Sylvania Wesleyan Church 1
Sunday Morning 8/24

      • Romans 12:12NIV2011

  • Good morning. I am glad that we can be here together this morning.
    When reading this mornings passage I couldn’t help but think about this one question.
    Have you ever said something you Regretted Instantly?
    I mean think about it we have all had that moment were we have suffered from Foot in Mouth Disease.
    That moment when a Husband says something offensive to his wife.
    “Honey, Does this dress make me look fat?”
    “Yes, honey”
    Or that moment when a Kid slips up and accidently, tells on themselves.
    “Hey, brother did you see how I got the cookies past mom?”
    “What did you say!?” Mom shouts.
    I mean I am sure we can come up with any number of examples that we can think of when our mouth got us in trouble with someone.
    Sometimes it’s humorous, sometimes it is damaging but it reminds us of how powerful our words can be.
    James shares with us and reminds us of that in this mornings passage.
    James 3:1–12 NIV
    1 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.

    The Weight of Teaching

    Hey does anyone want to come up here and take over. This verse scares me and I need to go sit down.
    I mean come on this invites all of us to want to teach spiritual things doesn’t it?
    In all honesty this is an important lesson that we are reminded of. There is a weight of teaching that is important.
    In all honesty this extends beyond the church too if you really think about it.
    If you train people at work you are the one people look to when new employees don’t know what they are doing.
    Teach children? Who does the parent look to when their child doesn’t know what 2+2 is.
    Are you a Parent who is supposed to teach your children how to live in this world? Uhhh, It’s the teachers fault not ours...
    The truth is that those who teach are supposed to be held to a higher expectation and that is a good thing in many ways.
    In our faith it is an important reminder that words have influence and the authority that is given to a teacher is powerful and we need to live a life that is centered on who God is.
    This shouldn’t be a fear but instead a reminder of how important it is that we rely on God for all we have because we need to remember what the second verse says.
    James 3:2 NIV
    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.

    The Universal Struggle

    Everyone stumbles at one point or another.
    None of us are perfect. If you feel you are perfect you should have gotten up here when I asked if anyone would take over for me because we should be learning from you not me.
    You have clearly solved it all and you can keep every part of you in check. The rest of this sermon is all yours to preach.
    It is important for us to be reminded that at some point we will say something that will be a stumbling point and that if you have been able to learn to keep your tongue in check you have achieved a maturity that many will not find.
    This points us to the truth that the tongue is a powerful part of our body and James uses a couple of analogies to remind us of that.

    The Tongue’s

    James uses two images for us to really understand how such a small part of our body can wield so much power.
    A Bit in the horse of a mouth, and the Rudder of a ship.
    Both items compared to the size of what they are controlling are substantially disproportional to each other.
    Large Horse Turned by a small piece of metal.
    Huge ship turned by a small rudder.
    Small Tongue, that shapes the world.
    It is a reminder that the words that we can say can have profound impact.
    I think about this idea and I am reminded of something that has stuck with me for over 20 years now.
    Have you ever had that happen where someone said something to you that just stuck with you. The words they said shaped who you are and you live your life by the words that were spoken to you.
    One of those sayings for me came from my Pastor shortly after I had my call into ministry.
    We went to dinner and talked about my call and all that had happened. He encouraged me and told me things about ministry that I might be able to expect.
    At one point in our conversation though he looked at me and said, “Andy, I need you to pray on this and really think about this before you move forward with your call.”
    He looked at me and said, “If you can do anything else and, go to heaven and be right with God, Do It”.
    It was not what I was expecting.
    Those words shaped me and reminded me that the call was a serious thing that God had placed on my life. I needed to realize that it was a commitment to a life that is difficult at times.
    It shaped me and formed me and I have to say if anyone came to me as I had to him I would probably say the same thing.
    The words he spoke turned my ship like the rudder of a giant ship charting me on a new course.
    Likewise when we say something destructive we can also do the same thing. Sending people down a path that doesn’t lead to the places we want to go.
    James also speaks to that with the idea of the Tongue and the fire that it can produce.

    Tiny Spark

    Growing up we always went up to Upstate New York. Every year we would go to the local lumber yard near the campground and we would pay a flat rate and we would be able to go out to the scrap area of the yard and take as much as we could carry firewood. We would load up the our mini van and haul back enough wood to last us the two weeks of vacation.
    Every few years though when we went camping there were strict rules about burning. This would happen when there had been a dry spell and the forest was at danger if a stray spark landed where it shouldn’t.
    The Challenge with large forests is that there is large amounts of debris that when it dries out becomes very flammable.
    A Little spark can become a real problem in these conditions. Most forest fires are connected back to camp fires or people being irresponsible and a small spark leads to a ragging fire.
    It is similar when it comes to our words. It is an image that reminds us that the damage in the moment may seem small when we say certain things but the end result can be catastrophic.
    The pain and hurt that can be caused by the what we say is unparalleled. We must never forget that as we engage people as Christians.

    The Untamable Nature

    James also reminds us in verses 7 and 8 that the tongue is difficult to gain control of.
    As humans we have worked hard to control as many things in our life as possible. We have tamed so many things. We work to predict and gain insight and to understand everything we can.
    Yet, the tongue is one of the most difficult things to master.
    While we aren’t speaking about only foul language I remember when I challenged myself early on in my faith to get a hold of my tongue because I didn’t always speak the most elequently.
    That time in my life was one of the most difficult things I have every had to do. It was so hard to work out the habit of using particular words and to learn to speak differently than I had in quite some time. It took a couple years to get it fully out of my system and Now it is second nature I don’t even think about it. It was not an easy process though.
    The same thing can be said about learning to not speaking ill about people or saying harsh things.
    Shifting our voice is not easy because it takes a conscious thought to change and be diligent in the work to change it.
    All of this is important though because we can’t forget that we can’t have.

    Double Speak

    Can we praise God and speak badly to or about others with the same mouth?
    This seems like it shouldn’t happen but it too often does.
    I would say this is probably the area that many of us stumble the most even when we don’t mean to.
    Yet, we must work to be reminded that this should not be possible. That salt and fresh water can’t come from the same spring. We must be work hard to purify who we are and rely on God to help us with this as we struggle to be better. We can’t be guilty of speaking out of both sides of our mouth.
    In many ways we need to get to the heart of letting our yes be yes and our no be no so that others know what we say is trustworthy and reliable.

    Conclusion

    This whole passage strongly reminds us that there is a lot of power in one of the smallest parts of our body.
    The damage it can cause can be extensive and the good it can achieve is amazing.
    Something so powerful needs to be treated with respect and be something that we work to tame because it can takes years to get a strong hold on it.
    When we get a hold of it though we can know that God can bless it and that it is a sign of our maturity.
    This morning let’s make a commitment to be more intentional about watching our words and working hard to be better. To remember that others stumble along the way just like we do and that we all need help in the process of being better in our journey.
    How is God challening you this moring?
    is there something he is pointing you to that you need to work on specificly?
    Let’s bring that to him this morning so that we can grow in our faith.
    Let’s Pray.

      • James 3:1–12NIV2011

      • James 3:2NIV2011

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