James - Week 5 w/Pastor Jenn

good morning this is one of the things that um

i joke that they don't tell you in pastor school

is that um you're constantly always revising

your message always um you're never done writing

it in your brain so And one more thing that I

was like, oh, I need to add that in there just

now. Anyway, good morning, everyone. It's good

to see you from here, here, with our message.

We are making our way through the Book of James

this summer. If you've been here for a few weeks,

you know that. If you're new here, this is where

we are, in the Book of James. It is later in

the New Testament. kind of tucked away in a bunch

of smaller books. It's right after Hebrews is

longer, but it's right after Hebrews, and it's

just like you've got the Peters, the Johns. So

a lot of these little tiny writings and letters

that are easy to read in one sitting. The book

of James is great like that. If you've not ever

read a book of the Bible in one sitting, James

is a great one to do it with. It takes about

15 to 10 minutes, 10 to 15 minutes. easy to access.

A few weeks ago Alex preached and he was up here

and he shared that James is his favorite book

and I had not been in it to study it in a while

and so in prep for this message I read through

the book a few times and I had forgotten how

much of James I have very specific history with.

Again, it's not a long book but it is densely

packed with practical, very practical and sensible

things. And so, in fact, I was so glad to get

to preach today's message because I did take

some time to reflect on the early days of being

a Christian and what that looked like for me.

I was 14. I don't know, like when you're coming

into it not having grown up in it, it can feel

a little overwhelming because there's a lot to

know, there's a lot to absorb. constantly learning

things and God is constantly revealing things

to you and teaching you things. And so I remember

James felt very accessible to me. And I remember

thinking that these are really easy things to

attach onto. And even now. Looking through the

book, there's not a whole lot to excavate culturally.

I love digging in historically and culturally

to a book. I want to know every corner of every

cultural aspect in a word study. I want to know

all that stuff. I want to know the landscape,

and I want to know who was there, and what was

their background, and where did they come from,

and I want to know all of it. James, you don't

really need to do a whole lot of that with it.

There's not a whole lot that needs. word studies

or background, the words as they are meet us

in our world today very easily. So yeah, as a

new Christian, this book presented me with things

to hold on to that I've kept with me for so long

as I was working on adjusting how I lived in

the world. So we're going to just jump right

in. We are in the book of James. We are in chapter

three. So again, it's right after Hebrews, later

in the... New Testament, if you are looking for

it in a physical Bible. If you have a digital

Bible on your phone, just look up James. And

you can even Google search James 3, 1 through

12, and it will bring up the passage in a couple

different sources. So at the house, we have a

tradition that as you are able, please take a

posture of attention. So I invite you to stand

if that is how that works for you. Standing is

a good way to position or even energize our bodies.

So I'm going to read to you James 3, 1 through

12. Not many of you should become teachers, my

brothers and sisters, for you know that we who

teach will face stricter judgment. By the way,

I'm reading from the new revised standard version,

updated version. For all of us make mistakes.

Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is mature,

able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.

If we put bits into the mouth, mouths of horses

to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies.

Or look at ships, though they are so large and

are driven by strong winds, yet 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 exploits. How

great a forest is set ablaze by such a small

fire. 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 life, and is itself set on fire by hell. That

all sounds very dramatic. What he's saying is

the tongue can do some damage. For every species

of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature,

They can be tamed and has been tamed by the human

species, but 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 people

made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth

comes a blessing and a curse, my brothers and

sisters. This ought not to be so. Does a spring

pour forth the same opening, both fresh and brackish

water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters,

yield olives or a grapevine figs? No more can

salt water yield fresh. Let's pray. God, through

your word today, reveal to us some truths, make

some pathways clear in our mind. Use your word

to transform us and to speak deeply into our

hearts and minds. I pray that things take hold

that need to take hold in us. And that's going

to be different for each of us. as we are each

here to listen to you and to be taught by you,

to be loved by you and changed by you. Speak

to us in ways that will transform us each individually,

but also as a church as a whole. And we thank

you for your faithfulness to us. We pray your

blessing on the word today. Amen. You may be

seated. So just a quick reminder over the last...

A few weeks that we've been in this book, James

was writing to fellow Jews. That was his audience.

