The Ear, The Tongue, And The Temper: A Lesson In Spiritual Anatomy
Sermon
Sermons on the Second Readings
Series III, Cycle B
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
-- James 1:19-20
Today's lesson is from the book of James. James identifies himself only as a "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." In the early church it was thought by some to have been written by the Lord's brother. It was written later than most of Paul's letters because, James says, of "foolish fellows" whom he describes as the "ignorant and unstable." They had distorted Paul's message of love and faith. They were twisting Paul's words to justify their own lack of hard work in the mission of the church.
James message is not justification by works, but justification that works. He insists that righteousness involves performance, not merely perception of truth. Piety that is devotional but does not have practical application in life is counterfeit.
In fact, the entire book of James is a practical application of the principles of the Sermon on the Mount. "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like" (James 1:22-24).
James was a pragmatic sort of fellow. He saw clearly that the majority of people are not moved by theoretical persuasion, but are looking for practical answers, for purpose and meaning, and for direction in the midst of ethical problems and challenges.
Before he has even finished his first few verses of the first chapter he advises his readers: now, be sure you know this, my brothers, be a good listener, don't speak without caution, and be very careful about that temper which resides in each one of you.
This is the kind of advice you can carry with you as you go about your day's work. It reminds me of a list of twelve "nevers" that I have given to some couples, to help them avoid trouble. The first three on the list are:
• Never both get angry at the same time.
• Never talk at one another, either alone or in company.
• Never speak loudly to one another, unless the house is on fire.
Another good rule that flies in the face of the three above is "never use never or always when you are arguing." As in: "You never help me around the house" or "You always complain about my job." The use of these two words only heightens the emotional level of the disagreement.
It has been noted that three out of every four people who have lost their jobs were dismissed because of an inability to handle personal relationships. How many of us would be greater successes at work and at home and with our children if we would be better listeners, if we gossiped less or spoke with greater care, and controlled our tempers?
Three out of four job losses can be accounted for by not being able to get along with people. Think about it: It wasn't because they weren't smart enough, or they could not do the job, or because they loafed. It was because they could not get along with other people.
"Be slow to speak," James advises. That means become a better listener. The human ear holds a harp of 10,000 strings. Surrounded by fluid, tiny hair-like strings sort various sounds and send them on to the hearing center in the brain. This marvelous mechanism, like that of sight, is a masterpiece of our creator.
Private hearing aids, public address systems, loud speakers, and surgery help many. But the ear of a sympathetic listener is able to help more than any humanly conceived gadget.
Judge Lienhouts, who established one of the most successful probation programs in the United States, told of a time he had listened to a young man pour out his tale of woe for an hour and a half, without his saying a word. At the end of this time, the young man said, "Thank you. You have been the greatest help of anyone I've ever known. No one else has ever taken the time to listen to me."
By this act of compassionate listening the judge was saying, "You are important ... important enough for me to take an hour and a half of my time to listen. Your words and message are of concern to me."
Are our ears more attuned to gossip than to the gospel? Which do we listen to more closely? We are called to listen more sympathetically to others. We are called to examine our sense of hearing.
Be slow to speak. The power of speech differentiates us from the lower animals. Yet the misuse of it can degrade us lower than any animal. Our speech is one of the most revealing aspects of our personality. What we talk about most easily is what we think about most deeply in our hearts.
The psalmist has written, "Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits" (Psalm 103:2) and "Upon his word will I meditate night and day" (Psalm 77:12).
We are asked to examine our speech, for it reveals the innermost recesses of our hearts.
It is when we start giving thanks for all the good things in our lives, when we start listing all the blessings that are a part of our lives that we will be uplifted and renewed. As we grow older, we tend to commiserate more about our troubles. It can make us become unpleasant company for others. We can become so judgmental, so negative, so full of doom and despair, seeing only the bad in life, that our grandchildren won't want to come and visit us anymore. But the Bible says older people can also become the crowning glory of a family. It is the great testimony of God that if we accentuate the positive, our youth will be renewed. Then the grandchildren will want to come and visit us. We won't get old. We'll get tired, but we won't get old!
Age is a state of mind. You're as old as your doubt, as young as your faith, as old as your despair, as young as your hope. (I'm also fond of saying, "Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind it doesn't matter.")
The Old Testament talks a lot about the eagle. You know the eagle never gets old. He dies at the height of his strength, when he is most robust. The Old Testament says, we shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle. The eagle is robust and then dies. If you and I live lives of praising the Lord, we, too, can be robust until the day we die.
Examine your speech, James says. Be slow to speak. There is no faculty so capable of uplifting, enriching, and inspiring our fellows as the power of speech. Examine your speech. How often do we have the gentlest, the kindest of words for strangers, and yet save the harshest, most cruel words for those of our own family?
"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless" (James 1:26).
Be slow to speak. In this day of abundant speech, we are told to examine the nature of our language. Is it superfluous, or do those around us feel blessed and benefited by our words? How are we with the vocabulary of worship? How is our prayer life? How often do we say thank you? How much of the day do we spend in praise of God and those who have blessed our lives?
