Sail Portsmouth 2024, Tall Ships, and the Amazing Power of the Rudder (Both Figuratively and Literally)

“4 Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. 5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.”

James 3:4,5, NASB1995

This past weekend, we had the joy of spending time at one of our favorite places, Great Island Common, in New Castle, NH.  Located on the southern tip of this little island-town, this sprawling park has a deep connection to my childhood – a place where we would spend almost every Wednesday night in the summers, enjoying a picnic with our family and friends, enjoying the cool ocean breezes, inviting tidal pools, and an endless array of rocks to climb.  Continuing the tradition with our own children, we take every chance during our short visits to get out to Great Island and enjoy the same things I did as a child some 40 years ago. 

This weekend, we had a bonus reason for visiting – the annual Sail Portsmouth Tall Ships Parade of Sail, featuring three beautiful, historic tall ships – The USCGC Eagle, the historic arctic explorer, the two-masted Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey, and the three-masted Great Lakes Schooner SV Denis Sullivan.  From this vantage point, not only could we see the ships as they gathered offshore, but also three lighthouses, three historic forts, and a newly-restored turn-of-the-century life saving station – all offering a great backdrop for the coming parade.  

But what strikes me – especially with such massive ships like these, is that the same message of James 3, despite being nearly 2,000 years old, still rings true.  Compared to these beautiful ships, their rudder is seemingly insignificant, yet without it, ships are at the mercy of the winds, the currents, and their inertia, as we saw so tragically unfold this spring, when the Dali lost power, causing them to lose both propulsion and steering, and resulting in the collision and fatal collapse of the Key Bridge.   

James’ use of this particular word picture seems especially apropos, given our current cultural political climate. The tongue is a powerful muscle – able to build up and able to destroy. Able to encourage and able to put down.  And what does our tongue do naturally?  James tells us that what it tends toward most is boasting – making much of ourselves. Oh, how easy it is to pick and choose what words to say, what topics to bring up, what accomplishments we share – all to make much of ourselves.  But is it our tongues’ fault?  Is it some errant member of our body that just likes to act up?  Or is there something deeper – more central to our core, that governs our tongue?

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.“

Matthew 12:34b, ESV 

Jesus’ words are clear.  What comes out of our mouths flows from our hearts. What we like and don’t like, what we love and what we hate, what we worship – it all flows out of our hearts.  The heart is the source, and that means the battle to rein in our tongue begins with the battle for mastery of our hearts.  Though it may really feel that way sometimes, what we need isn’t a gag, but a heart conformed to Christ, by the power the Spirit provides.  

What changes our heart at the desire level?  It’s not primarily rules or knowledge, but greater desires!  When I get cut off in traffic and my gut response is to lay on the horn and yell at the other driver, all the rules and knowledge in the world aren’t going to help me one bit.  In that moment, what I need is a transformed heart that desires, like a knee jerk reaction, to do what most honors Christ – because my desire for Him, and His ways are greater than my desire to punish the one who offends me.  Such reactions are not humanly possible, but are a fruit the grows on the root of the Spirit, dwelling within us (Galatians 5:22f). It is yet another beautiful gift, flowing from the Gospel of Grace!

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