2024-10-06 - Covenant CRC - sermon only - Joel Kok

 This Sunday, we're going to explore following Jesus again through the Epistle of James. Today, we're going to be in James chapter 3. So I'll find the page. I think it's page 1883. Let me double-check there.

James 3 is on page 1883. We'll read verses 1 through 12. As always, there's so much in every word that we read here that we need the Holy Spirit in so many ways that we're going to join in a prayer of illumination, praying for the Holy Spirit to help us understand and live by these words.

So let's join in this prayer of illumination.

Gracious God, once again, we are going to experience your words as living and sharp, sharper than any double-edged sword. And we're so grateful again. When you cut open our hearts, our minds, our whole bodies, our lives, you're doing that to heal us, to remember us, to bring us back together with you and with one another in a wonderful way.

We pray that as we listen to your word today, we can experience Jesus Christ as the word made flesh. For that to happen, we pray for your Holy Spirit to illumine us. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so again, James three, beginning at verse 12, I'm beginning at verse one and reading through verse 12.

And this is coming to us. Jesus speaks through James, and Jesus loves us. And that love is good. What we're going to need is to hear some sharp words here. So, James three, beginning at verse one, hear God's word.

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he's a perfect man able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large, they are driven and are driven by strong winds.

They are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sends the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father. And with it, we curse men who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

This is the word of the Lord.

Friends, in our worship this morning, our Lord is working with us to tame our tongues.

And the further good news there is that the Lord tames our tongues. Our Lord also transforms our entire lives so that we can be transformed into people with tongues that burn with godly flames. And that can help us speak and sing with streams from the Holy Spirit in which we can rejoice forever. So that is the good news that comes out of our reading for this morning as we hear it in communion with Christ and to help us know how much we need communion with Christ For these words to be good news coming true for us let's just note what James says, which is that on our own, none of us, not one of us can tame our own tongues on our own.

And that's a pretty serious truth because of our untamed tongues. Do you know what they're like? You know what they're full of? Restless evil, a deadly poison, the fiery danger that comes from hell. Thank God, when it comes to the taming of our tongues, our Lord gives us hope about the taming of our tongues.

That is very much like our hope for the resurrection of our bodies. We cannot do it on our own, but our Lord has so much saving grace that he can tame our tongues in a way that, eventually, we'll be able to celebrate forever. Just before we get to a few of the more specifics in our passage, let's just note that this reading for this morning is related to similar sorts of gospel truths in the gospel.

So, for example, as we've already noted, we can't raise ourselves from the dead on our own, but this loving, gracious God can and does raise us out of death to sin and into new life in Christ. Or to come on another analogy that we'll get to again later, we can't be born again on our own, and we need to be born again, but we can't be born again on our own.

But this Savior, who does sometimes shock us, can make it possible for us to be born again so that we can enter into the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God in Christ is a whole new creation. And so all these gospel truths are going to flow in and through us as we think about Jesus taming our tongues.

Again, thank God, even though we can't do it on our own, Jesus is going to tame our tongues with transforming grace. This means we are going to be able to rise from death to sin and to new life with Christ. We will be born again into this kingdom, this new creation. We're going to be able to speak from tongues that have been cut open but also then spoken, healed by this gracious God, and for us to be able to move toward being able to speak with tongues that blaze with fire, not from hell, but instead from heaven as Jesus brings it to us here on earth. In other words, to participate in the transformation that comes with taming our tongues. We can begin with a biblical word and the biblical word we can begin with here is the Word as in the Word became flesh. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God,” and that Word that is God became flesh in a way for which we can thank God because that means these words again, which can shock us or scare us. The purpose of those words is to save us. And so let's hear the word tongue, which we'll get back to in just a little while; let's again start with the Word Jesus Christ, and let's think about how Jesus as the Word who became flesh, he speaks, his tongue has so much power that it's transformed people for centuries, it can transform us now, it is as James says, it can seem like just a small spark of fire but it's a small spark that can lead to the blazing of a whole forest or the transforming of a whole life. And to see that transforming power that comes as Jesus tames our tongue, we can look at the word becoming flesh in a gospel scene and in a specific gospel scene involving some speaking power.

We encounter this scene in the Gospel of John, chapter seven. See, what's going on in John 7 is that Jesus has been speaking for quite a while, and his talk, his tongue, has so much power that some rival teachers who want the power are so angry at Jesus that they want to get rid of him. They want to kill him.

In John 7, this is happening at a ceremony in the Jewish tradition. Jesus is describing his tongue here, not so much as fire, but another image from James. He's describing it as a river, a stream that brings all kinds of power from God. But again, the rival teachers hate Jesus for having that kind of power.

They send some guards to Jesus to drag him back and get rid of him in whatever way works for them. In John 7, we read about these guards coming to Jesus, but then the guards return to those rival teachers without Jesus, which angers those rival teachers.

