Being and Doing
James 1:19-27
August 26, 2001
Has someone ever told you a story and you have absolutely no clue where they’re going with it? One time, I was talking to someone who actually said, “to make a long story, longer...” Ugh! Make it shorter ... please, especially when I don’t know what the point is.
I mean have you ever asked someone in the middle of their story, “what’s the point?” I have! It’s not always a good thing to do to your spouse!
Well, we’re in our 3rd sermon as we look at the book of James. 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 be doers of the Word.
And it may seem like James is 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, real Christians.
For the past 2 weeks, we’ve been talking about trials, testings and temptations. Fun stuff. Now James wants us to be better listeners and not get quite so angry. Remember, God may test us, but He will never, never tempt us.
James wrote - - - -
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. - James 1
Those first words from James speak volumes to us. They are so relevant!
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’re having a disagreement with someone, we do the opposite of what James is prescribing — we’re 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’s being said. You’re not thinking about your grocery list, or what your going to eat for lunch. Listening is an art. It’s not always 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.’
I used to listen to some really raunchy music when I worked out. It had a great beat and was kind of loud. One day I was lifting weights with Zachary and he incredulously asked me, ‘what I was listening to?’ I proudly told him the name of the group, thinking I was pretty hip, then he asked me “do you know what the lyrics are?”
I said “NOPE!” He told me and I didn’t listen to them again. I was hearing the words, but I wasn’t listening, and in the process my potential witness was not good and words and themes were filtering in which weren’t good.
A benefit of listening well is we become slower to speak. Think about most disagreements, especially arguments . . . we don’t listen well . . . . we’re thinking about our comeback. How many times have you been asked - - - did you hear what I said? That’s when you know you’re not listening.
But when you listen well and are slow to speak, you’re not formulating your next statement. We aren’t 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.
So, James reminds us we should be slow to become angry. He isn’t telling us 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.
Again, the point he’s making is that when we’re quick to listen, we become slower to speak, because we’re taking in what the other person is telling us. And because of that, we become slower to become angry. We’re less angry because we now understand the person better. It doesn’t mean they’re right or we even agree with them. You simply better understand and that leads to James next point.
James 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.
He starts by saying THEREFORE . . . in other words, because of what I just said, do this! Getting rid of moral filth means to get rid of all that stuff that stains your soul. Think about all that we allow to filter in which can stain us. You wouldn’t drink grape juice on that new white sofa. In some ways, we’re more apt to protect that sofa better than our souls.
And the phrase rampant wickedness is pretty much what it means. It’s an over abundance to have a desire to do evil or bad to someone. The inference is the intent. It’s like having a goal to harm someone. Maybe with words, maybe with actions.
Why should we do that? He gives the answer in the second half of the verse — we should humbly / meekly 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 another 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. Asking questions so that we understand what God wants us to do and who we are to be in our lives.
As James leads us down this path, he tells us - - -
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
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’m oblivious to that fact. After a shower I run a towel through my hair and my hair is combed. 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.
We recently updated some of our insurance, and I was asked if we had hardwood floors, I quickly said nope. Then as I walked in the house, I came to the dining room which has hardwood floors. He laughed as I changed my answer. To my benefit, I’ve only lived there for 16 years.
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 can be very convicting. 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.
It’s almost applying those listening skills to reading the Word. Listen first, what’s God teaching me. Meditate on it, be slow to speak, don’t justify your actions, let His Word fill you. And don’t reject it, but embrace it, even if it’s not what you want to hear.
In Matthew 13, Jesus said - - -
14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ - Matthew 13:14-15
We have a serious problem in the church world, which often hurts our ability to share Jesus. 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. Yet, you see that in the last part of the verse Jesus is telling us if we would, He’ll bring healing to us.
In his book, Walking with Christ in the Details of Life, Patrick Morley wrote,
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. 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’re going to convince a cynical world that the message of Jesus Christ is real, we must be intentional about living the Christian life. We’re 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.
Let me add, in verse 25, James tells us you will be blessed in your doing. Not as a result of your doing. It’s not like saying, “hey God look at me helping my neighbor, what’s my reward?” Nope your reward comes in the doing and I think that’s so cool!
So our call is to be obedient to God’s call. We are to follow the perfect law and the law of liberty. Love your neighbors and love God, this interestingly frees you as you follow Christ.
We must return to the Word of God seeking to understand and put into action the love of Jesus. We’ve been called to follow two commandments, love God and 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.
Finally, James tells us in the final verses - - -
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. - James 1
So here’s the end of James message in chapter 1 - - -
if you think you’re that super sweet Christ follower but you’re more apt to gossip, or demonstrate a quick anger towards others, if you’re not loving others, THEN — you’re deceiving yourself. You’re deceiving your heart and what you say you believe is really worthless.
What you really need to do and believe is this - - - this is what’s pure and undefiled, not contaminated by sin - - - demonstrate God’s love to others who are in need. Most especially James points out the orphans and widows, since they were financially and socially at the bottom of the barrel. That will be a sign of who God is in your life. It’s showing what you treasure by your actions and your money.
And finally . . . . . Keep yourself unstained from the world. Don’t let the world stain you. Stay pure. Don’t allow the world to spill it’s grape juice on your clean and washed soul.
A couple of closing thoughts - - -
1. If you’re not into the Word of God, begin. I’d be happy to help you start reading or get you a Bible if you need one.
2. Practice what James is talking about. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. It’s not always easy, yet, I believe it can bring a greater peace in your life and truly demonstrate Christ at work through you.
3. Demonstrate God’s love to your coworkers, friends, to one another, and most especially to your family. Seek to serve them, because you love them.
Don’t just talk about Jesus, but be a doer and that will do all the talking you need.
