John Gunter: Well, good morning. Glad to be with you this morning. Again, thank you to our visitors. Thank you for being here with us. We've got some that, again, some of you know.
Miss miss Reba has been at Lakewood in the past and her family, and I spent all week trying to figure out her last name. She she enlightened me this morning. Y'all make sure and and tell her hello. Again, we're glad to have some of these people back who have been vacationing and cruising and everything else. We're certainly glad to have you, and now now we get to leave and leave y'all here.
Right? Is that correct? We've been talking about this series prepared, and it's Real Faith for Real Challenges. And the whole idea of this series is to be prepared instead of just reactionary, because often situations seem to surprise us. We prepare for all kinds of things in our life.
Right? We prepare for the job we want to do, the education we get, or even here in Southeast Texas, we prepare for hurricanes. Right? So why would we not prepare for our faith and things that we know we're gonna come up against? Now, you may not know the specifics, but you know life is going to offer you trouble.
Yes? You've been through it, I know you have. But what we've learned so far in this series, we've learned that a prepared faith seeks wisdom, we've learned that it lives what it hears, and last week we talked about how a prepared faith treats people right. And now, this week, we are going into James chapter three. We're gonna do the first 12 verses, and what we're gonna talk about today is that a prepared faith is really preparing us in the way that we speak to one another.
Do you know that it's important how we speak to one another? Yes. I bet if you didn't, if I was to say something very rude to you in a minute, you would know how important it is. Right? And so we prepare, and and and we live in a time where we speak in many ways.
Right? We we don't have to go that far back in history to try and and look at the big differences technology has brought us in the way that we're able to communicate and quickly. Now that is a blessing, it can also be a curse. Because as quickly as we like to speak, sometimes we speak and it's gone, and you can't get it back. Right?
And so we have to have to worry about it, we have to at least consider the way that we're going to talk to people, because we know words can either build up or it can break down. Right? Once they're spoken, you can't get them back, and we run-in a world of reaction. Right? The news, every news outlet, I don't care who it is, is catered to getting reactions.
Right? You haven't come across a major news outlet that was built on all good things, have you? Why? You think there are no good things going on in the world? It's built on reaction.
I need to be afraid, anxious, I need to make sure you're tuned in right after this commercial break. That's why we tease that next thing coming up, to have a reaction, and that's what our world is built on. And so, James is going to remind us that spiritual maturity shows up, I think, very clearly in the way we speak to one another. You can hide a lot of things, but once you start speaking, we see, are you are you living what you're saying you're living? Right?
So let's let's begin in James three, starting in verse one. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. Now, this first verse has been used in a lot of different ways. I don't know that it's been used correctly that much in my past, I guess.
He says, not many of you should become teachers. What that isn't saying is that you should all just fear teaching. What was happening here remember, we're in a culture of honor and shame, and it was an honor to be called teacher, and to be a teacher. And so, many people would would try to become a teacher just for the honor of, again, Valentina's, walk in HEB, he'd say, oh, there's my preacher, and I sit like this until he hugs me or something, or maybe kisses my ring, I don't know. Right?
But that's a goofy example, but that's kind of how you build yourself up. Okay? Now, of you watch out. You shouldn't become teachers for this. Right?
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. And so, the way you should hear this is that teaching is important, but it's also something you you should do very humbly with reverence because of its importance. Not because the importance builds you up, because it's important how we teach, and how we respond, and how we speak to others. You get that? Alright.
And so, for we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man. Do you think what James is saying here is there somebody out there that's a perfect man? No. Absolutely not. One time in a sermon, I called my parents my grandparents.
Do you think I don't know that my parents are not my grandparents? Like, we stumble in in goofy ways, or in ways that, you know, we can be reactionary to something, or just quit, I didn't think that through. We all do that. Right? And so he's saying, there's nobody out here perfect, but we need to look at this in a way that it is very important.
We need to, again, look at this in a in a very humble way, and and see its importance in the way that we teach. He says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. If I could go to the next one.
There we go. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. Anybody ever boasted of anything? Not the men in here, I know.
Right? The older we get, the better we were at the sport we played. Right? My goodness. And and we live in a world of cameras, and every fish we catch, we hold out as far as our arm can reach, just so that fish looks like it's three foot long and weighs 21 pounds.
New world record. We love to boast, and and and so what he's saying here is he's comparing these things. The tongue is such a small part of the body, yet it has the ability to cause blessings or curses. It has the ability, just like a ship and a rudder, it has the ability to kind of guide where you go in life. Do you understand that?
Do you understand how important your speech is? I know as as we we talk through this, I know some of you are going to go to a job tomorrow where it's the speech is going to be vastly different from what you experienced this morning. Yes? And so, it's a different world because of the way we speak to one another, isn't it? And that guides the culture, that guides if it's a kind of a toxic environment, how it how people speak to one another.
