James: Practical Faith
James 1:19-27
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
09-22-2024
Jesse
Jesse loved church! He was there every Sunday on his pew at First Baptist Kearney, Missouri. He was born a Baptist and had been baptized in the creek.
He killed a man in a robbery the morning of his baptism but that didn’t stop him from going into the cold creek with the pastor.
He loved singing in the choir and was said to have a beautiful tenor voice.
He honored the Sabbath and almost never robbed trains or killed people on Sunday. By the way, he is said to have killed more than 20 people.
Oh yes, he was a beloved Sunday school teacher!
The biographer of Jesse James wrote that Jesse believed that when he died he was headed to heaven. He had “done the best he could…just ask his church family.”
Something is wrong with this story. In the verses we will study this morning, James is going to make the point that our belief should affect our behavior. Our creed will affect our conduct.
And if it doesn’t, there is something flawed about our faith.
So far, James has given us encouragement to greet trials as friends know that God can use trial to grow us up in the faith and help us to look more and more like Jesus.
Last week, we looked at James’s words concerning temptation.
James uses the same word for trials and temptations. How can we tell the difference?
Skip Heitzig helps to clarify this :
* Trials come from God to develop us.
* Temptations come from the world, the flesh and the devil to deceive us.
But God can use both to mature us.
If you missed one of the sermons, you can always watch it on my Facebook page.
Would you please turn with me to James 1?
Prayer.
Text within its Context
Look with me back to verse 18:
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
James makes the case that the new birth comes through the word of truth, by which he meant the Gospel found in the pages of the Bible.
Now he’s going to help his readers to get as much out of the Scriptures as possible.
A Proverb
James is very similar to the book of Proverbs. It’s a practical, rubber-meets-the-road guide for living the Christian life.
Let’s remember that James is writing to Jewish Christians that are now scattered all over the Mediterranean. They are fellow believers and part of the family of faith.
He begins this section with a proverb:
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
What he is about to write is important so he calls for their complete attention - this is important, listen up, take note.
James issues another command in the form of a proverb in three parts:
Everyone should be quick to listen
James has a pastor’s heart and starts out with a personal appeal.
This is in the present tense so it means “keep on being quick to listen.”
He commanded “open ears.”
In this context, James is commanding an intense, active listening when the Word is preached or read.
It’s the picture of Mary quietly and attentively sitting at the feet of Jesus while her sister Martha is scurrying around.
Pastor Steve Cole writes:
“To be quick to hear God’s word implies an attitude of eagerness to take in the word from every angle. As a believer, you should desire to read the word, to listen to biblical preaching of the word, to memorize the word, and to understand all of its teaching with a view to obedience.”
When we are facing a trial or trying to resist a temptation, we need to be quick to listen to what God says to us through His Word.
When it comes to the sermon, how can we do that?
By turning off the notifications on your phone.
Before the sermon, pray Samuel’s prayer from I Samuel 3:10: “Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening.”
By following along in your copy of God’s Word.
By having a notebook or journal to take notes in.
By saying “amen” or “go get it pastor!” when something really stands out to you.
Most people are not very good at listening.
When I started my counseling program in seminary, the first verse we had to memorize was Proverbs 18:13:
“To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.”
Why don’t we listen well?
Some people don’t listen well because they are busy thinking about what they are going to say next.
Some people, (menfolk), don’t listen well because we want to solve the problem.
Some people don’t listen well because, deep down, they really don’t care what the other person is saying.
How can we do better?
No distractions. Put your phone down.
Lean in, give eye contact, and nod your head showing agreement.
Repeat back to them what you have heard to make sure that you are tracking with them.
Honor what they are saying by giving your full attention.
In his book "Life Together", Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote,
"The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists of listening to them. Just as love for God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brothers is learning to listen to them. It is [because of] God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but also lends us His ear."
We are to be quick to listen.
slow to speak ?
James commands us to be slow to speak. When we go to God’s Word, we need to be quiet and listen.
