“The Power of a Word”

Scripture: James 3:1-12

What’s in a word? It’s an easy question to ask, but the answer is far more difficult. In my Worship and Sacraments class at Wesley last week, we spent quite a bit of time considering the implication and depth of various religious symbols – such as the Cross, a candle, the altar, and so on. On the surface, we see them as physical objects, but in faith, they have a depth that is far greater than the physicality that they exhibit.
And in that light, humanity tends to throw out words without regard for what they mean and for how they will be perceived and received. Micah 6:8 tells us that the Lord wants us to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.
But what does that really mean? I think that many folks spend a lot of time trying to figure out how much justice is enough, and if “liking” mercy is sufficient, and do we really have to be totally humble before God, or is some humility acceptable!

Words, in and of themselves, are just fine, but don’t we just love to massage them, and spin them, and analyze them, and redefine them until the original thought is totally lost? The power of a word, assuming that we don’t study it to death, is in the intent and heart of the speaker.

Read James 3:1-6

The power of a word can help and encourage, and the same word can be used to mislead and misrepresent and chastise.

A poor old man walked into a diner and sat down at the counter. A big, hulking waiter in a dirty T-shirt came up and said, “What's yours, Mack?”
The man said, “Give me two eggs, scrambled, and a few kind words.” The waiter clomped off to the kitchen and returned in a few minutes with the plate of eggs, slamming it carelessly down in front of the man.
As he turned away, the man said, “Wait a minute, what about those kind words?”
The waiter turned back and said, “Oh, yea. Don't eat dem eggs.”
- Homiletics on Line

Do you think the two men had greatly differing concepts of what a “kind word” was all about? The power of a word is unlike any other that humanity can wield. It can help and it can harm, it can build up and it can destroy, and once it is released, it can never be called back. In the first chapter of James, we read “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak” (v.19), and later, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself, and his religion [i.e. his faith] is worthless.” (v. 26). Think about what you are going to say before you say it!

There’s an old saying that helps us to understand this:
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Heart, tongue, hands, minds, life.

James writes about the impact that our words can have on others if there is no thought behind them. He uses the analogy of a bit in the mouth of a horse, the rudder on a ship, and a careless spark in a forest. The thoughtless word will be no less powerful than these and will have no less of an impact on our life and the lives of others.
Consider your thoughts and intent first and take your time about it; then and only then let your words reflect what you really want to say – in other words, it is “ready, aim, fire”, not “ready, fire, aim”!

Read James 3:7-12

James thoughts on the power of the tongue are offered almost completely in a negative context - that the wrong words can have devastating consequences.

Dr. Tony Evans, author, evangelist and President of The Urban Alternative in Dallas, Texas, suggests what our problem, as the Church, might be. He writes:
“There's obviously nothing wrong with the head of the church. Jesus is alive and well .... Our central nervous system, the Holy Spirit, is also fine. The Spirit is taking the Word and sending it through the body so the body knows what to do and has the power to do it.
The problem lies in the body. The hands get the word from the Spirit, but they don't feel like moving. The feet don't feel like walking. The mouth doesn't feel like talking. As a result, the church stumbles around like a diseased body. Think of the message [that] a sick church gives to the world.
--Anthony T. Evans, America's Only Hope (Chicago: Moody Press, 1990), 90.

This “sickness”, the wrong words, the failure of the body to respond in the truth of God’s word and of the Spirit’s call - is what all too many people today identify as Christian thought, and it is destroying any true witness that we might have to share with them.

But what about the right words, the thoughtful words, the ones that come from the depth of Christian thought, from the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and are not simply a human response? Don’t they have great power, too? Of course they do! But these words can never be our words – they need to be the words that come directly from Almighty God!

Isaiah 55:10-11 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

The power of God’s word is incredible! And his word will manifest itself in one way or another, whether we allow it to flow through us or not. It will not return to heaven empty! If we refuse to let it come from our tongue, it will come from someone else’s. Wouldn’t you prefer to be the faithful servant instead of the one who buries his gift? Remember Jesus’ parables of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and the Minas (Luke 19:11-27)? These are about the power of God’s word, and whether we will allow it to work within us, or whether we decide to bury it, or corrupt it, or hide it.

In verses 7-8 of our James passage, he tells us that we can never “tame” our tongue. We cannot control it, we cannot harness it, we have little to no influence over it – but if we give the Lord the opportunity, he can do wonders with our thoughts and our words and our actions and our habits and our character and our life. But we have to surrender our control to him if we truly want him to begin to work through us.

Are you willing to “let go and let God”? Are you prepared to let the word that comes from the heart of God to flow through you and out into the world, regardless of what that word may be? Thinking that having Jesus in our life, and that that is sufficient for the Christian experience, is narrow and limiting. That is “3rd servant” thinking, when what we really need to be is “1st and 2nd servant” disciples! We need to claim the power of God’s word for our lives, and not to fear it, not to turn away from it, not to bottle it up, not to decide that we aren’t quite ready yet and that the Lord will just have to wait!

The power of a word! To refuse God’s word and to remain deathly silent is just as bad as letting our own poor, restless, thoughtless words become a replacement for his perfect ones. Why do you think Jesus came to this place and into these lives? It was solely to bring the perfect and glorious word of Almighty God to us.
May the power and fulfillment of God’s word occur in your life today. Power upon power is given to us; but never in our way! It must always be in his!