20060917 Web Site Sermon
Title: Talk Like a Pirate… or Not
Text: James 3:1-12
Thesis: In consistent Christian living, “good words” follow “faith” and “good works”.
On Sunday, September 8, 2002, Columnist Dave Barry posted his column in the Miami Herald. He wrote, “Every now and then, some visionary individuals come along with a concept that is so original and so revolutionary that your immediate reaction is: “Those guys should be on medication.”
It happened on June 6, 1995 that while John Baur and Mark Summers were playing racquetball, they began talking like pirates. It began innocently enough with an “Arrr!” and from that day on Baur has been known as “Ol Chum Bucket” and Summers has been known as “Cap’n Slappy.” It seems they had so much fun that they thought, wouldn’t it be great to have a day when everyone talks like a pirate? So the seized upon September 19th as the logical day, because that was Summer’s ex-wife’s birthday.
This coming Tuesday, September 19, is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Many folks, around the world and even here in the Denver metro area, will dress like pirates and salt their words with pirate talk. They will answer their phones, “Ahoy my hearty. Shiver me timbers and hoist me jib.”
If you are interested I can give you a couple of vocabulary pointers:
• Ahoy means, hello.
• Avast means, stand and give attention.
• Aye means, yes, I agree.
• Aye, Aye means, yes, I’ll get right to it.
• Me hearties and me mates means, the people you live, work and play with.
• Arrr means, anything… I’m winning. I’m loosing. I’m alive. This is great pie, etc.
Given that Talk Like a Pirate Day is just around the corner it is fitting that we explore what the Scripture has to say about taming the tongue. James says, “A rudder is a tiny thing that makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds be strong. So also, the tongue is a small thing…” James 3:4
It is fitting as well that we note that the teaching on the tongue follows an extended discussion of how faith is reflected in good works in James 2.
In this context it would seem that faith is also reflected in good words. Our words may either support and substantiate and validate our profession of faith and our good works. Or, our words may totally discredit our profession of faith and nullify our good deeds. What comes out our mouths either validates or invalidates our faith and works.
James is not in the least naïve about the challenge of controlling one’s tongue. Right up front he states, “We all stumble or make mistakes in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” James 3:2 Yet, however difficult or challenging it may be to manage one’s tongue and control one’s speech, it is a necessary part of living life in the Spirit. What we say is of huge importance.
I. Our Words Have Awesome Impact.
I think it is accurate to say that the words we say create or exacerbate most of the conflicts we face. Most of the hurt done in our homes, in our church, in our neighborhoods and in the workplace are the results of words. Most divorces are not caused by infidelity or desertion – they are caused by words. Conflicts between the generations are not caused by the generation gap, they are caused by words. Self-esteem or the lack there of is largely the result of words. Words are small but they are very powerful.
A. Our Words Have Power For Good
“We can make a large horse turn… by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go.” James 3:3-4
James uses two metaphors to describe the power of small things to do great and good things. One is the bit in a horses mouth and the other the rudder of a ship.
When I was in the third grade, my teacher was Mrs. Beaman. Lucille Beaman. I was small and had to wear suspenders to keep my pants up. I was a country kid attending town school. I was self-conscious… but Mrs. Beaman changed my life. She would whisper in my ear, “Monty, you are a good speller.” “Monty, you are a good writer.” “Monty, you read very well.” “Monty, you have such a nice smile.”
What if, in our homes and in our church and in our workplaces we became whispers of good, encouraging, enabling, uplifting, edifying words?
It follows that just as words have power for good, they also have potential for bad.
B. Our Words Have Potential For Bad
“A tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire… that can ruin your whole life.” James 3:5-6
Some say that the tongue is the least attractive organ and the most concealed weapon in the human body.
James uses a third metaphor to describe the power of small things to do great damage… here he uses the metaphor of a small spark to ignite a huge destructive forest fire.