Do you show love? How do you show love? Right? It's not by calling you a name as soon as you walk through the door or gate. Right?
And so, it's such a small thing, yet it boasts of great things. There's a lot that comes out. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire? Such a small thing, and and as we're saying these things, we understand that not only is it what we speak out of our mouth, but what we type. For those of you who still have a a computer at home, or on your phone, everything that comes out in the form of speech has the ability to do all kinds of either good or evil.
You understand that? In Proverbs eighteen twenty one, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. Proverbs got a lot to say. My goodness. You need to get off my toes.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. What does that mean? What you use it for, you will reap the fruits of that usage. Do you understand? You want to speak death, you want to be negative, you want to go that route, that's what you're going to get.
If you want to speak life, that's what you're going get. Again, it's the idea of such a small thing changing the course of your life, just like a ship and rudder. Right? And so, we have got to see this as such an important thing that we do as we communicate with one another. And so, what you say consistently shapes where you and others end up.
You wanna test that theory? Why don't you look at your if you've got a significant other today, right after church, why don't you say something rude and see how the day goes? No, thank you. That's alright. Say amen.
Or, here's another thing, why don't as soon as we get done here, you say something very nice and pleasant and see how the day goes? You know the power of words. You know the power of communication, and we've got to keep that up in our mind. And so small corrections matter, just like driving a car. I've got a problem with my soccer team.
They're eight and nine years old, and they love to watch the soccer ball go around the field, even if it's not near them. So much so, that they don't see a thing that's going on. They don't realize that they are supposed to be on the left side of the field, and now they're on the right side of the field because we're just watching the ball. And so we're not if we're not looking around, like we that's what I tell them. Said, it's like driving a car.
I said, have you ever seen your parents drive a car? I said, are they just staring ahead like this, never moving? They said, no. I said, okay. They're looking in the rearview mirror, they're looking at the side mirror, they're checking everything, they're making sure everything's there.
Right? And if we're not able to do that, if we're so focused, right, we're just missing out on all the corrections we need to make. And so, it's like steering a car, we make small corrections, and those small corrections matter. If you change from saying something rude, which is just as easy to say as something very kind, right, your day is going to go a whole lot differently. And so, unprepared words cause damage.
Katie gets very nervous when I'm teaching class. This is normally where it happens, but sometimes in the sermon, I'll say, I don't know if I need to say this. She is you might as well look at her because she's gonna pass out in just a second. She knows if I say that, maybe I shouldn't say it. She's told me that a few times, by the way.
Unprepared words can cause damage. They don't always cause damage, we understand that. But but we need to take a breath. Right? We don't need to be quick to speak.
We've already talked about that. We need to consider, is this something that's going to build up? Is this something helpful? Is it not? But prepared words direct us in ways we should go.
Right? Because then, okay, I've thought it through, I know how I want to respond, or I know how I want to interact with that person, and that will change the course of the day and even my life, because I have decided how I'm going to respond. In verse six of James three, and the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. Well, that's a good outlook.
I didn't hear any lady say amen to her husband this morning. That's good. It says, for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. Now, what I don't want you to do is go home today and say, see what John said today?
I can't handle it. It's just I am who I am, it'll never change. Right? That's not what this says. James is pointing to these vivid images, this image of fire and poison, even like this chaos, but he's what he's saying is how serious words can be.
And so we've got to, again, decide how am I going to respond. Psalm one forty one says, set a guard, o Lord, over my mouth keep watch over the door of my lips. This is a prayer to God. Really, it's a recognition of, I know what I'm capable of with this thing. Would you guard me?
Would you help me? Because I don't I I understand what it does, I don't want to do that. I don't wanna speak to that person in this way. And I know that's not what I'm supposed to be about, who I'm supposed to be because of who I serve. So set a guard over my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips.
You you hear that. That's the the different heart than going home and saying, well, this is who I am, and that's how I'm going to be, and you better like it. Right? You chose to marry me. Yeah?
No. We say, okay, be with me God, help me in all of these things. Proverbs fifteen one, a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Have you witnessed this before? I've had people get mad at me because I wasn't mad on their level.
Because I try to keep Okay. We Somebody needs to have a level head in this conversation. And then I've had people get mad at me for that. Why aren't you up here with me? Well, because I don't need to be.
I'm professing to be a child of God, I wanna be here, and if I go up there, I'm not gonna be a person who is using the soft answer. Where the result of this conversation is not gonna be love and grace and mercy. Right? It's gonna be, alright, let's go after it. Is that what we're called to do?