Think twice before you speak, and then stop to reconsider. This high dignity that we are given as Christians, the greatest of the gifts that come from above, the gift of speech, carries with it obligations. Christians must live up to their heavenly origin. The first test comes in speech.
The writer of Proverbs says: "He who guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin" (Proverbs 13:3 cf).
Finally, Be slow to anger.
An old rabbi is credited with the saying; "Two ears were given us, but only one tongue. The ears are open and exposed, but the tongue is walled in behind the teeth." And for good reason! Anger is not strength in personality when it is an uncontrolled force. It is an expression of human frailty and weakness.
The late Dr. Charles Jefferson once said, "So prone is anger to mix itself with base and unlovely elements, so frequently does it stir up the mud at the bottom of the soul, that it is not easy to free our minds from the feeling that anger has something sinful in it; or, if not actually sinful, an unlovely flaw in conduct, a deformity in character from which we may wisely pray to be delivered."
But perhaps the real point is that much of our anger is petty -- too obviously rising out of selfishness to contain any real power. Our feelings have been hurt, our rights have been encroached upon, someone has nosed into our parking place and in a rage we become as babies again, screaming, "Somebody took my teddy bear!"
What makes you angry? The answers to that question will reveal your character. As the proverb says, "You can tell the size of the man by the size of the thing that makes him mad."
Certainly to boil up inside, to lose control because of some trivial personal hurt, to allow the wild forces of our being to run loose because our wills have been crossed or our self-esteem has been wounded, is not a mark of power. That, literally, is power converted into poison.
Beethoven is thought to have brought on his own deafness by falling into a fit of anger. Psychologists tell us that the emotion of anger produces more immediate effects on the chemical balance of the body than any other emotion, including fear, and that while the emotion itself may pass swiftly, the damage doesn't. Uncontrolled anger is dangerous to our health.
Be slow to anger. It's all over in a minute, we say. So is a cyclone. But then the wreckage has to be cleaned up.
All through the Bible we are warned about the sinful misuse of anger. In Christ we have the supreme example of poise and emotional control. In Christ, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, but ruled his surging spirit after the manner of a loving God.
So, once again, James shares with us this earthy bit of practical wisdom: Be slow to anger.
"Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32).
The ear, the tongue, and the temper -- all three elements of our personal and physical anatomy, yet all three ruled with special distinction when they become integrated within the anatomy of our faith.
The ear, the tongue, the temper -- even these for the Christian are subject to the rule of Christ in our lives. Amen.
-- James 1:19-20
Today's lesson is from the book of James. James identifies himself only as a "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." In the early church it was thought by some to have been written by the Lord's brother. It was written later than most of Paul's letters because, James says, of "foolish fellows" whom he describes as the "ignorant and unstable." They had distorted Paul's message of love and faith. They were twisting Paul's words to justify their own lack of hard work in the mission of the church.
James message is not justification by works, but justification that works. He insists that righteousness involves performance, not merely perception of truth. Piety that is devotional but does not have practical application in life is counterfeit.
In fact, the entire book of James is a practical application of the principles of the Sermon on the Mount. "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like" (James 1:22-24).
James was a pragmatic sort of fellow. He saw clearly that the majority of people are not moved by theoretical persuasion, but are looking for practical answers, for purpose and meaning, and for direction in the midst of ethical problems and challenges.
Before he has even finished his first few verses of the first chapter he advises his readers: now, be sure you know this, my brothers, be a good listener, don't speak without caution, and be very careful about that temper which resides in each one of you.
This is the kind of advice you can carry with you as you go about your day's work. It reminds me of a list of twelve "nevers" that I have given to some couples, to help them avoid trouble. The first three on the list are:
• Never both get angry at the same time.
• Never talk at one another, either alone or in company.
• Never speak loudly to one another, unless the house is on fire.
Another good rule that flies in the face of the three above is "never use never or always when you are arguing." As in: "You never help me around the house" or "You always complain about my job." The use of these two words only heightens the emotional level of the disagreement.
It has been noted that three out of every four people who have lost their jobs were dismissed because of an inability to handle personal relationships. How many of us would be greater successes at work and at home and with our children if we would be better listeners, if we gossiped less or spoke with greater care, and controlled our tempers?
Three out of four job losses can be accounted for by not being able to get along with people. Think about it: It wasn't because they weren't smart enough, or they could not do the job, or because they loafed. It was because they could not get along with other people.
"Be slow to speak," James advises. That means become a better listener. The human ear holds a harp of 10,000 strings. Surrounded by fluid, tiny hair-like strings sort various sounds and send them on to the hearing center in the brain. This marvelous mechanism, like that of sight, is a masterpiece of our creator.
Private hearing aids, public address systems, loud speakers, and surgery help many. But the ear of a sympathetic listener is able to help more than any humanly conceived gadget.
