"Please, Go on Mute"

Church, I have a Word from the Lord this morning. Please open your Bibles to:

James 3:1–12 (ESV)

3 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

You may be seated.

I will preach this morning from the thought: “Please, Go on Mute”

This past year has introduced most of us to the world of video calls. Since we were unable to safely meet in person, we have used apps like WebEx, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and many other video calling apps. Probably the most popular out of all of them is Zoom....which is funny to me because prior to last year, the only Zoom I knew was the song by Lionel Richie and the Commodores when I was growing up in the 70s. One thing that drives a Zoom meeting host crazy,  possibly more than any other thing, is when someone needs to go on mute, and they don’t do it!

In the background we hear:

Dogs barking

Babies crying

Television programs

Radio broadcasts

Side conversations

Paper rattling

Eating

And the dreaded, probably the worst sound....the bathroom visit.

We have to stop the call and say somebody needs to (what), “Please Go on Mute!”

It’s irritating and unproductive on a Zoom call when that happens. Sometimes the person can’t even find the mute button, and they don’t know how to go on mute. It’s far worse when someone’s tongue is completely out of control, and they refuse to go on mute....or maybe they are unable to go on mute.

James, the author of this book, is actually the half-brother of Jesus Christ. He is one of Joseph and Mary’s other children. This is not the Apostle James, that had the brother named John, that was one of the 12 disciples. That James was beheaded in Acts 12 by King Herod.

This James did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah and our savior until after Jesus was resurrected. The book of James is often described a s practical book because it gives practical application to Biblical truths.

I imagine that just about everyone in here has a cell phone. Cell phones receive invisible cell signals. Most of us have no understanding of how cell signals work, but we do know that our phones can detect them, and we have the little bars at the top of the screen to indicate the strength of the signal we are receiving.

In the same way, everyone in here has a heart. No, I’m not talking about that organ in our chests that pump blood through our bodies, Dr. Blalock. I’m talking about the heart as the seat or source of conscience, our will, our emotions, moods and passions. The heart is the place where the real you resides. I can’t see that place in you, and you can’t see that place in me. However, the tongue can reveal what is going on in there. The tongue can make the invisible, very visible. In other words, the tongue is a heart detector, a heart xray machine, a heart MRI. The tongue is a window to see someone’s heart. Did you know that, church?

Jesus said in:

Luke 6:45 (ESV)

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

What overflows in your heart comes out of your.....mouth. I’ve heard people say, that

“I just had to say that!” or

“They were asking for it!” or

“I had to get them told!”

…you see, it was bubbling up in their heart, and overflowed…started gushing out like a fountain, like those fountains you see in parks and in front of hotels…just overflowing. And what comes out....Jesus says, gives us a window into a person’s heart.

The question is....Church, what is your heart saying? What is your heart saying?

The mouth tells us what kind of person you really are on the inside.

Why should we be concerned about that? Jesus says in:

Matthew 5:8 (ESV)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Jesus also says in:

Matthew 12:36–37 (ESV)

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Believers and unbelievers alike will have to give an account of every word they say.. Even that stuff we mumble under our breaths to our parents, our schoolmates and teachers, our bosses and coworkers, or spouses and everybody else. We are saved by faith, but the mouth reveals if we are really saved....because it shows if our heart has been changed.

Some of us will say anything on social media.

NEWS Flash! NEWS FLASH! This might come as news to some of you, but everything that comes into your mind is not meant to be said....or tweeted..or emailed…or texted…or posted. Actually all of those forms of media, all those forms of communication are extension of the tongue. How can I say that? Well some of us text and post and tweet more than we talk. Law enforcement, that means police, TBI, FBI…one of the first things they do when someone commits a horrendous crime, mass murder, plant a bomb....anything…they go to where? They check their online history, social media traffic, to see what they were saying and who they were talking to so they can find out why they committed the crime.

Osama bin laden

Hitler

Church, the message of this passage in James is clear.....

The tongue is a poweful, hellish beast, completely out of control, but it can be tamed by the right Master!