In one of the churches we served there was a very lovely and faithful family. The grandparents attended, their their son and his wife and children attended but their daughter and her husband never attended. However, the daughter did send her children to Confirmation.
They were such a nice family and their children were wonderful to have in my Confirmation Class… I could not help but wonder why they did not attend church. So one day I asked and this is what she said, “One Sunday when I was a teenager, a lady, whom she named, came up to me and said, “Your legs are much too heavy to be wearing a skirt like that.” She went on to say, “I never went back.”
We can’t take back our words. When we say them… they are out there. We can regret having said them. We can apologize for having said them, but they are forever out there and sometimes the damage is irreparable.
• I wonder how often President Bush has wished he could take back his “Mission Accomplished”’ speech on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.
• I wonder if Howard Cosell wished he could take back his, “Look at that little monkey run,” game announcer commentary.
• I wonder if Pope Benedict wishes he had chosen a quote deemed less sensitive to Muslims in his speech at Regensburg University in southern Germany.
How many times have you wished you could get back an ill-chosen and hurtful word?
One Sunday afternoon Bonnie and I took a little road trip. We drove down through Sedalia and cut through some national forest to Deckers and then on to Colorado Springs. On our little escape, we drove right through the devastation left by the Hayman Fire that burned nearly 168,000 acres of forest in 2002.
What if, in our homes and in our church and in our workplaces and in our classrooms and playgrounds and when we sit down to lunch with our friends we checked our criticisms and our complaints and our gossip? What if, we put out the little spark before it spreads and does great damage?
It may seem unfortunate but our words are one thing we cannot blame on anyone else. We say them. They are ours. We own them.
II. Our Words Are Our Responsibility
Our words are ours and they are a reflection of who we are. They are a reflection of what we think and believe and feel.
A. Our Inconsistent Words Consistently Reflect Who We Are
“Sometimes the tongue praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God … surely this is not right!” James 3:9-10
“A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak…” Matthew 12:33-37
There was a woman who complained to her pastor that the stole he wore with his robe annoyed her because it was simply too long. She persisted in complaining about the stoles length and finally asked if he would mind if she shortened it for him. He agreed and she took her scissors and shortened the stole. Scissors in hand she handed him the fragments from the stole. Unruffled, the pastor thanked her and asked if he might shorten something of hers that was annoying him. Since one good turn deserves another, she said, “Certainly, here are the scissors.” Whereupon the pastor said, “Stick out your tongue.”
In the faith community it is inconsistent to come to church and praise God and turn around and criticize and find fault in another… it gives others pause to wonder just who a person really is. Is he or she a godly person or is he or she a mean-spirited and critical person?
There is only one person who can determine if our speech will be consistently good or inconsistently good and/or bad.
B. Our Words Are Ours To Control
“Let the Words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus…” Colossians 3:16-17
The bible says that the person who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from great calamity. Proverbs 21:23
The bible says that If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. James 1:26
Keeping a tight rein on your tongues comes down to a rather simple mathematical formula. Decrease the number of bad things you say and increase the number of good things you say.
Sometime ago I was hearing quite a bit of complaining and criticism from a couple in the church I was serving. One day I asked my secretary, who had known them for years, if she knew what the unhappiness was about. She said, “I don’t know other than that they just seem to feed each other.”
If we are to control our words we have to feed our hearts and minds the right things. The bible says to fix our thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8
So then, what are the implications or what is involved if we are to get control of our tongues? What will it mean for us to talk like Christians… not just one day in September but every day throughout the year?
It means that any time we find ourselves about to say:
• Something that is destructive and potentially harmful to another person;
• Something that is depreciates or diminishes the esteem of another person;
• Something that is deprecating or belittles another person… mind your tongue!
It means we pray as often as we need to pray:
• “Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you.” Psalm 19:14
• “Lord, whatever I do or say, may I be a faithful representative of you.”
It means, in the faith community, that everyday is Talk Like a Christian Day!
