13 September 2009
U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris
504th Compound’s Multi-Purpose Facility
C.O. B. Adder
Tallill, Iraq
BIG IDEA: There is a direct correlation between spiritual maturity and a disciplined tongue; and spiritual immaturity and an undisciplined tongue (or a Christian who talks too much).
REFERENCES: Proverbs 15:1 (ESV) A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger; Psalm 140:3 (ESV) They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the venom of asps; Proverbs 16:27 (ESV) A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire; James 3:1-10 (ESV); Proverbs 1:20-33 (ESV) – Wisdom Calling Out; Psalm 19 (ESV) – The Law of the Lord is Perfect; James 3:1-12 (MSG) – When You Open Your Mouth; Mark 8:27-38 (ESV) One moment Peter utter words of life, then moments later he utter words of death; Proverbs 12:18 (MSG) Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise; Matthew 7:1-5 (Judging Others);
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: James 3:1-10 (ESV)
II. READ THE PERICOPE: James 3:1-10 (ESV)
III. READ THE TEXT: James 3:5-6 (MSG) It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that mature Christians can be identified by their speech.
V. SERMONIC THEME: “Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD)”
VI. INTRODUCTION: Words of powerful. The Good Book tells us that Words have the power to give life or destroy life. As a result, Christians should be careful of what they say.
Many of you are already aware – while some of you are learning – that I’m a firm believer in Words of Affirmation; or should I say, I believe in saying positive things to encourage and build others up - rather than negative things which bring people down.
It’s my presupposition that Words of Affirmation is extremely important especially since we have so many negatives surrounding us (at work, home, church, and on deployments).
As a result, I believe that we need to intentionally do what we can while convincing others to join us in altering the negative influence in our lives – and in the lives of our fellow Soldiers/Officers.
If each of us were to say at least three encouraging words or phrases to three different Soldiers/Officers, daily, we would change our environment and alter the impact that harsh words have had on others and change their lives.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 1: Benjamin Franklin – one of our Founding Fathers - was once quoted as saying, “A Slip of the foot, you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue – one may never get over”.
a. Who can ever forget the fact that the phrase, “lose lips sink ships” was popularized during World War II?
b. Likewise, my brothers and sisters, we are now 45 days - and a wake-up - away from TOA (Transfer of Authority);
c. and as the spiritual leader of this brigade, I can tell you that Sharp Rhetoric, Harsh Words, and violation of confidentiality are all at an all times high.
d. I contend that there is a direct correlation between spiritual maturity and a disciplined tongue; and spiritual immaturity and an undisciplined tongue (or a Christian who talks too much).
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 2: David in Psalm 140:1-5 (MSG) said: “God, get me out of here, away from this evil; protect me from these vicious people.
a. All they do is think up new ways to be bad; they spend their days plotting war games. They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt, speak venomous words that maim and kill.
b. God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones, protect me from these vicious people; Stuffed with self-importance, they plot ways to trip me up, determined to bring me down.
c. These crooks invent traps to catch me and do their best to incriminate me.”
d. Weapon of Mass Destruction.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 3: This past Thursday, in a presentation dubbed “eight years later,” we commemorated the events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 ….
a. … by reminding everyone (in attendance in the TAC and HHC, 504th Orderly Room) why we are here in Iraq.
b. For don’t you remember, former President Bush uttered on National Television that we – Americans – would never forget?
c. In fact, he pledged that “We would hunt down the cowards that were responsible for our nation’s trauma.
d. The Former President said that – “We will Never Give Up and the events of 9-11 will never be forgotten.”
e. In truth, “eight years later,” we are a Nation at war in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
f. This enemy – that we’re fighting - is smaller in appearance and size but larger in numbers.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 4: Like ants, our Terrorist Enemy – in Iraq and Afghanistan - is constantly on the move.
a. Therefore, we can all attest to the fact that the size of a thing does not determine its value or power.
b. For the tongue is small in size but like an ant, it (too) can cause great encouragement and elevate one’s self-esteem or it can cause enormous destruction.
c. In our scripture today, James (the brother of Jesus) reminds us all that our tongue is a symbol for the overall discipline and maturity of a believer.
d. The more spiritually mature a believer is the more God has control of his tongue; the less discipline and immature a believer is the more his flesh - and the devil - has control of his tongue.
e. There is a direct correlation between spiritual maturity and disciplined speech, and spiritual immaturity and an unmanageable flesh-led speech.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 5: Who can ever forget the incident (in Mark 8:27-38 ESV) where Peter in one instance utters words of life and affirmation,
a. … then just moments later - being led by the flesh lost control of his tongues - uttered words that caused him to be strongly corrected by Jesus.
b. It has been said that each year – especially in California – and this year being no exception, many thousands of acres of timber are lost ….
c. … because of extremely hot weather, careless campers and smokers. A little flame can set a whole forest on fire.
d. Likewise, the tongue is a little flame; and it can, through lies, gossip and heated words, set an entire brigade on fire.
e. In other words, if we aren’t careful, gossip, lies, and rumor of lies can become a “Weapon of Mass Destruction” to a brigade with just 45 days and a wake-up left in country.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 6: The Good Book says in Proverbs 16:27 (ESV): A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.
a. There is power in the tongue. Even though God has blessed us with ingenuity and cleverness to travel to the moon and back;
b. … And He has set apart for us the technology that can render us funds from ATMs by electronically reading the finger-print off of our fingers;
c. We – humans - still don’t have the capability to tame or control our tongues.
d. Only God – through the Holy Spirit - can control our speech.
e. So, it is imperative that we surrender our speech over to Him.
f. The Good Book – in the Message Bible Translation – says in Proverbs 12:18: Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
CELEBRATION:
(Proverbs 15:4) The Proverbial Writer said that “A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” Please join me during the 45 days and a wake-up
left (in Iraq) in allowing our tongues to be used to say positive things … one to another …
and together we can spiritually mature … and change both our environment … and our
outlook (on life) into something positively good ….
