The New Testament reading for this Sunday was from the Epistle of James, Chapter 3, Verses 1-12. I was privileged to share some thoughts about this timely passage with the folks at Brewer and Shannon United Methodist Churches.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For 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. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or 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. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by 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 nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, 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 those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
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 a grapevine figs? No more can saltwater yield fresh.
Before going further, let me say that for every Sunday School teacher verse 3:1 is a source of fear and verse 3:2 is a source of comfort and also a challenge. The fear comes from facing a judgment with greater strictness. Comfort comes in that it is good to know we are not alone as we fall short, although within that comfort comes a challenge to govern or bridle our speech.
When I scanned the reading from the Lectionary, however, my thought wasn’t of speech so much as it was of both the written and spoken word.
When I went to college it was back in the day when we called ourselves “suitcase students.” That’s because we came home every Friday (usually bearing a bag of dirty laundry) and didn’t go back to school until Sunday afternoon. Some of us would even stay until after Youth Choir practice on Sunday evenings.
I mention that because I think it’s probably one of the reasons that the Daily Mississippian at Ole Miss was only “daily” to the extent that it was published each day Monday through Friday. In 1976-77 I was the Editor of the Mississippian, and was a reporter for a couple of years before that.
While I was the Editor I wrote an editorial for almost every issue. I learned something from that experience that James is talking about here: The “tongue,” even when the tongue we’re talking about is expressed at the end of a pen or the keyboard of a computer, is a “fire.” And today, perhaps more than ever, it “stains the whole body” and “sets on fire the cycle of nature.”
Keep that “cycle of nature” in mind because we’re going to circle back to it.
The Nature of Fire
But let’s talk about the nature of the fire first. This isn’t the fire that came down on Pentecost – the fire of the Holy Spirit – no, this is the fire of Gehenna, of Hell itself. Now what does that mean? James explains this in Chapter 3, Verse 6. The New American Bible Revised Edition maybe captures the best sense of that verse:
“The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna.”
In other words, the fire that is the tongue, the words we express in pen and ink or virtually online, is a fire that consumes not only nature but itself as well. It is the ultimate self-destructive evil.
So, what did I learn about this evil when I was editor of the Mississippian? And how have those lessons been reinforced in recent days?
First, I learned that speaking falsely, whether intentionally or not, can cause great harm. I’m an attorney and I’m an attorney who sometimes practices in the area of media law, including the law pertaining to defamation and libel. I’ve had occasion to defend newspapers in our area on more than one occasion.
There’s a famous case, New York Times v. Sullivan, that sets out a standard for when public officials may recover for statements that are false and defaming (that is, causing harm). The standard that the U. S. Supreme Court announced was that the statement had to be made with “reckless malice” for the public official to prevail.
There have been a lot of decisions since then to explain what “reckless malice” means, but James could have told them right away. It means making a false statement knowing that there’s a good chance it’s false. In other words, telling someone something even when you may doubt that it’s true.
Thankfully, that didn’t happen to me when I was editor.
Now, that’s one form of false statement. The other, the one that we’re more likely to be guilty of, is when we say something that’s false because we’re careless.
Stop and underline that word – “careless.” In the second chapter of the Epistle of James, he talks about the “royal law,” referring to Leviticus 19:18. So, when we are careless with our speech or written words, we violate the royal law – to love your neighbor as yourself – because we are caring less for our neighbors than for ourselves.
That happened to me on one occasion. A reliable source let me know about a faculty member who was going to be appointed to a certain position before the process for making that appointment had occurred. I wrote an editorial about the system being short-circuited. Unfortunately, the information wasn’t accurate, but the result was that the professor in question was unfairly eliminated from consideration for the position: because of my carelessness.
So that’s one way the fire of our words can cause harm.
But, there’s another way as well.
Here’s where I talk about the evil we’ve been witnessing on so-called “social media,” which is anything but social.
Here the lack of care for our fellow humans falls into the category that James talks about when he says in verse 9 and the first part of 10:
“With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.”
What I’m referring to are those occasions when what we say is true. The problem isn’t that what we’ve written is false, it’s how we convey that truth that contains the destructive fire. Let’s take a timely example that you’ve probably seen in comments online of late.
Some people are urging others to be vaccinated against COVID. Others are arguing that the vaccine is either not necessary or might even have dangerous side effects. I’m not going to argue the case for or against vaccinations but assume for a minute that whichever side you’re on is the one that’s true.
Here’s the problem: when you point out this particular “truth” (or any other) and couple it with language to the effect that the another person with whom you disagree is ignorant, stupid, dangerous, or whatever, you condemn yourself.
That’s right you condemn yourself.
As our Lord and Savior is quoted as saying in Matthew 5:22 –
“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Sometimes the King James Version says it best.
Here’s another example. Think about a child in school who gets the answer wrong and because the teacher is either cruel or at their wit’s end, makes that child sit in the corner with a dunce cap on their head and a sign hanging from the neck that says “Idiot-Ville.”
I would love to say that this is a far-fetched example that would never actually happen if it hadn’t happened to someone I know back in the bad old days.
I would challenge anyone to argue that incident doesn’t involve a form of speech in and of itself that was as destructive as any fire.
The fire of an untamed tongue, or pen, or keyboard, destroys in a multitude of ways, but let’s visit one more example for today: the destructive nature of the fire on the person engaged in false or hurtful speech.
When we forget to care about the truth of what we are saying or the impact our words have on others (who are, like us, created in the Divine Image), we separate ourselves from God. That’s the very definition of Gehenna in verse 3:6, when James writes about the tongue itself being set on fire by hell.
So we circle back to setting the very “cycle of nature” on fire (or “course of nature” in the King James Version, or the “circle of nature” in the Common English Bible).
The Psalter for this Sunday is Psalm 19. Let’s look at the first part of that Psalm:
“The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.”
Isn’t the Psalmist speaking there of the very “circle of nature” that James refers to in Chapter Three, Verse Six? The NABre, NIV and NASB prefer to translate the same language in the more intimate terms of the course of our entire lives. Either way, his warning is clear — the untamed tongue is an all consuming destructive fire.
But the fire, fierce as it is, will not consume the rock. The rock may sustain injury (even injury for our sake if we take the metaphor far enough), but the rock will prevail when the fire has consumed itself.
The Rock Listens
I gave this meditation the title, “The Rock Listens” because of the last verse of Psalm 19:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
It seemed apt to couple the prayer of Psalm 19 with the admonitions and warnings of James 3:1-12. I picture our Lord, Ha Shem, listening to our clamor and strife and marvel at His mercy.
The Rock Listens —
Think of yourself lost in the wilderness, in a canyon edged with steep and high rocky walls in which every word of yours seems to echo endlessly, leaving you lost as you cry for help.
But stop — listen — hearken to the Psalmist’s words:
“Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.”
Sometimes you have to stop and listen to hear the voices of the rescue party.
The speech that the Psalmist is lifting up here is not the tumult of human tongues, but the Chorus of Creation to a Master’s voice that instructs us from the whirlwind and strengthens us in its stillness.
The Rock does listen, but the Rock, our Redeemer, also speaks. Listen, be still and know your God.
I’ll close with the rest of Psalm 19
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.