DOERS OF THE WORD

James 1:17-27

A sermon for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, 2018

Our Epistle lesson for today comes from the book of James. We don’t get passages from James in our lectionary that often. When the bible cannon was being formed, James was nearly left out and even when it did make the cut, it was regarded with suspicion. Martin Luther, for example, would have happily banished it altogether, referring to it as the “Epistle of straw”.  As you know, he was a grace guy and this book, with it’s emphasis upon doing good seems almost anti-grace. He was worried it would confuse believers. 

Fortunately, you’re not the kind of believers who would be confused about something as important as grace so I think I can safely preach on this passage today. You know full well that your salvation comes from the grace of God in Christ and it is not your own doing at all. So don’t boast. But now that you’ve got grace, what are you supposed to do with it? Well, that’s where the book James comes in with advise for how to live. Spoiler alert: it does not advocate couch potato Christianity. It exhorts us to get up off our duffs and do God’s work.

The manuscript of this book attributes the authorship to James, the son of Zebedee but later it was traditionally held that it was James, the brother of Jesus. While the authorship is still disputed, whoever wrote it was passionate about helping the believers of the early Christian community live our their faith.

The Christian life is an ongoing journey according to this book. You don’t ever arrive but you keep on trucking, following in the footsteps of Jesus no matter how much you stumble and fall short. Mother Teresa understood this. She once wrote: “Keep in mind that our community is not composed of those who are already saints, but of those who are trying to become saints. Therefore let us be extremely patient with each other's faults and failures.”

The entire book of James is only 108 verses long and each one is dense with wisdom to help us follow Christ more faithfully. So let’s examine each of the 10 verses in today’s passage with the hope of gaining new inspiration for our journey.

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 
—James 1:17

Did you hear that? It says giving is a gift. Did you ever think of giving as a gift? It is. The old saying is true: it is better to give than to receive. God gives to us and all the gifts are good, so when we share this goodness with others, we are generous and God’s blessing expands. Thrivent Financial has T-shirts that say “Live Generously” and I love seeing people wearing them because that’s the advice of this verse and so many other in the bible. 

It also refers to God here as the “Father of Lights.” This refers to the lights of heaven—the sun, moon and stars—which God has created. These lights change throughout the day and the season. Now as we enter the autumn season we notice the hours of daylight diminishing. Yet God is the creator and author of all this light and, therefore, does not change, even as the shadows fall. This is a God we can rely upon and trust to supply us with all the gifts we need. That’s why we can always be generous.

In fulfillment of God’s own purpose God gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of God’s creatures. 
—James 1:18

James reminds us that we have been given new birth by the “word of truth.” This refers to the good news of the Gospel. The world may give us words of discouragement, but God doesn’t. The word of truth which our Lord speaks is all positive, all good because it is about redemption through Christ.

And so with this new birth as children of God, we become the first fruits of God’s creatures. In biblical tradition, the first fruits are the first ripe sheaves of grain or the first fruits that appear on a tree. They are signs of a greater harvest that is to come. They give hope. That’s why these first fruits were offered to God to show that they trusted in God for not just these fruits, but the entire harvest. So for US to be first fruits is to be the sign of HOPE. Are you a sign of hope? Is that how you live? Do people look at you and say: “Oh the world’s going to hell but look at her! She give me hope!”

It reminds me of the abolitionist Wendell Phillips, who had the courage to fight against slavery at a time when it wasn’t the popular or accepted thing to do. Yet he found the Holy Spirit’s wisdom guiding him onward. One day, after giving an impassioned speech condemning slavery, somebody asked him, "Wendell, why are you so on fire?" 

He said: "Brother, I'm on fire because I have mountains of ice before me to melt." 

You can call the book of James ancient wisdom but I think it was never more relevant. Just take a look around and you’ll see that there are mountains of ice that need melting. There is growing hatred and injustice and despair. Yet God is here and we trust that God is love. Are you shining forth that love? Are you on fire? Do you provide the first sign of hope to people looking for a spark of light? Well, if you’re looking for something to do with the grace that is within you, this would be a good start.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 
—James 1:19

This one is so straight-forward and so powerful we should commit it to memory: “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

Are you quick to listen? Most people aren’t. Here’s a bit of brain science: the average speaker says about 125 words a minute in normal conversation and our brains have the ability to comprehend 400 words a minute. Our brains are bored. They’re busy doing other things. We aren’t listening, we’re thinking of the next thing we want to say or making a to-do list or contemplating the forms.

And that doesn’t result in real communication or connection. In America today we have become especially good at not listening to each other when we have differing opinions. Yet when we listen, we begin to understand each other and walls fall down. Fear fades and enemies can even become friends. So be quick to listen and slow to speak.

If you do that, you’ll be slow to anger as well. 

