This Sunday I am travelling deep into the Savernake Forest and will be preaching at St Katherine’s Church followed by St Andrew’s in Collingbourne Ducis. You will be very welcome to join me.

Are you a horse?

Rather a random and quite ridiculous question to ask, and yet, as you will know if you have used Duo Lingo to brush up on your French, it is one of the first phrases you will learn. Sadly, when I was in France earlier this year, it was not a phrase I was able to put into practice. I did however manage to buy food and petrol and converse at the market regarding my uncle who lives in a farmhouse but is currently in hospital. Being able to use the native language gave me such a sense of empowerment that I have decided to try and learn Icelandic ahead of next year’s family adventure.

Perhaps you are the world’s biggest scrabble fan, or a keen player of Wordle? I follow a Facebook Page called Grandiloquent Word for the Day which brings to light words sadly lost from the English language, words such as Lethologica, which describes the inability to remember a specific word, something which happens all too frequently since I entered into my 50s, so good luck for Sunday!

All of the Bible passages set for this week concern language and how we use it; the prophetic passage from Isaiah includes this verse which I think needs to be our watch word as Christians, and if there is just one thing you are to take from this week’s sermon this would be it.

The Lord has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.

Isaiah 50:4

Throughout the summer the chosen epistle has been the one from James to the church at large, and a huge part of his letter focuses on how to wisely use the tongue and how our words can often cause damage instead of good. Indeed this week’s chosen portion begins with an exultation to not become teachers as judgement is high for those whose teaching is not kind, is not true, and let’s face it we are all human and guilty of making mistakes.

As Christians we need to be careful of our words: how easily they slip out when we are not guarding our thoughts, how easily those thoughts are vocalised, how dangerous that would be if we were given the power of the school room or pulpit (gulp!). Of course we could easily safeguard against these harsh words by purifying our own hearts, of having minds a-tuned to Christ’s. Did I say easy? As simple as it sounds the words from our hearts convey the bitterness, the burdens, the grudges, the prejudices we secretly hold. How can this be? We proclaim to be faithful to God, to love Jesus, and yet… we laugh along with the jokes, make snide remarks, pass on gossip, blame others instead of taking responsibility.

We bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.

James 3: 9,10

Perhaps we try really hard to use our words carefully and kindly but still find ourselves using words that can hurt others, we want to speak only of Jesus’ love and yet there are times when we add insult to injury. It is Socrates who is attributed with giving us the measuring stick of ‘is it kind, is it true, is it necessary’ which has been extended to the acronym THINK: True Helpful Inspiring, Necessary, Kind.

We have finally begun to shed the playground adage ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,’ realising that words can cause long term mental damage which takes longer to heal than a broken bone. James though is concerned not just with the negative impact upon those who hear our words, but with the way in which we taint our tongues, created for praise, when we speak untruths and unkindnesses. We can see it in the gospel passage where one moment Peter is being praised for declaring that Jesus is the Messiah, the next he is told to ‘Get behind me Satan!’ (Mark 8: 33).

As Christians we have so much more to be careful of when we open our mouths. Not only are our words kind and true but are they honouring to God? Do we use our words to build each other up in the faith, or do we use them to judge and demean? We are all made in the image of God and we need to learn how to see Jesus in each other; we also need to find the words we would use if speaking to Jesus himself. Would we use these sentences on our siblings in Christ if we could see him in the room?

I have noticed a trend in Christian chat groups to ‘call out’ the sinners amongst us, to rebuke and correct (especially when it comes to members of the LGBTQ+ community), to place ourselves in the role of judge. Jesus calls us to love one another, to honour each other, to treat those we come into contact with as though they were Jesus himself. How often do we fall short? How can we find ways to safeguard our tongues from blaspheming as Peter did, from cursing others as James warns against? By lovingly listening with the intention of hearing the one who is speaking. By listening to the Holy Spirit so that we can learn to love others as Jesus loves them. By spending time with the God who truly knows us and can heal our hurts and bitterness so that it doesn’t spill out onto others.

Read the Bible passages here: James’ Epistle, Mark’s Gospel