Using Your Tongue

James 3:1-12 [Mark 8:27-38; Psalm 19]

Have you ever said something and suddenly found your hand flying up to cover your mouth, as though you could shove the words back in?

I have.

Words of anger.

Truths that didn’t belong where I said them.

Or just plain stupid mistakes.

Words are risky things.

Mitt Romney knows something about that this week – about the way what you say can start a firestorm of trouble, a hurricane of words and statements and arguments and criticism. 

Even if you meant to say that.

He’s not the only one. 

Every candidate and most appointed leaders in the world know this (at least everywhere there’s a free press.) And every free press knows this. Many of you know this experience as well as I do, and James the apostle clearly knew it, too.

“All of us make many mistakes.” he says.  And “every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue!”

Think about your tongue for a moment.

Think about its power to shape words – which it does without your conscious direction.  Think about its power to direct your body, your attention, even your whole self.  If someone else got hold of your tongue and pulled – just that tiny bit of you – the rest of you would come along. 

It’s a small but powerful part of the body, and it shapes the world, too.

Year after year, Republicans and Democrats try to shape our experience of today and our plans for the future by the words they choose and the way they use them. 

Our own words about ourselves and our families create “the smart one and the funny one;” our words and their words create the family pariah (or piranha), and the office power-broker.

A few wrong words can break a friendship, and the three little words, “I love you,” spoken honestly, deeply, and often can heal all kinds of injury or create a new future.

When we call God “Father” and “Lord” over and over, we relate to God as a powerful man instead of as, say,  a mother or an artist. There’s a difference between the titles “Messiah” and “prophet,” between death and resurrection as defeat or as salvation – all the questions raised in Jesus’ conversation with the disciples that we heard today.

And James points out that our words about others affect our relationship with God, too.

He marvels at the way our tongues can bless God one minute, and curse a human being – made in God’s image – in the next minute.              How could it not affect our relationship with God to tear down God’s image in another person – even in the most annoying or politically scary person we know?

You and I live in a world where the tongue sets fires every day and hour.  With a cable network for every point of view, an online world where the people we “talk” with are far away and unfamiliar, it grows easier and easier to say inflammatory things. 

Anyone with a Facebook feed or a Twitter account – or for that matter, anyone who reads “Speak Out” in the Lombardian – knows how easy it is to say something destructive about neighbors, the cable company, or any government official or political candidate.

And those words: words we speak, words we hear, words we write and read,

words that spark anger and hate, separation and disgust,

all those words break down our image of God and our ability to bless.

And we need that ability to bless.  Because just as words can destroy, they can also build up.  Words can create a powerful, hopeful future.

Even political words:

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

“It’s morning in America.”
“Yes, we can.”

Those are words of blessing, words that create a world of commitment, and courage, and abundant possibility.  Those words build a new and better world.

So do simple words, like “I love you” or “I’m so happy to see you.”

Calm words in the face of panic, grateful words in the midst of loss; words of thanks and praise for everyday gifts like a helpful clerk, a well-behaved child, a good and easy friendship.

All those are blessings. Blessings that shape our selves and the people around us into the beautiful image of God, words that create a hopeful future and a joyful present.

In the biblical tradition, words of blessing offer praise, and invite God to create growth and abundance; to infuse grace into the world and the ones we bless.

It’s our job, yours and mine, as followers of the Messiah, and as the image of God,

to bless.

To use our tongues to start a fire that gives light to the world, rather than burning it.

To use our tongues to build up, not to tear down, to heal those wounds that other words have left.

So in honor of James,

in honor of a country that shouldn’t be divided by words,

and in honor of God’s word made flesh,

let’s start the blessing, now.

Let’s start by blessing one another, today.

You’ll need a partner for this.  Find someone.

You’ll offer your partner a blessing.

Start by saying something nice.  Not about what they’re wearing, but about what they do or who they are.  If you don’t know your partner well, remember that you know she is made in God’s wonderful image, that you know he is a beloved child of God.

Then ask God to strengthen that beauty, to increase that grace and that love.

If no other words come to you, use the blessing that God taught the people of Israel:

            May God bless you and keep you;

            May God shine light on you and be gracious to you;

            May God look favorably on you and give you peace.

***

Take that blessing with you, and pass it on.

Practice words of blessing this afternoon,

this week, at home and at the office,

online and in your heart.

Offer up the prayer from our psalm today:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”

Because the power of your tongue will change the world.

So let it bless, and build up,

and light up the world.

And may the blessing of God our Creator, who spoke the world into being, and of Christ the Word Incarnate, and of the Spirit who gives breath to our words, be among you this day, and remain with you always. Amen.