From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. (James 3:10)

In the early days of cinema the films were all silent. When it came to more serious films where actors were trying to convey feelings and emotion, it often required highly overwrought visual performances, and a good pianist, to tell the story. That’s why, when the talkies came along, silent films vanished virtually overnight.

The spoken word is a brilliant thing. It’s versatile and powerful, as James is telling us in our passage this morning.They say a picture paints a thousand words but I’d suggest that the reverse is true: a thousand pictures can be drawn from one word. Not just our choice of words, but our tone of voice and our expression when we say them and the context in which we say them can communicate so many different things.

Take “I love you”. Sure, they’re most often used in the context of a romantic relationship: “He looked deep into her eyes, drowning in their depths, and said, “I love you”. We know what that means, don’t we? What, though, when it’s said by a partner of a lifetime to someone entering their last days. “I love you” means, I will cradle you through the pain and I will hold you through the fear and I will be with you as the dark comes down. When it’s said by a father to a child who’s maybe got into some kind of trouble, it means whatever happens you are still my son, you are still my daughter and nothing can change that.

Both those situations say something about the love of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The first speaks of a loving God in a world where we all come to the end of our lives. It speaks of him holding us in our last days, cradling us in his arms and carrying us across the threshold of death into eternal life. The second speaks of the grace and forgiveness of God - that whatever we do in our lives; whatever mistakes we make - and James reminds us we all make them - we are God’s beloved children and nothing can change that.

In the words that we choose and the way that we say them we can communicate ideas and thoughts and, perhaps most importantly for Christians, we can communicate the Gospel to the people we encounter. We can let them know that they matter; that they are cared for; that they are children of God - each a unique son or daughter and that nothing can separate them from that love if they will simply accept it. And we can communicate it in simple human ways that anyone can understand: “Let me help.” “Are you all right?” “It’s already forgotten.”

At our best we do that. At our best we make the people around us feel that they are cherished and cared for - that they matter. But James is right. This power that God has given us - the power of the spoken word - is a two-edged sword. Sometimes we use it without thinking and we can sometimes be hurtful and destructive. Take Peter in our Gospel passage. Jesus has just revealed that he will go to Jerusalem and there he will meet his death. Peter just blurts out the words that come into his head and tells Jesus that this must not be so. Does he think that this is easy for Jesus? Does he think that, if he could, he wouldn’t avoid the pain and the suffering and the death that were to come? No wonder Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan”!

The gift of speech carries with it the power to sow evil and pain in the world. There are so many hurtful words to throw at people whose skins are a different colour. I used some myself, sometimes, when I was a child and didn’t understand their capacity to spread hatred or, more often, uncaring disregard. There are so many hurtful words to spit at those whose sexuality is different from our own. I used them myself, sometimes, when I was a child and didn’t really appreciate that I was speaking of people who, in all other ways, were just like me. There are so many hurtful words to keep at a distance those of a different religion or culture. I don’t remember using them as a child: even then the images that came out of Belsen and Northern Ireland made me question them and see them for what they are.

We are followers of Christ. We have truths and ideas to tell the world and we can do that through the words we say - not just what those words are, but how we say them. There are those who also claim to be followers of Christ who seem to think that speaking those ideas and those truths can be done without regard for care for those we say speak them to. There are those who turn up to the funerals of prominent gay men and women and insist, to their grieving families, that their loved ones are burning in hell and who use exactly the words I spoke of a moment ago. Do they make the Gospel a blessing or a curse.

See, that’s the choice we have in using this powerful gift of speech that God has given us. We can use it to heal or to wound. We can use it to warm hearts or to inflict pain. We can use it with love or hatred or - perhaps worse - indifference.

At our best we speak the love of God for humanity. Maybe the secret is to spend time with God in prayer; to let the love of God for his children seep into our hearts and our minds and our souls and to let it guide what we say and think and do. Maybe, too, a simple rule should be something we place Jesus as a watchman on our words with one simple rule: “Whatever you say, say it with love.”

When someone’s hurting and they lash out at you - not because they want to hurt you but because they are lost in their pain - and you get your moment to reply; take a moment to listen for the voice of God and the word of the watchman: “Whatever you say, say it with love”.

When the people around you make fun of those who are different or those who are in need and offer you the chance to join in, take a moment to listen for the voice of God and the word of the watchman: “Whatever you say, say it with love.”

When you have an opportunity to stand up for what you believe - to say what you think is right or wrong, but are invited to stand in judgement of those who think differently or believe differently, take a moment to listen for the voice of God and the word of the watchman: “Whatever you say, say it with love.”

Say it with love. Everything we know of Jesus’s teachings is what he said - he wrote nothing down. He has no voice in this world save our voice, and that is our challenge and our calling: that from our mouths may come blessings, not curses. The blessing of God on those that know pain and fear and need a word of comfort. The blessing of God on those who are hungry and cold and need a voice to speak for them. The blessing of God on those who are frightened and broken and need to hear words of peace. 

This is God’s challenge and his call to us: “Go, be my blessing to those you meet and let them know that they matter.” Whatever you say, say it with love.

Lord God, you have given us the power of words and speech. May we use them as you would have us use them, speaking your love to those we meet and for those who need a voice

Preached at Gretna Old parish church