Sermon Text: James 1:17-27
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Listening and Doing
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
21 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.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror
24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 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.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
27 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.
Morning Message:
It is said, that on one occasion, a young man came to a great orator to be trained in public speaking. In his first meeting with his famous teacher, the potential student began to talk without stopping. When the orator could finally get a word in, he said, “Young man, I will have to charge you a double fee.” “A double fee? Why is that?” “I will have to teach you two subjects: First, how to hold your tongue, and then how to use it.” A lesson in holding our tongues is something that most all of us could use. I try to preach this to you as gently as possible because I probably need it as much, if not more, than most. God gave me a speaking gift, and I have come to realize that along with every gift comes a caution. The very thing that God has put inside of us as a gift can be misused and overdone if we are not careful and make sure that we are using our gifts to glorify God.
As I looked at today’s sermon text a song popped into my head. This is not unusual for me; it happens a lot. The song did not seem to match the text that I was reading, so I decided to read through the other lectionary texts for this week. As I did this, when I came to the reading in Deuteronomy, I found the connection that I believe God was trying to make for me. Listen to the song’s words: “You, who are on the road must have a code that you can live by. And so, become yourself because the past is just a goodbye. Teach your children well their father’s hell did slowly go by. And feed them on your dreams the one they pick’s the one you’ll know by.” [Crosby, Nash, and Young “Teach Your Children”]. Sounds like philosophy 101 by Crosby, Nash, and Young. I think that many times, people just pass over the Old Testament writings. When we do that we are missing out on God’s wisdom. The Old Testament is not outdated or irrelevant; it goes a long way in teaching us how important it is to be obedient to God’s commands. It is still important for Christians if you want to live a victorious life for Jesus and to follow God’s commands. We should never add to them or subtract from them. If you look around and see some of the difficulties that this nation is going through, you will see a direct correlation with us moving away from God and His laws. We see laws made, and things allowed that go directly against the things that God warned against, and then we wonder why we are in trouble in this nation. If you want an example just turn on your TV and see how many pro-gambling commercials there are.
God calls us to not only live according to his ways, but to also teach them to our children and grandchildren. So, you might ask how this applies to the text in James. God chose you and me. If you are a Christian, it’s not because of anything that you have done, but because God, from the beginning, chose you. It says: be quick to listen, slow to speak. Listening is a skill that some are better at than others, but we learn when we listen. Listening requires us to pay attention, and we are not very good at that. We need to listen and pay attention to the word of God, and listen and pay attention to our children and grandchildren, so that we can teach them well. You can’t teach what you don’t know, and you can’t expect our children to hear us and learn God’s ways if we don’t take the time to listen to them.
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 someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. This is such a great comparison; I challenge you to do this. Go and look at yourself in the mirror, walk away, and then remember every detail of how you looked. It is the same with listening to and reading God’s word. It is the same with everything we do in life. You only remember when you do it. If you are not practicing what you hear on Sunday morning, you will never remember it. In order to live according to what God has called you to, it takes both listening and doing. In order for our children to learn God’s ways from us it takes listening and doing. We need to be attentive to our children and the needs of others and then we must do the gospel. Pure and faultless Christianity: looking after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep one’s self from being polluted by the world. Teach your children well, listen to them and they will hear you, do the things of God and they will follow your example. Listening and doing; it takes both.
In Christ’s Love and Peace
Pastor Bob
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