The Man and His Tongue :: James 3:1-12 :: Lenten Devotional
Today, the Epistle of James confronts Christians of every age with the inconsistencies between faith and actions. The warning we hear this morning is very clear: “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (vv 5b–6).
The charge James delivers should cut deep into the heart of everyone who hears. Your tongue is an agent of harm. It is on fire with the fire of hell. “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue” (vv 7–8a).
No human, not one, is innocent ... not you, not me, no one. And to drive the point home James reminds us of what we are all too capable of doing: we can sit in the Divine Service, praising our God in heaven, and then turn around cursing his most precious creations, other people. Ours are tongues that cannot be tamed. To be sure, we try. Some are better than others. “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body” (v 2b). “But no one among us is righteous; no, not one” (Rm 3:10).
So, is there nothing we can do? Are we doomed to live this life in a never-ending battle against a tongue that would just as soon destroy us as it would honor the God of our salvation? Well, in a way, yes, and in another, no. Listen again: “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body” (v 2b). Here is the good news:
Our Lord Jesus, was the perfect man. He was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. ... He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth (Is 53:2–7). There is no man who is perfect, except the One. Our Savior Jesus Christ, lived and died and rose exactly because our tongues are “a fire, a world of unrighteousness” (v 6). He bridled his tongue even in the face of death so that we might receive his righteousness as he now lives in us.