We are going to examine the following aspects of the tongue from this passage:

The Tongue’s Testimony

The Tongue’s Tyranny

The Tongue’s Tall Tales

The Tongue’s Torch

The Tongue’s Treachery

The Tamed Tongue

1. The Tongue’s Testimony

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways..... And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

The tongue’s testimony. What is your tongue saying? What is it witnessing about?

Proverbs 18:21 ESV

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

About 10 years ago when there weren’t that many churches streaming online or Sunday School classes online, I was thinking of starting a Bible Study on Facebook. I polled some members and I really couldn’t get any traction because people wanted to divorce or separate their behavior online from their church behavior. I actually had some people to tell me that. In other words, I can be a different person online than when I am in the church. I can say, post, repost things that are not consistent with my Christian identity.

This should not be anybody’s testimony that they are different online than when they are in church…especially teachers.

We all stumble or sin in many ways and one of the main ways is with the mouth. I like the way the New Living Translation reads for:

Proverbs 10:19 Too much talk leads to sin.

Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

2. The Tongue’s Tyranny

The second half of verse 2 says:

2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

James says that if you have your mouth, your tongue under control, your speech under control, so that you don’t stumble in what you say, then you are perfect (teleios), which means mature.

The tongue’s tyranny. The tongue is a tyrant, a dictator. The tongue wants to be the one leading, controling, dominating. If you let it, the tongue will run things. It will rule things. It will control your whole body. It wants to be the puppet master and make you do what it wants you to do!

So if you can control the most insubordinate, uncooperative, rebellious part of your body, which is your tongue, then you get control of your whole body. The tongue is small, but it leads the course of the whole body.

Church, very small things can control very large things. James breaks this down and gives us 2 examples, for instance in verse 3:

3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.

That little metal bit in a horse’s mouth controls that large animal. You have command over their body with that small bit, and you make that large horse pull a carriage like we see in downtown Chattanooga, pull a wagon, or ride you where you need to go.

And then James gives another example in verse 4:

4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

James was talking about sailing ships. I know not many are going on cruises now due to the pandemic, but has anyone ever been on a cruise? I’ve been on some big ships, well at least I thought they were pretty big at the time. I was reading that the largest cruise ship in the world is the Symphony of the Seas owned by Royal Caribbean. I think they finished it in 2018. It is about 4 football fields long, for you military people, that’s about 100 feet longer than the biggest military aircraft carrier. The ship is so long that if you stood it up out of the water from back to front, it would stand taller than all but 2 of the biggest skyscrapers in Europe. It can carry nearly 9,000 people and contains more than 40 restaurants and bars; 23 pools, jacuzzis and water slides; two West End-sized theatres; an ice rink; a surf simulator; two climbing walls; a zip line; a fairground carousel; a mini-golf course; a ten-storey fun slide; laser tag; a spa; a gym; a casino....it’s like a city on the water....and it is all guided in the sea by a relatively small rudder that sits under the water than you never see.

Church, very small things can control very large things.

The tongue wants to control. It wants to rule you....it a tyrant.

James says that you can’t let your tongue call the shots…you need the ability to put it on mute sometimes.....if you can get your tongue under control, then you will have control over your whole body.

3. The Tongue’s Tall Tales

The tongue loves tall tales....exaggerations…boasting…bragging. We’ve all heard the fish stories. You know, everytime a person talks about how big the fish they caught was, the fish gets a little bit bigger…until after a while the fish is even bigger than the boat they were fishing from!

5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.....

Have you ever heard the old saying, “You better toot your own horn because no one else will do it for you!” …meaning that you better brag on yourself because no one else will. Some people live by that motto. No matter what you have done, they have a story about what they did better.

no matter what you have seen, they have seen something better

no matter where you have been, they have been somewhere better.

They always have to upstage you, one up you. That kind of tongue is exhausting and irritating to be around. I once had a coworker that whenever you talked to him about anything, it always came out in his conversation that he graduated at the top of his class. I don’t care what you were talking about, that would always come up. It came up so often, that whenever this man’s name was mentioned, another one of my coworkers would always joke, “You know he graduated at the top of his class, don’t you.”