Solomon wrote the same thing:
“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.” (Ecc 5:1-3)
When God confronts Job, he responds:
“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.” (Job 40: 4-5)
When we are talking, it is very difficult to listen.
Solomon taught his children:
“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.” (Prov 17:28)
David wrote there famous words:
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
There is so much to learn. God gave us one mouth and two ears implying that we should listen twice as much as we talk.
Not only should we read and listen to the Word, but James encourages us to meditate on what God is saying to you.
Slow to become angry
Sometimes, when we are in a trial or facing a temptation, we could get mad at God and ask, “Why am I going through this?”
We should keep in mind that the trials that God allows to go through are for our good and His glory. He is working out His plan and purposes in order to grow us up in the faith.
Scripture calls us to keep our anger in check. In fact, it says it’s possible to angry and not sin:
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Eph 4:26-27)
When we give ourselves over to anger, we actually give the devil ground to cause chaos in our lives.
The writer of Proverbs summed it up well when he wrote:
“An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.” (Prov 29:22)
When we are angry our ears don’t work very well because anger demands out full attention.
The kind of anger that James highlights is a pent up, simmering, deep-seated rage that a person nurses over time. It’s Bruce Banner, the Hulk saying, “That’s my secret. I’m always angry”
We are called to be like God who Moses described as:
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” (Ex 34:7)
If you are someone who struggles with anger, let me encourage you not to make excuses about it - I can’t help it, my father was angry, she made me angry.
We always have a choice of how to respond to others:
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephes 4:21-22)
Our words spoken in anger may not break bones but they can certainly break hearts.
I’ve rarely ever regretted the things I didn’t say.
Ambrose Bierce said,
“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.”
because human anger doesn’t produce the righteous life that God desires.
Whenever we read that God desires something our ears should perk up. What does God desire for us? A righteous life.
This is another allusion to the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5:6)
Anger can derail our desire to live a life that pleases God.
He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly. (Prov 14:29)
David Guzik writes:
“We can learn to be slow to anger by first learning to be swift to hear and slow to speak. So much of our anger and wrath comes from being self-centered, not others-centered. Swift to hear is a way to be others-centered. Slow to speak is a way to be others-centered.”
A holy life never is produced by an angry spirit.
We must prepare our hearts to be receptive to God’s word. We need open ears, a bridled tongue, and self control in the area of anger.
A Clean Heart
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.
James continues “according to this principle.”
An uncontrolled tongue and an out of control temper can drive a man into sin and far away from God. James then commands a house cleaning of the heart.
get rid of all moral filth
The idea of “get rid” is very similar to what Paul would write later to the Colossian Christians:
“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” (Co 3:8)
“Moral filth” is a word picture of “extreme grime, muddy, stained.”
The old King James Version calls it the “superfluity of naughtiness.”
When I was a youth minister, every year we had MudBowl. We would plow up about space and bring a firetruck in and pour thousands of gallons of water into it.
Then 100 + kids would come and we would get really, really dirty.
When I got home, I would take a bath, then a shower, then another bath. And I still wasn’t clean. I would be digging mud out of my ears for weeks!
It can also mean “to have wax in one’s ears.” This moral filth can make us deaf to God and His Word.
John MacArthur writes:
“The idea is that of confessing, repenting of, and eliminating every vestige and semblance of evil that corrupts our lives, reduces our hunger for the Word, and clouds our understanding of it.”
This word focuses more on the outward behavior. The next term focuses on the inner attitudes of the heart.
and the evil that is so prevalent
This phrase emphasized the hidden sins, our secret motives and attitudes.
Peter made the connection between sin and spiritual growth:
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation…” (I Peter 2:1-2)
and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Greeks were not fans of the concept of “humility.” They saw it as a weakness.
But James’s idea of humility is being open and having a teachable spirit.
We are to welcome the word planted in us. This is an allusion back to the prophet Jeremiah:
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jer 34:33)
We are to accept the word not just with our heads (mind) but within our hearts.