He was a Jewish man. He was writing to other

Jewish folks. And this was a group. Because he

knew he was writing to other Jewish people, they

had a shared cultural history. Also, all that

James has written up to this point matters to

this chapter. in reflection of what we have heard

in the last few weeks it matters to what we are

about to hear so when our writer wrote the initial

text um just keep in mind there were no verse

breakdowns and title summaries and that sort

of thing like when you write an email you probably

don't put things in it like an exhortation on

the recent meeting Words about finances and then

list them. Like you just write your email, right,

in progression, like thought after thought after

thought. And that's how the original scriptures

would have been written. It is only like, you

know, modern day. I say modern day as like scripture

in the last, you know, thousand years has been

like these subdivisions have been added. So when

you read scripture and you're like, what are

we referring to? There's probably some stuff

that. would have come before that is helpful

to know, which is why reading a whole book is

useful. So with this in mind, prior to this,

James had been talking about the temptation to

show favoritism. He speaks to those who are eager

to talk and to teach at the gatherings of the

house churches. So some of them may see this

as an opportunity to show off and boost their

status in the community. They want to be up front.

They want to be the ones that are the the learned

teachers looked at as the wise ones. And so James

here is reminding them that there's a heavy burden

because words matter. James reminds them that

teachers carry a heavy responsibility for what

they say. It is one thing to be mistaken about

something yourself, but it is another to share

the information, the mistaken information, broadly.

and share it far and wide and mislead others.

There's a heavy responsibility if you're going

to be one that shares and teaches and lets your

words travel afar. So words matter. So James

is, to some degree, saying to them, if you want

to be a teacher, let's just know a few things.

This was a bit simpler at one time. Certainly

there were plenty of those who desired to teach

for nefarious reasons or just even self -indulgent

ones. Enough so that James wanted to speak to

it and bring it up. I can't imagine even how

James would approach this topic now in our world.

You want to teach? I see what you're posting

online. You think you're a teacher? That would

have been a wild letter in comparison, but now

we have public forums of every kind at the reach

of all of our hands. People who should not be

publishing themselves to a potentially global

audience can broadcast some crazy things. And

they can call themselves teachers or prophets

or even beyond that they offer medical or economic

or political advice without accountability or

any vetting. Social media literally gives you

the opportunity to have followers. People's opinions

about everything are out there, and misinformation

is like a disease. The visual James offers, how

great a forest is set ablaze by such a small

fire. We all know what it's like to watch words

go viral online, but even... in our own worlds

how world words can just get out of our control

in our own communities in our own world sometimes

even in our own families like that's not what

i said oh but this is what she said he said like

words travel that's the thing and we know it

the words that come out of our mouths often have

a life of their own so to restate this james

says of you should become teachers my brothers

and sisters and in my ears it almost sounds a

little like the southern bless your heart i love

the whispering of it you know not many of you

should become teachers my brothers and sisters

but to that point i offer i'm this is just a

little personal aside because i this is a bit

of a a bit of a soapbox for me In regards to

our words and the information we share and how

we watch it and how we share it, just a little

word on social media. Repost and share responsibly.

Do your own research. Vet your sources. Look

at the date of a post. Find out who funded the

research. Okay. Back to this. Thank you for that

moment for PSA. Because we are talking about

words and the sharing of them and the vast movement

of them. Social media is where it happens a lot.

This isn't a social media message, but it will

show up throughout this. So the non -teachers,

like if you're like, well, I'm not trying to

teach anybody. We still have a word from this,

right? Like this is still to us because words

matter. Words travel farther these days. They

just do. And I'm not just referring to social

media. There is something about having opinions

that exists culturally in our world, right? There

is pressure to have an opinion. You need to take

a stance, and you need to speak out, and you

need to do so right now. And sometimes we feel

pressured to say something in the moment, that

we have to say something right now. And listen,

I'm not disagreeing with that as an entire concept.

However, remember, let's remember back to Chapter

1. of james where he just simply says 119 you

must understand this my beloved brothers and

sisters let everyone be quick to listen slow

to speak and slow to anger so this advice should

also find its way into our toolkit for life and

in partnership with this message because informed

opinions are sometimes hard to come by So I say,

we all need to be reminded that our words go

far and fast these days in whatever forms they

are. They are tough to contain, and once they're

said, they are out there. So our question today

was, have you ever said anything that you wished

you could take back? And I'm guessing all of

us said yes. That feels pretty... Pretty guaranteed

that we have all said something we wish we could

take back. We've all said something that even

in the moment of saying it, we knew it was going

to go south. And we even thought something that

we knew beforehand that we shouldn't say. And

somehow, we still said it. I don't know why I

said that. I knew I was wrong. It does happen.

you've watched the damage of words be immediate.

You've made an intentional targeted attack and

you meant to wound. And for some, the damage

was unknown and even unintended, but the thing

was said and it did hurt. And that's a tougher

scenario. Who has ever said something and it

did leave a wound and you never intended it to?

