Acting And Doing
Text: James 1:21-17
Introduction
1. Illustration: Several years ago, when Melissa and Daniel were todlers, we bought a new bookcase for our living room. It was one of those one that come in a box and you have to take out all the parts and put it together. It comes with this handy document called instructions. Now being the red-blooded, American male that I am, I decided I could figure this out with out any stinking directions. You can probably see where this story is headed! As you can imagine, it didn’t go well. It ended with me putting it together wrong, and Tina told me I was never allowed to put stuff like that together anymore. There is a spiritual side to this story. We have been given instructions for life called the Bible. God gave them to us to tell us about His salvation and how to live in this life. Just like me and the instructions for the bookcase, we too often decided we don’t need God’s instructions. The results are also much like my ignoring the bookcase instructions, and we make a mess of our lives because we refuse to read the Bible. However, we can’t just read God’s instructions and not follow them. Once we read them we have to do what it says. Are you reading God’s instructions? Are you putting them to practice in your life?
2. Sadly, recent studies show that only about 22% of Americans believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God (Barna, The Bible In America: 6 Year Trends, barna.com).
3. However, James tells us we should be
A. Accepting The Word
B. Acting On The Word
C. Practicing The Word
4. Let's stand together as we read James 1:21-27.
Proposition: The Bible is our instruction manual so we must read it and put it into practice.
Transition: First, James tells us about...
I. Accepting The Word (21).
A. Accept The Word
1. Just as you can't put together a bookcase without reading the instructions, likewise we can't live the life God wants us to live without reading and studying His word.
2. Look at what James tells us in v. 21, "So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls."
A. Get rid of: "put away," "lay aside". The vb. is commonly used of removing clothing, but in the NT it is most often applied metaphorically to stripping off the pre-Christian lifestyle (Vlachos, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament – James, 56).
B. According to the Greek, this is a once-for-all action.
C. Why should we do this? Progress in our spiritual lives cannot occur unless we see sin for what it is, quit justifying it, and decide to reject it.
D. James’s word picture here has us getting rid of our evil habits and actions like stripping off dirty clothes.
E. Ephesians 4:22-24 (NLT)
22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
F. After we “get rid,” then we need to humbly accept the message of God, seeking to live by it because it has been planted in our hearts and becomes part of our being.
G. God teaches us from the depths of our souls, from the teaching of the Spirit, and by the teaching of Spirit-led people.
H. The soil in which the word is planted must be hospitable in order for it to grow.
I. To make our soil hospitable, we must give up any impurities in our lives.
J. God’s word becomes a permanent part of us, guiding us through each day.
K. The implanted word is strong enough to save our souls.
L. When we absorb the characteristics taught in the word, these are expressed in living.
M. Trials and temptations cannot defeat us if we are applying God’s truth to our lives (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 1075).
3. We live in a word that is hostile to God and his righteous standards. We are constantly bombarded with images and ideals that are contrary to the ways of God. The main way we combat this is our lives is by being daily in the Word of God
B. According To Your Word
1. Illustration: A story was told of a man who loved old books. He met an acquaintance who had just thrown away a Bible that had been stored in the attic of his ancestral home for generations.
"I couldn’t read it," the friend explained. "Somebody named Guten-something had printed it."
"Not Gutenberg!" the book lover exclaimed in horror. "That Bible was one of the first books ever printed. Why, a copy just sold for over two million dollars!"
His friend was unimpressed. "Mine wouldn’t have brought a dollar. Some fellow named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it in German."
2. By accepting the Bible for what it is, the Word of God, we will enable ourselves to live as God wants us to live.
A. Psalm 119:9 (NLT)
How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.
B. It's imperative that we make the Bible a part of our daily lives.
C. As we need food to live a healthy lifestyle, we also need spiritual food from the Word to live a spiritual lifestyle.
D. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
E. It teaches us what is right.
F. Shows us what is wrong.
G. It corrects when we get off base.
H. But the only way it is going to do those things is if we read it.
I. The only way it is going to teach us is if we study it.
J. The only way it is going to show us what we need to change is by being in it on a daily basis.
K. The first thing you ought to do every morning is pray, and the second thing you ought to do is grab your Bible.
Transition: The next thing James tells us we should be doing is...
II. Acting On The Word (22-25).
A. Do What It Says
1. Now let me ask you a question, what if I had read those directions for that bookcase? Yeah, what if I had read those directions, crumpled them up in a ball and said, "Nah, I'll just do it my way!"? Would that have done me any good? Of course not! Well the same is true of reading Scripture. After reading it we need to act upon it.
