Bible Text: Psalm 19; Isaiah 50:4-9; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38 | Preacher/Speaker: Rev. J. David Shearer

James, James, James… Part II
By Rev. J. David Shearer
September 13, 2015
Well, the school year is now officially underway. I know this because Howardsville Road is routinely backed up all the way from route 11 well past Dale and Libby Smith’s house. And that means that students have gone back to school.

Of course, it’s not just the students. I always like to remember the teachers and educators. As most of you know my father, who’s birthday is today, happy birthday, has worked in education since before I can remember. In fact he was my fifth grade teacher, and yes that was as awkward as it sounds. You may also know that my wife has worked in preschool education for several years now.

But what you may not know is that all through highschool I wanted to be a high school music teacher. Then all through college I wanted to be a college professor. It wasn’t until Seminary that I felt God’s call to be a minister.

And, of course, a lot of what I do as a pastor is teach. So there will always be a special place in my heart for teachers.

That is why I remember being appalled one day as a boy looking through my bible and coming across today’s passage. In fact, I think that I was thumbing through the bible that the church gave me, or perhaps I heard it read from the pulpit, I don’t remember.

But the point is, I came across our James passage and was flabbergasted. Oh, James, James, James… If you were here last week, then you know that we have already had one run in with the book of James and it’s difficult teachings.

In fact I mentioned last week that some influential Christian leaders have even thought of removing James from the Bible. But, alas, even when the word of God is difficult, it is still the word of God.

The thing that I was so shocked at when I was reading it as a boy was the very first sentence in our passage today. It says: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

Heh, that’s a fun back to school message isn’t it?

It’s not like we have enough trouble getting people to become teachers, right? I mean, the pay is horrible, the hours aren’t that much better, and I read in the Newspaper yesterday that lice is becoming more frequent and harder to get rid of.

And now, if that wasn’t enough, we learn that teachers are going to be judged more harshly by God.

Well, it’s no wonder that I was a little distraught when I first came across this passage so many years ago.

But before those of you out there that are not teachers breathe a sigh of relief and those of you that are teachers start to get worried, what is interesting about this passage is what follows James’ caution to not become teachers.

He immediately starts talking about how we all make mistakes in speaking. And while that at first seems to refer only to teachers speaking publicly, it very quickly becomes clear that James is talking about all mistakes when we open our mouths.

He says that “all of us make many mistakes” and then goes on to write about how our tongue, even though it is a very small part of our body, can cause all manner of trouble.

Whenever we open our mouths we run the risk of causing real problems. As James puts it, our tongue is small, but so is the rudder of a ship, and like the ship’s rudder, our tongue can and does steer our whole being, either to what is good and noble or to what is evil.

It all comes down to what we say, because more often than not, what we say is what we believe, and if we speak ill, then we believe ill. And moreover, like a small fire that catches and burns an entire forest, what we say can shape our entire community.

Sewing evil with our tongues can ignite the entire community. And sure, that is more of a risk for people that have a captive audience which is why James cautions teachers particularly, but this is also true for the whispers behind closed doors.

The rumor mill, caused by unbridled tongues, can cause just as much damage. And in that respect, whenever we open our mouths we become teachers, don’t we?

I mean, to a certain extent, isn’t that what Jesus’ message is in our Gospel reading today? He tells the crowd: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

That is one of the most difficult teachings that Jesus has. And one meaning of it is that we should be willing to risk it all, even our own lives, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some Christians in the Middle East face that very choice.

But he also goes on to say that “those who are ashamed of me and of my words… of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed.” And that shame reminds me of Jesus’ various commands to spread the Gospel. Now, it is true, as one of you noted to me on Thursday, that frequently in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus commands his followers not to tell people about him.

But it’s clear that Jesus only wanted them to keep quiet for a limited time. Jesus’ final command is for his people to spread the Good News about him. He commands us all to teach people about his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

And that’s where that shame aspect comes in. Those that are ashamed of Jesus don’t open their mouths about him. Those that are not ashamed of him spread his Good News. Jesus’ true followers, the ones that he will not be ashamed of, are the ones that are not ashamed of him and are willing to bring his Good News to those around them. Those that are not ashamed of Jesus will become teachers.

Ah, but that brings us back to the James paradox. Oh, James, James, James… why must he be so difficult?

James warns us specifically about talking too much and too freely. Ane he warns us about becoming teachers. After all, he says that “the tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body.”

And that’s the paradox, right? We are commanded to teach others about Jesus, but we are warned that teachers are judged more harshly than others.

So what do we do? We could languish in inaction, paralyzed by our fear of being judged as a teacher, unable to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. But that would make Jesus ashamed of us. Besides, as we said last week, James himself tells us that we must be moved to action and we must do God’s will.

So in that case we have to do as Jesus commands us and risk being judged as a teacher. So, in that case, how do we go about being a good teacher? Well, the obvious is to try to bridle and tame the tongue.

That’s what James implies. That we should try to keep our tongues in check. And that’s a great starting point, and far be it from me to tell you that you shouldn’t try to keep your tongues under control, but even James seems to imply that that’s not something that is fully possible, at least not on our own.

So that makes me ask the question, what is the biblical model for being a teacher? If we are all called to teach, then how do we do that biblically?

That’s where Isaiah comes in. He has an incredible statement right at the beginning of our passage. He says: “the Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.”

And that’s an incredible passage, but it may have gone by too fast to catch the full significance of it. Listen to a portion of that again: “the Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher… Morning by morning he… wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.”

Isaiah proclaims that God has given him the tongue of a teacher. But then he immediately moves to say that God has given him the ears of a person that is taught.

And that’s really interesting. After all, we primarily think of Isaiah as a prophet, a person bringing God’s teaching to the people. But when he explains what it means to be a teacher sent by God, Isaiah’s first move is to say that he listens.

And combining that with our other passages that seems to be the answer to our paradox. Isaiah seems to provide the answer to how we can keep our tongues under control. And it all comes down to our ears. If we are to be teachers in this community, then we must open our ears first.

And for us, that means two distinct things. First and foremost, we must all open our ears to the will of God. That means that we must read and listen to the word of God. We must immerse ourselves in the text that God has given us. We must daily pray and ask God to guide our lives. We must ask him to teach us his ways and then obey them.

But we must also listen to something else. We must listen to the community around us. And that doesn’t mean that we listen to it and let it sway us from the will of God. But it does mean that we listen to the community to hear what its needs are.

Last week we learned that faith without works is dead. Our faith is without life if we do not act. But in order to act we must listen to what the community needs.

And that’s how we can be leaders, that’s how we can be teachers in our community.

By listening to God through his word we can learn his truths, his teachings. And by listening to our community we can learn what they need and how we can bring God’s truth to them. To paraphrase Isaiah, they are aching for someone with “the tongue of a teacher, that [can]… sustain the weary with a word.”

The world, our community, is aching to hear God’s teachings. And he has made us to be teachers for them. He has given us tongues to speak, and more importantly, he has given us ears to hear. What is left is for us to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ, to take up our crosses daily, to proclaim his peace and love for the world so that we demonstrate that we are not ashamed of him and so that he can be proud of us.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.