Friday, October 19, 2012

9-16-2012 - Take some time to appreciate one another


9-16-12
Jerusalem

3Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For 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. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4Or 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. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6And 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. 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water?12Can a fig tree, my
brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

            I am completely convinced that we as a human race have managed to break the speed of light.  And we didn’t do it through our legs or on wheels or in a plane.  No, instead we have broken the speed of light with our mouths, because that seems to be how fast gossip gets around a community.  It is as if as soon as someone does something that is embarrassing or upsets someone else, the whole world needs to know within a millisecond.
            We are all guilty of it.  Who here hasn’t just had to share some juicy bit of gossip?  Or who here hasn’t had to run off to someone to complain about someone else, to turn that person into an enemy and poison another against them, or just tried to break them down for some real or imagined slight against you?   Those words carry great power and have the capacity to destroy relationships among people.  I know that I have lost many a friend over some words and some gossip, whether it is true or not.
            James tells us that the tongue is a fire, that the tongue has the great capacity to destroy whole forests in life, and by that we mean it has the power to destroy entire systems, entire families, whether they be biological or the church family.   What we say to one another matters, as does how we say it.  When we are hostile, when we spread gossip, when we spew hatred and fear, then our tongues do great damage, damage that is extremely hard to heal from.  Our words can brew distrust and they can create discord in areas of peace and harmony.  Our words have the power to block out the One True Word from being heard as well, for when our words are filled with evil, then Jesus is seen in a much darker light, for we are the body of Christ, they way in which all those around us see and hear God.  So if we speak in the ways of the world and in the ways of Sin, then our God will become too much enthralled to the ways of the world, and Sin will cover our ears from hearing God’s grace and love for us. 
            But our tongues are not meant purely for destruction.  After all, a fire is useful for more than just burning down forests.  With fire we are able to warm ourselves during a cold night.  With fire we are able to cook our food, to make it safe and so much tastier to eat.  With fire we are able to purify instruments, so that they may be safely used as well.  Fire can also be used to create steam and power engines.  Fire can warm, it can cook, it can purify and it can power.  And our tongues are also useful in many ways as well.  They can be tamed and used to be a blessing to our community of faith and to the kingdom of God instead of being destructive tools.  How?  By speaking well of one another, instead of cursing one another.  By promoting the love and the grace of God in public, instead of speaking harshly of our brothers and sisters and this congregation.  Be reminding each other every day that “God love you, and so do I!”
            We can also build each other up by thanking each other and showing appreciation for one another’s gifts.  Now this is something that I am admittedly not the best at doing.  Often times I forget to take into account all the hard work that the people around me do in order to get things done, just because I am wrapped up in my own little world.  I can be very quick to judge and to criticize, sometimes forgetting to even be constructive with my criticism.  And this is something that I am working on, and it is something that I know can be destructive and can be a way that the tongue creates disastrous wildfires.  So, I would like to take a few moments to work on being more appreciative to your ministry hear at Jerusalem and some individuals. 

(Thank a few people in the congregation for their hard work and ministry)

Now will each of you please take a moment and turn to a person near you and thank them for their ministry and for their impact in your lives as well.

……

Each of you here is a vital part of our community of faith, each of you vital to the kingdom of God.  I pray that our tongues will help us to lift one another up, instead of tear each other down, and that they may support the ministry of our community, of God’s church.  Yes, our tongues may be causes of great disasters, but they are also the rudder that guides our lives.  May they lead us in ways of peace, and love, and compassion, that we may bear good fruit and fresh water that nourishes our community and world.

Amen.

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