That attitude shows a lot of pride, and the Bible says what?....Pride comes before a fall.

That was one of Satan’s issues, his pride.

Isaiah 14:14 (ESV)

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

Satan started boasting, bragging and telling tall tales about how he was going to be like God!

Sometimes, we need to stay on mute or we will find ourselves boasting about what we are going to do like the devil himself.

The Apostle Peter had that problem too. He was always blurting out something, when sometimes he should have stayed on mute. You all remember that time in

Matthew 26:31–35 (ESV)

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Peter, and the rest of the disciples should have been on mute at that time. They should have been listening instead of speaking. They all were boasting about how they would never deny Jesus. That very night, Peter denied 3 times as Jesus predicted.

Matthew 26:73–75 (ESV)

After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

As they say in the streets, “Don’t let your tongue write a check that, what....your behind can’t cash!”

Beware of the tongue’s tall tales. Sometimes it is better to stay on mute.

4. The Tongue’s Torch

5b...How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

A great forest is set ablaze by a small fire.

Chattanooga is 142.3 square miles. Hamilton County is 576 square miles. The Dixie fire that is raging in California right now 676 square miles. 3rd largest in California’s history. That fire is larger than our county and almost 5 times as large as the city of Chattanooga.

I was reading on NPR that:

“The three-week-old Dixie Fire was one of 100 active, large fires burning in 14 states, most in the West where historic drought has left lands parched and ripe for ignition......The fire's cause was under investigation, but Pacific Gas & Electric has said it may have been sparked when a tree fell on one of the utility's power lines.”

So a tree fell on a power line, some of it’s branches caught on fire and then that small blaze has grown and now burnt whole towns to the ground in California.

We have current and former firefighters in our congregation. They will tell you fire prevention is the key. To keep that small tongue from causing a lot of destruction like a fire, prevention is the key.....sometimes we need to hit the mute button.

One juicy bit of gossip can destroy a whole church....or even churches.

The tongue is described as fire, a world of unrighteousness....wickedness.

The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

The tongue can stain the whole body. Like smoke from a fire can damage things, contaminate things, penetrate things....the evil of the tongue can contaminate your whole life. James says that fire from the tongue comes from hell itself!

I’m sure some of you remember our member Bro. Charles Fields. He has gone on to be with the Lord. I guess it over 20 years ago now, but I remember my tongue being out of control around him one time. We were on a trip in the church van, I believe it was to Congress in the late 90s. I’m not sure what city it was in that year. I was in my late 20s, and I was on a rant about some of the problems in the church, at least as I saw them, especially with church leadership. Bro. Fields just sat there and listened. When I finished my rant, he didn’t embarrass me…he didn’t raise his voice......but he said it the only way Bro. Fields could have said it. I don’t remember all of his exact words, but I do remember him saying, “Bro. Washington, I imagine that when I was your age, I would feel just the same way you do right now. Everything is not perfect in the church. But I’ve learned over the years that sometimes you have to work around certain people. But you have to always treat people with dignity and respect....honor their position and their service.”

To my shame church, I was not honoring those leaders with my mouth.

Romans 13:7 ESV

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

It is easy to understand why I was bad mouthing leadership when you realize that the tongue is set on fire by hell itself. Do you realize that the tongue wants nothing better than to destroy the church. The tongue is the champion for destroying the church. It is one of Satan’s chief weapons, and some of us know how to use it all too well. You know how people go to the firing range when they want to practice shooting their guns. Where do you think some of us go when we want to practice shooting off our mouths?

5. The Tongue’s Treachery

8...It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

The tongue is full of treachery, inconsistency, double-dealing, being fake, betrayal.

The tongue is a hypocrite.

James calls it a restless evil. It always wants to stir up something. It can’t help itself....but it is filled with poison. What does poison do? It spreads like cancer through the body and cause hurt, harm and destruction.

Some of it’s double dealing consists of:

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

When we look at the gospels, we see that Jesus was patient with people in all kinds of sin, but he was hard on hyporcrites. He did not tolerate them at all.

