Last week Phil and I took a few vacation days and headed out to Elk County, Pennsylvania.  It’s about an hour and a half northwest of State College.  The area is mostly state forest and state game lands, so there aren’t many people. But they do have elk, about 1400 of them, living in Elk County, and we wanted to see them for ourselves.

As we approached the town of Benezette, home of the Elk Country Visitor Center, we got a little nervous because one of the houses along the way had a big sign on the front porch:  OUTLANDERS GO HOME. That wasn’t exactly the “Welcome to Benezette” sign we were expecting!

I wonder how James would feel about that Outlanders Go Home sign.  Looking back on the first two chapters of James, I feel like there’s been a common thread woven throughout each section of his letter:  faith must manifest itself in practical ways. Our faith should make a difference in how we handle adversity—we should count it all joy because it will help us grow and mature.  Faith should manifest itself in good works, not just good intentions. Our faith should also make a difference in how we handle our anger—we are to be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry. Faith should manifest itself in love for all our neighbors, not just the wealthy ones or the ones we think can help us, but we are to follow the royal law of love showing no favoritism.

And now James goes on to write that our faith should manifest itself in what we say. Our faith in Christ should move us to choose our words more carefully. Words have the power to bring people in and create community—but they also have the power to judge and diminish and divide.

And unfortunately, we are wired to hear and remember the negative words much more easily than the positive. I noticed on vacation, how surprised I was every time people were friendly and welcoming. That first, “Outlanders Go Home” sign stuck with me! Harsh words can do damage that is hard to reverse. They can quickly become a forest fire that is hard to extinguish. But, as Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like an apple of gold in a setting of silver.”  The right words at the right time are priceless, beautiful, and honor God.

James observes that, out of the same mouths come cursing and blessing. But this is not what God wants. God wants us to use our words to reveal the fullness of God’s love. When we do that, amazing things happen! Recently I read an essay by a Christian writer named Anne Lamott.   https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a19432/anne-lamott-after-the-fire/

She was born and raised in California, and she writes about a forest fire that happened 15 years ago in a coastal town where her family used to go on vacation. Four teenage boys from town camped on the mountain overnight, illegally, and of course, had a campfire. They put the fire out completely, and buried it under dirt when they left the next morning.  They didn’t want to leave any trace of their night on the mountain.

What they didn’t realize is that, even though they had buried their campfire under dirt, it was smoldering hot enough to ignite some dried plant matter on the ground. And as James says, it only takes a little spark to create a huge forest fire. When it was all said and done, 12,000 acres of wilderness area and nearly 50 homes were destroyed by the fire.

The boys turned themselves in right away, but as you can imagine, it was very difficult for that community to heal. But the people of that town decided to use the power of their words to foster grace instead of condemnation. Instead of blaming the boys, they turned this experience into an opportunity of hope. First, a firefighter wrote a letter to the local newspaper, about how carefully the boys had tried to put the fire out. They had no way of knowing that the embers could still burn underground. After that, townspeople started to share their own experiences of making mistakes as teenagers. People were starting to move away from their fixation on blame toward a more gracious and open stance.

The deciding point came when the town had a picnic to honor the many firefighters who had battled the forest fire. The whole town came out.  The president of the firefighters gave a speech, probably saying all the kinds of things you would expect–thank you to the firefighters, thank you to the community for their support, extending sympathy to those who lost their homes.

But then he went on to say something no one expected.  He talked about how people in ancient times who did damage to a town were sent to live outside the town’s walls, outside the safety and protection of the community.  He mentioned how he had heard that the four teenagers who started the fire, their families were thinking of moving away.  But he hoped they wouldn’t do that.  In his opinion, he felt it was the duty of the townspeople to make it clear to these families that they should stay, that they were wanted, that they were NEEDED.  The crowd responded to his statements…with enthusiastic applause.  People whose homes were burned came forward to the microphone to say they agreed with this plan.  The town wanted those four teenagers and their families to live inside the ring of their protection.

This is the power of words.  Our tongues are like a little spark that can start a damaging forest fire.  But they can also ignite hope, grace, and healing.  They can create a ring of protection, genuine community, which is a little slice of heaven on earth.

For our key verse this morning, I chose Luke 6:35, “For it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”  Jesus tells us that our words are like a spiritual barometer.  Our speech reveals our integrity–or lack of it.  Jesus said, whatever is inside of us, good or bad, love or not-love, grace or judgment–that is what is going to come out in our words.  Just as our visible works reveal our invisible faith, what comes out of our mouths reveals what is in our hearts. The reason we have trouble taming our tongues is because our hearts are not completely won over by God’s love.

On Monday, we received an email from our new Bishop, John Schol, reminding us that in every situation, we are to be guided by three simple rules. First, do no harm; second, do good; and third, stay in love with God. He issued this reminder because on Monday, on National Coming Out Day, news stories were released about the spouse of our former bishop, Peggy Johnson. Many people at Lima have met Bishop Johnson and her husband, Rev. Mike Johnson. He provided spiritual care to some of our members as he was working on a certificate in spiritual direction. But on Monday, the Johnsons shared publicly that the person we used to know as Rev. Mike Johnson is now known as Rev. Mary Johnson.  Rev. Johnson is a transgender person.  Bishop Schol’s email urged us to do no harm as we take in this surprising news.  We will have many questions, of course.  But let’s choose our words carefully, so as to not do any harm to anyone.

I spent a good bit of time on Monday, reading not only the press release about Rev. Mary Johnson, but also individual interviews with Mary and Bishop Johnson, where they described the journey they have been on for many years.  I also did some reading about transgender.  To be a transgendered female means someone was assigned the sex of male at birth, based on outer physical characteristics.  But inside, the person feels female. This feeling of not being lined up, not quite at home, is very distressing. The decision to transition from being known as male to being known as female is made after medical evaluations, counseling, and considerable thought.  While it is a decision that may be upsetting to others, especially at first, it brings immediate relief to the transgender person.  They can finally feel at peace, at one, in their own body.

We have put the links to the articles about Bishop Johnson and her spouse on our website, if you’re interested in learning more.  But let’s get back to James.  Our words have the power to bring healing and wholeness.  But they can also do damage.  They can further wound the wounded.  They can further divide and diminish.  I like the image James uses of a great big ship being steered by a little plank of wood, the rudder. Words decide the direction we will go.  We can use our words to steer our ship toward healing and wholeness and accountability and growth—or we can use our words to block those things.  We can use our words to steer our ship toward justice—or judgment.  We can focus on becoming so full of God’s love that our words reflect that love.  Our words have the power to create a ring of protection around vulnerable people, and welcome the stranger, and create true community, if we let God rule in our hearts.  Or we can let fear and frustration paint big signs that essentially say, “Outlander, go home!”

A word fitly spoken is like an apple of gold in a setting of silver.  That would be a great memory verse for us, don’t you think?  It’s an easy verse to memorize; a hard one to live out.  But the good news is, if you’ve ever said the wrong thing, God is ready to surround you with forgiveness and compassion, because that is the heart of God.  If you’ve had the wrong thing said to you, God is ready to help you speak up and advocate for justice, because that is the heart of God.  Perfection eludes us.  But hopeful opportunities abound.  James said, “Mercy triumphs judgment”.  May our hearts become 100% like God’s, so that our words may reflect the mercy and justice God desires for us.  Amen