Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

 

Tongue twisters:

 

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter.

"But," said she, "this butter's bitter.

If I put it in my batter, It will make my batter bitter.

But a bit of better butter- /That/ would make my batter better."

So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter (better than her bitter butter) And she put it in her bitter batter And made her bitter batter a bit better.

When a doctor gets sick and another doctor doctors him, does the doctor doing the doctoring have to doctor the doctor the way the doctor being doctored wants to be doctored, or does the doctor doing the doctoring of the doctor doctor the doctor as he wants to do the doctoring?

A skunk sat on a stump.

The stump thunk the skunk stunk.

The skunk thunk the stump stunk.

Once upon a barren moor There dwelt a bear, also a boar.

The bear could not bear the boar.

The boar thought the bear a bore.

At last the bear could bear no more Of that boar that bored him on the moor,  And so one morn he bored the boar-- That boar will bore the bear no more.

Ned Nott was shot and Sam Shott was not.

So it is better to be Shott than Nott.

Some say Nott was not shot.

But Shott says he shot Nott.

Either the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot, or Nott was shot.

If the shot Shott shot shot Nott, Nott was shot.

But if the shot Shott shot shot Shott,  then Shott was shot, not Nott.

However,

the shot Shott shot shot not Shott --but Nott.

·        Spend a little time trying to say tongue twisters and soon you will discover that we can get our selves absolutely confused and tongue tied.

·        The tongue is an amazing organ that can recite the sweetest words.

·        It can command the greatest armies.

·        It can tame wild animals

·        It can calm the fears of a frightened child.

·        It is capable of all these things but it is also able perform atrocious harm

·        It can in a single phrase damage the heart, curb ambition and make one contemplate the futility of life.

·        It can tear apart the fabric of a home and a church.

·        And no matter the place, no matter the time of day or the occasion it is always ready, always accessable.

 

James in chapter 3:1-12 implores his audience that one of the way to demonstrate the authenticity of their faith is by the taming of the tongue.

In these verse we want to look at five characteristics of the tongue that we should be aware of.

\\ ·        The Tongue has the Potential to Attack (3:1-2a)

 

*3:1* Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.

*3:2* For we all stumble in many ways.

·         As is so important throughout the study of Scripture, the context helps us to understand clearly the intent of James in this passage.

·         James is giving instructions to those who are teachers or desiring to be teachers in the assembly.

·         He is offering a warning to them who may be tempted to use their position to mislead and hurt the body of Christ.

·         So does this passage have anything to offer to those who are not considered teachers?

·         I believe it does because Romans 15:14 says:

 

*15:14* But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

·         So while this passage sounds like it may be limiting its audience, we are all called to instruct one another in the faith.

·         There is a sober warning to all of us as we instruct in small groups, from the pulpit, in our homes or over a cup of coffee and that is there is a severity of God’s accountability on those who instruct others in regards to God’s character, actions and will.

·         James is saying that it is with our words that we can lead others astray by what we say

·         The tongue has the potential to attack the Christian faith by teaching falsely

·         In the early church there was a high value on the role of teacher.

·         They were seen as ordained or commissioned individuals to the ministry of the word and were afforded great honor.

·         But there was this temptation to teach falsely.  2 Peter 2:1:

 

*2:1* But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.

These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them.

As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves.

·        There are those who teach falsely in order to pump themselves up, they teach in order to gain power and prestige, there are those who teach in order to gain control or to increase their bank account.

·        False teaching comes from deceptive teachers and whether it is done intentionally or out of ignorance, the tongue has the ability to begin a war upon orthodoxy and we are to be on our guard of those who would deceive.

·        We need to be on guard that our own teaching does not compromise the gospel.

·        It is so easy because we can be lazy, unwilling to do the hard work of understanding the Word of God, it is tempting because we bring to the Bible our own ideas and want it to say what is comfortable to us.

·        James gives a strong warning that being a teacher must be taken seriously.

·        Verse two tells us that the attack of the tongue has the propensity to cause the teacher to stumble and in turn can cause the church to do the same.

·        The idea of the word stumble in the text is closely associated with sin.

We are all called to travel this life without being tripped up, but there are times when we all stumble.

·        James is emphasizing that teaching error, using our tongues is such a way that demeans our holy God is an attack on our relationship with God that jeopardizes our integrity and spiritual condition.

The tongue can cause us to sin.

The tongue is /you/ in a unique way.

It is a tattletale that tells on the heart and discloses the real person.

Not only that, but misuse of the tongue is perhaps the easiest way to sin.

There are some sins that an individual may not be able to commit simply because he does not have the opportunity.

But there are no limits to what one can say, no built-in restraints or boundaries.

In Scripture, the tongue is variously described as wicked, deceitful, perverse, filthy, corrupt, flattering, slanderous, gossiping, blasphemous, foolish, boasting, complaining, cursing, contentious, sensual, and vile.

And that list is not exhaustive.

No wonder God put the tongue in a cage behind the teeth, walled in by the mouth!

Using another figure, someone has observed that because the tongue is in a wet place, it can easily slip.

–John MacArthur

\\ The Tongue has the Ability to Control (3:2b-5a)

 

If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.

*3:3* And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies.

*3:4* Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs.

*3:5* So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions.

·         James is going to make quite clear that everyone of us regardless of how holy we think we are commit sins on a regular basis with our mouths.

·         If we could control at all times what we say we would be able to attain perfection and we all know that perfection comes only in the presence of Christ.

·         We may be able to harness all the rest of our lives, but the tongue is a wild entity, difficult to control.

·         He is assuming, and rightly so, that we will all stumble with our words, not just misplaced words but words that are intended to hurt and destroy.

·         What you and I say in our teaching, or in our relationship with our families, strangers on the street or our friends can be one area where we sin.

·         In verses 3 and 4 he provides two analogies of how the tongue has the ability to control.

·         These examples would have been familiar to his readers.

They would all be aware of these because they surrounded them on every side.

If anyone wanted to travel any distance across water a ship was required.

They all had witnessed armies and in every army there are horses.

·         The horse is a powerful animal capable of performing tasks and providing to its owner much more than we could do on our own.

The entire power of a horse could be controlled by a small piece of metal in its mouth.

·         The entire will, fears and desires of the animal could be overcome by this small object.

·         A ship is influenced by currents, winds, waves, and storms and yet the sailor can keep heading towards his destination by a small piece of wood on the back of boat.

·         Put it another way.

A car is a powerful piece of machinery, often over 3000 pounds, it can turn and twist down a road, accelerate with unbelievable exhilaration, and when out of control it can kill, but it all can be controlled by a small wheel.

·         His point is simple; this small piece of metal, this little rudder has the ability to have unimaginable control.

·         The words used to instruct or provide direction if misplaced have the power to set in motion something much larger than itself, namely the church.

·         Words can take a congregation and all that influences it and steer it in a positive, life changing direction or bring it to destruction.

·         So in our instruction with friends, family and those we encounter, our words can have a great deal of influences for good or the bad.

·         Words have the ability to haunt us, give us hope, they can give us joy or they can break our spirit.