Sunday May 31st, 2009.

Five Core Values: Being An Inclusive Community.

Over the next few weeks we are following up on the reflection we did on our Church Awayday in April at Speccott Barton. We looked at the Baptist Union’s “Five Core Values for a Gospel People” and how we are called to be a prophetic community, an inclusive community, a sacrificial community, a worshipping community, and a missional community. Last week, we thought in little more depth about how we – a small local church – can be a prophetic community and, this morning, we’re going to consider what it means to be an inclusive community, which I think is very appropriate for Pentecost Sunday!

Of course, to be ‘inclusive’ literally means being prepared to include everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, within the life of the church fellowship. And that, surely, should be something which is a natural part of the church’s mindset, since the whole of Jesus’ life and ministry was the epitome of inclusion and acceptance. Let’s just reflect upon the truth of that for a few minutes...

Let’s start with Jesus’ birth. When God sent His Son to be born as man just over two thousand years ago, He didn’t choose a woman of wealth or power to bear Him, but an ordinary young girl named Mary, who lived in Nazareth in Galilee, considered to be a bit of a backwater at that time. You may remember the occasion when Nathanael, the disciple, first met Jesus and said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nazareth wasn’t thought particularly highly of, it seems!

And remember that, when Jesus was born, He was laid in an animal feeding trough, because all the decent accommodation in Bethlehem was full, and His first visitors were a small group of lowly shepherds, who had been tipped off by the angels as to where they would find the Saviour. Later, the family was visited by learned men from eastern lands who had seen a star rise over Judea and now came bearing gifts for one born to be King of the Jews.

In the Temple, when Jesus was taken by His parents to be dedicated, two elderly people, Simeon and Anna, recognised Him for who He was and praised God for His blessing.

You see, right from the very beginning, it was clear that Jesus Christ entered this world for everyone, without distinction. As we’ve seen, the circumstances in which He was born made Him, to some extent, something of an outsider Himself. And the people who were drawn to Him, who recognised Him for who He was, were also outsiders – shepherds were not popular among the people at that time and, of course, the learned men from the east were foreigners and Gentiles. Anna and Simeon were elderly and yet they both clearly saw that this small child was the Saviour of young and old alike.

Now let’s consider Jesus’ earthly ministry. He was clear from the beginning that He had come especially for the sake of those who were considered to be outsiders: the diseased, the disreputable, the disabled, the despised, and the disenfranchised. And so He had no problem with the haemorrhaging woman who touched the tassel of His robe; He delighted in giving back sight to those who were blind; He didn’t hesitate to expel evil spirits from those who were afflicted; He enjoyed dining with tax collectors; and He dared to sit and talk with a Samaritan woman at a well.

These are just some examples of the many ‘outsiders’ with whom Jesus interacted and whom He invited into the Kingdom of God. No one was turned away, no one was written off as a hopeless case, no one was made to feel small – Jesus didn’t discriminate on grounds of gender, race, ability, or age ... He knew that the most important thing was the state of people’s hearts and He offered forgiveness to anyone who wanted to turn away from their bad ways and turn to God’s ways.

Even during His crucifixion, Jesus had an incredible effect on outsiders. Remember how He responded to the criminal being crucified at His side who said to Him, “Jesus, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom” – He told him, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise.” And, when He breathed His last upon the cross, the Roman soldiers on duty said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” So, let’s be very clear about this: in birth, in ministry and even in death, Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all and embraces all.

But today is Pentecost, so what do the events of Pentecost say to us about inclusion?

Well, just consider what happened on that festival day in Jerusalem: the disciples were gathered together in a house, when the Holy Spirit came upon them in a totally remarkable way; and, as a result, they started speaking in many different languages, so that many pilgrims from all over the Empire were able to understand. We’re talking about Partians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Rome and many other places.

Now, this could only be the work of God, because ordinary Jews, like the disciples, may have been multilingual – speaking Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic – but they couldn’t possibly have known all those other languages. You see, there are no barriers for God – language isn’t a barrier, race isn’t a barrier. And, through those people who gathered to hear what Peter had to say, the Good News about Jesus Christ would be spread around the Empire.

In the period that followed Pentecost, the Holy Spirit directed Philip to convert the Ethiopian official; sent Peter to bring a Roman army captain named Cornelius to the Lord; and worked powerfully through the disciples to heal the sick. As Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians – you are one in Christ Jesus.” You see, God’s Kingdom is an inclusive kingdom, and God Himself is inclusive – He doesn’t want anyone to be left outside and if anyone remains outside of the Kingdom, it isn’t God’s doing.

It follows then that, we – the Body of Christ on earth – are called to be inclusive communities. But what does that mean? And what does it look like?

Well, perhaps the first concern of an inclusive church is ...

Accessibility

As a church we need to ensure that our building is accessible to those people who have mobility difficulties, whether that’s because of a disability, or through the frailty that comes with old age. If people can’t get in, or move around and use the facilities in the building, they clearly can’t be properly included in the life of the church.

But accessibility isn’t just about physical aspects of the building – it’s also about how we present our worship and other activities. For instance, it’s so easy for us to use Christian jargon in our services that those who aren’t from a church background, or who have a learning disability, just don’t understand what we are talking about – even words like ‘sin’ and ‘salvation’ can be mystifying, let alone phrases like ‘washed in the blood’, or ‘going home to glory’!

Let’s just remind ourselves that, when Jesus communicated with the crowds, he used stories and language that people could connect with and so, if we want to be an inclusive community, we must do the same.

The second word I want to use in connection with being an inclusive church is ...

Attitude

Twelve years ago, I wrote an article for the New Christian Herald about the attitude of the Church towards people with disabilities and, in that, I quoted a father of a child with a disability who said,

“In the final analysis, it is not the stairs, but the stares, which make the disabled and their families feel unwelcome in public places.”

The welcome that we give to people who come to church on Sunday or to any other church event is probably the single most important thing we do. And that welcome should be equally warm for everyone who arrives, regardless of anything about them that makes them a little bit different. We should be accepting of whoever comes through our front doors and affirming their desire to worship the living God. Whenever we offer a welcome and hospitality to a stranger, we are offering it to Christ Himself.

And, of course, a bad attitude can have all sorts of consequences, as all of you who remember the story of how Mahatma Gandhi was once turned away from a church and told to worship with his own people will appreciate. Let’s always endeavour to display an attitude of acceptance and affirmation to everyone.

Then, the third word that is to be associated with being an inclusive community is ...

Action

Jesus didn’t remain in Nazareth, or base Himself at a synagogue, and expect everyone to come to Him. He was out there, travelling around Galilee, Samaria and Judea, available to people.

