Many years ago in a Scottish village a man shared stories that he had heard about another man.
He didn’t care to check that what passed his lips were true.
When the story got around the village, it utterly destroyed the other man.
His family, his job and his integrity were all devastated by the rumour mill.
He finally had to leave town -- a ruined and defeated man.
As you might have guessed,
the fellow who passed the story along discovered that part of what he had been saying was false and another part although true was taken out of context.
He had not checked it out, but simply took an educated guess that it was mostlikely true, and now it had turned out not to be.
He had helped to destroy an innocent man with his tongue.
So he went to his pastor (whom they called "Dominie")
and said, "Dominie, I have destroyed a man with my words"
and he told his pastor the whole story.
"Please Dominie," he said, "I am sorry -- can I be forgiven this sin?"
The pastor told the man that this was not so simple
and told him to take a bag of feathers and place one in the front yard of every house in the village.
Although the fellow thought this to be a strange request for a pastor to make, he really wanted forgiveness,
so he followed the instructions to the letter.
At last he came back to the pastor and said, "Dominie, I have done all that you asked, may I now be forgiven?"
"Not yet, my son," the pastor replied,
"You must first retrace your steps and bring back to me every feather you placed in the village!"
"But, Dominie -- I could never do that, the wind has carried the feathers away!"
"Yes," the pastor said,
"And in like manner have your careless words unfairly destroyed someone and his family!"
Then the priest said: "Because of Jesus your sins are forgiven,
now rely on the Holy Spirit to be careful with your tongue."
Someone once said it is very difficult to take back what you have said, so be careful what you say and how you say it.
How careful are you with your tongue?
Our lesson that God gives us from the book of James reveals that our tongues can be used for good or bad.
Listen again to verse 9
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
Our tongues can be wonderful instruments or deadly weapons.
If you have been on the end of praise and thanks
you know how good it can be
And if you have ever been the subject of idle gossip and talking behind your back you know how deadly the tongue can be.
I find it intriguing that God sees the sins of the tongue in the same light as he sees murder, stealing and adultery.
It is a top priority in God’s commandments.
The eighth commandment, you shall not bear false witness is concerned with how we use our tongues.
Early this year we dealt with this matter in relation to handling complaints in a healthy way.
Fortunately many people have taken these studies and teachings from God on board.
If you would like a copy of handling complaints in a healthy way there are a copies up near the previous sermons.
Unfortunately there are still individuals among us who are not being careful with what they say,
when they say things
and how they say things.
Remember it is important that if you have concerns or queries that you don’t stir each other up with negative talk
you don’t wait for a meeting to bring up an issue
or even worse bring matters up with others,
including others outside the congregation
without first taking the time to talk to myself
or the responsible leaders in our congregation.
In Ephesians 4:25 to 27 God says to us
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
And in Matthew 18:15 we hear
15 “If your brother sins against you, a go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.
In other words, when you have a problem with someone or something that is going on speak to the relevant person about it or keep your mouth closed.
If I have a problem with my wife,
and occasionally we have differences of opinion about things
how helpful do you think it is it if I talk to my friends, work colleagues or others about it
instead of talking to my wife about it.
Talking to others rarely solves a problem,
but it often leads us to sinning, bringing about distrust and causes further problems.
The truth is God wants us to use our tongues for more productive things
than complaining or talking negatively about situations and other people.
Our tongues are a gift that we should use for good rather than evil.
One of the important things underlying how we are to use our tongue comes from the lips of Jesus when he said;
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ a 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ b 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Our entire lives are centred around these words.
Not just what we say, but also how we say it should be filtered through this saying.
Each day I encourage you to check what you say against these words of Jesus.
Did what I say and how I said it show love to God and love to others?
Have you ever been around someone who expresses genuine love for others…
Its infectious.
It is great.
When our lives reflect this reality,
some amazing things happen people see that our faith is real,
that we take the words of Jesus seriously.
That our faith is not some religion practiced only for an hour a week,
but it is something we are living out seven days a week.
Allowing love to flow from our lips and through our actions helps others see and hear God.
And you know what?
When people see that and hear that it is something they want to be a part of.
Connected to this God wants us to use our tongue for sharing the Good News with others.
Telling the stories of salvation, of God’s love for us and the world to others.
This isn’t too hard
It starts with the people closest to us.
The people we already have a relationship with.
God has given us a wonderful opportunity and responsibility to reveal and tell the stories of what God is doing and how God is to our children and loved ones
and anyone in our lives
This is not a once off occurrence but a constant way of life.
From Deuteronomy 6:4-7
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. a 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
So who else is in your life needs to hear the stories of God?
Many people have the wrong perception of God.
That He is only about demanding.
But the truth is when we open the scriptures and share the story of Jesus from the bible we reveal to others that God who is focussed on loving us.
His main mission is not to condemn people but to love and save people.
In Peter’s first letter to some churches he says
15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect
And when we use our tongues to reveal to others how good God is we are revealing the hope we have.
This also means that our tongues should be used to encourage.
Over time I am learning as a parent that being angry and demanding is not always effective.
Often it has terrible consequences.
But being encouraging and praising is often very helpful.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 says
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Encouraging words bring hope to people.
Especially when life is not going smoothly.
As we go about our life of sharing God’s love,
of helping others to connect to the God who loves us
There will be disappointments.
There will be struggles.
And so it is important that we encourage each other as we take the initiative to bring Christ to others.
You see our role as a church is not to be a museum of the past,
but to be people who receive God’s love and take it to others.
Who do you know needs a word of encouragement in our congregation for the work they are doing?
This week why not aim to encourage at least one person in our congregation for what they do.
Scriptures also reveal three other important things for our tongue to be doing.
Praying is an important one.
Prayer is nothing more than talking to God your father.
As we said last week God wants us to come to Him as a loving dad.
Prayer is about expressing to God our deepest thoughts.
About coming to God with our worries, our questions, our concerns for others, our sorrow, our thanksgiving and our needs.
And prayer is about waiting for God’s answers on these things.
When you love someone communication is helpful, it helps build the relationship,
And prayer is essential for us so that our relationship with God grows.
Another important thing for our tongue to be up to is praising God.
Psalm 103 says
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
In Psalm 47 God says to us
Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy and praise.
The only time scripture is critical of praise is when someone is saying how good they are.
Our praises are to highlight how good God is.
Our lives are one of praising God.
The scriptures and the tradition of the Christian church shows that praise is an essential expression of every Christian.
It helps us remember that God is behind ever good thing
It helps others see how good God is
and it is a way of us showing appreciation to God for what He is doing.
And the third scripture highlights that our tongues should be used for being thankful,
Psalm 118:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
1 Thesselonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Being thankful to God is not just is a good thing to do
But it helps us put our lives into perspective
And being thankful to others shows that we appreciate them
It encourages them.
Our tongues are valuable tools in our life
But they can also be destructive.
Someone wise once said to me, Richard make sure you are busy then you won’t get up to much trouble.
And I think that is true for our tongues
When they are occupied with doing the positive things that God calls us to do.
When they are occupied in
Loving God and loving others
Sharing God’s good news
Encouraging others
Prayer
Praising
And being thankful
they have little time to get into a lot of trouble
They are bringing God’s blessings into our lives and into the lives the other people we know
Come on join me in using your tongue to bless others for God
Let us pray
Amen
