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| SCRIPTURE IN REAL LIFE JAMES 1:19-27 Series: Real Faith in Real Life - Part Three Pastor Stephen Muncherian May 26, 2013 |
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As we’ve been moving through James we’ve been seeing that James is a very practical letter. James coming alongside our siblings in Jesus - encouraging them - and us. What does real faith look like in the drama of real life? How do we live out our faith in Jesus is the real time of our lives? James began his letter by writing about trials - the struggles and difficulties that we go through. Circumstances the test our character and our resolve - where our faith hits the asphalt of life. James has written that as we go through all that we need to seek out God’s wisdom - seeking out God and allowing Him to lead us through the trial His way - whatever that may mean. As we do that we actually have the opportunity to grow - to mature - to be strengthened for the things of life - to become more of who God has created and called us to be. James went on - what we looked at last Sunday - James goes on to write about temptations. Temptations - bait that taps into our inner desires and needs - and tempts us to turn away from God. To trust ourselves - and our ways of dealing with life - rather than trusting God with our lives. There’s a theme running through what James writes here in chapter one. Are we together on what that is? Always - in every situation - trials or temptations - in the drama of life - we always have the choice to turn to God or to turn someplace else. To trust God - put our faith in God - or to trust ourselves - to put our faith in our own whit, wisdom, and ability. James has been showing us that putting our faith in us ultimately puts us on really shaky ground - ultimately is self-destructive. But faith in God - trusting Him in the midst of life’s drama - leads to growth - blessing - becoming who God has created us and called us to be. Putting that theme in a nutshell: Real faith in real time produces real stability in life. Trials happen. Temptation happens. Real faith in real time is when we choose to turn to God - trusting Him - God uses that real faith in real time to produce real stability in our lives. That theme of faith in God and God producing stability in our lives - that theme is what James is focused on here in verses 19 to 27 - James teaching about Scripture in real time. Please read with me verses 19 to 27 together. We’ll get these verses fresh in our minds and then we’ll come back and unpack what James is teaching. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 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. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 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. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 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. Verses 19 to 21 focus on Our Reception of God’s Word. In the midst of the drama of life what does it mean to receive God’s word? James begins: “Know this…” Another way of translating that is “You know this…” He’s writing to Christians. What he’s writing is something they’ve probably heard before. These verses are familiar to us. It would be easy for us to mentally check out for the next few minutes. “We’ve heard this message before.” James’ “Know this” is a cry for our undivided attention. Wake up an smell the caffeine. This is bottom line essential stuff. The facts of what it means to live life trusting God. Be reminded. You gotta get this. To the full extent of what getting this means. Don’t just assume because you’ve heard this that you’ve got this. Know this. Know what? First: Be quick to hear. We all get junk mail. Right? Paper and electronic. Which - if we pay any attention to it at all - we skim through it. Right? Bouncing down the page before it gets shredded and tossed or deleted. Not a lot of that soaks into our brains. Thankfully. But, there are other things we read that we’re a whole lot more careful with. Right? Then there are books - remember books with paper? There are books that I underline and dog ear and make notes in the margins. Maybe you do that with textbooks. If you own them, of course. Or on your pads. There’s a difference between listening and hearing. Hearing means taking in what’s been said and processing that at the heart level - evaluation - consideration - meditation - application. Letting what’s being said soak into the core of who we are. With God’s word we need to be quick to hear. Second: Be slow to speak. Which is the flip side of hearing. Have you noticed this? It is a whole easier to hear someone when we’ve got our mouth shut. Keeping our mouths shut means we have the opportunity to take in and think about what we’re hearing - pondering it - meditating on it - processing it - before we respond. Third: Be slow to anger. Murphy’s law says that whatever line is moving the fastest will move the slowest once you - what? get in it. Heard that? I was at Staples. Got into the shortest line there. Cruised into the line that only had one lady in front of me - who went through the whole routine - thousands of individually scanned items - price checks on every single one - couldn’t seem to get her credit card to work right - all the time yakking away - ta da da da ta da ta da…. oblivious to the thousands of people now trapped in this line. Ever been there? I have to confess my anger was right up to here. I had a few words I was thinking of encouraging her with. The Greek word here - verse 19 - the word for “anger” has to do with a passionate response - a reaction from deep within us - from a little pent up reservoir of poison at the core of who we are - that’s ready to splatter all over whatever or whomever threatens to rock our little world. There was a classified ad: Wedding dress for sale, never worn. Will trade for .38 caliber pistol. (1) That’s the kind of anger James is writing about. Let’s be careful. When Jesus cleared out the Temple in Jerusalem the religious leaders had all these rules about sacrifices that were oppressing the people and increasing their own power. The businessmen in the Temple area were using the people’s desire to worship God as a profit making opportunity - selling what people needed for their offerings at inflated prices - changing money at skewed rates - ripping people off in the name of God. Remember this? Jesus goes in and tears up the place. Takes this whip and goes through the court - turning over the tables - the chairs - money is flying around. He opens the pens and drives out all the animals and the businessmen. He’s ticked. Angry. Why? Remember this line? “Its written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer; But you make it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:12,13) Reading through Scripture Jesus got angry. But He never got angry because someone came after Him - when He was mistreated or abused. But He was livid with anger when people went against God’s agenda. We need to grab that difference. All that Temple clearing anger is different than what James is getting at. James’ anger is about us - being passionate about defending me, myself, and I. These three - hear - speak - anger - in Greek - all come rapid fire. Boom - boom - boom. Meaning that being slow to passionately push back - even at God - to defend self - is integrally related to being quick to hear and slow to speak. All part of what it means to receive God’s word. Paul writes: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) James’ point has that teaching in mind. When God’s word hits close to home - reproving and correcting and training - pointing out where our lives need to change - showing us where we fall short of what God has for us - its way too easy for us to get defensive - too easy to make excuses - to minimize what’s being said - even to get angry - to push back - to do something other than these three heart attitudes that James is focused on. James warns us - verse 20: “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” God’s word isn’t going to be having God’s intended results in our lives if we’re pushing back against God’s word. Put another way. When we encounter trials and temptations - those trials and temptations that so easily tap into our reservoir of self - that harbored resentment - anger wells up - that can come out in our attitudes and actions - our words - gripping - complaints - blaming - accusations - caustic - poisonous - damaging - angry - aimed at people but what ultimately is a rejection of God speaking to our hearts. People just get in the way of that. People and circumstances are easy targets. Visible immediate targets that get between us and God. But ultimately God is the target. We’ve got attitude towards God Who’s suppose to be sovereign over all that. All that is showing us that the focus of our hearts is not on seeking God. Our focus is on us. Our faith is in us not God. Are we together? All that is James’ super-spiritual ecclesiastical brotherly way of saying, “When you encounter drama in life, shut up.” Instead of all that griping and moaning and reacting we ought to be seeking to hear God’s word - pondering what God through His word desires to teach us. Anger is rejecting God’s rebuke - His correction. Hearing accepts it - embraces it. James goes on - verse 21: Therefore - in contrast to being slow to hear, quick to speak - a response of anger - Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. In the center of verse 21 is the single word that ties it all together: Receive. “Receive” translates a Greek word “dechomai” which means a whole lot more than just accept it. God’s word exists. Next... “Receive” has the idea of taking it into ourselves and making it a part of ourselves at the heart level - at the core of who we are. Really hearing it and applying it in character changing ways. In Acts 17:11 the Bereans “received” - same Greek word - “received” God’s word with eagerness - examining it daily. In 1 Thessalonians Paul writes that the Thessalonian Christians not only “received” God’s word in the midst of great persecution but they did it with the joy of the Holy Spirit. They received it for what it really is - not the word of men - some kind of man created philosophy - 5 steps to a wonderful life - but as God’s word for them. (1 Thessalonians 1:6: 2:13) That’s the kind of eager - grab the caffeine “know this” - taking in “receiving” that James is