Jesus gave his harshest condemnations to hypocrites!

Matthew 23:13 ESV

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

Matthew 23:15 ESV

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Church, is your tongue a hyproite?

In verses 11-12, James gives some more examples of treachery and inconsistency to drive th point home about the tongue:

11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

We are called to make rational judgements about what our tongues are saying and what other people’s tongues are saying. You’re not supposed to get 2 different types of fruit off the same tree. Fig trees don’t have olives. Being fruit inspectors does not meant that we are sinless. However, it does mean that we are living in reality and responding according to what we observe coming out of ourselves and out of other people. Not everyone has earned the right to exert influence over us, especially when their speech is inconsistent and treacherous.

Do you need to go on mute?

6. The Tamed Tongue

James 3:7-8

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue.....

Church, man has tamed just about eveything there is to be tamed. They put all kinds of beasts and sea life in cages and aquariums. I’ve seen people riding killer whales and dolphins at Sea World. I’ve seen men stick their heads in the mouths of lions at the circus. People stick their heads in alligator’s mouths. We’ve all seen people with snakes crawling all over them.

We can tame all of those beasts, but we can’t tame the the tongue. If no human being can tame the tongue, then what hope do we have? That means that we cannot even tame our own tongues!

Proverbs 21:23 ESV

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Some of us need to go on mute this morning.

Like Rev. Clemons said last week. Jesus took Zacchaeus as he was....but he did not leave him like that. Come to Jesus and he will get you right. He will clean that heart up, so that when the mouth speaks, it will be the overflow from a clean heart.

Your negative speech will turn to positive speech.

Your critical talk with turn into encouraging talk.

Your cursing will turn to blessing. Praise God!

Your gossip will turn into gospel.

Your swearing will turn into hymn singing.

Your bragging tongue will turn into a humble tongue

Your complaining will turn to confessing

Your sourness will turn to sweetness.

Your dishonoring mouth will turn into a honoring mouth

Your “put downs” will turn into “hand ups”

Your will lying tongue will turn into a loving tongue

Your hell raising will turn to heavenly praising.

You see God wants your heart, and when He has your mouth, it shows that He has your heart.

Some of you out there may be tired of what’s coming out of your mouth. You can’t control it, you want to go on mute, but you can’t, you can’t find the mute button on your mouth. Your mouth has gotten you into trouble, destroyed relationships, caused all kinds of hardships in your life. It is just evidence that your heart needs a transplant. You see, the mouth is only an extension of the heart....the heart’s window. Jesus said in

Matthew 15:18 (ESV)

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

God wants to do a spiritual heart transplant on you.

King David knew his heart was messed up. Do you know what he asked God? In

Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Jesus can do it. He can transform that heart. Won’t He do it.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

John 7:37–39 (ESV)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

What is your tongue saying?

What is your tongue revealing about your heart?

Have you ever asked God?....Lord, when do I need to keep my mouth shut? When do I need to go on mute? If you are already a believer perhaps you need to humble yourself before God, and yield your mouth to God.

You how know that song goes,

Lord, I'm available to You

My will I give to You

I'll do what You say do

Use me Lord to show someone the way and enable me to say

My storage is empty and I am available to You

But I really like that 3rd verse:

Now I'm giving back to You all the tools You gave to me

My hands, my ears, my voice, my eyes

So You can use me as You please

I have emptied out my cup so that You can fill it up

Now I am free, I just want to be more available to You

Some of you need to go on mute this morning. You say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and you are bringing death and not life to people with your tongue. That hellish beast behind your lips and your teeth is wrecking homes, schools, workplaces and yes, the church. Well you say, “Preacher, I can’t. I’ve tried.” Well I know you can’t....no man or woman can.....but He can (point up)…why don’t you let Him?

You can’t, He can, why don’t you let Him?

You can’t, He can, why don’t you let Him?

You can’t, He can, why don’t you let Him?

You can’t, He can, why don’t you let Him?

Let us pray.