Just Do it!
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
The word James uses for “listen” is a word picture for auditing a course. You attend class, take notes, learn concepts, but don’t have to take exams or receive a grade.
Many people approach the Bible this way.
James writes that these people deceive themselves. The word can also be translated as “defraud themselves.”
A church had a new pastor who preached the same sermon every Sunday for the first six months. When people started complaining, he told the congregation, "I'll preach a new sermon when you actually do this one.”
These are people like Jesse James, who sat in church week after week, hearing the Word, and it didn’t affect his life in the least.
A former student, now in her 30s, cuts my hair. I asked her what her generation thinks would make the church more effective in winning souls. She said, “It would really help if church people would practice what they preach.”
James is again referring to Jesus’s words that finished the Sermon on the Mount:
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matt 7:24-27)
James issues a short, strong command - Do what it says! This is the present tense - keep doing what it says!
James then gives a vivid word picture:
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
Mirrors in that time were crude. They were made of brass or copper. Most dwellings didn’t have a lot of light so you would have to go outside.
The reflection in that type of mirror would be fuzzy and distorted like a funhouse mirror.
James says this is a male. Male’s glance in the mirror. Women gaze.
This person glances at his face in a mirror. Maybe he missed a spot shaving. Maybe he has dirt on his face. Maybe his hair is a mess.
Then walks away and forgets what he looks like. He couldn’t even pick himself out of a police lineup!
This is an absurd illustration but, to James, someone who knows what the Bible says, yet doesn’t live it out, is just as absurd.
A few years ago, Kanye West said he got saved. It was big news. At the time, I said, “Lets wait and see.”
He released a couple of albums that were focused on God, held worship rallies, and even made plans to start a Christian school - K-12.
Well, in April Kanye announced a new venture - Yeezy porn website and studio.
Um…what?!
Opening a Christian school and then opening a porn studio shows that there is something very wrong with Kanye’s faith.
Our beliefs should affect our behavior. Our creeds lead to right conduct.
He continues with a contrast:
But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
The word for “look” that James uses here means “to stoop down and look into closely.” It’s an all absorbing look. The same word is used when Peter stooped down and looked into the empty tomb.
In verse 18, James calls the Bible the Word of truth by which we are born again.
In verse 21, James writes that the saving Word is implanted in us.
In verse 25, this person meditates on the “perfect law that gives liberty.”
Paul would write to the Romans:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8:1-2)
This person’s ears are open, mouth is closed and he listens to the Word, responds appropriately, and seeks to apply what he hears.
What will that lead to according to James?
Blessing!
Fredrick Buechner wrote that our calling to apply the Word to our world is where our deepest gladness and the deepest hunger intersect.
Jesus, after washing the disciples’ feet, said,
“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17)
Recently, I was talking with a friend about a conflict I’m dealing with in my life.
He listened well and then gently asked, “What is keeping you from making the first move?”
I ranted a little more and then he asked again, “What’s keeping you from making the first move?
I finally admitted that nothing was keeping me from making the first move.
He said he would pray for me and that he was going to send me a really good sermon on the subject.
Do you know what he sent me? One of my own sermons! That’s not fair! Using my words against me!
He was just encouraging me to not just talk to the talk but to walk the walk and live my faith out loud.
Pure Religion
Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their 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.
There are those who talk a good game but their tongues betray them. They are great at praying at church and cursing on the golf course. They sing loudly in service but slander others in the coffee shop.
James writes that their religion is worthless. This word means, “vain, empty, devoid of power, non-productive, and dead!”
Then James focuses on what God accepts as pure and faultless - to visit orphans and widows in their distress.
James doesn’t mean that God only cares for orphans and widows. These two groups of people represent all the helpless ones in our society.
God loves the helpless. He is called the father to the fatherless and Moses writes that “God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” (Duet 10:18)
In Springfield, Ohio, there were 33 bomb threats called into the schools. The governor had called out the National Guard.