They say, “Why didn't you bring him with you? What are you doing here without bringing Jesus to us so we can get rid of him?“ And do you remember what the guards say to those rival teachers? The guards say, in effect, “Here's why we can't bring him back. Here's why we didn't.” They say that no one has ever spoken like that man.

In other words, as Jesus spoke about a river with the power of a river, they said no one has ever spoken like this. And even though physically, they were a gang that could have grabbed him, those words had so much power they just went back and got yelled at by the rival teachers. And I think we see the paradoxical power of Jesus in all kinds of ways, including the paradoxical power of his words coming from his tongue.

Because again, those guards experienced those words, the tongue of Jesus, having a power that just fascinated them and amazed them at Jesus. But for the rival teachers? You know what the words of God from the tongue of Jesus for those rival teachers, you know what they're like? They're like worthless seeds that they just want to see bounce away in terms of Jesus’ parables.

These are like hard soil, like the path that's just broken down so hard that they say, “Oh, this guy's speaking these words; they're just worthless seeds;” they let them bounce away. And again, that's that paradoxical power. That's what we can think about today. When we hear biblical words, word, tongue, on and on, we could just let it bounce away.

Oh, who needs to think about that? Or we could say, boy, if we let this into our hearts and ponder it for the rest of our lives, it'll have a power. That's like a river. That's like a fire that can transform our whole lives. And to get a glimpse of that power starting to work, that paradoxical power working in a transforming way.

We can look at one more element from that scene in John 7. That additional element is that there is a rival teacher who's becoming a helpful teacher to Jesus. He speaks in Jesus’ defense in John 7. And interestingly, revealingly, the other teacher who will defend Jesus is Nicodemus. As Nicodemus hears these evil words against Jesus flying all around, Nicodemus says, “Wait a minute.”

In our tradition, if someone is teaching the word, we want to hear what Jesus is teaching and saying. What are the words coming from his tongue? In effect, Nicodemus says the rival teachers throw him away, too. He's speaking worthless words on behalf of Jesus. But it's quite amazing that Nicodemus is speaking on behalf of Jesus because I think most of you are familiar with the earlier scene in the gospel of John in which Jesus speaks some pretty shocking words to Jesus.

In John 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night because Jesus is controversial. Nicodemus doesn't want everybody to see him visiting this guy named Jesus, so he comes to Jesus at night and starts with flattering words: “Jesus, we know you're a teacher from God because you've worked some amazing signs.”

And so, as Nicodemus flatters Jesus, what are the words that Jesus has for Nicodemus? “You must be born again. You must be born from above.” In other words, Jesus is telling Nicodemus, in effect, Don't presume to be a teacher here, Nicodemus. Don't think you can just flatter me or lead me in one direction or another. You need to be born again, which can be translated as born from above. Then he adds, you need to be born of water; you need to be born of the spirit. These are the words that Jesus speaks from his tongue to Nicodemus. How do you think that sounded to Nicodemus? As he came, trying to flatter and get into a good place, Jesus said, you need to be born again.

When Nicodemus struggles, Jesus says, "You're a teacher in Israel, and you still don't understand these things." In other words, you're presuming to be a teacher, even if you know, but you don't really know what the Word of God is talking about here. That's pretty stunning. And we don't read there how Nicodemus responds to those sharp words.

But by John 7, we see somehow those sharp words are having a saving effect on Nicodemus because in a crowd of people hating Jesus, Nicodemus speaks with a love that says, let's listen to this man. Let's find out what he is really saying. An” And what we see in John 7 continues in the gospel of John, where again, we don't hear Nicodemus mentioned very often.

But he gets mentioned again in John 19 because in John 19, Jesus has been hated by his rivals so much that he's been crucified. Nicodemus comes alongside another disciple to help bury this man who has suffered so much. And so again, those are sharp, shocking words that have a saving, transforming effect.

Because that's the kind of tongue Jesus has and the tongue that Jesus wants to share with us, please remember. If you hear some words from Jesus that will shock you or even scare you, remember His saving purpose. Remember that He wants to bring you into a full life in which you can flow like a river and be burned like a holy fire from a heavenly God.

So, for us to have some version of what was happening in Nicodemus, we can listen to some further words from Jesus. And here, before I read those words to you, I'll just share that as I was getting ready for this message this Sunday morning, I was already wrestling with all the words and all these other things happening.

That led me to some related words from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12. Those words just let me know, yeah, like Nicodemus, I need to be born again. Like all of us, I need to be raised into a new life. And so here are the words that Jesus spoke to me through, and I'll invite you to listen to Jesus as we read these.

Again, this is Matthew 12. Here's what Jesus says to all of us. Jesus says, ‘On the day of judgment, you know what's going to happen on the day of judgment? On the day of judgment, everyone will have to give an account for every word that you have spoken. Every worthless word is going to be part of your judgment.

