First Baptist Church
August 26, 2001
James 1:19-25
Being and Doing
Have you ever wondered where I was headed with my sermons? Sometimes I try to lead us down a certain path, hoping that if I’ve done my job properly, we’ll find the rainbow at the end of the sermon. I have a sense of that, when I read today’s scripture. James begins by writing about our listening skills and anger. This leads him to tell us we should accept the word of God — and ultimately we should be doers of the Word.
It may seem like he’s taking us on a wild goose chase, yet there’s a method to the points he’s making and a very definite plan. So, let’s take a look at what James is trying to teach us and how we can apply God’s Word to become more authentic, more real Christians.
Obviously, those first words from James speak volumes to us. Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. When I meet with couples for premarital counseling, I always talk about those verses. When we follow this prescription we have the opportunity not only to live in harmony with others, but to be a doer of the Word. Usually when we are having a disagreement with someone, we do the opposite of what James is prescribing — we are quick to become angry, quick to speak and slow to listen. Remember those old sayings, "God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth so you could listen more than you speak,"or "silence is golden, speech is silver."
Firstly, we are to be listeners. Remember the difference between hearing and listening — you all hear me speak, but when you listen you’re absorbing what is being said. You’re not thinking about your grocery list, or what your going to devour at the pot luck, or anything other than the words I’m speaking. That’s listening. It’s an art. Honestly, it is not always that easy to listen to a sermon that lasts more than five minutes. We easily become distracted, that’s why some people say, they become tired from listening. Not tired of listening. Listening takes concentration and what teachers always asked for in school, ‘giving your undivided attention.’
When we listen well, we are slow to speak and are not formulating our next statement. We are not thinking of a comeback in a disagreement we’re in, we’re not cutting off the other person so we can make our point, we’re trying to understand their point, their feelings and beliefs.
James reminds us that we should be slow to become angry. He isn’t telling us that anger is wrong, but the manner in which we display our anger and our reasoning can lead others to look at us as something less than a Christian. We should be angry at injustice and sin, but when we become angry that we aren’t winning an argument, we aren’t showing God’s righteousness.
So what is James recommendation? He bridges the gap between being good listeners and being doers of the Word with a very important statement in verse 21. He tells us to get rid of all that’s wrong in our lives — to get rid of all moral filth and evil that fills our lives so abundantly.
Why should we do that? He gives the answer in the second half of the verse — we should humbly accept the Word of God which has been planted in us so that our souls might be saved. In other words, get rid of the bad in your life and accept the gift of the Word of God, the gift of Jesus, so that you might find salvation for your soul. It’s a vital reminder that we must be in the Word of God. Of course, the only way we can take it in, is to be into the Word — reading, meditating and learning it.
As James leads us down this path, he reminds us that it’s one thing to know the Word, but it’s another thing to do the Word, to live it. He gives us the analogy of a person who looks in a mirror and quickly forgets what they look like.
Mirrors show us what we really look like. When you look into the mirror, you see the brutal truth. We don’t like to acknowledge it. I would like to think I look like I did 20 years ago. Back then, I was a lean, mean, fighting machine. But most mornings I am oblivious to that fact. After a shower I run a towel through my hair and my hair is combed. I quickly check the mirror to make sure I’m clean shaven and that’s my time in front of a mirror. When was the last time you stopped to take a good, long look at your face? I can see old pock marks from pimples, areas that I missed shaving and some things that I don’t like — more gray, less hair, more wrinkles and so on. It’s more comforting to walk away happily thinking that I’m still the lean, mean, fighting machine that I was at 20.
And we’re the same way with the Word of God. We take a quick look and avoid taking a long hard look at the Word because it’s too convicting. We may even skip worship because we don’t want to hear the Word of God, because it’s working on our soul. But James is calling us back to being in the Word, studying it and applying it. The word of God will serve as a mirror to show you the truth about yourself. But it will only do you good if you read, learn and apply it.
On February 18th Robert Hanssen, a 25-year expert in counterintelligence for the FBI, was arrested for espionage. He’s accused of passing top-secret information to Russia since 1985. It was interesting to learn that Hanssen regularly attended Catholic Mass and was a member of an ultra conservative religious order, called Opus Dei, which is strongly anti-communist and stresses moral righteousness.
You have to wonder if Robert Hanssen ever heard what was being said at his church Sunday after Sunday. And didn’t he listen to what was being said in the religious order? It seems that some people can hear the truth over and over, but it never sinks in. Unfortunately, Hanssen isn’t alone. There are people like him in churches all over the country. In Matthew 13:14, Jesus said, "In you is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will hear, but never understand; you will see, but never perceive.’" We have a serious problem in the church of Jesus Christ. Somehow we have a moral disconnect between faith and action. There’s a great separation between what we say we believe and what we do.
In his book, Walking with Christ in the Details of Life, Patrick Morley wrote, "According to Gallup surveys, and confirmed by other polls taken over the past 15 years, 33 percent of all Americans over age eighteen indicate they are evangelical or ‘born again’ Christians. That translates into 59 million Christians, or one in every three adults, who made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. While this is great news, it is also very scary, because this means the greatest revival in history has thus far been impotent to change society. We’ve had revival without transformation. It’s a change in belief without a corresponding change in behavior.
The American gospel has evolved into a gospel of addition without subtraction. It’s the belief that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior. It’s a spiritual experience without any cultural impact. It is revival without reformation, without repentance. . . . The proof of religious conversion is to demonstrate that we have both added a relationship with Christ and that we have subtracted sin (repentance). And we multiply proof to a weary world by what we do — our deeds, our obedience. What we do must confirm what we say. Our deeds are the proof of our repentance. A changed life is one that has added Christ and subtracted sin, that attracts a world weary of worn-out words. Obedience is the proof."
Those are very condemning words by Patrick Morley. I don’t like what he said, but I believe he’s correct. So, what do we do?
If we are going to convince a cynical world that the message of Jesus Christ is real, we must be intentional about living the Christian life. We are going to have to endure to the end, even through hard times. And as we do so, we lean upon the grace of God, the strength that comes from knowing Christ and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The promise is that when you continue to do this, not forgetting what you’ve heard, but doing it — you will be blessed.
We must return to the Word of God seeking to understand and put into action the love of Jesus. We have been called to follow two commandments, love God & love your neighbor. 1 John 4:20 tells us ‘we are liars if we say we love God but hate our neighbors.’ That kind of equation will never work in God’s kingdom.
A couple of final points for us to begin to apply this passage from James.
1. If you’re not into the Word of God, begin. Start with the gospel of Mark in the New Testament. It is the shortest and action filled. If you need a Bible, either ask me for one, or take the Bible that is right in front of you in the pew pocket.
2. Prayerfully consider coming to a new Bible Study Wednesday, September 5th in which the focus is taking a basic overview of the Bible and learning which Bible is right for you.
3. Demonstrate God’s love to your coworkers, students, friends, to one another, and most especially to your family. Seek to serve them, because you love them.
I read a touching story about a pastor whose young son had become very ill. After the boy had undergone an exhaustive series of tests, the father was told the shocking news that his son had a terminal illness. The youngster had accepted Christ as his Savior, so the pastor knew that upon his death he would be with Jesus; but he struggled how to tell his son that he would die. After seeking the direction of the Holy Spirit, he went with a heavy heart to the boy’s bedside. He read a passage of Scripture and had a time of prayer with his son. Then he gently told him that the doctors could promise him only a few more days to live. His father asked, "Are you afraid to meet Jesus?" After blinking away some tears, the young boy bravely said, "No, not if He’s like you, Dad!"
That father was a doer. He demonstrated God’s love. Are you?