That's another part of this, isn't it? So the

scriptures are full of warnings about managing

what we say, being thoughtful about what we say,

being careful and mindful. James' words here

are not new instructions for new believers. He's,

again, speaking to a largely Jewish audience

who had a cultural background that they shared.

They would have known that these things have

been spoken about extensively in the Psalms and

Proverbs. they would have known that some of

these wisdom books in the Hebrew Bible featured

many thoughts on the topic of our words and what

we say. So when it's the right time to speak,

the words are the right thing to add. Scripture

talks about how we offer these words. So with

the things that we say, blessings and curses.

James talks about this in verse 9 and 10. With

the tongue we bless the Lord and Father, and

with it we curse people made in the likeness

of God. From the same mouth comes a blessing

and a curse. My brothers and sisters, this ought

not be so. When one thinks of cursing someone,

like when I say we have blessings and curses

towards people, It might take, what do you imagine

your head, because I'll tell you what I imagine.

It takes the image of a hedge witch with a knobbly

finger saying, a pox upon your house. If anybody's

seen The Princess Bride, anybody? There's the

woman in the crowd that's like, boo, boo to you.

That's what I remember. I'm not actually wishing

a pox on my head. But that's what comes to mind

when you think about somebody cursing you. And

honestly, in the first century that this church

was forming, the Greco -Roman world was culturally

filled with a pantheon of gods. Surely you could

beseech one of them to bring harm or ill will

to someone who did you dirty, right? And though,

generally speaking, things are different along

those lines, I don't know that our hearts have

changed. The desire... of ill will to be placed

on people is real. In my heart, I have hoped

not great things for someone that was consistently

problematic in my eyes. Maybe not as far as death,

but I have certainly hoped that they got what

they, I think, they deserved. You've heard people

say, have the day that you deserve. I hope you

have the day that you deserve. This is not how

a person of God should be functioning. Even verbally.

Common curse words have to be taken into consideration

to some degree. How we say and where we direct

them, what's in our heart fueling them when sending

them out matters because words matter. What current

cuss words have you even directed at someone

with anger or frustration or ill will in your

heart? Those words come out usually when we're

angry, right? where we're feeling some type of

way, how you say them and how you direct them

does matter. So even for those that we don't

like, we have to hold the truth at hand that

those we like and love and those we dislike are

both made in the image of God. We are now very

familiar with the phrase imago dei here, and

we are responsible for seeing others in that

way. God loves them, and truthfully, the thing

that is causing someone to stir something up

in you is not actually them. It's not the creation

of God. It's the thing in their hearts and their

minds that they're hurt, that they're living

from, the narratives they believe are true, the

experiences they have had or not had, and the

same goes for you. Those are the things that

stir up that feeling in us. So when you are thinking

about somebody and you're thinking in your brain

and even saying some loose things about, I hope

that they... Consider, are you looking at the

Imago Dei and really saying that about God's

creation? Take a moment and understand what you're

really frustrated with is the brokenness in us.

Right? And you have it too. So that changes how

we look at somebody else and what we think that

they deserve. Folks, what do we do then? Do we

bless them? That's a little hard to do, too,

when you're really frustrated with somebody.

But perhaps it is something to start practicing.

May God fill you with truth. May God bring you

joy. I am frustrated with you, but may God bring

you joy. Because that's going to change you,

and that's going to change us. May God bring

me joy. May God bring you healing. And not said

with an attitude like, oh, God brings you joy

because I know. But sincerity in your heart saying,

may God bring you joy. I am frustrated with you.

I am angry. I am livid. but your creation of

God, and may God bring you goodness. That's hard,

but if you practice it, that will be your go

-to in those moments. We send a whole world of

contradictions out from this one place, this

one place in our body. We have seen the posts

on social media where we think, that person says

they're a Christian? Or we've overheard someone

outside of the church setting. We know that they're

a part of, and we may be a little shocked. Before

we roll our eyes and mutter such hypocrisy, which

feels like we are all talking about, we've done

it too. Because we are human and it's hard. It's

an area of growth for all of us. So I'm not condemning

us. I'm saying we can work towards being better.

James 1 .26, if anyone thinks he is religious

and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his

heart, this person's religion is worthless. It's

a strong indictment. So James talks about blessing

and curses, but there are a few other of these

dualities that we find in scripture that I think

are worth talking about when talking about words

and the words that we choose and when and how

we say them or don't. So, I want to offer you

truth and lies, escalation and de -escalation,

and building up and tearing down. The words that

we use and how they contribute to these things.

