Pentecost 17B, 2024

17th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

This morning’s message focuses on our second lesson, James 3. In this passage, James is addressing his church and warning them about the power of the tongue. Let’s take a look at this lesson to gain an appreciation of what the tongue is capable of, and how we, as Christians, are called to not only control it, but use it for God’s purposes.

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I was an intern, which happened to be during run-up to the 2016 US Presidential election. Most of us probably remember - all too well - how crazy that time was. I don’t know how it was here in Concord, but in Columbia, SC it was pretty nasty and divided. Has it gotten better this time? How’s the political environment in 2024? Let’s see, just a hair over 2 months ago, the political discourse in our country led to a young man taking a rifle and taking a shot at the former President. Both major political parties agreed in the days following that incident that the rhetoric needed to be toned down. Which it did, for a few days. A shame it took such a terrible act to raise attention to effects the awful things our politicians are saying about each other have on our society.

Of course, in the 21st century, you don’t have to be on the steps of a state capital building to see political division in our society any more. Now, all you need to do is turn to your favorite social media platform: Facebook, Twitter (X - it’s still Twitter to me), Instagram, SnapChat, or any of the many others… you don’t have to look long to find some absolutely ugly things being said in the course of daily virtual exchange. And it really is a very ugly environment, Presidential election or not.

Of course, what do you expect from keyboard warriors who have no fear of any repercussions of the things they say to others? In the words of the great “philosopher” Mike Tyson: “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.” How true is that? How many of the cyber-bullies and online tough-guys or mean girls would dare say these things if they were standing right in front of the person they’re insulting? I’m going to guess zero or close to it. Amazing how that virtual courage fades quickly away when you have to look someone in the eye.

For Christians, it doesn’t really matter whether the things we say about one another are said in-person or online. The words are likely to have the same effect. Although the impact of what we say online may be much greater, simply because it can be spread far and wide very, very quickly. All the more reason for us to be concerned first with WHAT we say, moreso than where we say it.

James cautions us in chapter 3 that just as a horse’s whole body is guided when we put a bit in its mouth… or how a large ship is guided by the very small rudder, so the tongue as a small member of our body is capable of great things. A small fire setting a great forest ablaze. And it’s so very true, isn’t it? The words that come out of the mouths of our fellow human beings can be downright poisonous (James says that, too - verse 8). Maybe the saddest statement in this passage is “…no human being can tame the tongue...”. As one who preaches the Word of God… this statement, and the beginning of chapter 3 give me reason to be cautious. And definitely also reason for me to turn to God. I’m reminded of the plea at the beginning of Vespers: “Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord, and guard the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3) James’ caution hits me hard.

If you remember, just 2 weeks ago, in Mark 7:21–23 “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” How many things on that list are made worse when the tongue gets involved? Roughly half, by my count. It’s bad enough when they’re in our heart. Far worse then, when they cross the threshold of our mouth.

Interestingly, Luther has some very useful wisdom here. I find it interesting because this is one place where Luther agrees with James. Luther didn’t like much of what James wrote, but on this they’re eye-to-eye. In the Small Catechism Luther writes:

The Book of Concord (The Eighth)

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

16 What does this mean?

Answer: We should fear and love God, and so we should not tell lies about our neighbor, nor betray, slander, or defame him, but should apologize for him, speak well of him, and interpret charitably all that he does.

This goes a good bit beyond just not telling lies in court about our neighbor, doesn’t it? This morning I want to share a bit more, from Luther’s Large Catechism. This is part of Luther’s writing that I find incredibly wise. I also find it terribly difficult to adhere to.

Luther begins by explaining that our honor and good name is to be treated as a treasure, and God wants everyone to maintain their reputation, honor, and character as safely and securely as their money and possessions. This is not to be taken lightly.

Of course Luther addresses the obvious meaning here: don’t lie about your neighbor in court, no matter what reason you might have for doing so. Truth is vital to maintaining justice in a society, and it’s imperative for judges, juries, and witnesses all to speak truth in the court of law. This should come as no surprise. Of course, we can also see how our tongues could do great damage here. I’m sure we’ve all heard the stories about someone accused of a terrible crime, and then sent to prison only to find out the accuser was lying. This is a horrible miscarriage of justice, and is certainly a blatant violation of this commandment.

But Luther takes the meaning of this commandment much deeper. He says that this commandment “...forbids all sins of the tongue by which we may injure or offend our neighbor. False witness is clearly a work of the tongue. Whatever is done with the tongue against a neighbor, then, is forbidden by God.” [Tappert, 400] Yes, of course he means anyone with a part to play in a court of law and the enforcement of good order and justice. But even more, “It applies particularly to the detestable, shameful vice of back-biting or slander by which the devil rides us... It is a common vice of human nature that everyone would rather hear evil than good about his neighbor. Evil though we are, we cannot tolerate having evil spoken of us; we want the golden compliments of the whole world. Yet we cannot bear to hear the best spoken of others.” [ibid.] Let’s think about that for a moment. Our sinful nature can only bear to hear good about ourselves, and evil about others. That’s called “pride” - and there’s a reason it’s listed first among the “deadly” sins. That’s our nature. That’s what we want to hear. If we can’t hear good about ourselves, let’s hear bad about others. Tear them down so we feel good. It’s a sad state that we are naturally prone to this. This is what our sinful selves wants.