writing about. Therefore - having a heart attitude of being quick to hear - slow to speak - slow to anger - because anger - rejecting - God’s word does not achieve the righteousness of God - we need to receive the word of God. Here’s how: First: Put away all filthiness. Which is anything that’s dragging us down morally. Second: Put away rampant wickedness - depravity - sinful behavior. Third - receive with meekness - humility. Think heart attitude. Meaning submitting to whatever God’s word has to tell us. Imagine you’re on a ship cruising the inland passage of Alaska. You’re standing on the deck bundled up with a heavy overcoat and knit sweater - long pants - heavy shoes - a scarf - a knit hat. Because its cold. We’re used to the 110 billion degrees it is here in Merced. But this is Alaska. Its cold. There you are standing on deck taking in the view. Glaciers and pine trees and polar bears. Oh my. A gust of wind blows you over the railing. Before they can stop the ship and send out the life boat and rescue you - you’re going down. All that warm heavy clothing you were relying for warmth and security is now dead weight - literally. Its dragging you under. You’ve got to make a choice - keep the clothes on and die - horribly. Or, lose the clothes - and live - get rescued. Drop the weight. “Put away” is that choice. The word in Greek has the idea of taking off clothing - getting rid of what’s heavy. Hebrews 12:1 uses the same word: “Let us lay aside - put away - every weight, and sin which clings so closely…” We need to understand that if we’re taking in - surrounding ourselves - exposing ourselves to what’s not of God - all that - subtle or in our face - heavy doses or just little bits we allow into our lives - all that moral filth and wickedness is dragging us down morally and spiritually. What we tend to overlook or excuse - or avoid listening to God speaking to us about - at some point we’ve got to acknowledge the seriousness - the precariousness - the reality that we’re about to be a drowning statistic. At some point we have to make a choice. Are we going to get all defensive and angry - to keep on pushing back at what God is trying to say to us? Are we going to try and hang on to what’s dragging us under or are we going to receive God’s word? James calls us to receive with meekness - humility. A letting go of our defenses and pretenses. Getting off of our little pedestals of pride. “I can handle this. I’m not that bad. It really doesn’t effect me that way.” We desperately need to allow God’s word to penetrate down the deepest levels of our pride - our greed - our hateful thoughts - our lusts - our grudges - our bitterness - those things that defile us at the deepest level. That’s hearing. That’s receiving. When we do that - James writes that God’s word implanted is able to save our souls. One word: Fertilizer. Let’s say that together: “Fertilizer.” Jesus told the parable about the sower and the seeds. Remember this? A sower goes out to sow seeds. Four places where the seeds fell. What were they? By the road; rocky places; among thorns; good soil. Where the seeds took root - got implanted and grew into healthy plants was where? In the good soil. (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23) The soil is all about the condition of the heart as it receives the word of God - or doesn’t. Humility is like fertilizer. If - at the heart level - we humbly receive God’s word then His word - implanted - which means we have it - we “know this” - but it needs the fertilizer of humility if its going to take root in our hearts. If at the heart level - we humbly receive God’s word then His word - implanted is going to take root - grow within us - is going to produce God’s fruit in our lives. That fruit James describes this way: “Its able to save your souls.” “Save” meaning being able to “rescue” us. Throwing a life preserver to a drowning person - keeping us from going under permanently. Putting all that together - our receiving God’s word: When we actually stop talking at God - trying to give ourselves a “bye” on what God is telling us - or trying to push back at God - when we in humility recognize that what God is saying to us we desperately need to hear - God takes His word implanted - and produces within us His righteousness - a life that is 180 degrees the opposite of the disaster we were headed for. Verses 22 to 27 focus on Our Response to God’s Word. James begins with a command: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” That command is at the core of everything that James is teaching. Notice the process. Hearing comes first. Receiving God’s word is essential. Understanding God’s word is huge. Having His word lodged in our hearts is crucial. Its all good. But, real faith in real time responds with real doing. Real hearing responds by real doing. Jesus told the familiar parable about the two men who built houses - one on a rock - one on sand. The drama of life come up against the man who built his house on the sand and the house on the sand goes - what? splat. The wise man built his house on the rock - the drama of life comes - and the house on the rock - what? stands firm. Jesus said that these two guys were like hearers of His word. Both of them could have