Psalm 3413, keep your tongue from evil and your

lips from speaking deceit. 1 Peter 3 .10, for

whoever desires to love life and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips

from speaking deceit. In Proverbs 6, 16 through

19, there are six things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him, haughty

eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent

blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet

that make haste to run to evil, a false witness

who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord

among brothers. Don't lie. This one starts early

in our lives. As a child, we do it out of self

-preservation. We're trying to navigate what

feels safe and right in the world. When we lie,

it is usually to save our skin. Or we may even

say a partial truth, hoping that there's enough

truth in it that it'll float and not come back

to us. James 3 .11 says, does a spring pour forth

from the same opening, both fresh and brackish

water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters,

yield olives or grapevine figs? No more can salt

water yield fresh. It's not like we can pull

the ratios together. If I have more truth than

I do deceit, then I'm telling the truth. We can't

balance the ingredients. It's one or the other.

And one affects the other, doesn't it? Introducing

even a little deceit into truth makes the whole

thing deceitful. I think we need to do better

with how we view and say things in this area.

We've become comfortable with lying. We do it

a lot in the spirit of saving somebody else's

feelings. That's where it shows up quite a bit.

There's a million other ways that lying shows

up, but that's one that is very cultural to us.

It's very American. Americans have a lot of feelings.

And we're very worried about offending or hurting

someone or saving somebody's feelings. We are

obsessed with offense here. But only in some

ways. But we lie to each other as an effort to

care for each other, but it's not really caring

for each other if we're not being honest, right?

It's a terrible practice and it doesn't do good.

More truth, please. Let's be mindful of that.

More truth. The next one, escalation and de -escalation.

This is not stated as such scripturally, like

you don't find the words de -escalation in translations,

but I'm categorizing it as that because of the

way some of these following scriptures play out.

And words do impact this. They have such power

to add fuel to a fire or even put it out. Proverbs

12 .18 says, There is one whose rash words are

like sword thrust. But the tongue of the wise

brings healing. Proverbs 15 .1 says, A soft answer

turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

And Proverbs 26 .20 says, For lack of wood, the

fire goes out. Don't fuel the fire. And where

there is no whispering, quarreling ceases. That's

a good one. For lack of wood, the fire goes out.

and where there is no whispering, quarreling

ceases. So again, I said I'm referring to social

media a lot here today because it is relevant.

It is where our words stay almost forever, aren't

they? And where we often find people honestly

being their absolute worst, their worst selves,

because they don't have to see the people that

they're engaging with. So this one's really applicable

here. If anybody ever saw the movie Anchorman

and Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy says simply,

well, that escalated quickly. All you have to

do is look at the comments section in a Facebook

post or on Instagram or TikTok, and that is very

applicable. You're like, well, that escalated

quickly. It's never been truer. People come in

hot on those comments. You're like, wow, where

did we, how did we get here? All sorts of bravado,

smugness, and accusation show up in comment sections.

Again, we all think that our opinions are fact.

But also, when we are quick to speak and slow

to listen, when we do the opposite of what we've

been instructed to do, escalation enters the

chat. And rarely is anyone thinking about cooling

the fire in those moments. And I'm not talking

about appeasing people. I don't think that we

need to be placating. Adding words to words just

to try to calm everything down for the sake of

being like, oh, is everybody calm? That's not

always the best. But perhaps this is where listening

is most important. Listening with ears that hear

behind the words to what's at the core of something

so that when you hear and you do take time to

speak, When you do end up speaking, attention

to the person and what's happening in them is

what's spoken to. That often is quite de -escalating

and is able to bring the temperature down to

something, on something. The last one, building

up and tearing down. This is where our words

can be good or bad. Ephesians 4 .29, corrupting

talk come out of your mouths but only such as

good for building up as fits the occasion that

it may give grace to those who hear how is this

for you when we speak are we intentional about

building others up are you even good at building

yourself up or do you tear yourself down with

your words this line in the verse that i just

read the last part that it may give grace to

those who hear. Indicating that it's not just

the one who receives the exhortation, that's

not the only person that benefits. For those

around hearing it, it also benefits them. It

gives grace to those who hear. What a beautiful

idea. It's quite common right now to hear tearing

down. It is all around us. We need less discrediting

for the sake of dislike. We need less belittling.

We need less destruction. How can you contribute

to the better? This last week, New York City

had an election for their primaries for who they

will put forth in the mayoral race in November.

And I saw an interview this week that I thought

was so cool. Zoran Mamdani and Brad Lender were

two candidates that were applying both to be

the mayoral candidate, and they were endorsing

each other publicly. They were sitting side by

side in an interview pointing out where in each

other's platforms they saw goodness and hope

in each other's efforts. That was phenomenal.

