1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts, be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this 17th Sunday after Pentecost is taken from James 3:1-12, it’s entitled, “Perfection Comes Through Jesus,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. There once was a man who, while listening to a sermon in church, was convicted of his sin, and he set out to do better. “I’ve sinned against [God] in thought, word, and deed,” he said week after week, but this day he especially sensed it was true. He reasoned that his evil thoughts often caught him off guard and might be difficult to change. His evil actions, he decided, were often a product of his thoughts and words. So he would first focus on his words; his words were more likely something he could change. If he could catch himself before he said something he’d regret, he would also have more control over the things he did and, in time, maybe even over the things he thought.
3. For a while, the man was very successful. He always took his time. He didn’t speak without considering what he would say. He wasn’t perfect, but then who is? As time went on, though, he found himself back to his old habits. He hurt people with what he said. He created problems for himself with what he said. I’ll try even harder, he thought, and he committed himself to being more diligent. But the harder he tried, the more he failed. Finally, he gave up. The story is the same for every one of us. The only question then is this: What do we mean when we “give up”? Are we simply defeated? Or is there a “giving up” that’s really moving forward?
4. Today, the Epistle confronts Christians of every age with the inconsistencies between faith and actions. The warning we hear this morning is very clear, and what’s also clear is that no one is immune. “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 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” (James 3:5b–6). In the previous chapter, James addressed the issue of favoritism, but many of us might dismiss ourselves from those charges. “Not me; I would never show such favoritism in church!” But now, his charges run deep and should cut deep into the heart of everyone who hears. Your tongue is an agent of harm. It is on fire with the fire of hell. “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” (James 3:7–8a).
5. No human, not one, is innocent—not you, not me. And to drive the point home James reminds us of what we are all too capable of doing: we can sit here in the Divine Service, praising our God in heaven, and then leave here cursing his most precious creations, other people. We praise God one moment, and then the next the very same tongue, the one in our mouths, can utter such filth about others and even to others. “Look at what he’s doing. What a hideous man he is! Look at her. How can she do that! Imagine what God must think about her! O God, thank you that I’m not like those people!”
6. John came home from work from day to find a wonderful dinner his wife Betty had made. John loved to tell jokes, but sometimes his jokes were a bit too sharp, and Mary would remind him about the power of the tongue from James 3. One evening, John came home from work and saw that Mary had made his favorite dinner. He was so excited that he blurted out, “Wow, Mary, this looks amazing! Did you finally follow the recipe correctly?” Mary raised an eyebrow and said, “John, remember what James 3 says about taming the tongue. You might want to try again.” John quickly realized his mistake and said, “I mean, Mary, you always make the best meals. I’m so lucky to have you!” Mary smiled, “That’s better. Now, let’s eat before your tongue gets you into more trouble!” As they sat down to eat, John couldn’t help but chuckle and said, “You know, Mary, if my tongue were a ship, you’d be the captain keeping it on course.” Mary laughed and said, “And if your tongue were a fire, I’d be the firefighter putting it out!” And so, John and Mary enjoyed their dinner, with John learning that sometimes, the best way to keep the peace is to think before you speak.
7. St. Paul wrote: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). James would agree. His proof is the tongue. Ours are tongues that cannot be tamed. Sure, we try. Just like the man in the opening story, we put our mind to fixing the problem. After all, we are children of God. Such a fiery tongue is not befitting us. Wouldn’t God want us to tame it so that it speaks only words that glorify him? Sure he would. He does. But the harder we try, it seems, the worse we do. “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body” (James 3:2b). But I am not a perfect man. Neither my tongue nor my body is bridled. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24).
8. So, is there nothing we can do? Are we doomed to live this life in a never-ending battle against a tongue that would just as soon destroy us as it would honor the God of our salvation? Well, in a way, yes, and in another, no. The battle will go on for each of us. But the very same words of the Epistle point us toward the victory that is ours in the battle. The battles rage on, but the war is already over. Listen again: “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body” (James 3:2b). And here is the good news of God’s grace toward imperfect men and women such as you and me: “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. (Is 53:2–7)
9. “And like a sheep that before its shearers is silent.” All is not lost, and our tongues, though they rage with the fire of hell, will not condemn us. “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body” (James 3:2b). There is no man who is perfect, then, except one. There is one who is a perfect man. There is one who bridled his tongue and bridled his whole body. There is one who lived the perfect life you and I cannot live. There is one who deserved none of what he received at the hands of those who hung him on the cross, but suffered every moment as he bore the burden of our sinful tongues.
10. That perfect one, our Savior Jesus Christ, lived and died and rose exactly because our tongues are “a fire, a world of unrighteousness” (James 3:6). He bridled his tongue even in the face of death so that we might receive his righteousness as he now lives in us. So we need not “give up,” not in the sense of living in despair or guilt. Instead, we live as children of our heavenly Father. We live as those given the inheritance of the only Son of God, who was silent on our behalf. We live by giving in.
11. In the waters of Holy Baptism, that fire that burns from your tongue was extinguished. The Word of God that you hear fills your mind and your heart with the pure truth from God. That Word replaces all of the “other words” and gives your tongue something righteous to speak. As you receive the body and blood of Christ under the bread and the wine, the wounds inflicted on you by the things you say are healed. God’s grace is a saving flood that not even the fires of hell can stand against. And what you are helpless against on your own, you conquer in Jesus Christ.
12. There is no one perfect except Jesus. You will try to bridle your tongue and your body and your mind, but they will fail you. And though we will never stop trying, our trying must now be in Christ—giving up on ourselves and giving in to him. In him we receive the forgiveness of sins that goes way beyond giving up. For, “all things are possible for one who believes” (Mk 9:23b). What’s impossible for us, perfection, is ours in Christ. In the forgiveness of our sins, God makes us perfect—and thus renews us, strengthens us, and guides us according to his will. Perfection Comes Only through the One Perfect Man, Christ. In Christ, the story does not end for that man we heard of at the beginning of the sermon, nor does it end for us, in despair and uncertainty. In Christ, it ends in victory. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24–25a). Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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