For your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 
—James 1:20

Living a life of anger will not produce God’s righteousness. Holding onto anger against people is bad for our bodies and souls. It can cause hypertension, high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and more.  As people of faith, it’s not like we’re not angry, but we should be angry at injustice and heartlessness, not people. So we need to let the Holy Spirit direct our anger to fighting evils rather than our fellow human beings. Because plain old anger just tears up our communities. And that’s not how God wants us to live.

Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 
—James 1:21

As with anger, we are also to let go of other wicked behaviors. In the original language the word translated here as “rid” was more like “strip”. The way you’d quickly strip off dirty clothes to go into the washing machine, you ought to strip off wickedness. Then, free of such filth, you can really welcome the implanted word. This is a wonderful image of how God’s word is given to us and dwells in our hearts, like a seed that has been planted.  It is a gift and it must be nurtured just as a plant must be watered and given light. When we focus our hearts upon God’s word, then the word within us can grow and guide us from within.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 

—James 1:22

This is the poster-child of the passage. See? It made the cover our bulletins this week. James is all about action. When we believe God, it changes the way we live. We should be doers of the word.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: ”Go put your creed into your deed. What you DO speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you SAY.”

If someone didn’t know you were a Christian, could they figure it out based on your actions? Hmmm, that’s a tough question to ask yourself. James would prefer we ask if of ourselves often. Chances are we could be much better doers. Time to get to work.

For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.  
—James 1:23-24

What if you looked into a mirror after eating lunch and saw a big glob of mustard on your nose and then walked away and said: “Hey, I forget: did I have mustard on my nose? Or was it ketchup? Maybe it was on my chin. I just can’t remember.” If you did that we’d say you were pretty stupid, wouldn’t we? 

James’ point here is that God’s word is like a mirror—it shows you who you are. So when we look at God’s word what does it say you are? In these few verses of James alone it has a lot to tell you about who you are. It says you are blessed—blessed with God’s unchangeable love and gifts. You have been given a whole new life and you are like a first fruit of creation, giving hope to everyone around you. 

Now if that’s who you are and you believe it, then you’re going to be living out that reality. You’ll be a doer of the word and not someone stumbling around in the dark forgetting their purpose.

But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

—James 1:25

More doing. We did say James was big on action, didn’t we? Here, he talks about God’s perfect law. It is hard to follow but it brings liberty. Persevere in your efforts to follow God’s law and that will make you a doer. It will make you happy to live in God’s love.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.
 —James 1:26

James has a thing against tongues and he’s often on about their danger as is the book of Proverbs. For example, in Proverbs 13:3 it says: He who guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opes wide his lips comes to ruin. Think about the cliche: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. What an idiotic notion! Words totally hurt.  Think for a moment about something hurtful that was said to you. How did it shape your view of yourself? Have you healed from it? Maybe it was said when you were a child but it still hurts and shames you. That’s the danger of words and that’s why followers of Christ shouldn’t just “tell it like it is.” We shouldn’t be “Midwest Nice” and gloss over our concerns, either. If we’re quick to listen, slow to speak as it advised a few verses back, I think it is possible to communicate authentically but still keep from hurting people with our words. 

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

—James 1:27

Here we are at the final verse of today’s lesson. James pushes us onward to compassionate action. To live in God’s love—to be doers of the word—means that we must help those most vulnerable in our society. In biblical times, it was widows and orphans. They would starve if it were not for the kindness of others. The why all the ancient prophets called on people to care for them. If we want God’s kingdom to come, we must not ignore the helpless and marginalized. Who is that today? There are a lot of groups you could identify as marginalized, as pushed to the side and not given fair justice in our system. What’s been on my heart so much lately is the immigrant children who our government separated from their parents at the border, some of whom were abused while in federal custody.

Keep yourself unstained by the world. That’s really hard to do when we hear political messaging and want to believe it. But when our primary allegiance is to God we not stand for children being caged in the name of national security. Like Wendell Phillips we’ll have the moral courage to fight against oppression. We will remained unstained by the world and on fire because we have mountains of ice before us to melt. 

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As you can see, there is a lot for us to contemplate in these ten short verses and you should probably go home and read the whole book of James. It’s only 108 verses so it won’t take you long. I pray that this book of timeless wisdom challenge us to not just say we’re Christians but to act like we are, to continue faithfully down the path of faith and really walk the walk of love. Amen. 

TEN TWEETS OF WISDOM

A Sermon for 13th Sunday after Pentecost + August 30, 2009
Pastor Laura Gentry

James 1:17-27

When I read the critical bits of wisdom contained in our Epistle reading for today from James, I get the sense that I’m reading a Twitter feed. If you haven’t already heard the buzz about Twitter, it is a popular social networking Web site that allows users to share little messages with the world. The messages are short because they are limited to 140 characters—about a sentence in length. These fragmented bits of information are called “tweets” and there are a lot of tweeters out there. According to an article in the New York Times I recently read, there are 14 million users, who visited the site 99 million times last month to post messages and read the messages of others.

