Pull Back on the Reins

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 14th of January, 2024, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Today’s service also included installation of the new officers of our Consistory, and sharing Holy Communion with our Lord Jesus.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Since we have so much going on this morning, I’m going to keep the message short, at least by my standards.  But I do want to take a moment to acknowledge that today is the second Sunday after Epiphany, when the Messiah was revealed to the Gentiles by the visit of the three kings, on January the 6th.  Jesus’ baptism is observed on the first Sunday after Epiphany, which was last Sunday, the 7th.  And that’s just a little bit of church calendar history.

Today I’d like to return to the letter the Apostle James sent out to the early church.  And quite frankly, family, we’re getting into some of the toughest parts of our Bible, when it comes to how we Christian should behave.  I promised I’d keep this brief, so I will be mostly letting James speak, with a few insightful comments from Jesus thrown in for good measure.

Please keep in mind that James is trying to help us be better Christians, to be more righteous in God’s eyes, so that other people can see that we are truly different from the rest of the world.  It’s not easy, it takes a lot of concerted and purposeful concentration and effort.  But we have God’s own Holy Spirit living within us, and He will help.

So now, please listen and follow along to the instructions James gives us in the 3rd chapter of his letter to the young Christian church, verses 1 through 12, and I’ll be reading this from the Living Bible version of our Holy Bible…

1-2 Dear brothers, don’t be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes; and when we teachers of religion, who should know better, do wrong, our punishment will be greater than it would be for others.

If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way. 3 We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in his mouth. 4 And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong.

5 So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness, and poisons every part of the body. And the tongue is set on fire by hell itself and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster.

7 Men have trained, or can train, every kind of animal or bird that lives and every kind of reptile and fish, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is always ready to pour out its deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our heavenly Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against men who are made like God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Dear brothers, surely this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out first with fresh water and then with bitter water? 12 Can you pick olives from a fig tree, or figs from a grape vine? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty pool.

--James 3:1-12 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, Your Son’s brother and disciple James left us with some very good advice.  We need to watch what we say and do.  We need to control ourselves in all situations.  Sometimes we just need to stop and think before doing anything else.  Thank You, Father, for this much needed message.  In this day and age, when people are so very sensitive, it is easy to offend someone when we don’t even mean to.  Thank You for saving James’ instructions for us.  Please forgive us, Father, when we don’t pause, when we just spurt out the first thing that comes to our mind without considering how it might be received.  Help us gain and practice more self-control so that others can see that we are different from the rest of the world.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  Open our eyes to see how our words can have a profound impact on others.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Historian and philosopher Will Durant once noted that, "Talk is cheap because the supply always exceeds the demand.  One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say."  Oh, how many times I wish I had heeded that advice and just kept my mouth shut.  Self-control is one of the toughest exercises we can undertake.

Someone now unknown once wrote concerning Lyndon Johnson:  “During his term as President, Johnson was somewhat overweight.  One day his wife challenged him with this blunt assertion:  ‘You can't run the country if you can't run yourself.’  Respecting Mrs. Johnson's wise observation, the President lost 23 pounds.”  Self-control.  Why should we trust someone to be in control of something bigger if they can’t control themselves?

This is the brunt of James’ message, that we must control ourselves.  He especially focuses on us controlling our tongues, because a tongue is a sharp and mighty weapon.  And like many of man’s possessions, a tongue can be wielded to both good purposes and bad ones.  It’s up to us to choose how to employ our tongue – as a fearsome weapon of destruction, or as a powerful tool for good.

And of course, I and James don’t mean the tongue itself, but the words we choose to say.  We can speak words to someone that will encourage them and build them up.  Or we can lash out with words that will bring them down and belittle them.

Anytime we have something to say, we have two ways to say it.  We can speak with love in our words and our hearts, or we can give voice to our bitterness and hatred.  It really is a choice, and it’s all about self-control.  We can control what we say and how we say it.  We just need to think first and work at it.

And believe me that I’m not excluding myself here.  I can be as snarky as the best of them.  But we can all try, we can all work at controlling ourselves a little better.  And what better time to begin than with the new year.

If we need any more inspiration, Jesus Himself encourages us to practice self-control in all our interactions with others.  Please listen to the words He spoke in His Sermon on the Mount, and specifically in the Beatitudes, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in the 5th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 12…

1 And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

--Matthew 5:1-12 (NKJV)

You may not have looked at it that way before, but these blessings are benefits of our practicing self-control.  Being meek and merciful and a peacemaker, even hungering and thirsting for righteousness, all require conscious effort on our part.  Because of our base human nature and the society we live in, these are traits we have to work at, attitudes we have to develop.

So family, before we lash out at someone, before we show them who is in charge, let’s pull back on the reins and think before we speak or act.  Let’s remember what James told us about self-control.  Let’s take Jesus’ promised blessings to heart.  And let’s try to ensure that what bubbles up from the spring of our hearts is clean, fresh water, soothing to all around.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who came to us, to redeem us, to make us new.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for ensuring that we would have Your word to study, to learn from, and to live by even in our age.  Your inspired word has survived thousands of years and many attempts to destroy it.  But we have it still today, and it instructs us now just as it did the generations before us.  Thank You, Father.  We admit, though, that we don’t spend as much time with Your word as we should.  We get so caught up in the busyness of life that we simply miss out on some of the lessons our Bible holds for us.  And too often we lose control of ourselves, even if only for a moment.  Forgive us those times, please Father.  Please help us pull back on the reins.  Silence us before we can utter hurtful words.  But please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You promised we would be blessed if we just control ourselves better.  Meekness is a trait we can learn.  Becoming merciful and striving to make peace simply require a conscious effort on our part.  Thank You, Jesus for telling us what we need to do, how we need to be, so that when others see us, they will see You in action.  Please help us be more like You.  Help us act and speak out of love instead of hatred or bitterness.  And help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.

And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.