2. Look at what James says in v. 22, "But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves."
A. Simply reading, even studying, God’s word does not profit us if we do not obey what it says.
B. We listen to God’s message not just to know it, but also to do it.
C. We would be fooling ourselves to congratulate ourselves about knowledge of Scripture if that’s all there is to it.
D. The word translated "fooling" carries the idea of false reasoning.
E. The "nondoers" rationalized their lack of conformity to the Word. Like the priest and Levite in the Parable of the Good Samaritan who probably justified their disregard of the injured man, "hearers only" were rationalizing their failure to obey what they heard (Steinberg, The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 203).
F. Matthew 7:26-27 (NLT)
26 But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.
27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
G. Worthwhile knowledge is a prelude to action; God’s word can only grow in the soil of obedience.
H. In order for a lesson to make a difference in a student’s life, it must enter the heart and mind, affecting his or her life.
I. It is important to hear God’s word, but it is much more important to obey it.
J. We can measure the effectiveness of our Bible study time by the effect it has on our behavior and attitudes. Do we put into action what we have studied (Barton, 1075)?
3. Then in vv. 23-24 James gives a real life illustration of someone who reads the word without acting upon it. He says, "For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like."
A. Some people take a casual look at God’s word without letting it affect their lives, like the person who looks so quickly into a mirror that flaws go undetected and nothing is changed. They listen but don’t act.
B. The person who does nothing more than hear the Word disregards changes He needs in character (Steinberg, 203).
C. The other approach is the intent look, the deep and continued study of God’s word that allows a person to see flaws and change his or her life in line with God’s standards.
D. The kind of “mirror” that God’s word provides is unique. It shows us our inner nature in the same way that a regular mirror shows our exterior features.
E. Both mirrors reflect what is there. When God’s word points out something in us that needs correction, we had better listen and act.(Barton, 1075).
4. However, James says, "But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."
A. The word translated "look carefully" (parakupsas eis) is in contrast to the casual reading.
B. It pictures a person stooping over to see something better. It means intent looking and careful examination because the subject under consideration is very important.
C. The same word describes how John and Mary stooped down and looked into the open tomb in which Jesus had been placed (John 20:5,11) because this was a matter of tremendous significance to them (Steinberg, 203).
D. People who look steadily study with serious attention and then make God’s law their chosen lifestyle.
E. They study with enamored attention not only once, but continuously; as a result, they remember God’s word and do what it says.
F. This law is perfect; it cannot be improved. This law sets people free because it is only in obeying God’s law that true freedom can be found .
G. As Christians, we are saved by God’s grace, and salvation frees us from sin’s control.
H. As believers we are free to live as God created us to live. Of course, this does not mean that we are free to do as we please (1 Peter 2:16)—we are now free to obey God.
I. 1 Peter 2:16 (NLT)
16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.
J. God will bless these people who look steadily at God’s word, do what it says, don’t forget what they have heard, and obey it (Barton, 1075).
B. Putting It Into Action
1. Illustration: For 2,000 years the Bible, often unaided by any human intervention, has transformed the lives of those who read it, many times dramatically so. St. Augustine is a good example. For most of his life he was a famed academic in the Roman Empire. He was very successful in rhetoric, a noble profession. But he lived a thoroughly dissolute, self-indulgent, immoral life. The time came when he began to consider the claims of Christianity.
He was alone in a garden one day when he heard a child singing out a line from a game: "Pick it up and read, pick it up and read." He turned to his copy of the Scriptures, which was opened to Roman. 13. His eyes were drawn to the following words: "Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." (Rom. 13:13-14)
Deeply convicted, he surrendered to Christ, and the Roman rhetorician went on to become the Christian bishop of Hippo, the greatest theologian after Paul, and one of the most formidable intellects of Western civilization.
2. Hearing the Word is useless unless you do what it says!
A. Romans 2:13 (NLT)
13 For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.
B. What good does it do to read the Bible and then not obey it?
C. It's like reading instructions and then throwing them away!
D. We can't just read the Word, we have to be doers of the Word.
E. We have to take the wisdom and insight from the Word of God and put it to use.
F. When it says to do something we need to do it!
G. When it says to not do something we need to not do it.
H. We need to follow what the Word says rather than what society tells us to do.
I. Society tells us if it feels good do it, however, the Word tells us to be self-controlled, disciplined and obedient.
J. Don't just read the Word, act upon it!
Transition: One sure way to act up the Word is...
III. Practicing The Word (26-27).
A. If You Claim To Be Religious
1. Now James gives us two ways to practical ways to act upon the Word; 1) speech and 2) taking care of the needy.
2. First he says, "If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.”
A. Controlling your tongue ought to be familiar to us...since we just talked about it last week.
B. God’s perfect law should be put into practice in our speech.
C. Here James introduces two major themes that he will discuss at length later: the use of the tongue (3:1-12) and the treatment of the unfortunate (throughout the letter).
