Your Tongue and Your Heart
James 1:22-27
May 10, 2026 anno Domini
In Biblical anatomy your tongue is directly connected to your heart. What’s in your heart comes out of your mouth. Here’s a little test to prove it.
If Jesus says, “Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you” what are the first words off your tongue? Give me more. More life. More money. More time. More rest. More stuff. What does that reveal of your heart? That it is set on you. That you’re more like the Israelites in the Old Testament reading than you care to admit. God had brought them out of slavery in Egypt, promised them Himself on Mount Sinai, and was now leading them home to the promised land and they weren’t happy with the lunches He packed for them on the way.
“… be doers of the word, and not hearers only deceiving yourselves.” There is perhaps no greater way to “do” the word than with your tongue. God saves us by His Word. Jesus is called the Word made flesh. When the Word of God has its way with you it enters your ears, and changes your heart, and since, as I argue, your tongue is directly connected to your heart – your tongue ought to change. Your tongue ought to do the word of God.
That pattern is reflected in the commandments. The first commandment is a heart commandment. “You shall have no other gods.” God has revealed Himself as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He tells you everything He has done in creating you, in forgiving you your sins, in rescuing you from death. He calls for your heart in the first commandment – He calls you to fear, love, and trust in Him above all things. Fear, love, and trust are heart words.
Then comes the second commandment – You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. And that commandment is for your tongue, that your words are steered by your heart. James uses that same steering language when he speaks of bridling the tongue. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
In chapter 3 James gives us a more vivid picture of what he means. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and driven by strong winds, they are guided by a small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
Here are three truths from God’s Word about your tongue. 1) It needs to be controlled. 2) It’s small but powerful – like a tiny bit in the mouth of a large horse, or the tiny rudder that steers a large ship. 3) Lastly, because it is so powerful the tongue can do great damage, like a little tongue of fire can destroy a whole forest. And so James warns us, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not be so.”
Do you remember how Dr. Luther told you to steer your tongue in his explanation of the second commandment?
For those of you confirmed before the mid-1980s it went like this:
We should fear and love God that we may not curse, swear, use witchcraft, lie or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.
For those of you a little younger you learned:
We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.
First Luther steers our tongues away from sin.
Do not curse. This isn’t saying “curse” words, that’s just dirtying your mouth. Do not curse means, “Do not call upon God to damn someone.” Don’t let your anger have its way with you and write someone off, consign them to hell, because God did not let His anger against you have its way. He did not write you off. Instead, He wrote His Son off. You’re not damned for your sins because Jesus was. God’s anger burned out against His own Son, so let your anger burn out on the mercy God has shown to you.
Do not swear. Once again that’s not using swear words, rather it using God’s name in an oath – you know, “I swear to God.” Sometimes such swearing is required – you make oaths in a court of law, in your confirmation and wedding vows, in service to the country. Here’s the deal – God’s name is precious – He has told you He is your Father through the saving work of His Son and you believe that by the working of the Holy Spirit. God’s name is holy – when you are baptized in to the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit God shares His holiness with you – you become His holy child, you are a member of the holy, Christian church. Finally, God’s name is true and reveals the truth. Don’t use that precious, holy, and true name for cheap promises or for deceit.
The one interesting word in Luther’s meaning is the one that changed over time – witchcraft in the 1941 catechism became satanic arts in 1986. What is witchcraft / satanic arts? It is enlisting the help or looking to any spiritual being other than the true God. This covers everything from the silliness of horoscopes to the sinister of a séance, summoning the dead, calling on the spirit world for direction. God has given you His name – that’s where Jesus directs His disciples to go – “ask the Father in my name.” You have the Name by which your sins are forgiven, by which heaven is open, by which you know the future. You know the name of Jesus, so seek the Father there, ask the Father there. St. Paul told the Galatians we should not even trust an angel if he speaks something contrary to God’s Word.
After steering our tongues away from sin, Luther steers them toward righteousness. We should fear and love God so that we call upon His name in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.
Call upon God’s name in trouble? Trouble makes for frequent prayer. When God sends suffering your way He’s teaching you to pray. It is ironic that when the Lord gives us peace we pray less. Maybe we should pray for more suffering so our prayers increase.
Do you remember the point Pastor Luther made frequently in explaining the Lord’s prayer? That God doesn’t need our prayers, but we pray. God’s name is holy without our prayer, but we pray that it may be kept holy among us. God’s will is done without our prayer, but we pray it may be done among us. God gives daily bread without our prayer, but we pray that we may receive it with thanksgiving.
Jesus commands us to pray because we need it – it gets His Word on our lips, it exercises the faith that is in our hearts, it helps us remember God’s name – we pray as children to our Father, we are confident because we come in the name of His Son, we say “amen” to our prayers, the “yes” of faith because the Spirit has called us to believe.
Lastly Luther steers us to praise and thanks. There is a statistic floating around that 75% of our thoughts are negative and that 95% of those negative thoughts are repetitive. I have a suspicion that statistically more of our prayers seek God’s help than give Him thanks and praise. Like the Israelites of old we forget God’s rescued us from slavery and that we’re heading to the promised land and we complain about the lunch he has packed for the trip. Bridling our tongues with thanksgiving and praise helps us fight Satan’s lies. Tomorrow instead of getting out of bed grumbling about Monday morning – get up and give thanks to God for 10 gifts He has given you. That shouldn’t be hard – start with your mom, then coffee, a hot shower, toothpaste, scrambled eggs, a second cup of coffee, Jesus, forgiveness, eternal life, the resurrection.
Those words on your tongue will cheer your heart and the faith in your heart will steer your tongue. Call upon your God in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks to Him. In the name of Jesus. Amen.