Christ Memorial Lutheran Church - Houston TX
CMLC 2024-09-15 Sermon (Traditional)
Howdy, well, I wanted to let you all know a little bit about kind of some background with today's passage. We're going to be talking a bit about James and his letter, but with it is that I have to preface it by the fact that I had spent seven years as a teacher teaching mostly math and physics, and if any of you are having PTSD because of that, I apologize in advance. But as a teacher, I was also the department chair, and so I was working and overseeing all the other math teachers and trying to make sure that everybody was doing the best to their abilities. Now, a while back, one of the teachers in our department was basically apparently having a rough morning. It was a first period of the day, and being in that first period is that oftentimes you haven't had your coffee, you haven't really gotten going very well. But what ended up happening is that apparently there was some issue that something wasn't quite right. The students were mentioning that apparently his forehead looked a little too big. We were trying to find out why did his forehead look a little too big. And then after a bit, finally, one of the students ended up figuring it out and says, "Teacher, where are your eyebrows?" And realized that apparently the teacher had ended up trying to trim his own eyebrows and had trimmed them way too short to the point where you could hardly even see that they were there. Now, probably the best solution to an issue like this is to laugh and just go with it and allow the students to joke about it for the following week. However, instead, this particular teacher, quite some time ago, being a single man, decided instead to look over and say, "Well, at least I still get more dates than you do." Now here's the thing about this is that while you may have already realized and guessed that teacher was me, what was even worse though is the fact that it even got said at all. Now the thing with it is that this particular student, he was a goofball. He was ridiculous and silly and everything else in between. However, I was still the teacher. And see at the end of the day is that while yes, people laughed, but at the same moment, what about that student? Did he end up communicating, "Oh, that was funny," or was it more realizing that his well-being could be mocked just because the teacher didn't want to be? See, that's one of the things that we realize is that when somebody is a teacher is that they have a responsibility, not just to get subject matter taught, but also to be what their students need from them. But you see, it goes way beyond what's in a classroom. See, oftentimes we may think of teacher in the sense of some really nice lady dressed all in denim for whatever reason. And plenty of apple décor and always smelling like pumpkin spice lattes. But the reality is that being a teacher is more than that. There are so many places and times and situations where we might find ourselves being a teacher. We may be someone's parent, making sure that a child knows how to live. We may be a manager, making sure that our employee knows what to do. We may be a scout leader, making sure that the scouts know what skills they're supposed to learn. We may be a team leader, making sure our team functions. But what was interesting is that maybe even sometimes it's your own friend. See, back in China, konfuzze, we oftentimes call him Confucius, used to discuss all the different relationships, but he never ended up focusing on friend-to-friend relationships. And the reason for that is because even among friends, you're still going to have relationships where one of you may be the teacher and one of you is the student, but it may switch. See, the thing is that in many ways we don't realize that our example as human beings is meant to be teaching those who are around us. See, wherever we may be, whatever we may be doing, we are constantly being surrounded by other people, and there is always somebody watching what lesson we have to teach. See, the thing is that we oftentimes do not want to take that seriously. We do not always want to realize that what we say and do matters, but we also don't want to admit that sometimes we lack any level of self-control. See, sometimes we may be lacking the control over our own urges, our desires, or even the words that we say. You see, there are the times whenever we have to deal with, we just have some urge that we cannot seem to resist. If you were to look in my pantry at home, you will not see any potato chips whatsoever. Do I hate potato chips? I do not hate potato chips. If those potato chips are in my pantry, they will be gone within the next 2 to 3 days. It does not matter how big the bag may be, that bag will be gone in 2 to 3 days. That is also why you do not see any cookies in my pantry either, even though I was known in college as the cookie monster because the chocolate chip cookies never seemed to get past me in Bible study. There is a reason why I only allow myself to have donuts on Sunday mornings. But the thing is, is that oftentimes those urges, those desires, they go even beyond that. How often is it that people will allow themselves to give in to their urges because they may say, well people are consenting. Something is legal. Something relieves my anxiety or helps me with my depression. Or even the times where my friends say that it's okay, so they've got good advice I'm sure. Time and time again where we are regularly lacking in self-control. And then that ends up getting communicated to what we say as well. See, it is fascinating as we look at what it is that James does in discussing what the tongue is. He ends up going into things like 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. That is quite the description of the human tongue. And after I just spent the last few weeks watching all six of the aliens movies, it leaves a very strange impression in my mind. But in addition to that is that we cannot just blame it on one part of our body can we? Because it is a symptom of our mind, of our heart, and of our being. But with this is that we also realize there are so many ways where we end up speaking and causing harm. There are so many ways where we end up misusing the words that we have. See sometimes we may be speaking out of turn. Maybe we say something too quickly. It is not said with hatred or hurt, but it still comes out too fast and we do not realize or put together what it was we were saying. We would be like trying to tell a student that they had misunderstood you. And then they end up saying, well, this is what I heard and you respond with, well, then maybe you just don't know English very well, not thinking in your mind about the fact that their family had to learn English as a second language. That while you may not have thought it meant this, if you would just slow down for a few moments, you would have realized the hurt that you were causing. Or even times wherever we may actually want to deliberately cause harm. We may want to and we may feel justified in doing that. There may be times of saying things that we want to harm someone, but it may even go to the point of we're not even