Because Twitter limits these communications to 140 characters, it forces people to be extremely concise. Messages simply can’t be long and flowery—it they have to get right at the heart of what needs to be conveyed. In our day and age, we expect this kind of economy of words, not just with tweets, but with just about everything. It’s a busy world and we have developed pretty short attention spans as a result.

That’s why I find the words of James’ so contemporary even though they were written for an ancient audience. The writer of this book, traditionally believed to be James, the brother of Jesus, is passionate about helping the believers of the early Christian community live our their faith. The authorship has been disputed but regardless of who wrote it, the wisdom contained within it is still valuable.

Lutherans don’t dig into this book all that much because Martin Luther didn’t like it. He called it the “Epistle of Straw” because he felt the emphasis upon good works might diminish our understand of salvation by grace. We are saved, Luther insisted, by the grace of God through Jesus Christ and not at all by our works. Other Christian scholars have argued that James seems to understand that we are saved by grace but that he is also interested in what we do with this gift of grace. Do we just hide it under a bushel or do we live it, thus allowing the light of Christ to grow within us and illuminate the world?

Reading James we get the sense that Christianity is an ongoing journey. You can’t ever just say: I AM a Christian. It is more like: every day, I am becoming a Christian. We don’t ever walk in the footsteps of Jesus perfectly, but with each step of our journey, we can work to walk in those footsteps more closely. Mother Teresa understood this. She once wrote: “Keep in mind that our community is not composed of those who are already saints, but of those who are trying to become saints. Therefore let us be extremely patient with each other's faults and failures.”

This entire book of James is only 108 verses long—many of them the length of a tweet or less—but it is steeped in wise and timeless advise designed to help us walk the walk of faith so that we can become Christians and we can be patient with our fellow becomers. So let’s take the 10 verse passage from the lectionary reading today and look at it one tweet at a time in hopes that we can be inspired by God’s word anew.

1. Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. —James 1:17

Giving is a gift? Have you ever thought of giving a gift? That kind of makes the giving we do like a double gift—the gift we give it coupled with the fact that God’s spirit gave us the gift to enable us to give it. Generosity is a good thing and we must be grateful that God helps us to be grateful, as it is a “perfect gift” that is given to us from the Father of lights. This God is pure light and will always be pure light. God’s light doesn’t have a “dark side” like the Force in Star Wars. We can trust in God’s goodness and we don’t need to fear that it will ever change.

Imagine you are reading this verse at Twitter and it stands all by itself. Just this tweet alone gives us wisdom if we contemplate it and allow it to shape our ideas and behaviors. It bids us ask ourselves important questions.

• In your Christian walk, how do you act generously?
• Think of a gift you recently gave. How did you feel blessed in the giving of it?
• What can you do to invite the Father of lights to give you even more generosity and other perfects gifts such as wisdom, love and joy?

2. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. —James 1:18

Now in the second tweet here, James reminds us that we have been given new birth by the “word of truth.” This refers to the good news of the Gospel. The world may speak a word of discouragement. The Media, for example, presents only 1 positive story out of 17 negative ones. But that’s not at all the way God words. The word of truth which our Lord speaks is all positive, all good because it is about redemption through Christ.

And so with this new birth as children of God, we become the first fruist of God’s creatures. In biblical tradition, the first fruits are the first ripe sheaves of grain or the first fruits that appear on a tree. They are signs of a greater harvest that is to come. They give hope. That’s why these first fruits were offered to God to show that they trusted in God for not just these fruits, but the entire harvest. So for us to be first fruits is to be the sign of hope and change. We are not going to listen to the word of the world. Instead, we are going to listen to the word of truth. We are going to give God our hearts and really belong to God, to walk in God’s ways.

Being the first fruits of creation means we’ve got to put our heart and soul into the living of our faith. We can’t do it half-heartedly. It reminds me of the abolitionist Wendell Phillips, who, after making an impassioned speech condemning slavery, was asked, "Wendell, why are you so on fire?"

Phillips looked at his friend and said: "Brother, I'm on fire because I have mountains of ice before me to melt."

Indeed, we have mountains of ice before us even today. 

• Are you on fire with the Spirit’s passion?
• Do you want more than anything to let your lives reflect your status as a first fruits of God’s creation?

3. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger;
—James 1:19

This one certainly reads like a tweet. But it is not detached from the tweet that came before it about being the first fruits of creation. Here, he is giving us absolutely concrete advise for how to live as a first fruit. It is so simple but so important. I think this is one we ought to commit to memory: “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

Not enough people are quick to listen these days. G.K. Chesterton once said that there is no such thing as an uninteresting subject, only uninterested people. The average speaker says about 125 words a minute in normal conversation. Yet our brains have the ability to comprehend about 400 words a minute. So we can get bored with a speaker and let our minds wander—thus, not really hearing and comprehending what’s being said. When we turn all of our focus to someone and really hear them out without judging immediately, we can connect with them in a most powerful way.