What a revelation. Y 'all, it can be done. Oh

my gosh. I pastored a church in 2012 up in Chicago

for a bit and I would often review my sermon

at Starbucks in the neighborhood before I went

over to the church. And every week a man would

wheel in his elderly mother, she was about 90

years old, and they'd find a table and he'd go

and get their coffee and they would sit and she

didn't say much, but he would just pour out coffee.

compliments and beautiful words over her. Mom,

you look so beautiful today. You're so beautiful.

That's a great hat you chose today. I love that

scarf. That color is amazing on you. I'm so happy

to see you. I'm so happy we get to spend time

together this morning. I love our time together.

It was just, and I'm not kidding, an outpouring

of that. He just continued to say these beautiful

things over her. He wasn't loud, but the room

wasn't big and it was easy to hear him. And I

loved it. What a thing to be near. It was powerful

being around so much support and acknowledgement

of beauty and goodness. He was building her up.

Just doing nothing but building her up. So one

of the Sundays I stopped by their table on the

way out and I told them how much I loved hearing

them. And he went on and on about it. her to

me while she was there. He was so in the practice

of building her up that even when he was talking

to somebody else, he was just building her up.

And so it was like a grace that I got to experience

as well upon hearing it. It moved me. It affected

me. Proverbs 16, 24, gracious words are like

a honeycomb. sweetness to the soul, and health

to the body. More of that also, please. Proverbs

18, 21, death and life are in the power of the

tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

We have so much power with the words that we

say. So much power with the words that we say.

James talks about humans have tamed all manner

of things. Animals, they've tamed them. The waves

on the sea, they haven't tamed them, but they've

figured out how to work with them. They have

figured out how to tame things and to work with

them. And yet, he's like, nobody's tamed the

tongue. Nobody has done this. This one is going

to be a hard one for us all. Forever. That's

great. This will be with us forever. But if you

can gain a good practice of mindfulness over

it, he actually alludes to if you can figure

this out, you probably have figured out some

discipline in other areas of your life as well.

Because this one's hard. This one is probably

the hardest. I would like to be someone who is

known for the words that they say, and it brings

good things to mind. It brings grace to those

who hear it. I would like to believe that my

words are kind and wise and truthful and that

they are words of blessing, that when things

are stressful, the words that I immediately go

to are ones that bless others and are kind and

thoughtful and lift others up, because that is

the practice I am in. I hope... Above all, that

the words that I say reflect a God that is loving

and reflect a God that reflect that I see God

in others as well. And I believe you want the

same thing. I believe we collectively want that.

And folks, if, when, because it will be a when,

the words you say cut, when the words you say

wound and when they misinform and when they deceive

and when they tear somebody down, And you know

it, which we usually do. When we do those things

and we are aware of it, y 'all correct it. Just

correct it. The truth is, when our words do damage,

it takes a whole lot more to repair. But do something

towards repair. You know? Work towards repair.

Say you're sorry to the ones you affected. Set

it right as you can. Go back to others that may

have heard the wrong thing, the thing that shouldn't

have been said. Follow the trail back if you

can. Take responsibility for the words that you

said that you shouldn't have said. Set it as

right as you can in spite of the damage you may

have already done. Work towards a better end.

And then reflect on yourself. Because the words

we say tell us what is happening in our hearts.

If we find that the words we are saying are not

reflecting a loving God, we need to be slow to

speak and look at ourselves. Proverbs 15, 28,

the heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,

but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer.

When we're hurting, we hurt others. And if we're

anxious or feeling cornered, we might find unproductive

words to be a quick way to resolve those feelings,

to make us comfortable again. We use words as

tools for so many different reasons. We so often

speak without full consciousness to our words.

So let's be thoughtful, and let's be careful,

and let's be intentional. Let us think. Let us

listen. so that when it is time to speak, it

may give grace to all who hear. Amen. Let's pray.

God, with these things, may the words of our

mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable

in your sight. Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

God, set a guard over my mouth. Keep watch over

the doors of my lips. Let these words from the

Psalms be things that find a deep place in our

hearts and our minds, that they would be guideposts

for us. That as we start speaking, we are reminded.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation

of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord.

And may you set a guard over my mouth. Keep watch

over the door of my lips so that... The things

I don't want to say or the things even that I

want to say that I shouldn't don't escape my

mouth. Help us speak the good and where we have

not, help us be brave enough to repair and to

correct. And may your goodness and your grace

and your mercy and your love be over all of it.

I pray this in your name.