James 3:1-12 (NRSV)
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Chapter 3Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. Verse 2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. Verse 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Verse 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. Verse 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! Verse 6And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. Verse 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, Verse 8but no one can tame the tongue-a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Verse 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. Verse 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Verse 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Verse 12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
Devotion
Today we remember the terrorist acts of 9/11 that changed everything and remind us that we live in a broken world. Brokenness is nothing new to us. It is hard to know for sure just exactly what specific issues James was responding to, but clearly there were fractures in this first-century faith community. Evidently heretical teaching, careless talk, or duplicity was eroding the health of this gathering.
We are not surprised. Families, friendships, churches, neighborhoods, the global international tapestry—all are so very fragile and are so easily broken by mistruths or defamations. While our words are imperfect, the words of our Lord bring life. When asked if his disciples would also abandon Jesus, Peter spoke for all by saying, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” By following him, perhaps we too will learn to speak to one another appropriately.
Prayer
O God, whose Word brings life, we confess our words fall so very short. But we ask that through Jesus we might be voices of hope, healing, grace, and peace. Amen.
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