Judge Lienhouts, who established one of the most successful probation programs in the United States, told of a time he had listened to a young man pour out his tale of woe for an hour and a half, without his saying a word. At the end of this time, the young man said, "Thank you. You have been the greatest help of anyone I've ever known. No one else has ever taken the time to listen to me."
By this act of compassionate listening the judge was saying, "You are important ... important enough for me to take an hour and a half of my time to listen. Your words and message are of concern to me."
Are our ears more attuned to gossip than to the gospel? Which do we listen to more closely? We are called to listen more sympathetically to others. We are called to examine our sense of hearing.
Be slow to speak. The power of speech differentiates us from the lower animals. Yet the misuse of it can degrade us lower than any animal. Our speech is one of the most revealing aspects of our personality. What we talk about most easily is what we think about most deeply in our hearts.
The psalmist has written, "Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits" (Psalm 103:2) and "Upon his word will I meditate night and day" (Psalm 77:12).
We are asked to examine our speech, for it reveals the innermost recesses of our hearts.
It is when we start giving thanks for all the good things in our lives, when we start listing all the blessings that are a part of our lives that we will be uplifted and renewed. As we grow older, we tend to commiserate more about our troubles. It can make us become unpleasant company for others. We can become so judgmental, so negative, so full of doom and despair, seeing only the bad in life, that our grandchildren won't want to come and visit us anymore. But the Bible says older people can also become the crowning glory of a family. It is the great testimony of God that if we accentuate the positive, our youth will be renewed. Then the grandchildren will want to come and visit us. We won't get old. We'll get tired, but we won't get old!
Age is a state of mind. You're as old as your doubt, as young as your faith, as old as your despair, as young as your hope. (I'm also fond of saying, "Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind it doesn't matter.")
The Old Testament talks a lot about the eagle. You know the eagle never gets old. He dies at the height of his strength, when he is most robust. The Old Testament says, we shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle. The eagle is robust and then dies. If you and I live lives of praising the Lord, we, too, can be robust until the day we die.
Examine your speech, James says. Be slow to speak. There is no faculty so capable of uplifting, enriching, and inspiring our fellows as the power of speech. Examine your speech. How often do we have the gentlest, the kindest of words for strangers, and yet save the harshest, most cruel words for those of our own family?
"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless" (James 1:26).
Be slow to speak. In this day of abundant speech, we are told to examine the nature of our language. Is it superfluous, or do those around us feel blessed and benefited by our words? How are we with the vocabulary of worship? How is our prayer life? How often do we say thank you? How much of the day do we spend in praise of God and those who have blessed our lives?
Think twice before you speak, and then stop to reconsider. This high dignity that we are given as Christians, the greatest of the gifts that come from above, the gift of speech, carries with it obligations. Christians must live up to their heavenly origin. The first test comes in speech.
The writer of Proverbs says: "He who guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin" (Proverbs 13:3 cf).
Finally, Be slow to anger.
An old rabbi is credited with the saying; "Two ears were given us, but only one tongue. The ears are open and exposed, but the tongue is walled in behind the teeth." And for good reason! Anger is not strength in personality when it is an uncontrolled force. It is an expression of human frailty and weakness.
The late Dr. Charles Jefferson once said, "So prone is anger to mix itself with base and unlovely elements, so frequently does it stir up the mud at the bottom of the soul, that it is not easy to free our minds from the feeling that anger has something sinful in it; or, if not actually sinful, an unlovely flaw in conduct, a deformity in character from which we may wisely pray to be delivered."
But perhaps the real point is that much of our anger is petty -- too obviously rising out of selfishness to contain any real power. Our feelings have been hurt, our rights have been encroached upon, someone has nosed into our parking place and in a rage we become as babies again, screaming, "Somebody took my teddy bear!"
What makes you angry? The answers to that question will reveal your character. As the proverb says, "You can tell the size of the man by the size of the thing that makes him mad."
Certainly to boil up inside, to lose control because of some trivial personal hurt, to allow the wild forces of our being to run loose because our wills have been crossed or our self-esteem has been wounded, is not a mark of power. That, literally, is power converted into poison.
Beethoven is thought to have brought on his own deafness by falling into a fit of anger. Psychologists tell us that the emotion of anger produces more immediate effects on the chemical balance of the body than any other emotion, including fear, and that while the emotion itself may pass swiftly, the damage doesn't. Uncontrolled anger is dangerous to our health.
Be slow to anger. It's all over in a minute, we say. So is a cyclone. But then the wreckage has to be cleaned up.
All through the Bible we are warned about the sinful misuse of anger. In Christ we have the supreme example of poise and emotional control. In Christ, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, but ruled his surging spirit after the manner of a loving God.
So, once again, James shares with us this earthy bit of practical wisdom: Be slow to anger.
"Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32).
The ear, the tongue, and the temper -- all three elements of our personal and physical anatomy, yet all three ruled with special distinction when they become integrated within the anatomy of our faith.
The ear, the tongue, the temper -- even these for the Christian are subject to the rule of Christ in our lives. Amen.
