TrinityEvangelicalLutheranChurch September 10th and 13th, 2009
Brillion, Wisconsin Pentecost 15
James 1:17-27
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirrorand, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
54 commands. 108 verses. Do the math. James has something to say to Christians and he lays it out there. That’s James in a nutshell. He has something to say and he says it. He doesn’t take the back door or ease into it. He just hits you with it. He does it because he loves you. He wants you to know what God says. More than that, he wants you to believe it, know it, and live it. He comes at you with vivid, alive illustrations. And commands pointed like a spear. He is incisive, sharp, and dead-on. He had to be. Truth is, we need real reminders and often a good old fashioned tune-up. James is that type of book.
James is the mechanic. You’re the car. It’s time for a tune-up.
The mechanic goes straight to the hood. He pops it open to make sure all our beliefs are correct. He says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (v. 17)” You know who your Father is right? He is the good gift giver. God only gives good gifts. He doesn’t even know how to give you something bad. He gives you perfect gifts. That is the God you have. Don’t doubt it. Your friend may have been diagnosed with Leukemia. God gives good gifts. He may have put you in a difficult marriage. God gives perfect gifts. Maybe you’re at a point in your life where you’d like proof of that. Just look up.
There you see the sun. It’s awesome isn’t it? It’s a great gift from the Father. He is the Father of that light. He made it. We watch it go down over lakes and come up over mountains. We love to feel its warmth. Have you ever looked up at the stars on a clear night? When you look up though don’t stop at the heavenly bodies. Stop at the maker, the Father, of those lights. God is the good gift giver. You may love the sun. I know I do, but God is better. The sun changes. It moves in the sky and makes winter come. It leaves us every day. God doesn’t leave. He doesn’t change. God always gives good and perfect gifts. He doesn’t know how to give any other kind of gift. That is just who he is.
Here’s one of his best gifts. “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. (v. 18)”I told you. God gives good gifts. He wanted you to be alive so he breathed the truth into your soul. He gave you the gift of life. James isn’t talking about your birthday. He’s talking about the real life God gave you, the life he gave you by the word of truth. He made you a living, breathing, talking, walking, real, live child of God. He made you alive in Christ. He’s your Father. He picks you up in his arms. His face is beaming at his precious, beautiful child. You are the firstfruits of all he created. In the Old Testament, first fruits were the most important part of the harvest. They were set aside as precious, special to God. That’s you. You’re set aside as holy, and perfect to God. You’re alive. You’re the firstfruits. The word of truth has made you what you are, a child with Jesus’ perfect forgiveness.
Your heart and core, your engine, looks good. You’ve got the word of truth in your heart. So far so good. But there are some things that can harm a car on the highway to heaven. Time to look a little closer. Alright people loved by God. Let’s get to the nitty gritty. There are 3 issues that can get in the way of the word that made you alive.
#1 Talking instead of listening. “Everyone should be quick to listen, and slow to speak. (v. 19)” You can’t learn anything if you’re talking. You can’t hear about Jesus if you’re blabbing away. You can’t know the mind of your friend if you’re always blowing smoke. Quick to listen. Slow to speak. You’ve heard the old cliché: God gave you two ears and only one mouth. Quick to listen. Slow to speak. Got it? Why? #1 Listening brings you the word of truth. You’ll know Jesus better. #2 You can know and love people better. When you listen, I mean really listen, then you love someone the way they should be loved.
#2 Getting angry too quickly. “Everyone should be… slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (v 19, 20)” You husbands and wives out there. How many times can you think of where anger helped your marriage? How many times did it drive a wedge between you? How many times did it help to yell at your friend on the playground instead of asking nicely? Be slow with your anger. Now God has given each of us different personalities. Some of you are pretty quick to anger. Others slow. Some will have to work especially hard to check anger. Others less hard. Keep in mind that your anger does not lead to the righteousness that God requires. Instead, it leads to fights, hatred, bad relationships and ticked off people.
#3 Living a shabby, shallow life. Living life for your own enjoyment. You talk to people because you’re lonely. You make money for your enjoyment. You come to church to make yourself look good. Your primp and dress, walk and talk for you. You drink too much. You sleep around. You get angry. If I just described any part of who you are. Then, get rid of it. James says, “Instead, believe the word implanted in you. It has the power to save you.”
