The Power of Words-- sermon from September 16-- James 3:1-12

Last week's sermon was "The Power of Words".

Below you will find the church sign, the bulletin cover, the songs from the service, the sermon message and the recorded sermon.

I hope that there is something that speaks to you.

Blessings on your journey,

Debra

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CHURCH SIGN:

BULLETIN COVER:

“The Power of Words”

James 3:1-12 (MSG)

September 16, 2018 (17^th Sunday after Pentecost)

Flintstone UMC

James 3:1-12 (MSG)

^1-2 Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.

^3-5 A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

^5-6 It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

^7-10 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!

^10-12 My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

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THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

THANKS BE TO GOD.

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I chose The Message again for today’s reading as I did for last week because it helps us to hear and read the Scriptures in a version different than the one we read daily.  The Message is the Bible in Contemporary Language and was created by Eugene H. Peterson and published in segments from 1993 to 2002. It is an idiomatic translation of the original languages of the Bible.

In today’s passage we see several examples of how a small thing can control a bigger one: a bit in the mouth of a horse, a rudder on a ship, a small spark can become a large fire, etc.  James uses everyday examples to get our attention.  And we can even still relate to these examples today.  He uses them to help us understand the power of words.  Words can build up or tear down.

As we heard and sang in the song by Hawk Nelson this morning:

“Words can build you up
Words can break you down
Start a fire in your heart or
Put it out

Let my words be life  
Let my words be truth
I don't wanna say a word
Unless it points the world back to You”

Notice how the passage warns us to not be in a rush to become a teacher because we are held more accountable for our words.  So, if you don’t have the official title of teacher, you’re off the hook, right?!  Not so fast.  We’re all teachers in some way.  If you’re a parent, if you’ve been a leader in any group, if you have ever been a babysitter, if you’ve ever taught someone how to do anything (tie a shoe, drive a car, etc.), then you have taught someone.  In teaching, as in all parts of life, it’s the words we choose and use that will build up or tear down.

Tearing down happens.  In my days of teaching, I didn’t think twice of using some sarcasm in the classroom for the longest time.  I had seen it modeled and it seemed to be okay.  Yet, I noticed at times that it would cause hurt feelings.  I started watching what I said and what I did.  When I went to Middlebury College for some graduate French work one summer, the deal was sealed for me.  One of my professors there mocked me and other students in the classroom.  I don’t know about the others, but she mocked me outside of class too.  That helped me get rid of any remaining sarcasm that was left in my teaching.

Sometimes we aren’t aware of how we might be hurting others by our actions or our words.  That’s why we need one another and the Holy Spirit.  In community, we can hold one another accountable.  And the Holy Spirit can help us see things that we don’t see clearly.

A good prayer to pray is from Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)—

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Once we are made aware or recognize these things, we ask forgiveness and we take action to live differently.  When we’ve hurt someone by our action or non-action, we ask for God’s forgiveness and where appropriate, we apologize and seek their forgiveness.  Isn’t that the way it’s done?

Matthew 5:23-24 (MSG)

^23-24 “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.”

If your friend was hurt by something you had said or done and you went to your friend and, instead of making it right, only said to them that they had hurt you by saying they were hurt, what healing has taken place?  What good in God’s kingdom has been done? 

Praying those verses in Psalm 139 and allowing God through the Holy Spirit to lead us along the path of everlasting life will help us go a long way in learning to watch our words.

In Toby Mac’s “Speak Life”, he points out the power of words. 

Here are a few of those lyrics:

“Well, it’s crazy to imagine
Words from my lips as the arms of compassion
Mountains crumble with every syllable
Hope can live or die

So speak life, speak life
To the deadest darkest night
Speak life, speak life
When the sun won’t shine and you don’t know why
Look into the eyes of the broken hearted
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope
You speak love, you speak…
You speak life”

We have the power to speak life, to speak love, to speak hope into people’s lives.

That is a great blessing and responsibility.  In order for us to be able to speak love, life, and hope into other people’s lives, we have to continually be filled with love, life, and hope.

The power of words goes beyond simply speaking life, love, and hope into other’s lives.  How many of you have heard of people choosing a word for the year?  They choose a word to live into for the year, such as “joy”, “hope”, “forgiveness”, etc.

There are websites with information on this.  Many people have gone from New Year’s Resolutions to choosing a word so that they can focus on one thing and be intentional.  One website, myoneword.org, notes this:

“Let me let you in on a seldom recognized truth: Change is possible, but focus is required.

You don’t need a gym membership or more will power, a new organizational system or a financial planner to make the changes you desire this year as much as you need clarity and sustained focus over time.

That is why our goal is to help you choose just one word to be your focus for the next twelve months, and to help you keep your attention fixed on your word.”

That ties in with the philosophy behind “Intentional Living” in that they are always talking about choosing one thing to focus on, to be intentional about—and do it.

As we focus today on the power of words, listen again to these last verses in today’s passage:

^10-12 “My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?”

What imagery! What is inside us WILL come out. We must be faithful in filling up with the Living Water that Christ offers us through spiritual practices of prayer, study, Scripture, silence, solitude, time apart, communion, worship, fasting, etc.

Richard Rohr notes: “We must be aware—almost hour by hour—of what our reservoir is holding, or we will never feel the need to fill it with a new kind of positive flow—or recognize the brackish and even poisonous waters from which we are drawing.” (Just This, 14)

Luke 6:45 (NLT)—“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

Let’s take a moment, as we close this morning, to allow God to examine our hearts.  Will you pray with me?

God, we come together this morning, recognizing the power of words.  We have the power to build up or tear down.  We can offer hope or destroy it.  We desire to speak life, love, and hope.  We want to be the arms of compassion for others.  We pray those verses 23-24 from Psalm 139: ‘Search us, O God, and know our hearts; test us and know our anxious thoughts. ²⁴ Point out anything in us that offends you, and lead us along the path of everlasting life.’  Show us how we use the power of words for the good of others and the glory of your kingdom.  Amen.

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Songs from worship:

"Words" by Hawk Nelson

"The Power of Words" by Andrea Gardner [This is not a song, but it merits watching.] ["Change Your Words,  Change Your World."]

"You Say" by Lauren Daigle

"Speak Life" by Toby Mac (mentioned in sermon)

If you'd like to listen to the sermon, click here. (.wav)