No. We're supposed to, again, witness to people about who we serve and what we're about, and again, that we love God and we love our neighbor as ourselves, and that is especially true when we see the way we communicate with one another. And so preparation in this means that every time before you talk, or type, or text, that you consider what you're going to say. Because a delayed word can save a relationship, can it? If I think about it for just a minute, because you've all been there.
That first minute that something happens, if I respond in that minute, it's gonna be very different than if I take a little bit. Let me go to lunch. Let me sleep on that. Yeah? You know it is.
And so, delay that for just a minute. Pray about it. How should I respond? Because in the moment, it feels like I need to strike, and I need to strike now. Strike fast.
Right? Well, you can do that, and some of us are very good at it. I've told you before Katie is upset because I'm kind of quick witted with that, and she's not, and she'll come back later, she's like, I should have said this, and it's pretty good, but she didn't say it, so she doesn't count. Okay? But if you respond right then, it's a different conversation than, okay, I need to let this pass, because what happens?
All of a sudden, emotions go back to normal, you're not you're not as upset. Right? You're not responding in the the moment or the second, and you're able to more clearly think, because in that moment, your brain is just rushed with the emotion of, I got to attack, and I got to hit now. Take that moment to calm down before you talk or text because again, it could save a relationship. Now, a reckless word can burn down months or even years of trust, can it?
We can have a fantastic relationship going into this very day, and you and I can have a conversation in a minute where we have a relationship that is now broken because of the words that were said, and it's going to take a long time to fix it because we no longer have that trust or bond that we did. I want you to think about this. It's the people you love, right, that have been through things with you that you you take the hardest things from, don't you? Because you have built trust, and you can say something to me that I know you're looking out for John, you care about me, and so you can say those things. But if we break that trust in the way that we speak, you're not going to get that, and so we keep it surface level, or we just keep broken relationships.
And so I wanna offer to you this morning that the tongue cannot be tamed just by tightening up your belt and going to work. The tongue can only be tamed by surrendering to God. Praying this very prayer that we just read about. Lord, would you guard my mouth and my lips? In verse nine of James three, with it, again, the tongue, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
We can just stop right there for just a second. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. Was it last week or the week before I told you, keep that in your mind as you deal with people. Because in the moment, again, we're reactionary, we're seeing red, we're, I got a strike, and we've forgotten this is a person who is created by and loved by God, just like me. Just what do we like to do?
We like to okay, they're worthless, let's let's you know, they do this, they're bad people, and so that means they're less than, and that's what we do, and that's how we deal with it. So that I feel like my actions are okay. Because I'm up here and you're here because of these things that I've come up with. And scripture says, these are people made in the likeness of God. Now, it's very true.
They might not be acting like him. How many of you didn't act like the likeness of God, that you were made in the likeness of God at some point this week? Maybe not. Right? We're honest.
Okay. He says, from the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? We ought to know about brackish water in this in this area.
Right? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs, neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. So out of this spring is going to come out what the spring is filled with. Right? And so that's how to test how is my heart, because from that heart flows out these words.
Now, are these words words that are kind and full of grace? Are these words full of evil? Going back to that can lead to a fire, that can do all of these things, be poisonous, and all of this. And so our speech really reveals our theology about how we view God and how we view others. Because if I view you as an opponent, that's one conversation.
If I view you as another person created in the likeness of God, that should be a whole different thing, shouldn't it? That I care about you, that I love you, that I I see you as something of value, just like I see myself. I know and I feel I am created in the likeness of God. Can you view others in the same way? In Colossians four verse six, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
I love that. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you might know how you ought to answer each person. Be salty. Where's where's Allie when you need her? I talked about being salt and light, Ali made me a Katie and I t shirt that said be salty on it.
And I love that because everything about a Christian is supposed to be salty. You're supposed to provide something to the world, and that's what it's saying here. Right? Alright. Season with salt.
It tastes good. Yeah? You know what bad words taste like. Right? You know what evil words or fighting words taste like.
That's not the same. You don't have the same reaction as we're having a good conversation. I'm loving the interaction, we're laughing together. Right? So let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
And again, that may take a minute, that might take breath, or I need to think about this, or something like that, but then you can get there. Don't always be reactionary. The keyword is not choice alone, I think it's a heart condition. Again, coming up from what's what's in there. Like a spring, what's in there is eventually going to come out, and so James calls believers to purify the source.
Purify your heart. You're not just filtering what comes out. Now, you need a filter, some of you need a big filter. Right? You ever said, well, that filter kicked in?
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for kicking in right then. Right? And I'm all for it. We ought to do that. I think that's part of this, being gracious and seasoned with salt as filtering, but also in those moments that we catch ourselves, we're gonna go, okay, where did that come from in the first place?
Right? Why was that my first reaction? I caught it. I didn't say it. Said it inside.