worried whether it's true. We don't even really worry about that. How many times are we continually surrounded by people who would be more than happy to spread what may or may not be a conspiracy theory? And apparently, there are some things that need to actually be specified. O.J. Simpson, he died not too long ago. He died of cancer. He did not die because of a vaccine. George Floyd, who was killed in 2020, his death was not staged. Whenever Sandy Hook happened, children and teachers did die, it's not pretend. As hard as it is to believe, there are things that people say because they want to deceive and harm. We may think of it as things like, "Oh, one out of every nine people, they're not sure whether we actually went to the moon or not." But oftentimes, what we say, we may think, "Well, it's okay. Maybe it isn't true, but who's it going to harm?" And then we find out that there are people who are killed, injured, because we thought it would be fun or funny to spread things we don't necessarily know are true. Or even the times whenever we're just trying to get out some frustration. See, there are times whenever we may say something that's actually true. We may in our mind be saying they deserve this. It's true. So therefore, it's okay for me to say it, and they deserve it. We got something off of our chest. But then what happens afterward? The things that we say, you can't take them back. And how if you could have just slowed down long enough to think of a better way to say it, what relationships with our parents, with our children, with our spouses, with our friends, what relationships could have been better if we had just slowed down and thought of a better way to say something? Or even the times whenever we think we're just having fun. The thing is, is that oftentimes we like to joke and we like to make fun of each other. Sometimes we'll mock the people that were closest to. But we don't always know how something may come across. There have been times whenever I know that I've made a joke that has been extra sarcastic or even times whenever the entire congregation hears it. And while the person may be sitting there knowing that it was all in good humor, someone else may wonder why is pastors so keen on making fun of people. Even at the times whenever we may be making a joke, the funny part about humor is that humor is actually based on truth. The reason why something is funny is because there is actually some portion of it that's actually real. So not only do we sometimes end up hitting a person in a place where they're the most sensitive, but also even if something isn't actually true, we have now communicated to everyone around us. You know it might actually be true just because we made a joke about it. See that's the thing about it is that the way that we use our words, they matter. As much as we may talk about how free that we are, and we focus so much as a country on being free, freedom of our speech and freedom of so many things that we can say and do at any point in time that we don't slow down enough to say, but is our faith in God freeing us that we can say whatever we want? Or is it freeing us to ask how should we speak and what do those words mean to others? You see whatever we end up saying and doing communicates to people what's happening on the inside. You see how are people going to be able to trust us if they see how sharp our tongues are in what we say? Because how is it that the same source of water can have fresh water and salt water? How is it that we can see both figs and olives growing from the same place or grapes and figs? You see different fruits, different water, how can they come from the same place? And I actually went ahead and did a really quick Google search, can you actually get different fruits from the same plant? And you can, absolutely, you can go to a tree and you can graft in different types of fruits that might be similar. You can go to the same tree that has stone fruits on it and you can put in 40 different types of stone fruits. But that's not something that happens naturally and every fruit on that tree still has to be very, very similar. Apparently, you can even grow tomatoes and potatoes out of a similar plant. But it's because they're supposed to be out of the same family. As much as we may try to go back in and convince ourselves, you know what, there are times when I'm supposed to say things that are harsh and other times that I can be gentle and you know what, that's okay. Hey, Jesus did it. It should be okay for me to do it too, right? And yet this is also the same Jesus who is willing to sacrifice himself for his friends, for his world, for all people. How often are we willing to sacrifice even our desire to say whatever we want for the people around us? Because the reality is that whatever comes out of us reveals what is actually inside of us, is to ask this question of what is truly happening inside of us, what is happening in our hearts when the first thing that comes out of our mouths is to curse rather than to bless. And that's the thing that we end up seeing about our faith is that our faith is not just sitting there saying, you know what, Jesus forgave me so everything's covered, it should be okay. But rather faith is saying, I believe that God made me, saved me, and his spirit is with me for a purpose. So then who do I really want speaking with my tongue, my sin or God's spirit? See, there are a lot of things that we can do whenever we think about the things that we say. Maybe we could just take a breath before we respond, just slow down for a second. The first thing that comes forth doesn't have to be the thing that actually gets said. Or maybe when somebody wants to argue, just let them be. Rather than getting sucked into it, is it really so important that we try to prove someone to either be wrong or stupid? But maybe also pausing long enough to look at what's happening in our own hearts. Because as much as we think about, oh, I'm justified in what I'm saying or I need to have the last word, what is it that's happening inside of us? That we think that what is about to come out needs to be spoken. But even more than that is to say, what is it that God actually wants you to say? Because at the end of the day, who is it that's actually supposed to have the last word? Is the last word, is it from us? The last word is from the one who has brought eternal life. Because that is the only thing that will last for forever. I know that you've probably said a few things that you would regret. And if you haven't, maybe pause for a second and be willing to admit that maybe there were some things you should have been regretting that maybe you had said. But the forgiveness of God is saying that it's okay to put that to the side and to move forward and to let God be the one to speak from now on. Because whatever that we say and do, we are a teacher to the world. Because we're teaching them who Christ Jesus is and what He has done for us. So may the words of our mouth and the meditations of our mind and everything inside of our heart speak words of a testimony to who God is rather than what we're trying to get away with in our world. Thanks be to God. [BLANK_AUDIO]