Think of people who you consider to be good listeners: folks that give you their full attention when you talk to them and ask meaningful questions to help you further unpack your ideas. What a gift they are giving you when they listen attentively! Being a good listener is key to forming strong relationships with others. That’s why James reminds us to listen first, being quick and eager to do so.

Then, only after careful consideration, should we speak. This would really keep us from putting our foot in our mouth as we so often do. Slow to speak, it says. Some people love to say whatever is on their minds. They brag of themselves: “I just tell it like it is.” But these words can often be hurtful and damaging. James would advise these folks to be much more cautious about speaking. Furthermore, we should also aim to be slow to get angry.

• Am I quicker to listen, to speak, or to get angry?
• What can I do to learn the art of listening better?
• How would being quick to listen improve my relationships?

4. For your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. —James 1:20

Now this one is a no-brainer. Living a life of anger will not make us filled with God’s righteousness. The American Psychological Association says that anger must be expressed when it is felt because if we turn it inward, it can cause hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression. But allowing our anger to fly out at others isn’t helpful either. As people of faith, we are called to turn our anger and other undesireable feelings over to God and ask God to transform us from the inside out. This is why we pray and worship and read scripture. These things help direct our focus upon God and the righteous ways in which God wants us to walk.

• How much do I struggle to manage my anger?
•  What can I do to give my anger over to God so that I can be transformed?

5. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. —James 1:21

As with anger, we are also to let go of other wicked behaviors and welcome the implanted word. This is a wonderful image of how God’s mighty word is given to us and dwells in our hearts, like a seed that has been planted. It is a gift and it must be nurtured just as a plant must be watered. When we focus our hearts upon God’s word, then the word within us can grow and guide us from within.

• How can I work to rid myself of wickeness?
What am I doing to nurture the implanted word in my heart?

6. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. —James 1:22

This is probably the chief tweet of the whole book. James is all about action. If we believe God, it should change the way we live. We should be doers of the word. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote:”Go put your creed into your deed. What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”

• If someone didn’t know I was a Christian, could they figure it out based upon my behavior?
• How can I make my actions more consistent with my belief in Jesus?
• If I were a true “doer of the word” how would my life be different?

7. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.
—James 1:23-24

Now if you looked into a mirror and then walked away and forgot what you’d seen in the mirror, we’d say you were pretty ridiculous, now wouldn’t we? James’ point here is that God’s word is like a mirror—it shows you who we are. Who are you? You are someone who has been blessed by God's gifts, someone who has been brought to new life through God's word—a person who is a first fruit, set aside as someone who belongs to God. If you want to walk in God’s way, you have to remember who you are in Christ. And when you do, it will enable you to be a doer of the word.

• How would it change your life if you were more constantly aware of who you are?
• What can you do to keep your identity as God’s child ever in your mind?

8. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.—James 1:25

Look at yourself again, James says, in the perfect law of liberty. The law brings liberty because it directs us to live in love. Yes, it demands a lot of us but it is freeing. The law it shows us how very loved we are and how much love we can give.

• How does following God’s law free you?
• What will it take for you to persevere in the law of liberty?

9. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. —James 1:26

James has a thing against tongues. This isn’t the only place he talks about their danger. Just a few verses earlier, remember, he said we should be slow to speak. Obviously, he knows how painful words can be and how we must use our ability to communicate wisely. Just as a horse is a great and powerful animal but it must be bridled or it could hurt someone—so our words have the potential for good or ill. Therefore, we must be careful to bridle them. This is about Christian maturity. To be mature in faith means knowing what to say and what not to say.

• How have my words been hurtful?
• How have they been helpful?
• What can I do to bridle my tongue so that my words can honor God and help others?

10. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.—James 1:27

Here we are at the tenth tweet of today’s lesson. James pushes us toward compassionate action. To live in God’s love means that we must help those most vulnerable in our society. In biblical times, it was widows and orphans. They would starve if it were not for the kindness of others. The prophets of old all called out for this same kindness to the widows and orphans. If we want God’s kingdom to come, we must seek out those in trouble and give them what they need. This is what it means to be a doer of the word.

Finally, it says we must keep ourselves unstained by the world. It would be easy to fall into the self-serving patterns of our society. But as Christians, our calling is higher. We’ve got an exciting challenge to live out God’s love each day.

• How can I be more intentional in caring for the vulnerable?
• What can I do to stay unstained by the world?

James has an immense amount of wisdom for us to contemplate in these ten short tweets. May we ponder these insights and allow them to challenge us and move us into a deeper, more meaningful walk of faith. Let us continue to BECOME Christians. Amen.