And there, Jesus says, by your words, you're going to be justified. And by your words, you're also going to be condemned. Now, here, I wonder. Maybe we could have a whole dialogue later. What comes to mind if you think about Jesus judging every word you've spoken? Have there ever been any worthless words, any hellish words that have come out of your mouth? Jesus is going to judge those words proceeding from your untamed tongue.

When we hear Jesus revealing to us that our words could lead to our condemnation, what can we do in response? I think what Jesus is doing through James is calling us to call out Jesus. I confess my words can be really bad. Jesus, give me your transforming taming of my tongue so that we can begin to speak in ways that burn again, not from hell but from heavenly holiness.

Give us those kinds of tongues, Lord. And again, that's the kind of purpose Jesus has in sharp words such as James three. Or Matthew 12, where, as he says in Isaiah 55, “My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts, you're never going to totally understand me, but know that my words to you, they're like rain and snow, they're just going to bring the kind of power that'll accomplish my purpose,” says the Lord.

My purpose is that you'll be able to celebrate a salvation that'll go on forever. So let's let Jesus shock us for a moment. And let's let Jesus save us. Let's just let Jesus transform our tongues, not just tame them, but transform them so that we can eventually speak to one another in a Christ-like way forever.

That's thrilling. We're going to be able to speak and sing with holiness like God, with grace and peace like Jesus. That's what He wants to happen here. And for us to participate in that kind of salvation happening, that's exciting. We'll listen to just a few more words from our Savior and then one more gospel scene that describes what our Savior is doing now.

So, the additional words from our Savior here come from the epistle of Hebrews chapter 11. The last two verses of that chapter, as many of you remember, are about person of faith after person of faith. None of them is perfect, but they have faith, and in their faith, they start to receive the salvation that God wants for them.

But then, through Hebrews 11: 39 and 40, our Lord says, but you know what? All these people of faith who did some wonderful things, none of them has the fullness of salvation because, you know what? The fullness, the perfection, that word is there too, the perfection of that creation will only happen when we all come together.

In other words, our Lord is going to bring us next to Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene, and all these people of faith. When he brings us all together, that's when there can be perfection, a fullness of salvation, and to help us stay together. What can we do? We can keep praying and living. Jesus, tame my tongue, transform my tongue so that when we come together, I'm not making stupid, sarcastic jokes, cruel, or ignorant things.

Help all of us speak in a way that will bring us together toward the perfection that comes for people of faith in Christ. And then, that perfection will be expressed as we heard in our call to worship. As described in Revelation 7, where we read that to bring us all together towards this perfect, full salvation, our Lord is going to gather people from every single nation, tribe, people, and tongue.

As Sabrina rightly read for us, that's the Greek word there—the word for tongue. He will bring us all together from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue. When we've got those transformed tongues together, it will be perfect. It's going to be a celebration of praise for our Savior forever.

It's going to be the best thing. It'll be better than we can ask or imagine. And here, just by way of conclusion, we can add, you know what? Jesus is making that salvation happen now. As with Nicodemus, it will unfold over time, but he is making that salvation happen now through the words that come from his tongue and his presence at the table.

We get that message in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, where we read about the road to Emmaus, which is the road we are on every time we worship. You may remember that on the road, we met two disciples who were down. They don't really know what's going on. They didn't understand what Jesus was saying. And so Jesus speaks to them. Jesus teaches them the word of God with this tongue that transforms. And what do they say as they look back on Jesus teaching them, speaking from his tongue on the road? Our hearts were on fire.

Jesus had this healing holiness in his words, with his words being like fire, and then how did those words take on even more strength in the presence of Jesus? It happened when he broke the bread. They say that in the breaking of the bread, Jesus became known to us, which means that Jesus became experienced by us. And that is Luke telling Christians how to worship. How do we understand Jesus taming our tongues and transforming our whole lives? Listen to him speak in a fiery way through his words, which could scare you at first, but it will burn away the evil and help you have more and more holiness.

And then he will make that happen even further by meeting you at the table, where his Holy Spirit will make Jesus present in a way that helps us have true communion with Christ in a way that makes us more and more like the Christ that we want to follow into this perfection He's making that happen through his tongue and his words right now. He's going to make it happen further in his spirit at the table and to participate in that kind of salvation, let's join in prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank you so much that you tame our tongues, And we thank you even further, you transform our tongues. We thank you that we can hear you promising already now. And someday, we were more fully experienced that we're going to be part of a coming together of perfection from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue.

We thank you that we can speak and sing about that this morning. We thank you that you are making it happen through your word and your spirit. And so we pray that we can participate. In every word we speak, in the way we walk and talk, maybe walk and talk like you, Lord Jesus. And we offer this prayer in your name.

Amen.