And I think that, to be an inclusive community, we too have to be active in the world. It isn’t just about offering the outsiders a welcome when they come to us, it’s also about working outside of the church building in speaking up for the interests of people who are marginalised. We can be advocates for the homeless, the poor, the elderly, and people with disabilities, giving them a voice and helping them to challenge discrimination where it occurs. This is where being a prophetic community comes together with being an inclusive community.

The Holy Spirit was given to us, so that we would be active – the Spirit gives us energy, direction and strength to be a force for change in the world. If we are not active in standing up for the vulnerable in our society, we are going against God’s will for us and for them.

The final ‘A’ word that I want to bring to you in connection with being an inclusive community is ...

Assessment

We need to assess regularly how accessible we are to everyone who comes to us. Of course, we need to do an audit of the church building to ensure our premises are accessible, but we also need to audit our presentation, our attitudes and whether we are actively supporting the vulnerable and marginalised people in our own community.

And this is where we all have a part to play. I want to know if there are areas of church life where we are not doing enough, or where we can improve and I hope that you will tell me, or the deacons – not in a critical way, but a constructive way. We must aim to be the inclusive community that God wants us to be and must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in this quest.

But, equally, each of us must assess our own behaviour, our own language, our own attitude towards those who, in some way, are different to us and ask God to help us to change, where necessary.

I want to end with a verse from 1 Peter 2, which Peter himself quotes from the Book of Hosea:

“Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God. Once you received none of God’s mercy; now you have received His mercy.”

Let us remember that, at one time, we were all outsiders – all outside God’s Kingdom – but God by His grace invited us in. May we do all we can to extend God’s grace and invitation to everyone without exception, and do it with the greatest of pleasure.

Amen.

Sunday May 24th, 2009.

Five Core Values: Being A Prophetic Community.

At the end of April, over 30 of us went for our Church Awayday at Speccott Barton and I think we all had a pretty good time. During the teaching sessions we had that day, we thought about five core values that should underpin our life and our ministry together as a church. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be following up on that teaching, as we consider what it means for us to be a prophetic community, an inclusive community, a sacrificial community, a missional community, and a worshipping community.

I hope that this will be a chance for us to share ideas about what sort of fellowship God intends us to be. All the sermons will be available via the church website and I want to find out what you have to say about it all.

Anyway, this morning, we’re going to be looking at how the church is called to be a prophetic community, and I want to start with ...

The prophet’s job description

I don’t know if you’ve ever wanted a new job, but, when you received the job description, you suddenly realised that it probably wasn’t as straightforward as it looked and that you needed to read between the lines. So, for instance, it might say that the successful candidate “will have responsibility for establishing an efficient filing and office management system”, which really means “We’re in total disarray and you’ll spend your first six months in the job clearing up the mess!” Or, another example might be: “The successful applicant will be engaged in a wide variety of tasks, as directed by the manager”, which means, “Whoever takes on this job will get all the dirty and menial jobs that no one else wants to do.”

So, what might the job description of a prophet of the Lord look like? Perhaps, it would be something like this:

First of all, ...

· “The prophet will represent the Managing Director (that is, GOD) by addressing the press and the public, as instructed by the Managing Director.”

Which means that the prophet doesn’t say whatever he, or she, wants, but is purely a mouthpiece for God – this means that when prophets speak, they do so with the full authority of God. Notice how Amos prefaces all his declarations with the words. “This is what the Lord says ...” – whether or not the people take Amos seriously they need to understand what he says comes directly from God

Next ...

· “The prophet will have a responsibility for dealing with complaints.”

Which means that the prophet has to carry the can when people don’t like what he, or she, is telling them! There are several examples of prophets who didn’t want the job – Moses and Jeremiah, to name just two – and maybe you can’t blame them, because many of the Old Testament prophets suffered terribly for their efforts.

You certainly didn’t become a prophet to enjoy a quiet life!

And last on the prophet’s job description comes this ...

· “The prophet will have a responsibility for the implementation of the disciplinary procedure.”

Being a prophet always entails a lot of plain speaking! When the people start to get things badly wrong, it is the prophet’s duty to tell them that they have reached a point of crisis and, where necessary, to deliver God’s judgment.

The Hebrew prophets usually addressed their prophecies to the royal and religious authorities of Israel, but they could never be described as ‘political activists’. And yet, what they say always challenges the existing political situation: when they speak God’s word, they undermine the authorities’ claims that all is well, and invite their audience to see things differently. This is a really important notion for us – the Church in the twenty-first century – to take on board.

So then, for us – the Body of Christ – today ...

What does it mean to be a prophetic community?

To be a prophetic community, first of all, we need to refuse to be squeezed into the mould of the world, a course of action that may have negative consequences for us as Christians, just as it did for the Old Testament Jewish prophets and for Jesus Himself. In the Baptist Union’s material on the five core values, there’s the story of one Christian who wouldn’t conform:

Jason was a middle manager for a firm doing cleaning contracts for his local City Council. As a conscientious Christian, he had from time to time been uneasy about some of the things he was being asked to do. However, things came to a head when he was asked to give assurances to staff about the security of their jobs, when in reality those jobs were about to be axed. He refused to give these false assurances and, as a result, he lost his own job. In his early 50s, this was a risky step to take. In fact, apart from some part-time and very unrewarding work, Jason never did work again.

I wonder how many of us here would have taken that course of action in those circumstances? Would you have been prepared to stand up for truth and justice in the face of all the pressure to conform to the way of the world?

As Christians, we are called to live in the world without being of the world – which is much easier said than done, because there will always be a tremendous pressure (and temptation) to go along with the will of those around us and not cause waves, rather than follow the will of God and accept the consequences. As the Church, then, we must have the courage of our Christian convictions and speak God’s word into the public arena, no matter how much at odds that puts us with worldly wisdom.

Here’s a fine example. The Maranatha Community, an interdenominational group of Christians, has for many years stood up publicly for Biblical values, submitting reports to Parliamentary inquiries into subjects like the reclassification of drugs, sex education in schools, assisted euthanasia, abortion, and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Often, the views it has expressed have conflicted with the generally held views of society, but it has never shied away from speaking God’s word into public discussion. We - like the Maranatha Community, and other Christian organisations like it – must refuse to be squeezed into the mould of the world.

The second thing required of a prophetic community is the courage to stand up and speak out against injustice. The Revd Martin Luther King once said that “[t]he ultimate tragedy is not the brutality of bad people, but the silence of good people.” It was an essential feature of King’s life to stand up and speak out against injustice, against the racial prejudice and hatred which was directed at the black citizens of the southern states of America. Equally, it should be an essential feature of the life of the Church to challenge injustice and oppression, wherever they occur: locally, nationally, and internationally. We need to expose instances of injustice and immorality and, where appropriate, join with others to oppose and change them.

