruit. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:08.720 Those who love to do this, you're gonna eat its fruit. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:10.400 For better or for worse. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:16.400 So how are we gonna use, bear this great responsibility that we have in our tongue? 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.960 Remember how this this whole chapter started in in James 3. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.160 We don't want to just jump over this first sentence. 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:34.000 James says, I don't want a lot of you to be teachers because you're gonna be judged more strictly and you're saying a bunch of things that don't really line up. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:40.160 And I suspect, I don't know what was going on in that that first church, but I suspect some people kind of got fired that day. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:56.319 Some people that maybe just enjoyed hearing themselves talk or like to pretend to have some special access to God to get nice seats at parties, or like James mentions here, people that had no problem apparently condemning whole groups of people just because it made them look smart. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:01.519 People who were made in the image of God and God loves deeply. 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:06.160 And he says, the leader in the church, not on my watch. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:13.039 But James says, instead of all that that's going on, that's kind of the culture that existed even before Jesus, and we're gonna change this. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:23.440 Instead of all that, what I want, this is how I want the whole church to come under control by every single person controlling their tongue. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:32.079 And the only way to do that is to be tied in and geared in to this ongoing relationship with Jesus and living out of that abundance. 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:38.319 And that seems like a tall order, but that's exactly what we're made to do. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:40.799 Everything is about that. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:51.359 You know, we all, and and by the way, this whole taming of the tongue thing, this is not just don't say that one thing that would be hurtful. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:59.599 This is James saying, tame your tongue and speak to other people, knowing that they're made in the image of God. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:01.599 We are called to speak life. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:09.839 You know, we all know the golden rule that Jesus said you know, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.519 Love others as you love yourself. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:13.920 Jesus summarized the entire Old Testament like that. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:24.079 But notice when Jesus gave that, he did not state it like, do not do this thing that you would never want done to yourself. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:30.799 Now that's true, but that negative kind of formulation, some people call that uh the silver rule. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:43.039 And that, you know, you'd see that a little bit like in the Old Testament, and there are even a few people that had stated that in different ways even before Jesus, in ancient Greeks and Confucius, and maybe Jesus knew that. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:49.920 But when Jesus gave the golden rule, that was new, best we can tell, in all creation. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:51.039 That was a gift. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:59.359 The silver rule that a lot of people call that is don't do that thing that you would never want done to yourself. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.759 But Jesus says, you want to go for the gold in this? 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.559 Is you go do what you would like done to yourself. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:13.440 The only way that's ever possible, that's like you go create. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:15.680 Something's brand new in this world. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:19.680 The only way to do that is to be living out of this abundance with God. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:21.599 Because you have no other motivation to do it. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:24.559 You're not reflecting somebody else's good behavior and rewarding that. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:27.440 You didn't see something, it's like, great, I can do that too. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:39.680 This is you are imitating only God Himself, a loving God, who, a loving God who causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine on everyone. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.960 And he's saying, You're made in my image, you go do. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:49.200 So the silver rule version of this, tame your tongue, is pretty good. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:54.720 You know, and if that's the only thing you take from this morning, then that's probably time well spent. 00:22:54.880 --> 00:23:00.480 Don't say that thing that's bouncing around in your head that you would never want someone else to say to you. 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:04.400 That's one less forest fire if we do that. 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:14.240 But the golden rule version of this, you know, if we want to go for the gold, is speak to other people in the way in which you would like to be spoken. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:20.640 And the only way we do that is this ongoing relationship with God. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:23.759 And he gives us the words to do it. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:29.759 I remember the the first Sunday I ever came to his hands. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:32.559 Um it was it was just me. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:39.519 Amy was was at home, one of the kids was sick, and uh just his background. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:42.799 I was kind of in a dark place in my relationship with God. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:51.119 Uh I had been on staff at a couple churches before, and it had just been honestly very difficult, and people had been hurt. 00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:55.200 And so I blamed myself, I guess, on a certain level. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:57.279 But you know how that goes? 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:02.559 Uh the enemy never really has the respect to to make that accusation to your face. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.359 Like say it out loud, because it would be so easy to swat that down as a lie. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.920 And instead, you just get this kind of murmured accusation back at your five o'clock. