“The Tongue is a Fire!”

Meditation on James 3

Aug. 18, 2013

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     3Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.²For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.³If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. ⁴Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 

     ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire.

    The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.

     My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

    ¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. ¹⁵Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. ¹⁶For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. (James 3)

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       My parents are coming to visit us this week!  We’re picking them up at the airport Tuesday night.

       They will be with us when we drive our sons back to college in Mankato on Thursday. 

       And Friday is my dad’s 79^th birthday.   We haven’t been together on his birthday in a long time, since he and my mom spend most of the year at their home in Florida and summers in Maryland.

     I am used to always writing in his birthday cards,

    “Hope you are well!  Wish we could be together to celebrate.”

    And now, we will.

    For those of you who haven’t met my dad, when you meet him for the first time, you will probably say he is a quiet man. Mom does most of the talking when they are out together. He is a little shy.

    But Dad is the one I talk to the most on the phone. He is a homebody, while my mom is always on the go.

     Dad is a good listener, someone who thinks before he talks, choosing his words carefully.  He doesn’t interrupt.  He laughs in all the right places whenever I tell a story.  And he has stories to tell, too.

    The truth is, my dad has always been there for me—whenever I have needed him or just wanted to talk.

    We can talk about most anything. And we can talk a lot.

   Time goes by quickly when we talk.  Soon, an hour or more has passed and my hand is numb from holding the phone to my ear.

      In an age when earthly wisdom is “nice guys finish last,” and men are often rewarded for being aggressive, ambitious, and callously competitive, my dad is different.

     He has never rushed through life at breakneck speed.

     He is a quiet man.  A kind man. A gentle man. 

     Someone who seeks to live in peace.

   

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     We are in our third week of our study of the Epistle of James. 

      Scholars believe the author may have been a younger brother to Jesus, the leader of the Jerusalem church in the early 40s.  James writes often of the need for the pursuit of peace and unity.  He emphasizes the need for God’s wisdom for peace and a faith that perseveres through trials and is revealed through the good works that we do. He reminds us to obey the “royal law”—“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In other words, if our faith is real, then we love our neighbors in word and deed.

     In today’s reading, chapter 3, James addresses the main problem plaguing the church. Some people, out of “bitter envy and selfish ambition,” are lying, boasting, and sowing discord.  Consequently, the congregation lacks peace and unity.

     He introduces his discussion of “taming the tongue” by reminding his audience of his authority as a teacher, someone whom God will judge with greater strictness. Therefore, he must be even more careful with his speech. Still, he includes himself as one who is less than perfect in his speech, saying, “For all of us make many mistakes.”

     To bring home his message on the need for taming the tongue but the great difficulty in controlling this tiny but powerful member of the human body, he uses concrete, familiar images—horses and ships—the main modes of transportation in those days.  Riders control and direct horses with bridles and bits; pilots guide ships with small rudders.  He compares the tongue to fire, which is necessary for every day cooking, light, and keeping warm in ancient times, but also has the potential for evil—to destroy all life that God has created.

     “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!” James says.  “And the tongue is a fire.  The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell…. No one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are in the likeness of God.”

     James challenges believers to demonstrate not earthly wisdom that breeds disorder and wickedness, but wisdom from above, a wisdom that is “pure” and “peaceable,” “willing to yield.”  “Show by your good life,” he says, “that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.”  And this time, the good works of faith are not acts of charity for the poor, but kind speech to one another.

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    Friends, I urge you to listen to James and resist “earthly wisdom” that breeds disorder and wickedness and rewards aggression, ambition, and callous competition. 

     Don’t rush through life at a breakneck speed.  Slow down and make time to seek the Lord for His wisdom—for He gives wisdom to all who ask Him in faith.

     Remember, the tongue is a fire!  And all of us make many mistakes!

     Show your faith by your kind words, your gentleness, born of wisdom from above.

     Seek to live in unity and peace.

     Seek to live in love.

  

Let us pray.

   

Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word to us today and for reminding us of the power of the tongue—and our need to seek you for Your wisdom and help to control our speech.  Forgive us when we have spoken carelessly or unkindly and have embraced the so-called wisdom of the world over the wisdom from above.  Forgive us when we haven’t pursued peace or valued unity enough and have been reluctant to admit that we all make mistakes. Cleanse our hearts and renew our minds. Lead us back onto the righteous path you want us to live. Move us to gratitude for all that you have done for us –especially for giving us eternal life with you through your Son. Slow us down, Lord, and stir us to follow You more closely—living for Jesus a life that is true, striving to please Him with all that we do.  In His precious name we pray.  Amen.