A really good example of the Christian Church doing this is the work of the Stop The Traffik organisation, which is campaigning against the trafficking of human beings around the world. Already it is being taken seriously by the United Nations, which has appointed its founder, Rev Steve Chalke, as a special adviser on the issue. It is also having an impact on the trafficking of children in Africa for the purpose of producing cheap chocolate, with Cadbury’s and Mars now committing themselves to producing traffick-free chocolate in the next few years. We can support their work by buying only Fair Trade chocolate products

Another great example of the Church acting prophetically in recent years has been its significant input to the Jubilee 2000 and Make Poverty History campaigns for the cancelling of the debt of the world’s poorest nations. And let’s not forget the work of Christian organisations like Open Doors and the Barnabas Fund, which expose and oppose the persecution of Christians around the globe. By highlighting individual cases and helping Christian communities who are being oppressed, these organisations are standing against injustice and promoting righteousness.

But being a prophetic community isn’t just about supporting those who are fighting global injustice, it’s also about being prepared to speak God’s word into local issues, such as the poor provision for homeless people, the need for rehabilitation facilities for drug abusers and the deprivation experienced on some of our estates.

Yet I think that being a prophetic community shouldn’t be just about reacting negatively towards things, but should also include supporting, encouraging and highlighting examples of good, just and righteous practice. It should also involve us providing an alternative way of looking at the situation by practically supporting the poor, the vulnerable and the oppressed in our own neighbourhood.

I think that the link we have made with the residential service next door to the church is significant, because we are supporting something that is good and important in our community, because the staff need to know they are appreciated, and because the young people they serve need to be aware that they are loved. We must build upon this link and extend our support to the whole Young Devon charity that runs the service, because this is something good, something to be celebrated and something to be encouraged.

But, as we come to a close, let’s return to our Bible passage. Through Amos, God gave the king and his court an image of justice being like a river and of righteousness as a never-failing stream. It’s a dynamic image, because justice is dynamic – it’s like the constantly flowing waters of a river – it’s never static, it never rests. Justice is something that God’s people are called to do and to do justice means to act in the interests of the powerless: to stand up for the poor; to defend the oppressed; and to protect the vulnerable.

Through Amos, God gave the authorities a vision of what their society should be like. And this is what we, the Church, are called to do in this day, in this age: we are called to be the kind of light in this world that exposes the failings and injustices of our society. But, at the same time, we are also called to be the light that illuminates the road ahead, the light that helps people to move in the right direction.

In the way that God moves, judgment is always accompanied by hope – once He has revealed us as we really are, He then shows us what we can become if we do His will. That is the role of the prophet within the community. That is the role of the prophets we encounter in the Bible.

So, may we truly be the prophetic community that our heavenly Father wants us to be. May we be prepared to face the cost of that calling and count it as joy that God sees fit to use us in this way. Glory be to His name, for ever and ever. Amen.

I really want to know what you think about being a prophetic community: what do you think are the local issues that Barnstaple Baptist Church should be concerned about? What do you think God is saying to the people of Barnstaple? If you have something to offer, please write your thoughts on a piece of paper and drop it in the basket in the foyer. Or, if you have a question that has arisen from this message, do drop that in the basket as well and I’ll try to address it in future weeks.

Let’s sing now our final song, a prophetic song that looks forward to the coming of Christ in glory – “These are the days of Elijah”...

Sunday May 17th, 2009.

10. James 5:13-18 ... Powerful Prayer

This morning, I want to start with a little story:

A grandfather overheard his granddaughter repeating the alphabet in reverent, hushed tones.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m praying, Grandpa,” she said. “I can’t think of the right words, so I just say all the letters. God will put them into words for me, because He knows what I’m thinking.”

That’s an amusing story, but there’s a lot that we can learn from it about prayer. It’s true that prayer isn’t always easy (and some would say it shouldn’t be easy!): maybe sometimes we don’t know what to pray about; perhaps life events make us feel like not praying; or perhaps we’ve lost confidence in prayer. The fact is, we all go through times when prayer is a struggle – and I’m no exception!

The girl in the story is a good example to all of us. She had the confidence in God to keep praying, even though she herself couldn’t put her prayers into words – she knew that if she turned to God, He would be able to make sense of her prayers, because He is aware of our prayers before we even say them.

Today, we turn to the Letter of James for the last time in this preaching series and, at the end of chapter 5, we are prompted to consider the importance of prayer and the importance of praying in every circumstance of life. I’m going to make a few direct observations on the text, so you may want to have your Bibles open at James, chapter 5.

The first observation I want to make is that ...

Prayer is always appropriate (v. 13)

In verse 13, James writes this:
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray.
Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.

When James asks if any are suffering hardships, he is particularly referring to the hardships that come from persecution, oppression and abuse, because, at the time he was writing, many Christians were subject to mistreatment as a consequence of their faith. So he urges them to pray about it, however rough it might get for them.

It seems to be getting tougher to be a Christian in Britain these days, too – obviously not as tough as it was in the Roman Empire nearly two thousand years ago, nor as tough as it is for Christians in some other parts of the world, but it is getting tougher. When we speak about our faith, work colleagues look at us as if we’re speaking a foreign language; Biblical values are being undermined and opposed through legislation; and the Church is increasingly being held up for ridicule and as a target for anger.

James’ guidance is to pray about it – “You should pray”, he writes – and the Greek he uses has the sense of praying, not just once, but continually. In effect, he is telling us to “keep on praying about it”: keep on praying about it, even though you feel miserable about the treatment you are receiving; keep on praying about it, even though you dread some of the conversations that arise in the staff room, or the office; keep on praying about it, especially when you wonder whether it is worth being openly Christian.

The implication is that there isn’t always an instant remedy to our suffering, that our afflictions may be ongoing. Of course, when we come under attack, when we experience extreme difficulties, and our prayers are not promptly answered as we would wish, there is a terrific temptation to stop praying, to give up on God – James says, “Don’t!!! Just keep on praying!”

Here’s a wonderful hymn, which we’re not singing this morning, but which sums up the need to be persistent in prayer:

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

We have a Saviour who hears our prayers and who is able to give us peace and comfort, even when – for whatever reason – it is not God’s will to remove our problem immediately. Instead of blaming God, or retaliating against the oppressor, we are to keep on praying, we are to keep on turning to God.

A couple of years ago in The Baptist Times, there was a story about a widow and her son, who were both training to be Baptist ministers. The woman had lost her husband and her daughter at very early ages, but what she said in the story made a deep impression on me and I kept the quote. She said:

“There’s no getting away from the fact that as a family we have had more than our fair share of death at an early age. But we’ve also had a huge amount of joy. I have learned what it is like to walk in the dark, but we still have joy. Life has been difficult, and it continues to be, but God has been there.”