Right? I didn't say it outside. But where did that come from? Why did I have that reaction? And so, as we do that, as we go to God and say, hey, purify my heart that I don't have that reaction.
Can you imagine a week where you don't have that reaction? You know you're going into a bad situation at work or somewhere like that, and instead of that coming out, it is, know, God bless them, they're made in the image of God. We might not even think about responses like that. You ever been around somebody who does and just seem like you want to be upset about something that's so gracious? You go, man, I wish I was like that.
Maybe in the moment you think, why are they like that? I don't them to be mad. Right? Be gracious, seasoned with salt. And so a prepared believer prays before speaking, we listen before reacting, and we speak life when others speak bitterness, and hate, and anger.
That's what the church ought to be about. We live in a world where we get so many people are trying to label Christianity as this thing or that thing. This is one of those things that This you ought to is how a person of Christ acts and speaks. That we speak life and not just bitterness. And so, I think when the heart is prepared by grace, we are an instrument of peace.
You ever sang that song? Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Beautiful song. But that's exactly right, that we want to be instruments of peace out in the world. We talk all the time, what's the world coming to?
Why don't we talk more about what we're doing to fix the world? To bring the kingdom of God into the world. We're not meeting evil with evil, or hate with hate, but we go out in the world as agents of light, asking God to fix the wrongs within the world. I've had friends who will not have kids, they have chosen to have kids because they think the world is so bad. When I was praying to God about having my own kids, I prayed a different way.
I prayed, God, if you allow me to have kids, I want them to be people who change the world for your name. That's who every one of us should be, and it starts with how we speak, how we interact, what post we have on Facebook, who are we calling an idiot this week, or who are we talking down to. Our heart has to be prepared by grace, seeing other people in the likeness of God. And so our words reveal whether our faith is reactive or prepared. The same God who created the world in his own words now calls us to use ours for blessing and not harm.
We shouldn't be out here to get somebody, but to speak blessing. You understand you have that choice this week. Right? Every interaction that you have is a choice. Are you preparing yourself?
In Matthew 12 verse 34, Jesus says this, You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And again, just that idea of if your heart is full of evil and hate, that's what's gonna come out. How could you ever speak good out of a place of evil? In Ephesians four twenty nine, let no no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Is that the way you speak? Is that the way you communicate? To build up? Now, this is not a, you know, everybody gets a trophy, that's what it can sound like. Right?
Everybody's great, we're all great. That can sound like that. No. It's not what it means, but we are building up, and it says, where is it? As fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear, that as you converse, right, you have this graciousness about you.
Would you describe yourself as gracious? Maybe ask your somebody around you who knows you well. I ask my soccer kids all the time, I'll have them do an activity, and probably 13 out of 14 aren't doing it correctly, and I'll say, who did it right? Almost every hand. Sometimes we need somebody outside to see.
Right? Are my words full of grace? I kid all the time that, you know, I I I'm the same person whether I'm standing here or outside unless I'm hangry. That's a joke, but you also know it's true. You've been there, and I've got to work on that.
Right? Just because I'm hungry shouldn't mean that I talk to my wife or kids in a different way. And in those moments, I have to realize what's happening, and I have one way I'd like to be speaking, I need to calm down just a second. I'm not going to starve to death. Alright?
It'll be a long time before John starve to death. Okay? It's alright. Right? But in that moment, it feels like immediate.
It's got to happen. Let's make it happen. Right? I I got to be angry about this. I I need to change that.
I need to I need to make sure, again, no corrupting talk, that I am building up. In Proverbs sixteen twenty four, gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. You ever known somebody who's just negative about everything? How does that make you feel? You just come away from those conversations with that person and go, I just love talking to them.
Just wish we had more time together so we could speak about these negative things. Right? I I think some people are fueled by negative things, and I don't understand it because I think this is exactly right. Gracious words are like a honeycomb sweetness to the soul and a health to the body. Compare that to someone who is always sweet and kind, and you know that just loves you.
How is that conversation? How do you walk away from that versus the negativity and the anger, and I'm always upset about everything? Prepared faith doesn't have to make a decision. Because if our faith is prepared, if we have already prepared for the way we're going to speak to someone else, we don't have to make a decision. We are already prepared.
We have already decided to show love. You don't have to make a decision. It's there. And so that's what I'm encouraging you to do this morning, church. That if your speech hasn't been what it needs to be, ask God.
Just like we just read, ask God to to to to be with your mouth and your lips knowing the power you have in your mouth to tear things down. Can we be people this week who build others up? Make that decision right now. If you like the prayers of this church, we'd love to pray with you. If you haven't put on Christ in baptism, we'd love to see that happen as well today.
Will you come as we stand now?