Fireball Whiskey

Just a little something to set the mood here.

 The weather has not been our friend through this winter season and we find ourselves a week behind now in this study on James. Lent is just around the corner and we need to finish up so we can move into the next season. 

For those of you new to my preaching and leadership at 6th Ave, let me asure you that the title of the message today does not suggest that we will be passing shots around soon. Communion was last week, so put your little glasses away. We find ourselves in the 3rd chapter of The Letter of James with the little brother of Jesus speaking to his audience about the need to find a way to control our tongues. Failing to do so can leave us with a firey spectacle between our lips that can resemble something like a shot of the famous drink that has in turn tripped up many an unsuspecting person not ready for the unhelpful blast that it can give to a person's mind and heart. We are going to get through the entire third chapter today so that we can move a bit faster through the rest of James' letter over the next couple of weeks. Lets see what we are getting ourselves into this morning. 

You should be able to see the fireball whiskey reference right in the middle of that section from verses 3 to 6. The Mockingbird is a nonprofit print magazine that seeks to connect the message of God’s grace with the concerns of everyday life. With a online blog area for support of the magazine, one of their guest contributors shared some content with a great illustration vital to our subject matter today. Joan Soan was their writer for the day and here is a bit of what he said...

"It's a strange thing to remember but I recall the scenario like it was yesterday. I was sitting in the back of my seventh grade class at Clara E. Weisenborn Junior High when, from the front row, a fellow student interrupted the teacher for a poorly timed and decidedly unfunny one-liner. The response of the class was total silence. Not even a nervous giggle. To his credit, Adam was undeterred. He thought that perhaps the class hadn’t heard his joke, so he tried a second time, even louder. Again, crickets. Confused by their ostensible indifference, Adam leaned forward in his seat and uttered his joke a third time, with even greater confidence, only this time both the teacher and the students turned to him with daggers in their eyes, as if to say, “Enough!”

After about a two-second delay, taking advantage of the tension in the room, I whispered loudly and sarcastically from the back row, “Say it again.” The class erupted with the sort of snot-bubbled screeches that junior high kids produce when trying to bridle belly laughs.

That was the worst thing that could’ve happened to me. I spent the next two years of my life trying to duplicate my comedic success, blurting out rejoinders, comments, and jokes to little avail. My poor teachers didn’t know what to do. They got a hold of my mom and said, “We love John, he’s a great student, but he will not stop talking inappropriately.”

That was thirty-six years ago, and I would like to tell you that once I conquered junior high (or it conquered me), I never made another ill-advised comment; I’d love to tell you that since then I’ve never spoken out of turn, made a sarcastic remark, or hurt someone with my words, but that would be an epic lie. At the worst times, and in the most conspicuous ways, I’ve caused damage with my tongue."

Is there anyone here who could say different, especially with his closing remark? I cannot think of anyone I know who hasn't at least once in their life gotten their tongue twisted up in some ill-timed, unthinkable atrocity we wish we could take back. Once it has slipped through our teeth and left the mouth, there is little we can do about it. We can seek forgiveness. That is surely a path that should be considered if things have gotten out of hand and our words have gotten the best of us. That's a great plan B. What should plan A have been in the first place? Few of us take the time to truly understand what we could have done in the first place. Maybe that is why James follows his thoughts about the tongue with some well intentioned words about what true wisdom looks like. Lets see what he has to say here and then tie it all together. 

For all that Jesus had to share over the years of his ministry about how the religious leaders should have handled themselves, it is right here in this subject matter on wisdom where he hits them the hardest. It is right here within James' letter that I can't help but wonder if he was ever front and center during one of those zeal-filled speeches. James' words feel as if they have that same heartfelt spirit his brother's would have had several years before. Matthew chap 23 is worth a serious read. It is probably Jesus' most verbal and openly eviscerating moment speaking against these Pharisees and scribes and those who would interpret the law for the people. It is also interesting that this piece of subject matter is tied in with the matter of how we use the tongue as part of this section. It is important to not that when scripture was originally written, there were not breaking points and section headers for the change in what the author was speaking about. All that came later when editors of the written works took into account that necessity. James is speaking about the tongue and how it should be used and how it is often misused and then includes this moment about wisdom and what it means to actually think about what we know and how we are living that out. What is wisdom? Merriam Webster was very interesting on this one. 

Letter d under the first line of the definition is where we want to focus our attention and a special word called "philosophy". What exactly does it mean to be philosophical? 

Nice that we can easily go to a place like Google and get an clear explanation. What would be even nicer is if we could look to human beings to actually live this point out. What would it be like if we could actually be calm about our approach to other people or just a certain subject matter instead of so easily blowing our tops and lids? Why do we so easily let our tongues fly away with angrily spewed words? What if we had simply slowed down for just a moment and gotten a handle on ourselves and showed how we really felt? Too often the angry side is how we feel, which signals a deeper need for wisdom as James goes on to explore. What do we know about ourselves after taking to the time to study this subject matter? I think we know that it is usually after we have done something off kilter that we get a moment to be calm and look back into the moment in retrospect and think. SO, where does wisdom come in? That is what we gain after having been through a delinquent exchange of harsh feelings and bitter words. We look back into the time and think about how we could have done that differently. That is wisdom in its stark and plain essence. We do not become wise because we just simple "know stuff". We end up knowing stuff because we have screwed up a bunch of times trying to figure out the right way to do things. 

Go to Google and type in "wisdom learned from building a house". 
You are going to see lots of blog posts and articles written and plenty of YouTube videos all about the "Top 10 steps to building a house" or "The most important points to remember when building a house for the first time". Do you think any of these people knew any of this or had any real understand before they pounded that first nail into some wood? Most likely, no, they did not. These lists and accumulated knowledge come from having done this many times and then being about to look back on the moments prior and say "If I had to do it over again, I would have done it this way." Sometimes, if your in a line of work like a carpenter or contractor, you do get the chance to do things over again. Either you have to fix something on a house you built previously -or- you get to build another house for another client and you get the opportunity to learn and expand your wisdom into the next build. 

How can we use that knowledge to grow and learn for ourselves?
Is there anybody in your world who could stand to hear an honest and openly clear apology for how you have used your tongue? Have you poured a bit too much Fireball Whiskey out your mouth? Has anybody near and dear to you been burned by the atrocious words you have spewed? Wisdom begins for many at a place of finding forgiveness. By admitting that you are not too big in your little britches to approach someone else and say you are sorry. We cannot take back the ugly words we have uttered but we can admit that we were out of line. We can say we are sorry. We can build a house on a firm foundation and a relationship with our friends and family that will last a lifetime. And, maybe, share some wisdom with the next generation. 

Be a blessing to someone this week

Jeremy