In the face of their loss, their hardships, they might have turned away from God, given up on Him, yet God was there when they were at their lowest ebb and, as they turned to Him in prayer, they both found comfort and direction in life.

The point is that prayer is appropriate – indeed, essential – when we are under pressure; but it is equally appropriate and essential to pray when things are going well and we are feeling particularly blessed.

And James goes on to write: “Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.”

Prayer isn’t limited to words spoken quietly under our breath, or even shouted out loudly. As we sing out songs of thanksgiving and praise, we are lifting prayers to the Lord – earlier on in the service, we were singing “My heart is filled with thankfulness”, a prayer of thanksgiving. And, again, the sense of what James writes here is that we should keep singing His praises.

I remember that, when I first gave my life to Christ, I was a teacher in Manchester and, when I wasn’t on lunchtime playground duty, I would go for a walk in the park next door to the school and spend the whole time singing praise songs quietly to myself as I walked around. We should keep singing His praises.

Yet, the strangest thing often happens: when we find that things are going well in our lives and we are happy, we can easily forget to give God the thanks and praise He is due.

So, James is telling us that, whether things are going badly or well for us, we must remember to keep on praying and to keeping on singing. Prayer and praise are absolutely ESSENTIAL!!! So, let us be quick to turn to Him who perfectly loves us in every circumstance of life

Next, James tells us that ...

Prayer is healing (vv. 14-15)

In verse 14, he writes:

Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.

This verse suggests that the practice of anointing those who were sick had become a common practice within the very early church. Today, many Non-conformists may have reservations about the use of oil in this way, yet here is a Biblical endorsement for doing it. James isn’t claiming that the oil itself has healing properties, but is testifying to the tremendous power of prayer.

Verse 15 says:

Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.

The anointing doesn’t act like some kind of medication, which heals the ailing person – no, it is the use of the name of Jesus in the prayer of the church leaders which effects the healing, and the oil is purely symbolic of Christ’s healing power. In some cases, people with seemingly incurable conditions have been healed in quite miraculous ways.

But it’s not just about physical healing, because James adds:

And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

For James, physical and spiritual healing go together. The Jewish view was that body, mind and spirit were inextricably linked and that, when one of them was unhealthy, all would be affected. This is a very holistic approach which is being taken increasingly seriously in modern medicine.

And notice that the sick person is instructed to call upon the leaders of the church to come to anoint and pray over him, or her. Illness moves from being a personal burden to being a concern of the whole Christian fellowship – it is not to be kept private, but to be addressed by the Body of Christ. After this service, you may ask me or any of the deacons of this church for prayer, whether your ailment be physical, emotional or spiritual – please don’t go home without asking.

But what of those cases where prayers of faith are not followed by physical healing, but by continuing illness and pain, or even death? Does this mean that in the sufferer, or in the ones praying, there was insufficient faith?

No, I don’t believe that to be true for two reasons: first, because I myself have witnessed people of great faith being prayed for by others of great faith and yet death has followed quite quickly; and, second, because the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 stand out to me:

“[T]o keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

Paul himself prayed three times to be relieved of what was almost certainly a physical ailment and yet he wasn’t healed, because the Lord wanted Paul to depend totally upon Him and not rely upon his own strength.

Why does God heal some and not others? I have to say that I honestly don’t know and neither does anyone else, but I choose to put my complete faith in God nonetheless and I continue to pray, believing wholeheartedly in God’s power to heal.

The next thing that James says is that ...

Confession is good for the soul (v. 16a)

At the beginning of verse 16, he writes:

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

These days, we are perhaps happy to participate in generalised prayers of confession during congregational worship, but probably wouldn’t entertain the idea of routinely and openly confessing our sins to other people. Yet that seems to be what James is advocating. In his scheme of prayer, people confess to one another, then pray for each other about those specific areas identified, then receive forgiveness or absolution, and, as a consequence, healing takes place – whether that is healing of relationships, healing of the spirit, or even physical healing.

Now, I don’t think James had in mind the idea of sitting in a confessional box with a priest – that’s a construct of the later, institutionalised church – but the principle of sharing one’s indiscretions with at least one other believer and praying it through is definitely advocated here.

That sort of openness and vulnerability may be a difficult thing to contemplate, but can we, in all integrity, simply ignore a Biblical injunction like this one? I’d be interested to know your thoughts on it.

Finally in this short passage, James tells us that, in the hands of righteous people, ...

Prayer is powerful (vv. 16b-18)

In the second half of verse 16, he writes:

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

And he cites Elijah as a prime example, causing a drought to befall Israel and then ending it ... all through prayer. The implication of what James is saying is that the prayer of those who are strong in faith and godliness is more powerful than that of those who are not.

Now that may well be true and we can accept the example of Elijah and, of course, the ultimate example of Christ; but, what it all comes down to in the end is the grace of God, because it’s true to say that He answers the prayer of the weakest believers, as well as the strongest. The worldly person who has reached the end of their tether, turns to God and screams, “God, please help me”, will have their prayer answered if they are sincere in their plea. The weaker we are in faith, the more reason to turn to God in prayer, because as we trust in Him our faith is strengthened and we are made whole..

Yes, prayer is powerful, but it is God’s power that is manifest, not our own. So, however weak in faith you feel this morning, turn to prayer, not away from it, and allow God to do a powerful work in you and through you.

So, as I draw to a close, let us remember what we have learned this morning:

· prayer is always appropriate;
· prayer is healing;
· confession is good for the soul, and
· prayer is powerful.

Let’s pray ...

All-seeing God,
teach us to be open with You about our needs,
teach us to seek Your support in our trials,
teach us to admit before You our sins
and to thank You for all Your goodness;
for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.

Sunday May 10th, 2009

9. James 4:11 – 5:12

A fortnight ago, I was talking about how we undergo two types of conversion: first, we are converted to Christ – we are made a new creation and enter into life everlasting, as we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord; and, second, we experience a process of ongoing conversion, as – by the grace of God, our heavenly Father, and in the power of the Holy Spirit – we are transformed into the likeness of Christ … a process which will last our lifetimes.

At the beginning of chapter 4, James berates his readers for holding on to many of the behaviours and attitudes they displayed before they became Christians and urges them to repent and to be open to God’s transforming power. In this second half of chapter 4 and into chapter 5, he warns them against some of the other things that may have been carried over from their worldly existence into their Christian lives.

