As a child, walking behind my mother at the grocery store, we came near the meat section of the store. While mom was deciding on the best, possible buy for a roast for Sunday’s meal, which always took awhile in kid-time, I explored and peered over the glass refrigerated case and saw something I had never seen before.
A huge tongue was wrapped in see-through plastic right in front of me at eye level! Loudly, I’m sure, I yelled to mom, “WHAT IS THAT!?”. She turned quickly from bargain shopping and ran to where I was…because the whole store probably heard it. The butcher heard me. She calmly said, “Oh, that is just a cow’s tongue.” “What is it doing with the meat?” I yelled. “Shh!, people cut it up and eat it. Some people grind it and have it on sandwiches.” I almost threw up. That was the most disgusting new information I had ever come across in my short life. “Well, I will never put that disgusting tongue in my mouth!” “EVER!”
Well, this morning, Pastor James comes along and reminds us just how disgusting our own tongues can be! They can build up…or destroy. Harsh but needed words. God used James to get our attention about how our tongues can maim others and take our focus from God’s purpose for us.
“Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Remember that playground taunt? Not true. Sometimes we go to the grave with the memory of hurtful words.
This is long, bold, and to the point…and reminds teachers at the beginning of this passage to be careful with their words as they are held accountable to those they teach for what comes from their mouths…what a responsibility we have!
“Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us are perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.” James 3, Msg
“A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything–or destroy it!” James 3, Msg
“It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.” James 3, Msg
“This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue–it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God, our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!” James 3, Msg
“My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t’ gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hoe and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?” James 3, Msg
One more example, that I have experienced….since this is Monday…don’t amen the preacher’s words on Sunday then talk badly to others about the work he is doing and rag on his family the rest of the week. Yes, gossip like that reeks havoc and destroys. (Mostly it reeks.) Build each other up. Encourage each other…as Paul writes many times…with sweet words, even hymns sung over them…as they work hard at the work before us all. We are actually all ministers of God”s Good News of salvation and abundant living.
Dear Heavenly Father, Please help us. We are all guilty. Our tongues are not fit to be in our mouths at times. Help us to THINK…before we speak! And ask ourselves before we speak…Is what I am about to say Truth? Going to be Helpful to the person? Inspiring to their work? Necessary to say? And most of all is what I am about to say going to be Kind? THINK…Truth, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary and Kind. Help us all, dear Lord. Seriously.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Our actions shout out what we truly think and believe with our hearts. We know that. But it’s easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, isn’t it? What or Who would make that easier? Should we try harder…as the world would say. “You can do it, have it your way, go for the gusto, pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps!”
Have you actually tried to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps? I have a pair of cowboy boots with bootstraps. The bootstraps are to help you put the shoe on, but they don’t pull you up. They merely put the boot on so you can walk…and yes, that is another song…”These boots were made for walking”…but we digress. You actually fall down if you only use the bootstrap. You’re welcome. I thought you would like to know I tried it. It didn’t work.
Pastor James is getting more and more passionate as he goes on his challenge to us to ACT on what we say we think and believe. As I read it, most preachers and speakers tell us about the doing part, but I am seeing the “being” part come first. Then just do it! We must BE with the Father, asking for his marching orders daily, so that His power in us is behind the doing. Be first, (faith)…Then just do it, (Action). Faith is our love and trust in God with Jesus as THE Lord of our very lives. Action is the obedient response to that enriching time with God, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
“Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?” James 2, Msg
As I read on, I am reminded of what our pastor said last night at church while talking about needing more volunteers in our children’s ministry work. “Don’t volunteer with the wrong motive.” “Do not say, well, I guess if they need it, I have to do something about it, I don’t like kids, they annoy me, but they need it, so I will do it.” Yikes, I have seen many volunteers enter ministry with this attitude. As a leader, myself, at times, I regretted their decision. I would have rather had 10 “called by God” to the mission than 30 who were not and didn’t really want to be there. Guess what, God doesn’t either!
“I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, ‘Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.” James 2, Msg
“NOT SO FAST. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and and faith, fit together hand in glove.”
James 2, Msg
“Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?” James 2, Msg
And Pastor James brings it home…
“Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham ‘made right with God by works’ when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the words are ‘works of faith’? The full meaning of ‘believe’ in the Scripture sentence, ‘Abraham believed God and was set right with God,’ includes his action. It’s that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named ‘God’s friend.’ Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?” James 2, Msg
The final question posed by Pastor James is one to be thought and acted upon today. Faith and Works. Trust and Obey…”for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus…but to trust and obey.”
Dear Heavenly Father, Your Words are bold enough to get our attention. By Your power and with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, help us to truly, enthusiastically, boldly trust and obey. We love you with all our heart, mind and soul. In Jesus Name, Amen
God view of our walk and talk and man’s view are most times total opposites. Pastor James reminds us to stop and evaluate our own thinking and behaving…can we say, ouch?
The Royal Rule of Love
“My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, ‘Sit here, sire; this is the best seat in the house!’ and either ignore the street person or say, ‘Better sit here in the back row,’ haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?” James 2, Msg
God’s view versus Worldview–The Upside Down Kingdom…
“Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren’t they the ones who scorn the new name–‘Christian’–used in your baptisms?”