Haitian immigrants, most in the country legally under protected status, have pulled their kids out of school and are afraid to leave their homes.
Senior Pastor Dr. Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church told a reporter:
"We’re a small church. We are not a big church. We're not a political church. We're just a church. We have tried to encourage the Haitians. We're here. We're providing food for those who need a little bit of food assistance," Ruby said… We printed up these cards that say, 'I'm glad you're here. Christ loves you, and so do I.' And we have been handing those out and just trying to encourage people who need some encouragement right now…I think people forget they're not coming here because they're trying to cheat our system. They're coming here because their lives are in danger in Haiti. And I think we have a moral, Christian obligation to welcome them.”
Many people, including Christians, have decided one way that they can show love to the Haitian community is by eating at the Haitian restaurant.
The restaurant was packed all week!
God doesn’t call us to respond to these people based on our politics but based on the Gospel! God is literally bringing the nations to us!
People are threatening to blow up their children. Maybe, just maybe, they are there for such a time as this and to receive the greatest gift ever given.
We have a chance to love widows with the Widows Banquet on Oct 26 from 9:30-11:30. Eric Elder will be the speaker and we need volunteers to help.
We have an opportunity to minister to people grieving through GriefShare, that will start October 14. If you would like to participate or help Cheryl Steven’s out please let me know.
We can help the hungry through the food pantry. Starting in October, each week we will let you know what to bring for the pantry.
Next week, we will participate in communion together. We will also be giving you an opportunity to give above and beyond to the mercy fund. This fund allows us to meet needs in the community and beyond.
He ends this section with a command to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Believers are to be like the ermine "In the forests of northern Europe and Asia lives a little animal called the ermine, known for his snow-white fur in winter. He instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it.
Fur hunters take advantage of this unusual trait of the ermine. They don’t set a snare to catch him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow in an old tree.
They smear the entrance and interior with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but doesn't enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity.
For the ermine, purity is more precious than life.
This is Paul’s idea of being in the world but not of the world.
“ Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom 12:2)
We are to be in the world but not of the world.
Friday night, Phil and I traveled to St Charles, IL to see the Christian rock band Stryper on their 40th anniversary tour.
In the midst of the decadent 80s hair metal scene, Stryper stood out and not just because they wore yellow and black. There logo had a Bible verse on it (Isaiah 53:5) and their name comes from that verse:
“But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.”(Isaiah 53:5, NKJV)
When they toured with Motley Crue, instead of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Stryper threw Bibles out to the audiences, sang unapologetically about the saving power of Jesus, and prayed with kids afterwards.
40 years in, they still are sharing the love of Jesus in a dark industry, and without Stryper, there would be no Skillet.
Because of what you did
In the last months of the Civil War there was a soldier in Andersonville prison named Frank Smith. The day came for the exchange of prisoners.
Six Northern soldiers were to be released for six Confederates, and Frank Smith heard with delight his name read. But a poor fellow with a wife and children came and pleaded so hard that Frank gave up his ticket of release, and let the other be his substitute and go home to the little family that needed him more.
The months rolled round, and again there was a release of prisoners, and once more Frank Smith heard his name called and dreamed of home and liberty. But he remembered an infidel whom he had often talked to in the prison, and he said, "I cannot go till I make one more appeal to him to accept Christ."
But the nonbeliever laughed at him, and told him that talk was cheap. Then Frank breathed a prayer and made a great resolution. Taking his little ticket of release from his pocket he said, "Take this, and in my place tomorrow walk out into freedom."
The unbeliever looked hard at him. "What made you do this?" he said. "The love of Christ," he said, "the Christ that you will not receive."
Then the proud heart broke; sobbing and kneeling beside him, he asked forgiveness for his hard heart, and gave himself to the Savior whose love could make such sacrifice possible. "It was not what you said that convinced me," he explained, "but it was what you did.”
Ending Song: Living Hope