First of all, he speaks out against …

Judgmentalism (4:11-12)

The Good News Bible has the beginning of verse 11 like this: “Do not criticise one another, my friends.” The New International version has: “Brothers, do not slander one another.” In this instance, I prefer the New Living Translation which says: “Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters.” And the reason I prefer it is that “speaking evil against each other” encompasses several different sins of the tongue: criticism of others; slanderous talk; and even gossip. These three are heavy duty pieces of the devil’s armoury, because each of them sows discord and causes division. How sad, then, that they are so often used within a fellowship of Christians; how tragic that, through them, people are often lost to the local church and sometimes even to Christ. During the Second World War, there was the warning that “Careless talk costs lives”; in this different context – the Church – the same words ring sadly true.

There should be no place within the local fellowship for such talk and yet there is probably none of us who is lily-white in this respect, so let us not pretend otherwise. No, let us rather acknowledge our shortcoming and pray to God for the strength to hold our tongues when we are tempted to speak a harsh word against someone and to focus more on one another’s strengths than on our weaknesses. If we fail to do so, then we are placing ourselves in opposition to God and inviting His judgment upon us.

In Luke’s Gospel, we read that Jesus told the crowd, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.” Harsh words are not only wounding of others, but also have consequences for the speaker – as we criticise, as we slander, as we gossip, our own judgmentalism is turned around upon us.

James puts it in another way: he writes, “If you criticise or judge another Christian, you criticise and judge the Law. If you judge the Law, then you are no longer one who obeys the Law, but one who judges it.” The injunction against slander and other sins of the tongue goes way back in the Jewish writings – in Leviticus 19, verses 16 and 17, the Lord says to the Israelites through Moses: “Do not go about spreading slander among your people. … Do not hate your brother in your heart.” And in Psalm 50, God says of the wicked: “You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother’s son.” The one who criticises or slanders another is not only judging another human being, but also judging God’s Law to be inconsequential and that really is a foolish thing to do.

So, my friends, let us curb the wicked side of our tongues – there is no place in this church for malicious criticism, gossip, or slander and it must not be tolerated.

A second vice that James speaks out against here is …

Arrogance (4:13-17)

Or, maybe it’s complacency? However we might label it, it is about taking things for granted and not acknowledging God’s sovereignty in all things. Again, we probably all say things like “Next year, we’re going on holiday to …”; or, “When we retire, we’ll do this, that or the other.” Now, of course, it isn’t wrong to plan ahead, or to look forward to something in the future, as long as we recognise that it isn’t all down to us, that we are in God’s hands, not our own.

James says, “What you ought to say is this: “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Were we all to do that, we would be reminding ourselves of God’s sovereignty and impressing the notion upon other people.

The Gospel story that comes to mind is the one that Jesus told about the rich man who enjoyed a bumper crop and said, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat drink and be merry.’”

The man was boasting in his blest situation, he didn’t have a word of thanks for God, and had no thought for the good he could do for others, little knowing that he would not have the opportunity to enjoy his prosperity.

It isn’t wrong to make money, it isn’t wrong to make plans, it isn’t wrong to have hopes and dreams, but it is sinful to leave God out of it all, to act as though He has nothing to do with it all. Rather, we must give thanks to God in all things, we must listen for His voice and ask for His guidance in our ideas and schemes – ultimately, we must seek to be a part of His plans, not expect Him to fit in with ours.

In the third section of this morning’s passage, James sounds off against …

Self-indulgence (5:1-6)

In chapter 5, verses 1-6, James seems to go into prophetic mode, condemning the rich for their obsessive selfishness and their unjust behaviour towards those who are dependent upon them. Although it is unlikely that James was aiming this rant at wealthy believers, I think it is still particularly relevant for Christians to consider, because, as Mark Twain once observed, usually the last thing to be converted in a Christian is his wallet!

It often seems that, when we become a disciple of the Lord, we immediately see the need for change in our behaviour patterns, but fail to recognise a need to reassess what we do with our money. Being rich is not, in itself, sinful – after all, comparatively speaking, probably all of us here this morning would be counted amongst the top 5% richest people in the world – just the fact that we have a roof over our heads, enough food in our refrigerators and clean water flowing from our taps puts us in that bracket. No, being rich is not the issue, it is how we handle our wealth that is key.

Basically, it boils down to what Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” When our own comfort, our own luxury, becomes more important to us than God, becomes more important to us than the welfare of others, that is when we find ourselves in the service of Money, rather than in His service. The fact is that our conversion must include how we use the resources that God provides and how we treat other people.

But, as I have said, I don’t think that James is directly addressing Christians here, so I’ll move on to the fourth part of the passage, a message of encouragement which is definitely intended for his Christian brothers and sisters.

Encouragement (5:7-12)

In verses 7 to 12, James urges the Christians hearing his words to remain patient in the face of trials, in the certain hope of the Lord’s return. Those who grumble that Christ is too slow in returning should remember how long a farmer has to wait to harvest his crop – from sowing to reaping he must go through the seasons of the year.

Maybe we too are impatient for the Lord’s return, maybe we too are losing hope as we see what is happening in the world around us, maybe we too feel under threat within our society; yet we too need to demonstrate the same patient endurance that James advocates.

James cites the prophets as inspiration because they fearlessly did God’s will and brought God’s word to the nation, in spite of the cruel way in which they were often treated. They persevered, even when they knew they themselves would not be alive to see Israel’s deliverance – they had a certain hope in God and that confidence carried them through all their trials and tribulations.

We must have that same strength of faith and resolve in these days.

Conclusion

Maybe at first sight, the Letter of James seems a bit of a hotch-potch of teaching, with little natural flow to it. But James’ over-arching theme is one of ‘readiness’: he wants you to examine yourselves and assess whether your faith is demonstrated in your deeds; control yourselves, especially your tongues; persevere through your present difficulties and endure the troubles ahead; FOR CHRIST IS COMING!!!

May we take James’ teaching seriously and not be unprepared. Amen.

Sunday April 26, 2009

8. James 4:1-10

‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’, or so they say; and this morning, as we return to our study of the Letter of James after a short break, I hope that you are now looking forward to learning more from what the brother of our Lord Jesus writes.

As there has been a bit of a break, it might be helpful if I give a brief recap of its background. The letter itself was almost certainly written by James, the brother of Jesus, and since we know it must have been written before 62 AD when he was martyred, it must be one of the earliest of the Christian scriptures in the New Testament.

James is writing to Christian believers scattered around the Empire, many of whom are new in the faith – and let’s face it, at the time James was writing, almost everyone was pretty new in the faith, because Jesus’ crucifixion had happened probably less than thirty years beforehand! So James’ purpose in writing is to exhort his readers to stay faithful to the Lord, to live godly lives and not to revert to their previous worldly ways. Sometimes James comes across as sounding quite severe, but it is all in order to keep his readers on the right track and his guidance is always very practical.

