Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer…

Can I please have a show of hands, who here is a teacher? Oh no! That is way too many… that is a dangerous number of teachers! Why do I think that? Well, it says here in the book of James, chapter 3: “Not many of you should become teachers…”. I am joking! James is obviously talking about teachers of spiritual wisdom, not academic teachers.

So why are teachers and preachers of God’s truth “judged more strictly”? If a Maths or English teacher purposefully or negligently teaches the wrong facts, the student may be mislead and it could impact their academic progress and maybe later their ability to get a job. But if a person purposefully or negligently misleads someone about God’s truth it could send them down a path leading to sin, it could lead them away from knowing God, and ultimately it could impact their choice to seek eternal life in God. That is no small thing!

It is no wonder then, that people may be nervous to preach and teach in church!! Tonight at our 5pm bible study, Dan has kindly offered to lead a bible study for the first time. I hope you are not second guessing your offer to lead the group now Dan?! No? Good! Because taking that step of faith to share God’s truth might be scary and feel like a big responsibility, but it is also something we all need to practice and be willing to do wherever God leads us to.

The fact is, when we follow Jesus’ command in the Great Commission, to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” we are all responsible for teaching and sharing with others the truth of the good news of Jesus.

So if we are all called to be teachers of God’s truth, then how do we respond to James’ warning?  The NIV has had two translations of this verse; Not many of you “should become” teachers, and not many of you “should presume to be” teachers. I like this second translation as it highlights the battle of the ego that often occurs when we get called to share God’s truth. At the end of the day, we are not the source of knowledge or the truth, that is God, so when we “presume” to be the teacher we overestimate our own role and underestimate the role of the holy spirit. Remembering it is God that works through us is important. In John 14:26 Jesus says to his disciples “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”.

Since coming to St Luke’s it has been a real blessing to be given the privilege of preaching. I really enjoy sharing insights into God’s truth that I have read or learnt, but I need to remember, especially when my wonderful kids watching, that there is a real danger of hypocrisy. As the Proverb says (16:18) “pride comes before the fall”. I might preach on something and say one thing with my mouth, but when I get in the car and go home, live a totally different way of life. The easy part is getting up and talking to you, the hard part is taking it home and living it! My kids could share a story or two of this with you, but I bribe them with ice cream to stay quiet!

I joke, but James is not joking at all. James, brother of Jesus, is clear that our words matter. Words are powerful and they can build people up, but they can also tear down, hurt and cause horrible damage to people’s lives.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” It just isn’t true! Words hurt a lot. Some of us are living with scars of hurtful words today. Proverbs 18:21 reminds us that “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”.

When I was in Grade 5 my best friend and I shared a desk. One day he told me that he thought Budda was the best God. As a Christian this was hard to hear, and I thought naively that I had a duty to defend God. I angrily said to him that Budda was not a God and that he was wrong. In that moment my words permanently hurt our relationship and we were never able to be good friends again. I was so sad that I had lost my best friend because of what I had said that in my hurt I made everything worse. I had been to sleep-overs at his house and I had noticed that he had worn a night gown to bed. In my anger and shame I spread the rumour that he wore a “nighty” to bed like a girl. I still feel ashamed to this day of the way I hurt him with my words and how rather than seek friendship, forgiveness and repair our relationship I decided to hurt him more to make myself feel powerful and righteous.

I am ashamed to say that this was not the last time I used words to hurt people, and I suspect there may be times in the future. Why can someone who knows God’s truth, is blessed by God’s love in their life, still expect that they may hurt people with their words? James explains that this is because the tongue is untamable; “no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison”. There is a universality about this, and in Romans 3, Paul puts it this way “their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit, the poison of vipers is on their lips, and their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”.

When James says, “But no man can tame the tongue” the emphasis grammatically is on “man” but what man can’t tame, God can. For “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” I may not be able to control my tongue, but I believe that through God working in me my speech can be placed under control. Jesus said, “But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man”. Controlling the tongue begins by changing the heart.

I read a story I must share: There once was a prank some children played on their grandfather. They found him asleep on the sofa and so they spread some stinky cheese in their Grandpa’s mustache. After a while grandpa woke up and began to smell the cheese and said, “Something in this room stinks.” He then went into the kitchen, and said, “Something in this room stinks.” Finally, he stuck his head out the back door and said, “Ah, the whole world stinks!” Like the story, some of us have stinky cheese in our hearts. The problem is not out there, it’s within us.

Something needs to change within us and God can help. With the transformation of the spirit, instead of looking for the bad in a situation, we will look for the good. Instead of being preoccupied with self-interest, we will focus on the interests of others. We will be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1:19). If we want the fruit of our conversations with people to be healthy and good, then our heart needs to be rooted deep in God’s word, refreshed by the Spirit and full of praise and thanksgiving in the saving works of Jesus.

James’ warnings we have read today should not draw us away from our responsibility to share the good news of Jesus, but instead prepare us in humility with the knowledge that it is God that works through us, our words matter and can bring life if we trust God to change our heart. We can stand confident in Christ because we know “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

“Set a guard, O Lord, over our mouths; keep watch over the door of our lips, because you say teachers will be judged with greater strictness, enable us to speak only what is true so we don’t stumble in what we say. Use our words to build up, not tear down.  Though our tongue is small it’s dangerous if we don’t submit it to your control.  Forgive us for ways we’ve poisoned people with what we’ve said.  Help us now to hear your words.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.”  (B. Bill)