Perhaps many of you children have sung this song when you were in Sunday school:
Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say;
Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say;
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love:
Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say.
There are several other verses in the song about being careful what your eyes see, what your ears hear, what your hands do, and where your feet go, and they are important too. Our story today is going to compare how a forest fire and our tongues can both do great damage. It will remind us of this Bible verse in James 3:55Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! (James 3:5) where God tells us, “The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!”
Have you ever seen a real forest fire? We were camping beside a lake when we noticed a white plume of smoke rising into the sky. We were curious. We took our boat up to a far neck of the lake and discovered that the smoke we saw was from a raging forest fire that had started at the edge of the lake we were on.
Along with about fifty other boats, we sat out on the water and watched the California Forestry Department battle the flames, sparks and wind. And those firefighters were losing the battle. Fifty- to sixty-foot flames swept across scrubby trees which lit up like torches as the flames raced across the hillside. Airplanes made many trips flying through smoke and dangerously close to the hillsides, dropping chemicals to slow the fire’s progress, but then a gust of wind would cause the flames to shoot up again.
Helicopters arrived and began dropping fifty-gallon buckets of lake water onto the fire. Fire trucks were stationed along the dirt service road, and we could see many yellow-suited firefighters dragging hoses as they tried to stop the advancing flames.
Then a bulldozer came clanking along the service road and made a sharp right turn into the scrubby underbrush. Within five minutes, the bulldozer had cleared a firebreak up a small hill before disappearing over the top.
The “Pedro Fire,” as this forest fire was named, started on July 3 and burned out of control for ten days before it was finally stopped. There were 1,364 firefighters who worked day and night, some coming to Central California from the states of Oregon and Washington. Forty-five fire engines, four helicopters, nine bulldozers, six water trucks and probably a dozen airplanes were used. The fire burned nearly two thousand acres and cost three million dollars!
The fire started out very small. A camper told investigators that the fire started with a spark when he hit a rock with his shovel. Just a spark.
After watching the fire for an hour or two, we returned to our campsite but kept thinking about the fire. We thought about it that night when its red glow lit up the night sky. We thought about it the next morning when our campsite and boat were covered with ash. We thought about it as we were leaving the lake, with smoke continuing to rise behind the hills. We could still see it from miles away.
And then we thought about that verse from the Bible that reminds us that our tongues can start a fire, just like that one spark started that terrible forest fire. Our tongues can start fires of unhappiness. If you and I say something unkind to someone, it hurts. Or if it’s about someone else, it often is repeated to others and is passed on again to even others, and the unhappiness grows. We have a verse that tells us what can happen: “He that [repeats] a matter [separates] ... friends” (Proverbs 17:99He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. (Proverbs 17:9)). Or if we intentionally say something that is untrue, that is called a lie, and a lie is sin! Just like the destruction we saw which was caused by one little spark, our tongues have the power to destroy, harm and cause suffering for many. Are we starting fires with what we say?
Here is a good reminder from the Bible for every one of us to think about each day: “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Psalm 34:1313Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. (Psalm 34:13)).
“Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say!”
ML-02/21/2016