been having devotions five times a day - doing Scripture studies - worshiping at the synagogue on Fridays - been to Torah School - read all the right scrolls and listened to all the right rabbis. But, what did Jesus say was the difference? “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them.” That’s the wise man - who lives with stability in the drama of life. He hears and does. (Matthew 7:24-27) James gives us a description of two responses. First - in verses 23 and 24 James describes a forgetful hearer. A man looks intently - carefully observing every detail - intently looking at his natural face in a mirror. Literally, the Greek says that he’s looking intently at “the face of his birth.” Who we are in the buff - in our birthday suit. Failure to respond can’t be blamed on our lack of understanding. Its all there in glorious detail. If the mirror is telling us we’re a 5’8” chubby person - and we’re thinking were a 6’11” hunk of muscle - who’s fooling who? God’s word tells us what kind of person we are in no uncertain terms. Sometimes we don’t want to hear what the mirror says. But James writes - we’re delusional if we think that our lives are going to change by us ignoring the reality of what’s going on in our hearts. It seems way easier to skim the Scriptures - hear a sermon - read a devotional - attend a Bible study - close the book and forget what God may have been speaking to our hearts. Most of us have heard James’s words “Know this” way many more times than we can remember. But, what’s changed because we’ve heard? How have we responded? Then in verse 25 James describes an effectual doer. He hears and does. Looking means he’s absorbing God’s word - taking it in at the heart level. He perseveres in it - meaning he keeps on seeking out the meaning - searching for insight - for application - ways to conform his life to God’s word. Then - rather than forgetting - he becomes a doer. He actually seeks to put God’s word into action in his life. Choosing to respond by trusting God with our lives - in whatever the drama - means choosing to obey God’s word - choosing to do whatever God instructs us to do - to give Him authority to make whatever changes He desires to make in our lives - even changing us at the core of who we are - our very character - attitudes - emotions - how we think about life. Hearing and doing means responding by obediently following God through the drama of our lives - whatever that means. Grab the result of that choice. James describes God’s word - the Scriptures - as the perfect law - the law of liberty. The law of liberty is freedom. Not the freedom to do what we want - follow our own pride into disaster. But, the freedom to do what we should - to be doers - to obey God - to live as God has created us and called us to live. Choosing to trust God means that we’re set free from just existing and trying to tough it out - hammering away at a self-improvement course that only produces despair and guilt and depression. Set free from trying to do life on our own and to some how figure out how all this works out and trying to make sense of what is way beyond our understanding. When we respond - seeking to do God’s word - God blesses us. God begins a work of transformation in us - teaching us how to do life set free from all the filthiness and wickedness - the crud and sin and stuff that we carry around with us that’s slowly killing us. When we choose to be a doer - God sets us free to be all that He’s created and called us to be. We experience the amazing unexplainable blessing of doing life with God - knowing His presence - His provision - His power - His pleasure - His peace in our lives regardless of what life throws at us. Amen? Which is James’ theme in chapter one: Real faith in real life produces real stability in life. Which is the stability we crave. That we have way too often turned elsewhere for - with ongoing disastrous results. Verses 26 and 27 are a self-test of our response to God’s word. At the heart level where are we really at as hearers and doers? In verse 26 - the word for religion is “threskos.” It describes the outward things that are a part of any relgion - the rituals - the belief system. What defines that religion as that religion. What that religion expects of those who claim to be a part of that religion. How do they live their lives? A.W. Tozer - author, theologian, pastor - A.W. Tozer made this observation: “So wide is the gulf that separates theory from practice in the church that an inquiring stranger who chances upon both would scarcely dream that there was any relation between them. An intelligent observer of our human scene who heard the Sunday morning sermon and later watched the Sunday afternoon conduct of those who had heard it would conclude that he has been examining two distinct and contrary religions… (2) Despite what we may claim for ourselves as Christians are we really living as a hearer and a doer of God’s word? There are three parts to the test. Part one focuses on what comes out of our mouths - the tongue. If you squeeze a lemon, what come out? Lemon juice. Hopefully. We can look like a lemon on the outside - doing all the lemony things a lemon is suppose to do. But, when we get squeezed - a trial or a