"James: Lesson 3"

Sadly, James knows that while our words can do great good, they can also do great harm.

[1] “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil - Kingly Behavior” by Alicia Walter

James 3:1-12

September 15, 2024

Dr. Todd R. Wright

“Not many of you should become teachers …” James proclaims.

Not exactly the encouraging note those involved in education are looking for, is it?

It is not easy to be a teacher, what with writing lesson plans and maintaining discipline, keeping students interested and preparing them for whatever tests they will face.

In many places the class sizes are growing and budgets are shrinking.

They receive low pay and, often, little support.

And always, their words are under scrutiny.

James knows … and says it’s not for everybody.

But the problem is that everybody is a teacher.

That’s part of being a spouse or a parent:

You teach lessons about cooking or car maintenance, knitting or shoe-tying, gardening or how to play games with skill and lose with grace.

That’s part of being a co-worker or a boss:

You teach lessons about what to do if the copier sticks or how to fill out time sheets, the best way to make a sale or how to treat a complaining customer, where to take the trash or how to scoop the perfect scoop of ice cream so it doesn’t break the cone.

That’s part of being a neighbor or a friend:

You teach lessons about how to maintain a flower bed or where to get a deal on mulch,

how to ask the city for a load of gravel or where the closest dry cleaner is located, how to get over the end of a relationship or how to face cancer.  

We are all teachers. And much of that teaching hinges on our words.

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That’s why James cautions his congregations about the risky nature of speech.

He talks about the tongue being like the fire that sets a forest ablaze.

Wouldn’t you love to know what’s behind those lines?  

Is he poking at something someone in one of his congregations said, causing a stir?

Is he remembering with regret something he said?

Like when he and his siblings went with Mary to fetch his brother home, implying that they thought Jesus was out of his mind?

Or is he remembering how Jesus’ speech drew thousands to a hillside for a lesson on the true nature of blessing, how he called a little girl back from the dead, how he forgave from the cross … and how those words kindled fire in people’s hearts and spread to the ends of the world?

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Sadly, James knows that while our words can do great good, they can also do great harm. That is what he is warning about, for in his position as a leader in the Early Church, he has seen how words can divide congregations, how a few malicious rumors or crafty accusations can poison a ministry, how words spoken in anger can end a friendship and undercut the spread of the gospel.

So he invites folks to tames their tongues and test their words.

Y’all may know that I am a Rotarian – part of a civic club with the slogan, “service above self”. But you may not know that we end every meeting by repeating the four-way test. It goes like this: Of the things we think, say, or do …

Is it the truth?

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build good and better friendships?

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

The original wording was penned by Herbert J. Taylor as he strove to save an aluminum products company from bankruptcy in 1932, He believed his first job was to set policies for the company that would reflect the high ethics and morals God would want in any business. He searched through many books and still couldn’t find the right phrasing. He prayed and was inspired to write down those four simple questions on a note card. Using the four-way test helped the company find its moral footing and become profitable. It was adopted by Rotary International in the 1940s and is still held as the standard by which all behavior should be measured.[2]

So what test questions would you apply to your words?

“Is it the truth?” would echo the Ten Commandments prohibition against lying.

That’s a good place to start. What would you add?

Maybe … are your words helpful or healing?

Are they reflective of the grace and mercy we have known from God?

Do they treat the person we are speaking to like they are created in the image of God?

Are they hopeful?

Are they encouraging?

Are they loving?

Maybe, do they reflect who I really am – like figs from a fig tree?

Whatever questions you ask, may your words glorify the God you worship! Amen

[1] “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil - Kingly Behavior” by Alicia Walter

[2] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four-Way_Test