It’s all about keeping our engine humming, the word of the gospel placed in our hearts. That’s why we get rid of too much talking and not enough listening, are careful with anger, and live life for the Savior and others… not for yourself in greed and sexual sins. Time for the mechanic to poke around a little more.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (v. 22)” Listening to the word is all well and good, but now live it! Pastor Henzi and I aren’t windbags that talk about nice things and God stuff and now it’s your option as to whether or not you should believe it and do it. It’s not an option. Do what it says! If you don’t, you deceive yourself. You’re a hypocrite. All you are is a show for everyone else to see. You listen because it looks good to be in church plus you don’t want the pastors on your backs about it. That’s a show. That’s not Christianity. Don’t deceive yourself.
“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (v. 23, 24)” So there’s this girl who studies herself in the mirror. She knows the lines of her lips and the length of her nose after looking at herself for a good 5 minutes. Then she immediately forgets what she looks like. Ridiculous right?So why do we do it? Why is it that you’re urged to be at the Lord’s Table and then you drive away before communion starts? Why is it that you can hear a sermon about recommitting ourselves to the Lord and still figure that coming to church 1 to 2 times/month is sufficient Christianity? How is it that you can hear a sermon that urges you not to get drunk only to have a serious hangover sometime during the next month? How is it possible to hear God tell you not to worry about money and an hour later your thoughts are churning again? How can high schoolers who were told in catechism class to keep growing in the word quit reading their Bibles after confirmation? How can you hear a sermon one week only to have forgotten it two days later?
There’s only one solution to our weakness and sin. It’s the word planted in you. It saves you. It’s the word that gave you birth. And you can be sure that the Father who gave you that perfect gift will continue to give that perfect gift. Here is the word of truth: you’re perfect. You’re forgiven. You’re justified. That’s truth. There’s nothing truer in the world and there’s no better gift from our Father. He sent Jesus the Justifier. Jesus’work changed who we are. We were sinners. He called us saints. We were losers. He declared us winners. We were rebels. Jesus made us his children. He changed us from hell bound to heaven goers. He changed us from dead and goners to living breathing believers. That’s the power of Jesus’ resurrection. It calls us innocent, perfect saints of God. Don’t live in guilt, fear, or shame. You’re forgiven. God is the giver of good gifts. He gave us Jesus.
That’s why we study the perfect law that gives freedom. Jesus gets us pumped to do it. You don’t sleep through the sermon. You’re tuned in, listening, taking in every word. You continue to do what you’re told in the word. You don’t forget it. And you know what? You’ll be blessed for it. God says that the person who believes the word and lives the word,“He will be blessed in what he does. (v. 25)” Pretty good deal right? You get forgiveness and you will be blessed just by listening to the word!
The mechanic still isn’t quite done with his tune-up. He has a few tests he wants to run to make sure that everything is running the way it should. “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. (v. 26)”Your mouth matters. What you say reflects what you think and believe. Your mouth matters. So you think you’re Christian? You think you’re doing what’s right? Here’s a simple test: what do you talk about? What rolls off your tongue? If empty, gossipy, critical, hateful, nitpicky, pessimistic words is you, then your religion… your supposedly godly life is empty. It’s worthless. You can’t talk about anything you feel like and still be a Christian. It doesn’t jive. That’s the first test of your Christian life.
Here’s the second one: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (v. 27)” Here’s the second test. Do you care about other people? Do you care about people who are particularly down and out? Do you visit your mother in the nursing home? Do you make attempts to help out the poor or keep your money to yourself? God cares about the down and the out. Christians do too. Test yourself. Examine yourself. Is that you? Did you catch the last test? Keep yourself from being polluted by the world. Don’t chase the luxury. Don’t chase the money. Don’t chase the cabin up north or the vacations. Chase the word of truth. Love the word of Christ that calls you innocent and forgiven. That’s true religion. That’s Christianity.
God is the good giver of gifts. Believe it. Know it. Don’t let anything get in the way of his best gift: the word of truth. You are forgiven. Live the word. Believe the word. Amen.