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“Speaking” based on James 3:1-12
Well, here I am preaching on James 3 which is difficult because James 3 is about how strict and impossible the standards are for those who preach. Um, great. That doesn’t seem like a set up for failure at all 😉
James is well aware of Greek culture in his time, and Greek culture had a lot of things to say about the power of the tongue and the difficulty in controlling it. What makes James different is that he is HARSHER than everyone else. James thinks it is IMPOSSIBLE to control the tongue, and James is clear on why people should try anyway.
I see no need to attempt to make his point better than he does – the power of speech is immense, both for good and for evil, and even people themselves often lose control of their speech. Furthermore, perfect speech is impossible.
There is a whole field of theology focused on this. To quote from Wikipedia, who did a good job on this:
Apophatic theology, also known as negative theology,[1]is a form of theologicalthinking and religious practice which attempts to approach God, the Divine, by negation, to speak only in terms of what may not be said about the perfect goodness that is God.[web 1] It forms a pair together with cataphatic theology, which approaches God or the Divine by affirmations or positive statements about what God is.1
That is, there is a whole field that starts with the idea that you can’t speak truths about God. Talk about a preacher’s bind!!
I do wonder a little bit how time has impacted the truth James shares. He wrote to a primarily oral culture, where most relationships occurred directly face to face. We aren’t in that culture anymore, especially not now. Many of our interactions now happen through screens, typed with our finger tips rather than spoken with our tongues. At the core though, I’m not sure that it makes that much difference. What is said matters.
And, as James eventually points out, his primary concern is how people of faith speak about others. Luke Timothy Johnson, in the Anchor Bible summarizes with, “When one uses the same tongue to bless God, yet curse the human person who is created according to the likeness of God (3:9), one betrays in a fundamental sense the allegiance by which one claims to live. … Something more than the perfection of the human sage is at stake here. What is at issue is the proper mode of perceiving and responding to God’s creation.” (264-5)
If we bless God, we should also bless God’s creation, and God’s creatures.
Our speech should be a blessing.
Our speech should never be a curse. Nothing like being reminded that following in the way of Jesus is challenging, huh?
This feels like the final step in the process of remembering that the way we love God is to love our neighbors (all our neighbors). And then the way we praise and bless God is to praise and bless our neighbors (all our neighbors).
It is to use our words to build the kindom of God.
It reminds of the command to pray without ceasing, and in this case to let the words of our mouths be prayers of blessing whenever we speak.
In the midst of these standards, it becomes a bit of a relief that James doesn’t think perfection is possible. This being James though, I don’t think that means he lets us off the hook. He just says “yeah, it is impossible do it anyway.”
And, that’s practical advice. We have to speak. We have to communicate. We have to speak to God and of God, we have to speak to and of each other. And, quite often, we’re going to get it wrong, and that doesn’t mean we stop trying to get it right.
I find myself thinking about anti-racism conversations I’ve been in, when the space is created for honest conversation and white people become so scared of being called out for what they say that they try just not talking. I’ve done it. It feels safer. But it also cuts of the possibility for growth, learning, vulnerability, and relationship. Perfect speech isn’t possible, but giving up on speaking doesn’t end up helping either.
So what do we do? Our best.
We remember the power of words, and we remember the wonder of God’s creation, and we remember how beloved all of God’s creatures are, and we seek to speak with blessings as much as we can. And when we don’t, we notice, and use it to do better the next day.
(It isn’t so different from the rest of trying to build the kindom, either.)
There are tools. Nonviolent communication theory is one of my favorites. Others like simple reminders like, “before you speak, think: Is it True, is it Helpful, is it Inspiring, is it Necessary, is it Kind?” There are also the most consistent tools of all: spiritual disciplines that keep us connected to the Divine help us to be blessings no matter what comes at us; and breathing exercises and sources of grounding do so too.
In the end, as per usual, I don’t have much more to say than, James is right. And, it is hard to follow his advice. Let’s try anyway.
Amen.
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophatic_theology accessed 9/15/2021 at 2:45PM
Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she/her/hers
September 19, 2021