I think all this is extremely important to remember as we read through the letter as a whole, and particularly this part of it in chapter 4. True enough, he sounds harsh in some places – for instance, when he calls his readers ‘adulterous’ in verse 4 – but there’s no doubt that his motives are pure and that he’s actually writing for their eternal spiritual benefit. So, bearing all this in mind, let’s take a closer look at this first half of chapter 4 …

Continuous conversion

The first thing that I want to pick up on is the verse I just mentioned, verse 4, which reads:

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

It all sounds very dramatic, doesn’t it? But remember that many of the people he’s addressing are not longstanding in the Christian faith, so there’s still a real danger that they will be tempted to return to the ways of the world and will forsake the ways of heaven. At the end of chapter 3, James has already said:

“…if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s type of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual and demonic.”

You see, these people have accepted Christ as their Lord and they gather in His name, but their ways of thinking and their behaviour are not yet completely holy. This serves to remind us that “conversion is a continuing process” [Johnson, NIB, 1998] rather than a one-off event – and that’s the first point I want to make: conversion is a continuous process.

Within the evangelical tradition, there is a definite tendency to think of our conversion, our turning to the Lord Jesus Christ, as happening at a particular moment in time – everything before that moment is considered darkness, and everything after it is light … in an instant, then, we move from the worldly to the godly and we are changed people.

In one sense, of course, that’s absolutely true: as soon as we give our hearts to Christ, we are saved for eternal life, and we’re no longer bound by death – and we should all praise the Lord for that. But, in another way, it is a little misleading: when we accept Jesus as Lord, we do indeed move from death to life, but in no way are we the finished article, the complete Christian: you see, in this sense, our conversion from being a worldly person to being a heavenly person is an ongoing transformation, rather than something that happens overnight, and it is something that is not achieved by us, but by God Himself.

Under construction!

In Romans, chapter 12, we’re told by Paul:

“Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

When I use my computer to surf the internet, I often reach some church’s or organisation’s website which says on it in large letters, “UNDER CONSTRUCTION”. The website is there and it may well have some material on it which is available to read, but it isn’t finished yet – it’s a work in progress which will look very different and will be very much better when it’s completed. Even when we become Christians, we are still works in progress, we remain ‘under construction’ – although we have embraced a new way of life, it takes a time for us to divest ourselves of all the different elements of our old way of life, and, let’s face it, being in the world can make it very difficult for us to stop being of the world. I well remember giving my life to Christ twenty-two years ago in a small Baptist church in Birmingham – that day my life was immeasurably changed for ever by God, but I wasn’t suddenly the finished article. There were still things in my life – both behaviours and attitudes – which were not right, not godly; and yet, looking back now, I can see how God – through the Holy Spirit – has been steadily transforming me into the likeness of Christ. And I’m still not there yet, because I know that this process will continue throughout my earthly life. I think we need to remember that, because I’m sure that all of us at some time or another feel despair when we fall short of God’s standards – it’s not that we should ignore or excuse our sinfulness, but, equally, let’s not forget that we continue to be “UNDER CONSTRUCTION.” So, is there anything we must do to help the process along?

Open to change?

The simple answer is “Yes!”

In his letter, James reflects Paul’s advice to the Christians in Rome: ‘let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.’ Notice the way Paul says, “Let God …” Even though it is God who does the transforming, as Christians, we need to allow Him to do that – we need to “let God”; if we choose to remain focusing on the delights and the ways of the world, rather than to look to God and desire His ways, then we’re just not allowing Him to begin the process of perfecting us.

In those first few verses we read from chapter 4, James points out to his readers that the fights and quarrels they are experiencing are a direct result of still remaining rooted in – and focused upon – the ways of the world. When they pray, their prayers are unfruitful because their motives for praying are all wrong – they are driven by a desire for personal gain, rather than for the well-being of others.

James puts it bluntly: Don’t you realise that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God.

Now, we have to be careful about how we read this, because I’m sure it is not advocating that we completely cut ourselves off from the world for fear of being corrupted; neither do I believe it is suggesting that we take up a stance of hostility towards the world – after all, John’s Gospel tells us that “God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life.” God didn’t cut Himself off from the world, nor did He hate the world, and we must surely follow His lead. But what James says in his letter is meant as a warning against being so immersed in the culture that we go along with everything the world does – it is a call to godly living, not worldly living.

So, we must continue to engage with the world, proclaiming the gospel in culturally relevant ways and demonstrating an alternative way of living, without ourselves bowing down to worldly wisdom and adopting worldly ways. I fear that this is already becoming more difficult in our society, as there is increasing pressure upon the Church to conform to worldly values and abandon the divine values which we find in the Bible. In the days ahead, we must be clear in our minds and steadfast in our hearts that the ultimate authority belongs to God and to no-one else, so let us always seek to rely upon heavenly wisdom and to follow God’s will, rather than seek the approval of the world and do its bidding. We are to be in the world, but not of the world.

James puts it like this in verses 7 and 8:

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God and God will come close to you.

The time is surely coming when each of us will be called upon to stand up for what we believe, so let us humbly submit ourselves to God, because as we do He will be with us and will strengthen us. And let us be prepared to resist the devil in our everyday lives, by repenting of our own sinfulness, receiving God’s forgiveness, putting on the spiritual armour that Paul speaks of and living our lives for Christ; because I believe that each of us has a very significant role to play in maintaining a clear gospel message in this country.

But I want to conclude by reminding you that the victory has already been won – that Christ conquered all upon the cross and that whoever remains faithful to Him will be with Him in His glory. So let us shun sinfulness, let us love one another and let us bow down before our almighty God alone.

Amen.

Sunday March 29th, 2009

7. Wisdom (James 3:13-18)

Let me start with a story:

One evening, an angel appears at a church meeting and tells the pastor that because of his unselfish and exemplary behaviour, the Lord wants to reward him – he can choose from infinite wealth, infinite wisdom, or infinite beauty. Without hesitation, the pastor chooses infinite wisdom.

“Done!” says the angel and disappears from view. Now, all the church members look toward the pastor, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. Then, one of the deacons says to him, “Let is have some words of wisdom – go on, say something.” The pastor looks at the leaking roof, the paint peeling from the walls, the failing heating system and says, “You know, I really should have taken the money!”

As we heard earlier in the service, in the First Book of Kings, Solomon is given a similar opportunity and he, too, chooses wisdom. We’re told that ...

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. 11 So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—12 I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!

In Israel, wisdom was valued above everything and, as we again take a look at the Letter of James, we see that the brother of Christ, also, emphasises the need for wisdom. But how do we recognise wisdom?

First, let’s take ...

The wisdom test (v.13)

Most people – including you and I – would probably consider themselves to be pretty wise ... we might not say so out loud, but inside we think we know what’s what. In verse 13, James writes:

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

Or, to put in a slightly more straightforward way: if you are truly wise, your wisdom will be demonstrated by good deeds and sensible behaviour.

