A sermon preached at St Mary’s by Revd Clare Hayns on Sunday 15th September, Trinity 16

Isaiah 50. 4-9a; James 3. 1-12; Mark 8 27-end

A little quiz to see how well you know lines from four well known orators – see if you can guess who said the following:

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”
“Yes We Can”
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice” 
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”

*answers at the end

Powerful words from four inspirational people, all people who used words to change those around them, and in doing so changed the world. They knew that language conjures our imagination. Carefully crafted words can help us picture the world differently. Inspiring oratory can move us in a way that enables us to visualise our place in the world, and bring about transformation in ourselves, and can give us courage to make changes.  

Words have power. The power of language and how we use it is the theme that weaves throughout our bible readings today.

The Lord has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Isaiah 50:4

The prophetic passage from Isaiah includes this verse which I think needs to be our watch word as Christians: “that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.“

Throughout the summer we have heard readings from the epistle of James, and a large part of his letter focuses on how to wisely use the tongue; how the use and misuse of it can cause immense damage as well as good. This week’s chosen portion of James begins with an exultation to not become teachers – “Not many of you should become teachers”, James advises. Why? Because the judgement is high for those whose teach…..Gulp!

I’m sure all of us can remember unkind or unhelpful comments by a teacher who no doubt had no idea the harm they did. I remember my English teacher laughing at me for reading Enid Blyton, and it put me off reading for quite some time. It’s amazing that somehow we’re like Velcro when it comes to mean things people have said – they stick to us for years – but nice things can so often slip off us, like satin.

Words spoken thoughtlessly or without proper consideration of the impact can have lasting effects. This is probably why some of the harshest teaching is towards those who are false teachers and false prophets, those who lead the little ones astray. The gospels are full of warnings against false teachers – “Watch out for false prophets”, Jesus says, “They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves”.

There are three things that James teaches about when considering the tongue.

Firstly he speaks about the tongue being like fire – ‘how great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!’ (James 3. 5a)

Little sparks of untruth or unkindness that build up, and suddenly there is a huge blaze. Over the summer we saw the impact of false words and untruths which led to the riots. A careless tweet here and there. An accusation that the person who killed those little children was an illegal immigrant (a terrible incident, but not done by an illegal immigrant), led to all immigrants being blamed for the death of the children, which led to right wing rioters, shops being ransacked, and a hostel full of human beings being set on fire with the result many were terrified. Sparks which caused a fire.

I’m sure we all know, even within our own families, the damage sparks of untruths, lies, unkindnesses can cause. James certainly wouldn’t have held any truck with the dated childhood saying, ‘sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.’ Words can and do hurt.

The second warning James gives us regarding the tongue is that it’s hard to control – “noone can tame the tongue” (James 3.8) he says, using exaggerated language, not because it’s impossible, but because it’s hard. We can all think of times when we’ve lost control and said things we regret. Words that come out and immediately we want to pull them back in again.

James uses the analogy of the bit in a horse’s mouth which controls the whole horse, or the rudder of a ship, the small rudder which controls the whole vessel, meaning having control over the tongue somehow controls the whole self.   

The third thing that James highlights is the danger of inconsistency and hypocrisy in the way we use language. “With it (the tongue) we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God”. (James 3.9)

This is the case of the person who comes to church on a Sunday, says their prayers, and then goes home and shouts at their family, swears about immigrants on the TV, or, perhaps closer to home, curses the slow driver in front of us at the junction.

The book of James is all very practical and relatable. It’s close to the bone at times as well.
So before we feel too disheartened, we can remember that we’re in good company. In our gospel Peter, one of Jesus’s disciples, publicly declares Jesus as the Messiah, and then almost in the same breath rebukes Jesus for teaching his path will lead to his death. “Get behind me, Satan”,  Jesus says, a harsh rebuke reminding Peter that in that moment he was standing in the way of God. Get behind me is Jesus telling Peter he should be following him, not trying to lead him.

As followers of Jesus, we are to be careful when we open our mouths. Do we use our words to build each other up in the faith, or do we use them to judge and demean? Not only…are our words kind and true, but are they honouring to God?

Jesus calls us to love one another, to honour each other, to treat those we come into contact with as though they were Jesus himself. We are all made in the image of God, and we need to learn how to see Jesus in each other.

It is Socrates who is attributed with giving us the measuring stick of ‘is it kind, is it true, is it necessary’ which has been extended to the acronym THINK: True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind.

Yes, we fall short. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, we will make mistakes. But the good news of the gospel is we are forgiven, again and again. And the good news is that we can be transformed.

By being so rooted in Jesus that springs of fresh water rather than sour water flows up from within us. By lovingly listening with the intention of hearing the one who is speaking. By spending time with the God who truly knows us and can heal our hurts and bitterness so that they don’t spill out onto others. By listening to the Holy Spirit so that we can learn to love others as Jesus loves them. By using our voices to speak up for injustice, to encourage, to sustain the weary with a word, to love.

Let us pray.

A prayer from the 12^th century- Gilbert of Hoyland

Move our hearts with the calm, smooth flow of your grace. Let the river of your love run through our souls. Stretch out my heart with your strength, as you stretch out the sky above the earth. Smooth out any wrinkles of hatred or resentment. Enlarge my soul that it may know more fully your truth.

*Answers: John F Kennedy; Barack Obama; Martin Luther King Jnr; Maya Angelou (my favourite author)