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:18.240 And it's just far enough away that you don't quite muster the energy to turn around and look at it and just get rid of that. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.240 That's kind of where I was. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:26.880 And I'm a pretty shy person, so my plan was I didn't know anything about his hands, I just had Lowe's one day, and God said, It's a church right there. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:34.079 And and so I came the next Sunday and I'm very shy, and I'm my plan was I want to get in and get out, I don't want to engage with anybody. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:39.039 And so I I successfully avoided a hug, you know, on the greeting team, which you could do. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:47.119 The the trick is you gotta wait till the person in front of you is engaged, you know, with a greeter mid-hug, and then you gotta go around real quick on the side. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:50.160 So I pulled that off. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:51.680 I shouldn't share that trick. 00:24:51.920 --> 00:25:01.039 But it it was the free coffee that kind of threw me off my game, really, because I loved coffee and I got that in, but I was, you know, right as the service was starting, and I didn't know the rules. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:02.240 Like, what do I do? 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:03.119 And I'm Mr. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.839 Uptight, and so I said, I'm gonna have to talk somebody. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:17.519 So I picked somebody that looked nice enough that was right by this door to the big room, and I made eye contact and I said, Excuse me, is it okay if I bring my coffee in? 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:20.799 Because I was scared I was gonna break a rule and spill something or something. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:22.720 Can I bring my coffee in? 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:27.519 And this person, um, I'm not sure who it was necessarily, I don't remember. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:33.519 This is like 2007, but in terms of personality, it was somebody like Betty or Irene, or I should have known better. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:36.559 And and she said, Oh yeah, no problem. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:41.759 But then I could see in her eyes, it was like God said, No, no, no, say a little bit more. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:53.519 And then so she just leaned in and grabbed the side of the coffee, and you know, we kind of communed over the coffee for a second, and she said, Please know, this is a place of freedom. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:58.559 And I knew that was God having her say that to me. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:01.599 And I just cracked it started to crack me open just a little bit. 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:04.319 Just a word, but it started to crack me open. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:07.119 So I said, Okay, God, you're already talking to me. 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:09.359 I'm only a couple feet in the door here. 00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:12.319 This is a place of freedom. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:16.720 And so I looked at my coffee and I just threw it on the ground. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:19.200 It's a place of freedom. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:20.480 What are you gonna do with his hands? 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:20.960 Come on. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:21.519 No. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:23.279 I didn't I didn't do that. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:25.200 I thought about it, but I didn't do that. 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:27.759 I said, This is a place of freedom. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:29.119 So I sat right in the middle. 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:31.759 There's no one in the spot where I was right there, it's empty. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:35.039 Uh I sat right in the middle, right in front of the soundboard, a few rows. 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:37.039 Uh I thought the sound would be good. 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:40.720 And I remember the third song, uh, Susan sang it. 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:46.319 And I know it was a song she picked intentionally, you know, prayerfully for whoever might be there that morning. 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:52.640 And it was that song in the chorus, the only lyric in the song is just love, love, love. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:56.799 Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:58.400 Over and over and over. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:00.160 And just a word. 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:01.519 It's just a word. 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:06.799 But with each one of those repeats, and I started to crack open a little bit better. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:09.759 It's like God was saying, look at me here, love. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:11.920 I'm not about fighting, love. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:14.480 I'm not about fear, love. 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:16.559 Just words. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:19.839 And then Steve led us through the Lord's Supper. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:29.759 And he said something in the Lord's Supper that I know a lot of you have heard a lot of times here at his hands, but it was new to me in my where I was that day. 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:34.640 And he said, Please know, God's not mad at you. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:41.279 And it was just a just words, he was just speaking, but it was like light bulb. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:43.759 That's what that murmur is back there. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:48.640 And to hear it spoken out loud, it really made me realize how silly that is. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:49.599 No more. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:57.440 Just words, all those three little things that kind of angled me into finally hearing it from God Himself. 00:27:58.079 --> 00:27:59.440 I'm not mad at you. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:04.480 But yet so much more than just words. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:08.799 We're made in God's image to speak life. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:12.160 But what's our example of doing this? 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:14.640 You know, what are the rules? 