James 2, Msg
We may not openly do this in our churches today, (or do we?), but our first human impressions of those who walk through the doors leave us to judge and question why are they here, what do they want from us? Or worse yet, I wonder what they could do for us? Just love them in. No matter who they are. Just love them in with your accepting smile versus a smile of expectation. It probably took them weeks to decide to walk through those church doors and they are scared to death. Ease that fright with all your might! Just smile and wave, boys, just smile and wave. (My favorite line in the movie, Madagascar.)
“You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: ‘Love others as you love yourself.’ But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others.” James 2, Msg
“You can catch more bees with honey than vinegar”
–Grandpa Lacquement
BE KIND…REWIND!
Now, comes the ouch of all in this next passage…was I as kind as I could have been in dealing with others this past week? Rewind your week and ask the same question. Then repent, as I have, and move forward. Peace and joy is restored when we do.
“Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgement every time.” James 2, Msg
Dear Heavenly Father, Your Word through James is a book of personal evaluation. We look in so that we may see what we need to work on, to clean up in our own lives. Thank you for this look in the mirror. Now, helps us go to work, by Your Holy Spirit, to be better today than yesterday. In Jesus Name, Amen
Yesterday we talked of letting God landscape our garden, letting Him weed out all that does not belong. He will use circumstances in our lives to do just that. He does not put evil in our lives to test us, but our faith and works are tested with every life situation that comes along in this imperfect world. Will we listen and “clean up our act” so that our actions are more righteous? More like Him?
It was a hard, stressful day yesterday. I had issues with getting my 87 year old dad’s medications renewed. I had a hard time getting anyone to communicate why they were being cancelled from his regular mail order method. He has plenty of insurance coverage. I tried to communicate with his doctor’s office, who said they would order locally. I went to the pharmacy twice in one day. Nothing. The office never called. Day two: I finally speak to a real person from mail order company who told me it was his doctor who refused his meds until another appointment was made. We saw this same doctor this week! My dad went from that appointment to ER because of heart palpitations. Yes, it’s been a stressful week. After writing the devotion yesterday of letting God beautify our person gardens…He had a work to do in this stressful lady.
I am not perfect, but perfectly forgiven. It took another day off work to go personally to the doctor’s office and talk about this lack of communication about dad’s meds, which he was out of and important to his health to keep taking. The office was condescending, trying to cover their tracks. This made human anger rise up inside me. I did not curse. I did not raise my voice. I took a deep breath, prayed and stood my ground and said I am not leaving until I have prescriptions for his meds. They tried to pass around the blame for awhile. I just waited and look intently into his eyes, as I would a first grader caught on the playground in an offense. The doctor went to his office. I waited. The nurse asked what was going on. The doctor finally came out and said they were sent electronically to our local pharmacy. I said thank you and went to the pharmacy to wait. Got the meds.
Lord, I prayed, be my strength in this “weeding”. I have no regrets for being an advocate for my dad. I have no regrets for standing firm and speaking firmly. But afterwards, I was exhausted. It’s been a stressful week. We have meds for 30 days and still have to make another appointment to get more. But we will deal with that another day. Did I show my true colors when backed into a corner? Did I reveal my love of Christ? I’m still evaluating myself.
Why do I tell you all this? Because I have to be with God EVERY morning. I have to come face to face with our Father. I have to give all of my life to him in order to live this life in His ways, with His Spirit in me. I can’t fix myself. He has to do His work in me…no matter what life brings each day. We must act on what we read in His Word each day. I’m not just “trying to do my best”, I ask for God’s best work in me. Without Him, I can’t go it alone. Without Him, I will die on the vine. Yes, He is still the Gardner and He is the Vine to which I am attached…forever.
“Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. ACT on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.” James 1, Msg
“But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel fo God–the free life!–even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.” James 1, Msg
“Anyone who sets himself up as ‘religious’ by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption form the godless world.” James 1, Msg
Dear Heavenly Father, ALL of Your Word speaks volumes to my heart, mind and soul in all kinds of areas of my life. I do NOT want to just talk a good game without acting on your guidance. Thank you for teaching us, being patient with us, and helping us to take a focused look into the mirror. Thank you for helping us to be advocates for those who cannot help themselves at times. Thank you for my sister in Christ who prayed me through yesterday’s small crisis when I called on her, so I would be at Your best. Thank you for helping me with wisdom to solve problems. Go with us THIS DAY and give us all we need for the journey so that we will please You with our actions. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen
Pastor James compares our lives to a garden with God as our landscaper. As we read, we must remember to lay down our selfishness and really listen to what this short passage is saying about the weeds that invade our beauty that God wants to grow in us.
“Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.” James 1, Msg
Weeds of anger, resentment, bitterness can overrun and destroy our garden of right living. Infectious bugs of selfishness, having it our way or the highway, greed, envy and gossip destroy the beauty God, our Landscaper is trying to grow in us. HE is GOD and we are not. Let Him have His way. Let him cut, prune, and pull out all that will kill us so that we can grow stronger, healthier and produce blossoms of beauty for His glory!
A final thought…what would draw you in? A beautiful garden that is flourishing in beauty or a weed infested plot of ugly? It matters to others what we allow God to produce in us. Others will be drawn to the beauty of God in us, our “salvation-garden”. They will be drawn to God.