D. Knowing how to speak well—as a great teacher would—is not nearly as important as having control of our speech: knowing what to say and where and when to say it.
E. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself. The way that others will know whether or not our faith is real is by what we choose to talk about and the way we speak.
F. It is self-deception to have religious practices that do not lead to an ethical lifestyle.
G. Even our outward religious practices are worthless without obedience. And we cannot be obedient if we cannot control our mouths.
H. James does not specify how the tongue offends, but we can imagine a series of ways that our tongues dishonor God—gossip, angry outbursts, harsh criticism, complaining, judging.
I. Our verbal actions speak louder than our religious rituals. Pretending to be religious and convincing ourselves that we are is not only deceptive to others, it is also a deadly self-deception.
J. Conversion is meaningless unless it leads to a changed life. A changed life goes nowhere unless it serves others (Barton, 1075).
3. So James says, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."
A. From a religion easily capable of rationalizing any behavior, James now turns to a relationship where God is allowed to direct the terms of behavior—pure and genuine religion.
B. James explains religion in terms of practical service and personal purity. Rituals done with reverence are not wrong; but if a person still refuses to obey God in daily life, his “religion” is not accepted by God.
C. Pure and genuine religion is not perfect observance of rules and observances; instead, it is a spirit that pervades our hearts and lives.
D. Like Jesus, James explains religion in terms of a vital inner faith that acts itself out in daily life. Our conduct must be in keeping with our faith.
E. Orphans and widows are often mentioned in the concerns of the early church because these were the most obviously “poor” in first-century Israel.
F. The widows, because they had no access to inheritances in Jewish circles, were very much on the outskirts of society. This is why Paul had to develop an entire order concerning widows in his own churches.
G. The widows could not get jobs, and their inheritances went to their oldest sons. It was expected that the widows would be taken care of by their own families, and so the Jews left them with very little economic support.
H. Unless a family member was willing to care for them, they were reduced to begging, selling themselves as slaves, or starving.
I. By caring for these powerless people, the church put God’s word into practice. When we give with no hope of receiving in return, we show what it means to serve others.
J. Even today, the presence of widows and orphans in our communities and cities makes this directive of James very contemporary. To this group we can also add those who have become de facto widows and orphans through the death of families in divorce.
K. These people have complicated lives. The needs always threaten to overwhelm our human resources. Looking after hurting people is stressful work. Yet we are called to be involved.
L. In addition, those with pure and lasting religion will refuse to let the world corrupt them. To keep ourselves from being corrupted by the world, we need to commit ourselves to Christ’s ethical and moral system, not the world’s.
M. We are not to adapt to the world’s value system based on money, power, and pleasure. True faith means nothing if we are contaminated with such values (Barton, 1076).
B. Practice What You Preach
1. Illustration: A young lady busied herself getting ready for a blind date. He had promised dinner at an exclusive downtown restaurant with live music and dancing. Wanting to make a good first impression she had taken the day off work. She cleaned her apartment; she went out that afternoon to have her hair done and get a manicure. When she got home she put on her best dress and was ready for her date’s arrival. The time came and went, but he did not knock.
After waiting over an hour she realized that she had been stood up. She took off her dress, let down her hair, put on her pajamas, gathered all her favorite junk food and plopped down to watch TV with her dog. Sometime later there was a knock at the door; it was her date.
He looked at her surprised and said, "What! I gave you two extra hours and you’re still not ready to go?"
Jesus has given us a few hours more than we expected, but he is coming. Does your life reveal that you are ready for his return, or is your profession not matched by your practice? Are you practicing what you preach?
2. We need to practice what we preach!
A. Luke 10:36-37 (NLT)
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
B. It does us no good to call ourselves Christians if we do not practice what we preach.
C. If we see others in suffering and do nothing about it we are not acting like Jesus.
D. If we see someone in need and we do nothing about we are not acting like Jesus.
E. If we hears others running someone else down and we not only don't do anything to stop them, but join in with them, we are not acting like Jesus.
F. If we see injustice in the world and we just turn our heads and walk away we are not acting like Jesus.
G. We all dread hearing someone say, "I thought you were a Christian," but sometimes there right!
H. We are called to be different.
I. We are called to offer faith, hope and love to those in need.
J. If we don't we are not acting like Jesus, and have no right to call ourselves by his name...Christian!
Conclusion
1. James tells us we should be
A. Accepting The Word
B. Acting On The Word
C. Practicing The Word
2. Three things to remember...
A. We must be in the Word if we are going to follow it.
B. After reading the Word we must do what it tells us.
C. If we are going to call ourselves Christians we need to act like Jesus.