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:19.039 If I'm ordering food at a restaurant, do I have to be prayerful about that? 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:26.720 You know, if I'm talking to my second grader about math problems or meeting a coworker for the first time, how does this work? 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:38.160 Jesus said in uh in John 14, 14, 10, he said, Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:45.839 The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:48.160 Do you really believe that? 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:50.160 Or is Jesus exaggerating there? 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:57.519 Every single word that Jesus spoke was something that he had heard in conversation with his father. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:03.839 And it was an honor for Jesus to be accomplishing what the Father had given him to do. 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:10.319 The people made in your image, and every word was spoken with intention. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:16.799 But you know, it's so easy, we hear that and we think, Yeah, that's fine, but that's Jesus, right? 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:19.599 It's Jesus is a special case. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:23.519 There's no way that you really expect me to do that, right? 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:28.400 1 John 2, 6 summarizes it really well. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:35.680 John says, Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:38.880 So that's you you only got two options. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:45.279 We either live our life the way Jesus lived his life, or we try anything else, and it's gonna fail. 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.480 And that's the way Jesus lived his life. 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:56.319 Every single word was an intention that was spoken, and he's he spoke life to his world. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:13.519 You know, the we're made in the image of God, and the people that are around us every day, our spouses and our kids, our friends and our family and co-workers and complete strangers, they are all made in the image of God. 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:22.480 And as such, we will dare not speak to them in a way that's anything less than what God would have us say. 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:28.640 And we do that not just out of respect to them, not just because it's a better play. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:41.839 We do that out of respect to God, the God who created them, the God who loves them intensely and has made each one of them uniquely, and we want to say his words. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:48.079 We're put here to speak life to our worlds. 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:52.640 Worship team, you can start coming back up here. 00:30:53.599 --> 00:31:01.599 So my challenge for you today is what is it that God would have you say out loud today? 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:04.960 Not just think in your head, but speak. 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:12.079 Just ask him, just show me, show me two or three conversations today where I can speak life. 00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:19.279 Now I know this needs to be a mode that I always live in, and I know that's the idea here, but I I need a place to start. 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:24.480 So just today, show me two or three conversations where I can speak life. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:27.920 You know, not just the silver rule level of this. 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:32.400 You know, God help me to keep me from putting my foot in my mouth so frequently. 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:34.319 But I want to go for the gold. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:39.440 I want to speak to others in the same way that I would like to be spoken. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:50.000 It, you know, but already the excuses, I I can hear these, you know, it's like I love my spouse, you know, and I know you probably do also. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:53.759 And we need to find the words to do that. 00:31:54.640 --> 00:32:01.200 If you are unspeakably proud of your kids today, then say that out loud. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:03.519 Find the words to do it. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:06.079 And the excuse might be, well, you know, I did that yesterday. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:07.759 I I had that conversation. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:10.079 But you don't know where they are today. 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:13.200 And only God does. 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:20.640 And don't just don't just say, I'm gonna come up with something nice, but God, exactly what would you have me say? 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:24.160 Because discouragement comes so quickly. 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:27.200 And we all know that from our own experience. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:28.880 So God can guide us. 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:34.640 Or the excuse might be, you know, I've I'm not really much of a talker, I'm more of a doer. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:36.559 But I don't buy it. 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:39.920 We are made in the image of God to do both. 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:42.160 Say it and do it. 00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:45.599 And if if you're not Shakespeare, who cares? 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:48.240 You almost get more points if you're not Shakespeare. 00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:51.359 We are made to speak it and do it. 00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:56.640 So the way it works is our our words themselves are actions. 00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:00.160 Because every word is a decision, and decisions are actions. 00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:04.559 And then our actions speak volumes. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:07.279 So really, it's the same thing. 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:09.039 And they're the same thing to God. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:18.480 The Bible's full of stories of God just saying it and doing it, and that's what He's making us, we're made being made in His image to do the same. 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:25.359 So our prayer this morning is this God, you know, it's so easy for us to just get discouraged. 00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:30.960 And we just think, I don't know where to start in my relationship with God. 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:33.680 But He's given us a great place to start. 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:36.400