Here, James is revisiting one of his earlier points from the letter: if you remember, he declared that a Christian’s faith is proven by his, or her, actions – and, just as faith without action is worthless, a wisdom which isn’t expressed in the person’s conduct is not a godly wisdom at all. In the Book of Proverbs, it says:

A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom. (Prov. 10:23)

No-one whose life is marked by ungodly behaviour should ever be regarded as having godly wisdom – the two things cannot co-exist. So, if you want to ascertain how wise someone is, first consider their everyday conduct. There are plenty of people these days who present themselves as some sort of guru and who seek to pass on their ‘wisdom’ to others through TV programmes, DVDs, books, training courses, and the like – they will try to convince you that their philosophy, their approach to life, will revolutionise yours.

Don’t be taken in by mere words and glossy presentation, but take a look at their lives: if they are not living godly, moral lives, if they are self-seeking and self-promoting, then their ‘wisdom’ is worthless.

This makes it clear that there are two different types of wisdom: there is the false wisdom, which is the wisdom of the world; and there is true wisdom, which is the wisdom that comes from God.

Let’s look first at ...

False wisdom (vv. 14-16)

Worldly wisdom is based upon human understanding, human standards and human objectives – and, as we must all know from our own experience, these are always imperfect, always flawed. You see, worldly wisdom makes the human being the source of authority – it doesn’t recognise God’s sovereignty, God’s will, or God’s truth – and that’s a recipe for disaster!

Psalm 111 is quite clear on this subject:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding.

Fear of the Lord comes with recognising who God is. He is the Creator of all; all things in heaven and on earth and throughout the universe are wholly dependent upon Him; He has perfect power and complete authority. The proper response to God is fear – fear in the form of a sense of abject unworthiness, a sense of absolute awe, an attitude of total respect and worship. Look how Isaiah responded when he saw God in His heavenly throne room – he said:

“My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Now, that is fear of the Lord – Isaiah recognises who God is, acknowledges His power and sovereignty, and realises his own inadequacy. Only fools would ignore God’s authority – wouldn’t they?

And yet, we see it happening around us all the time, people who are so wrapped up in themselves and their own desires that they fail to bow before God. Their foolishness is demonstrated by the jealousy and selfish ambition that’s evident in the way they live their lives. Oh yes, on the face of things, they may seem to be successful people: people who have gone far in life because of their drive for self-gratification, for wealth, power and influence; people who always want more, who want to have better than everyone else they know. But they are motivated by a worldly wisdom that has its origin not in God, but in the devil. They are not serving the purposes of God, but playing into the hands of Satan.
The wisdom they live by is not wisdom at all, but complete foolishness – a false wisdom that will be their undoing.

Yet, on the other hand, there is ...

True wisdom (vv. 17-18)

James describes the nature of true wisdom in verse 17:
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favouritism and is always sincere.

True wisdom originates with, and in, God and He bestows it upon all who put their trust in Jesus Christ, His Son, and build their lives upon Him. Remember how Jesus teaches the people about wisdom, using this parable:

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Wisdom is connected to salvation. That is, it is inexorably linked to gaining everlasting life: only those who have godly wisdom (that is, faith in Christ) and who are ready for when Jesus returns will be safe – remember the story of the wise and foolish young women and their lamps.

And how is our wisdom to be recognised? By the extent to which we respect and obey our Saviour’s teaching. Verses 17 and 18 are very reminiscent of the Beatitudes:

James writes, “the wisdom from above is first of all pure”; and, of course, Jesus had said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The Christian is made pure by God through a belief in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Then, James writes that godly wisdom “is also peace loving, gentle at all times and willing to yield to others”, reflecting Jesus’ assertion that “blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” In other words, you will recognise a wise person by their general demeanour.

And James also says that true wisdom “is full of mercy and good deeds”, just as Jesus had said that “blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.” The wise are forgiving to those who wrong them and compassionate to those who are in need.

The wisdom we’re talking about here is not something we can produce ourselves, not something we can learn about from books, but comes only through a trusting relationship with God, which is marked by submission to His authority and obedience to His will. It is also something that we should pray for: rather than riches, popularity, or good looks, we should be choosing to pray for wisdom, first and foremost, because that is how we can best serve God.

Conclusion

So, how can we make use of this teaching in our everyday lives?

Well, first of all, we should be applying the wisdom test to those who are telling us what to do, or who are claiming to be able to change our lives. Remember, a person’s wisdom will be shown through his or her conduct: those whose lives are riddled with immorality do not have godly wisdom and should not be followed; whereas, those who are trying to do God’s will – maybe not always succeeding, but who have a godly heart – we should listen to. These may not be the most good-looking people with the most charismatic personalities, but it’s their faith in God that counts. We can apply the wisdom test to politicians, church leaders, to life-style gurus – to anyone who seeks to influence us in any way.

We might also apply the wisdom test to ourselves: only if we are God-focused, rather than self-obsessed can we be truly wise. As we centre our lives upon God and upon Christ’s teaching, He will transform us, providing us with wisdom from heaven.

How do we centre our lives in such a way? By spending time with God in prayer every day and, if possible several times a day. We also centre our lives upon God by reading the Bible regularly and systematically, and by trying to practise what it tells us.

Let me close with a couple of verses from 1 Corinthians chapter 1:

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

Seek the wisdom that comes from heaven and be wary of the worldly wise!

Amen.

Sunday March 22nd, 2009

6. Control Your Tongue (James 3:1-12)

As we return this morning to the Letter of James, we also return to an issue that James has previously raised in chapter 1 – remember how he wrote:

“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.”

It’s obviously an important issue for James and it should be an important issue for us, too, because it could be said that a person’s speech is a reliable indicator of physical health. You see, the tongue can only reflect the state of our hearts: a gossiping tongue, a tongue that speaks foul language, a tongue that spits vitriol, all are a sign of an ungodly inner condition.

In Matthew 15:18-19, Jesus puts it very straightforwardly:

“The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make a person ritually unclean. For from his heart come the evil ideas which lead him to to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie and slander others.”

I remember an advert for the American Express credit card from years ago which claimed that ... “It says more about you than cash ever can!” Well, quite literally, your tongue says more about you than anything else ever can.

So, let’s for a moment consider James’ first point in verse 1 of chapter 3 ...

Let the teacher beware! (v. 1)

James writes:

“Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

Teaching and preaching within the church is a wonderful privilege and I thank God each day that He has called me to this role, BUT along with that privilege goes a tremendous responsibility as well. And, as a consequence of their responsibility for guiding people down the narrow path, God will examine those who teach and preach with greater vigour than He does others.