Now think about what we said earlier. Social media. Nastiness all across our culture. National television commentators speaking terribly about those on the other side of the political aisle (both sides are guilty of this…). Political rivals tearing each other down PERSONALLY instead of differences in policy. Do you think those who partake in this uncivilized discourse are giving into their sinful human nature? It would be hard to convince me otherwise.

So what are we to do? First Luther tells us that we need to know our place. None of us has the right to judge and scold our neighbor in public, unless God has authorized us to do so. That is, literally appointed as a judge. That counts most of us out. We can’t say anything bad about our neighbor publicly, *even if it’s true*, unless we have authority. And since it’s God who delegates authority, we dare not presume authority we don’t have. So passing judgment on a neighbor (speaking negatively about them) publicly is truly using our tongue to disgrace and harm our neighbor, and doing so without authority. “God forbids you to speak evil about another even though, to your certain knowledge, he is guilty. All the more urgent is the prohibition if you are not sure but have it only from hearsay.” [ibid., 401] Anything you hear about a neighbor that can’t be proven is false witness. Don’t repeat it. It’s no more than gossip. And we should call that out. Shame the person who spreads it. If it’s not provably true, it’s not to be repeated. Remember “honor and good name are easily taken away, but not easily restored.” Most of us have lived long enough to know how true that is.

Now here Luther gives a condition: “So you see that we are absolutely forbidden to speak evil of our neighbor. Exception is made, however, of civil magistrates, preachers, and parents, for we must interpret this commandment in such a way that evil shall not go unpunished.” [ibid., 401–402] Some people do have this authority, and for good reason. Evil should not go unpunished. Can I get an “amen”? Some people *do* have the authority to deal with this. But we must leave it to them, as they serve that role.

For those of us who do not, we have Jesus’ own guidance in Matthew 18. I’ll summarize: if someone has sinned against you, first approach them one-on-one, in private. If they don’t listen to you, go again with one or two others, so that what you say to them has witnesses. If that still doesn’t work, THEN make it a public matter. This progression allows the person first the opportunity to resolve the matter without shame. The second opportunity still seeks that private resolution. These two confrontations address the wrongdoer personally. No one has gone behind their back. People are not talking about them; someone is talking directly TO them. Confronting the person and their behavior directly, seeking resolution, repentance, and the end goal is restoration and most importantly reconciliation. That’s what we seek in this approach. This is how we use our tongue in a Godly way - taking problems. That’s not how the world works these days, is it? No, we’d rather talk about people than to them. God’s way is exactly the opposite of the world’s way. No surprise there.

Brothers and sisters, if this sounds hard, remember what I said: this wisdom is terribly hard to adhere to. Mostly because it challenges our sinful selves… but also because it goes against the way of the world. It is not natural for us to do things this way. That’s what sin does to us. It makes us want to do things our own way, not God’s way.

But God has showed us that His way is the better way… even though we showed Him over and over that we’re terribly incapable of doing what He teaches and commands us to do. And that’s why He sent us His Son to be among us. He took on our flesh and experienced the temptations that we all face. He saw how other spoke with venomous tongues about him and his followers, simply for the sake of pride and greed. He faced the temptations we all faced, and he showed us how to do that without sin. But the best news of all is that when He allowed himself to be arrested, beaten, and executed, he took that sin from us and buried it with him in the tomb. It’s been dealt with and it’s no longer a burden to us. It’s been so completely discharged that we’ll never have to worry about our sin again. It no longer has a hold on us. We are no longer in bondage to it. It does not determine our choices or our future. Jesus has given us the freedom to live in love instead of in sinful self-interest. Through him, because of him, and with his help, our tongue *can* be tamed. What we couldn’t do on our own, is possible because of Jesus.

I’ll let Luther’s words wrap this up: “...the sum and substance of this commandment: No one shall harm his neighbor, whether friend or foe, with his tongue. No one shall speak evil of him, whether truly or falsely, unless it is done with proper authority or for his improvement. A person should use his tongue to speak only good of everyone, to cover his neighbor’s sins and infirmities, to overlook them, and to cloak and veil them with his own honor… It is a particularly fine, noble virtue always to put the best construction upon all we may hear about our neighbor, as long as it is not a notorious evil, and to defend him...” against those who would disobey this commandment, and use their tongues to tear down their neighbor. [ibid., 403-404]

As we look around at the insanity and chaos of this news cycle and as election day approaches, I hope you’ll think about this passage from James and use it as a compass to guide you and how you conduct yourselves as Christians. God is calling us to be a voice for reconciliation in the larger conversation. In a world seemingly addicted to conflict and argument, what a welcome change that would be! Let’s let Christ be our example as much as he is our Savior.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.