17 Pentecost/Year B Sermon/September 15, 2024 - Rev Julie Platson
Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 116:1-8; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38
Opening Prayer: ~ posted on The Minor Keys, adapted
Holy One of Blessing, give us open hearts and open hands.
Make us eager to hear your voice and seek your guidance.
Open our minds to your ever-present spirit that is always moving within and around us. Open our spirits to your nudging and open our lives to your love. Amen
We continue this week with a reading from James (5 weeks of James) …he continues to speak to us about our words and actions…This time, he speaks about the power of our tongue and our words... He points out the discrepancy that is sometimes there, between our words and our actions…We say we love God and our neighbor, we say we want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus…but oh, how often, that tongue of ours, reacts and speaks too soon…and oh, how we regret what we have just blurted out….words that have nothing to do with loving God or our neighbor…
Sometimes, it’s quite obvious, when we react to someone negatively….but at other times, the tongue can be used to hurt others in the quiet conversations that take place behind closed doors…or in the whispers between two persons on the other side of the room….or in the e-mails or texts that get sent off in a fury….The tongue, our words, are so strong, powerful…and they can crush one’s spirit with one word…one word uttered in anger…one word belted out in a moment of impatience…one word spoken in ignorance…
James tells his listeners in today’s reading…From the same mouth come blessing and cursing…
James tells us, the tongue is not just capable of cursing and damaging one’s spirit, … the best part is, is that it is capable of something so much better! It can be used for blessing, for encouraging and advocating for one another, for forgiveness, for speaking words of hope and healing…
Blessing others with the use of words that we would hear if we were following in the footsteps of Jesus, walking with Jesus, and eavesdropping on his teachings and conversations with others, words we would speak that reveal our love for God and for our neighbor…words that reveal that it is indeed God’s Holy Spirit directing, informing and guiding us…Words that speak of love, patience, understanding, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness – words that seek to build up and bring persons together, as one, in God’s family….Words, that if used in this way, could set a whole forest on fire, a whole community of people, ablaze with the love of God, to build up his beloved community here and now. That is indeed good news!
It’s tough, though…we are human beings…we make mistakes, many mistakes…yet we have the opportunity to learn from them throughout our lives…we most likely set out to say and do the right thing …probably try real hard to use our tongues for blessing not cursing…But it’s hard. Our words, what comes out of our mouths at times, and our intentions don’t always line up. But this isn’t about beating ourselves up over it or judging ourselves and others. It’s about taking a stand once again, choosing to start anew, over and over again, to embark on a new direction, with hope and faith in following and walking with Jesus Christ…a way of life of walking in the way of love, that calls us, as the psalmist describes today: to walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.
Perhaps that’s what one of the things Jesus is talking about when he speaks to the crowd and the disciples about taking up their cross and following him.
In the reading from Mark today, Jesus called the crowd with the disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”
It’s not always an easy choice to say or do the right and most loving thing…we often want to say the popular thing, we want to say things that build us up, we may want to say certain things because we don’t want others to know that we are fearful about something, we don’t want to be portrayed as the underdog or the weak one. It’s hard - we use our words in these situations that curse others because we are reacting, trying to save our life - we don’t want to lose our life, or our reputation.
But, Jesus tells us – that’s exactly what we have to do – we have to give up our “so-called” life, the worldly life of expectations – our ego, our self-importance, our need to be right, our need to be in control, our need to be always strong. And as we do that, we gain life, abundant life, kingdom life – where all are welcomed, where all belong, where all are loved and blessed by God.
There’s an old Cherokee Legend that some of you are probably familiar with…
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed.”
So, this gives an opportunity to pause and ask ourselves: Which one are we feeding these days? The one that will enable us to speak words of blessing or the one that will cause us to speak words of cursing?
Which one are you following? Are you striving to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, the one whose life speaks boldly of abundant blessings and life? Or are you being led astray by “setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”, as Jesus tells Peter in today’s gospel reading.
As we prepare to begin a new day, a new week….
Let us seek to walk, together, in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living….by taking up our cross, following in the footsteps of Jesus by striving to love others and bless others, as we have been so loved and blessed; and let our hope and faith in Jesus Christ lead us and guide us in choosing words (and actions) that proclaim the love and blessing of God…for all people and for all of creation.
Closing Prayer/Hymn: May the Good Lord Bless & Keep You (Meredith Willson)
May the Good Lord bless and keep you whether near or far away
May you find that long awaited golden day today
May your troubles all be small ones and your fortune ten times ten
May the Good Lord bless and keep you till we meet again
May you walk with the sunlight shining and a blue bird in every tree
May there be silver lining back of every cloud you see.
Fill your dreams with sweet tomorrows, never mind what might have been, May the Good Lord bless and keep you till we meet again, May the Good Lord bless and keep you till we meet again.