When James says, “Not many of you should become teachers in the church”, he isn’t trying to discourage others from preaching and teaching among God’s people, but he is stressing that those who feel called to such a role must examine themselves, should thoroughly test their faith, before offering themselves. We know from the gospels that some who were in a teaching role were not spiritually mature, but liked the attention they received from speaking from the front. Of the Pharisees, Jesus says:

“They do everything so that people will see them. Look at the straps with scripture verses on them which they wear on their foreheads and arms, and notice how large they are! Notice also how long are the tassels on their cloaks! They love the best places at feasts and the reserved seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the market-places and to be called ‘Teacher’.” (Mt. 23:5-7)

Their actions did not reflect what they were teaching and demonstrated spiritual immaturity – and Jesus had stern words for them. Similarly, it seems likely that people in the early church were also being attracted to teaching roles because of the status and profile it gave them, and so James was stressing that only those whose lives were totally God-focused should step forward to teach and preach.

But James goes on in verse 2 to suggest that everyone – teachers and non-teachers alike – will be held accountable by God for the way they use their tongues. I think that an older edition of the New Living Translation which I have on my bookshelf puts this verse a little better than the edition we’ve got in church – it says:

“We all make mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way.”

While teachers will be judged by God with special strictness, we all have a responsibility for controlling our tongues. I read somewhere that scientists say that “once a sound wave is set in motion, it continues on a never-ending journey, and that, if we had sufficiently sophisticated instruments, each wave could be captured and reproduced at any time. If that is true, every word spoken by any person who has ever lived could be retrieved!” I’m pretty sure that that’ll never be possible, but, of course, God doesn’t need such an instrument to hear every word we speak and we will be held responsible for what we say. Jesus told the people:

“You can be sure that on Judgement Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken. Your words will be used to judge you – to declare you either innocent or guilty.” (Mt. 12:36-37)

That sounds very heavy, i know, but that is how it is, or will be, so let’s spend a little more time thinking about what we are to say, before we open our mouths to speak. A journalist, William Norris put it like this:

If your lips would keep from slips, five things observe with care: To whom you speak, of whom you speak, and how, and when, and where.

If we are able to do that, we will have taken a major step towards controlling all of our behaviour. You see, the person who has learned to control his tongue is also the type of person who will have control over the rest of their life as well.

The second point James makes can be summed up like this ...

Small tongue, big impact (vv. 3-5)

Your tongue, although it is very small, is very powerful. James makes this point well by using two interesting illustrations.

First of all, in verse 3, he compares the tongue to a small bit in the mouth of a large horse. He writes:

“We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.”

The image he conjures up is that of a large healthy horse running across an open field. And, although it is powerful enough to do what it wants and to go its own way, a rider is able to control the massive animal by means of a small piece of steel in the horse’s mouth.

Then, in verse 4, James compares the tongue to a small rudder on a large ship. He writes:

“a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.”

James is talking about the great ships that sailed the Mediterranean Sea in his day. Many of them were up to 1,000 tons in size and, incredibly, they had crews of up to 600 men. They were monsters, and yet they were steered by a little rudder only about a foot long.

Likewise, we need to appreciate the power of the tongue and keep it under control. The tongue can make people feel ten feet tall, or really small; it can build them up, or knock them down; it can bring peace to a situation, or make things immeasurably worse. Let us never underestimate the power of the tongue and the impact it can have.

So, my third point is that we must remember that ...

The tongue can be an instrument of evil (vv. 5-8)

Again, James makes the point in two graphic ways:

First, in verses 5-6, he tells us that the tongue can be as destructive as a spreading flame:

“a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”

Recently, we’ve seen the terrible forest fires in Australia which have killed so many people and devastated large areas. Sadly, some of these fires were started deliberately, but some forest fires are caused by carelessly discarded cigarettes, or the remains of a campfire. From just a little spark an entire forest can be set ablaze.

And be aware that our words can be the spark that begin a conflagration! One word of gossip, one lie, one insinuation, one harsh criticism and a blazing fire can begin. Just one little act of verbal thoughtlessness can spread from heart to heart across a community and leave behind it charred and burned reputations, broken hearts and broken homes. The damage can be both extensive and irrepairable!

Here’s a little story that I came across:

A young man, riddled with guilt during the Middle Ages, went to see a monk and said, “I’ve sinned by gossiping about someone in town. What should I do now?”

The monk said, “First I want you to put a feather on the doorstep of every person to whom you have spoken in town.”

The young man did as the monk said and, when he was finished, he returned to the monk to see what he was to do next.

The monk said, “Now go back and pick up all the feathers.”

The young man replied, “That’s impossible! By now the wind will have blown them all over town.”

The monk replied, “Your words of gossip are as difficult to retrieve as those feathers.”

A few misplaced words can wreck a marriage, destroy a career, or bring despair. And the evil that the tongue wreaks has its origin in Satan himself – “it is set on fire by hell itself,” James says. The fire rages and Satan laughs!

Second, in verses 7-8, James suggests that the tongue can be more dangerous than a wild animal, or a deadly poison:

“People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.”

The tongue may behave like a restless animal looking for something to devour. The words it speaks can be like snake venom spreading around the blood system. The only way the destructive power of the tongue can be controlled, or neutralised, is if we consider the root cause of the problem – our hearts. Biting our tongues when we begin to say something unhelpful is not a very reliable method of stopping ourselves, but if we concentrate on bringing our hearts into tune with God’s heart, if we allow Him to work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, the venom supply to our tongues will effectively be cut off and Satan will be thwarted. So, I think that our tongues’ propensity to cause pain can be stopped.

Indeed, my fourth point is that ...

The tongue can be a force for good (vv. 9-12)

James writes in verses 9-12:

“Sometimes [the tongue] praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.”

Remember that James is talking to fellow Christians through this letter and he reminds them that it is completely incongruous for them to be speaking holy words about God one moment and slandering their neighbour the next.

We need to consider how we speak to one another at all times – it’s not acceptable if we sing the hymns, say the prayers, be nice to each other here this morning, then go home, or to work, or go out socially and speak badly of – and to – others. But words of encouragement, words of comfort and consolation, words of praise build others up, give them hope, pull them out of dark places and point them in the right direction.

As well as an instrument of evil, the tongue can be a most powerful force for good, and that goodness springs from a heart that has been renewed by God. The good news is that Jesus promises a new and clean heart to all those who will turn from their sin and trust in Him. When a person believes the gospel, Christ immediately starts changing the person ... including his or her speech.

As God moves within a person’s heart, he also acts upon his tongue. When God controls the heart, he controls the tongue and we are transformed.

So, this morning, the message is simple: believe the gospel and allow God to tame your tongue.

Amen.