Be Careful Of Your Tongue!

The letter of James delivers a sharp rebuke to all of us with regards to the words that come out of our mouths. With just our tongue, we are able to bring so much destruction beyond belief. Case in point: World War 1 began with bad words. Wrong words can give offence to the wrong ears, and the result can be the fall of empires, or the wiping away of complete nations. I want us to consider the weighty responsibility that God has given us when he granted us speech. Do we use our speech for the healing of nations or for their destruction? There is power behind our words. The words that we utter can create situations. Funny enough, that’s exactly how our God created the world. He spoke creation into existence: “And God said: Let there be light.” I spotted a similar occurrence in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus asked his disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered: You are the Messiah. That confession itself was powerful because it created a huge amount of faith in Peter’s life. Jesus took the opportunity to tell his disciples about the journey that all believers have to embark on: It is the journey to the cross. It is a journey that doesn’t make sense to us who live on this earth planet: We are addicted to total comfort, why would we choose the way of suffering? But Jesus was clear and purposeful explaining how vital it is for believers to take on this difficult journey and to follow him. We ought to be careful with what we confess with our mouths beginning with us teachers. I am as guilty. The Bible never ceases to direct our paths towards the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. I see it in the case of the prophet Isaiah who recognized how God had given him a tongue of the learned to comfort the weary. He proceeded to tell us about his own “journey to the cross” of how he withstood all his trials because He knew that God was with him. Wow, this is pointing to Jesus’ way of the cross, which he was clearly explaining to his disciples: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” You may ask: But Father C. How bad could that be? What are the stakes? What did he mean by denying ourselves and taking up our cross? The Gospel people will be counter-cultural, (It is not easy. It wasn't easy for Dr Martin Luther King Jr.) The Gospel People will break their own will for the sake of Christ, they will be peacemakers and reconcilers; and they will constantly let go of their old prideful selves with remarkable persistence. They will immerse themselves into the very depth of Christ’s divine nature, as He himself was entirely immersed into our humanity. Jesus told us: “Dwell in me as I dwell in you!” This Holy Exchange happens each time we come to Holy Eucharist: the very center of our Christian lives. That is where we gain divine wisdom (a wise tongue), and a thirst for the things of God. Remember: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” Matt 12. But here it is: We are all human like Peter, we make mistakes. No need to deny it: We would have done the same and rebuked Jesus about his journey to the cross. We would have asked Jesus why he wanted to go towards suffering! It seems absurd to us. We need to see as Jesus sees, not like our human desiring eyes see. Jesus was directing us into his own path of suffering, which is where true life is! Our own choices according to our own eyes lead us into problems. This is a call for us to reflect on our own life trajectories: Either we are uttering words that are focused on the journey to gain the whole world with a temporary success and vain glory, endangering our souls. Or we are uttering words that are focused on the things of God, accepting the way of the cross, denying ourselves for the sake of Christ. Jesus’ message is clear: Something about us ought to change drastically. In God’s presence, we begin to recognize how we have loved ourselves more than we love God our creator, and that we have become the center of our own universe, therefore drawn more to self-pity, self-centeredness, bitterness and loneliness. That’s not what God made us for. God wants us to drop all that yucky perspective and wake up to a new divine reality like the prophet Isaiah: Be found dwelling in God’s love and forgiveness! God is giving you a total new speech to build, protect and heal and not to destroy. God says to us in Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.” So, speak to bless, protect and heal! Receive healing and protection from our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen

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