"The Tongue: Toxin or Tonic"    San Williams, UPC

James 3:1-12

I may be in trouble with the children, youth and adult education ministries.  They’ve all worked hard to recruit teachers for this fall.  Yet here I stand a few minutes before we commission our church school teachers and read James’ warning: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”  James specifically addresses the teachers in his congregation, because of the power teachers have to influence others by their words. Even so, those of you who will be teaching in our church school need not feel singled out. Surely we pastors are included in this warning, as one of the names for our office is “teaching elder.”  And parents must also be included. When we baptize a child, we ask the parent:  Will you promise to live the Christian faith and to teach the faith to your child?  In the end, all of us in the congregation have a teaching role.  At baptism, the whole congregation promises to teach, nurture and love those whom we baptize.  And to go even further, James’ warning needs to resound not only in the church but in a society where civil, truthful discourse is so often ignored. So on this Rally Sunday, as we begin our fall season together, James offers us a timely meditation on the power—and the danger—of language.

To begin, James implores us to consider the tongue.  It’s only a tiny organ within the human body, but its power is almost unlimited.  To illustrate, James tosses out a pair of metaphors.  Imagine, he urges, that the human tongue is similar to the bridle of a horse or the rudder of a ship.  A bridle is obviously quite small compared to the size of the horse it controls.  Likewise, a ship' rudder is a tiny part of the ship, yet it is able to guide a mammoth vessel. 

Today we might update James’ images.  Nuclear fission, for example, involves atoms, the tiniest of particles, which, when split into even smaller parts, can lead to a powerful explosion! Currently there’s great concern about the possible spread of the H1N1 flu virus.  Germs are microscopic in size but capable of inflicting suffering on a global scale.  And just so, the human tongue has a role that is many times greater than its size.

Still, we often try to minimize the importance of words.  I grew up hearing the ditty, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  Closer to the truth is the old proverb: “The tongue is not steel, yet it cuts.”  We may like to think that words don’t hurt, but in fact they have great power to wound and even destroy.  Another way we minimize the power of words is to say, “Words don’t mean anything.  It’s not what we say that’s important, but what we do.” Of course it’s true that words don’t always correspond to reality.  A financier tells his clients that he has their best interest at heart, and then acts with blatant greed and self-interest.  A teenager might say, “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll drive safely.”  And he speeds off, tires screeching.  Or a parishioner shakes the preacher’s hand, saying, “Good sermon today,” but minutes later, on the way to the car, remarks to his spouse, “What in the world was he talking about?”  True, words don’t necessarily mean what they say, but our words always mean something.  The financier’s misleading words reveal a failure of character.  The teenagers’ words about driving safely, and then doing anything but, indicate that he or she is not yet trustworthy.  And the parishioner’s false comments indicate how often our words hide our true feelings.  Words are never just words.  Words are inseparable from our character.  Surely James is right when he declares that the tongue is a small organ, yet its power and influence are great.   

And think about the damage words can do.  They are likened to sparks that can set a forest ablaze.  The tongue, says James, is a fire.  If, in his day, James likened the tongue to a fire, in our day it is more nearly like a nuclear explosion.  Now that words have gone electronic, their reach is exponentially greater. Today words proliferate on twenty-four hour cable networks, ubiquitous cell phone conversations, through Twitter and Facebook, blogs, e-mails, text messages and Skype.  The great paradox of this is that, as we move further into the information age, we also move further into the disinformation age, in which error, miscommunication, meaningless communication, deception and slander become ever more common.

Of course, fresh on our minds is the scurrilous tenor of the current health care debates.  Health care reform is a complex issue, around which, understandably, there are many points of view, and thus there is a need for honest and fair debate based on truthful information.  Instead, the debate has been poisoned with misinformation and outright lies.  Various groups have proliferated false rumors for the purpose of manipulating public opinion.  At the recent town hall meetings, the opportunity for dialogue was often sabotaged by people shouting their objections.  In some cases, I heard that people on both sides of the debate conducted increasingly vicious attacks and counter attacks. It doesn’t matter which side of the political spectrum such language comes from: it poisons dialogue and sets of sparks that create huge flames of anger and fear. While we Americans are free to disagree, we should all insist that our public debates take place in the light of truth and civility, not in the shadows of misrepresentation, outlandish conspiracy theories and falsehood. 

Our task as Christians is not to insist that everyone find common ground. Rather, we are called to lead others to higher ground.  We have a high calling to be radically committed to integrity and civility, even—and especially—with those with whom we disagree.  In other words, we need to bring the wisdom of James into the public square.  At the beginning of his letter, James intones, “Let everyone be quick to listen, and slow to speak." Later, at the end of his letter, James exhorts the entire community not to “speak evil against one another.”  He goes on to insist that our discourse be "peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”  The ninth commandment is still in play: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”  And Paul’s rule for public speech applies today more than ever: “Let us speak the truth in love.”  Regardless whether we are in favor of health care reform or opposed to any change, whether liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat or Libertarian, all of us need to move to higher ground, where all sides listen attentively and speak respectively.

Granted, no one is perfect and we all make mistakes.  The Psalmist may have prayed, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”  Still, we’re all going to drop our guard at times and the door of our lips will sometimes open in ways we later regret.  Witness the inappropriate and ugly outburst during the President’s address earlier this week by a congressman from South Carolina. To his credit, the representative called the President shortly after the speech and apologized. The President graciously accepted his apology, saying, “I’m a big believer that we all make mistakes.”   Well, James also believed that we all make mistakes. That’s why, even as we strive to watch our words, we must also be willing to give and receive forgiveness. 

Friends, this caution about words and the way we use them isn’t merely for the sake of being polite to one another.  (Even though that’s a good place to start).   James hammers on this theme because our words reflect our relationship with God.  Since God is merciful, generous, and kind to all, we who are created in the image of God reflect that image when we speak in ways that are merciful, generous, kind.  Jesus, you recall, never uttered a word that wasn’t true, and that wasn’t intended to heal, to instruct and to help. That was because his words, like his deeds, had their source in God.  In our scripture today, we heard James struggling to understand how we who have our source in God could still speak in ways that are hurtful.  James compares those who worship God while cursing fellow human beings to a spring that pours forth both fresh and brackish water.  “This ought not to be,” James cries.  Since the source of our lives is God, our speech—in whatever form it takes—whether in public debate or personal conversation, whether on cell phones or text messages—should reveal that it flows from God, in whose image we are created.  Our words should seek to bless others—be they friend or enemy—because they, too, are created in the image of God.

Several years ago I shared with the congregation a quote from an unknown source:  “Watch your thoughts, because you thoughts become your words.  Watch your words, because your words become your actions.  Watch your actions, because your actions become your habits.  Watch your habits, because your habits become your character, and watch your character because your character becomes your destiny.” 

Today, friends, let us remember our high calling.  Let’s be careful of the things we say and the way in which we say them.  Our words have enormous power to shape human life.  And we all have this power, to varying degrees, as teachers, coaches, parents, tutors, friends, citizens. So may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts may be acceptable in God’s sight.