temptation - bait gets dangled in front of us - if something non-lemony comes out something is seriously wrong inside. The drama of life has a way of squeezing us. As we’re doing life - out there - not in here when we’ve got our Christian game faces on - but out there when we’re getting squeezed, what’s coming out? Jesus said, “Its not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Matthew 15:11) What’s coming out of us shows where we really are in our relationship with God. What comes out is the tip off to what’s inside at the heart level. James’ point. If we’re feeling pretty confident in our relationship with God - listen to what comes out of your mouth when you get squeezed. If there’s an inconsistency between what we say we believe and what’s coming out of our mouths - what we say we believe and how we’re living our lives - then there’s a disconnect in our hearts between receiving and responding. Part two of the test focuses on our behavior towards others - orphans and widows. The Bible uses orphans and widows as examples of people who are on the fringe of society - marginalized - oppressed - dependent on others - many are desperately needy. To visit them isn’t a self-focused - applause getting - thing to do. There’s no expectation of reward - nothing really in it for us. Except - The opportunity to respond to God’s grace and mercy towards us by sharing His grace and mercy towards others. To pass on His blessing of our lives - to pass on His blessing to others. We get to experience the joy of seeing God use us in the lives of others. Which is huge. And all about God and others. Not us. If we’ve really come to Jesus and laid our hearts open before Him and His word - then - James writes - one evidence of that will be our concern for others demonstrated in quiet - often unnoticed - acts of compassion. If our attitude towards other is bent by being focused on ourselves - then there’s a disconnect between hearing and doing. The third part of the test focuses on how we do life - keeping ourselves “unstained from the world.” Purity before God. The world operates by a system that’s ultimately under the dictates of Satan. It is delusional. It is sinful. It is evil. It is self-focused. It is self-destructive. There’s a way that the world handles life and its not pretty. Not of God. James says, “Don’t do life the way world does life. Keep yourself unstained by it.” Are we living in purity before God - unwavering in our commitment to live in obedience to His word? If we’re getting the stain of the world’s sin all over us then there’s a disconnect between our hearing and our doing. That’s a tough test - isn’t it? Listening to what’s coming out of our mouths. Observing our actions towards others. Seeing the character of our relationship with God. Being honest about what all that tells us about our hearing and doing. Chuck Swindoll writes this: A debilitating “disease” is crippling the body of Christ—a syndrome so common that it seems to affect every believer with either a mild or acute case. This insidious condition neutralizes the church’s impact and nullifies her testimony. It can diminish effectiveness and paralyze production. The problem? A rupture between confession and deed… theology and action… hearing and doing. For too many of us Christians, God’s word fails to make it from the head to the heart. And for many more, His word gets lodged between the heart and the hands.” (3) All of us tend to gravitate towards a comfort zone of selfishness - to look in the mirror and experience problems with our vision. It’s a struggle that we all deal with - living out our Christian faith in America. And yet, there’s a huge disconnect between the American Dream version of Christianity and God’s dream for our lives. God never wants us to become comfortable with life. If we’re trying balance comfort and Christ we’re probably settling for a faith - and a life in Christ - that is far less than what God desires for us. Someone has described the drama of life - the trials and temptations - as a Divine Disturbance. God rocking our world - our comfort zone - to get us focused back on Him and His word - what He desires to do in us and through us. Helping us to look with honesty - with humility and openness - at what’s in the mirror. If we’re honest - often with a Divine disturbance our first reaction when disturbed - our first reaction is not very divine. Choosing to trust God - is to allow God - in the real time of real life - to move us out of our comfort zone and to reconnect us with His vision for our lives. Life is not about us - God owing us a wonderful life - what we may think life is all about. Life is about God - what He wills to do in us and through us. What God offers us in life. What He has created us and called us to be for His glory. Question: What would it look like for you to obediently follow God into whatever that life may be? ___________________ 1. Preaching Magazine, March-April 1993 2. A.W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous - Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1986 - cited by C.R. Swindoll. 3. Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on James, 1 and 2 Peter - Zondervan, 2010 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |