Morning Message 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:
How do we walk the worthy walk? To be worthy means: Having merit, character, or value, feeling worthy can make us assume that we deserve something. I heard this on a TV program and it makes sense, “Never feel like you deserve it, because you don’t, but you try to anyway.” This is the essence of the Christian life: Never feeling worthy of the gift of salvation, but humbly accepting that Jesus died to save us. Knowing that we are not worthy of the love, mercy, and grace of God, but trying to live up to it. Too often we find ourselves feeling like we are good enough on our own. We don’t say that out loud, or even consciously think it, but we live like it. We judge ourselves to be good, or at least better than most. Jesus said, “None are good except God.” I have told you this before, but if you would like to test what I am saying, ask anyone if they think they are good. Ninety-nine-point nine percent of the time they will say yes.
When we assume that we are good enough then we can assume that we don’t need a Savior. If we are good on our own, then we must automatically be acceptable to God. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” To me, that is the most straight forward, comprehendible statement in all of God’s word. In Jude chapter 3 we are told, “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” From its earliest days, Christian truth has faced attacks for its claim that Jesus is the only way to have a relationship with God. Jesus said, “I am the way.” Peter defended this before the Jewish council, saying, “Nor is salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” People often say, “You believe in your God, and I’ll believe in mine, and that’s okay.” But it isn’t okay, for their path leads to destruction. The only way that sin can be atoned for is by the blood of an innocent sacrifice. Jesus was that sacrifice. No one else can claim to have died for your sins. Before you can walk the worthy walk you must find the way.
In Psalm 15 king David asks and then answers his own question. “Who can dwell with God? The one whose walk is blameless.” He goes on to list all of the ways that a person can pursue righteousness, how to live a perfect life before a Holy God. If we look at the meaning of the word blameless we find this: “Not responsible for.” We all know that on our own we can’t possibly be blameless. We read this list and quickly realize that we are guilty of many of these offenses. Have you ever not spoken the truth? Have you ever slandered someone, spoken ill of them? Have you ever wronged someone in any way? Only through God’s mercy and His grace through the blood of Jesus can we be blameless.
We must attempt the worthy walk. The author and magazine editor A. W. Tozer said, “It appears that too many Christians want to enjoy the thrill of feeling right but are not willing to endure the inconvenience of being right. During my time off I was inspired by a devotion that I based this sermon on. The scripture comes from Ephesians 4:1: “I beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” Let me read some of it to you. “Did you grow up among Christians who said, “Don’t drink, smoke, chew, or go with folks who do”? Lots of churches had lists of what to avoid and definitions of worldliness that might include things like playing cards, dancing, and shopping on Sundays. Many churches are more relaxed with their lists nowadays, but we mustn’t let the pendulum swing too far in the other direction. As Christians, we are to walk worthy of the calling we have received. That means we should remember we are followers of Jesus and there are some things we are to avoid, some thoughts we should reject, and some habits we ought to change. They aren’t healthy for us in body, soul, or testimony. We don’t want to violate our calling or misrepresent our Savior. Do we ever give serious consideration to that? Violating our call and misrepresenting our Savior. What you do and say as a Christian is consequential.
These are the things that the apostle James is talking about in today’s scripture reading. He is giving us very clear instructions on how to walk the worthy walk. We have lost the art of listening. You don’t learn from speaking. You have to listen, absorb what others are saying so that you can learn, understand, and then respond.
We have become a society of people who think we know everything, so why listen? If no one listens then no one is heard and that’s why we find ourselves stuck in the same place, with the same arguments, and the same results. A worthy walk includes: being slow to anger. This is so difficult today because the world around us can be so frustrating. This is especially difficult when you know that you are in the right. I had a slight disagreement this week at a car dealership. Without getting into the details, let me just say that the facts were on my side. The guy at the garage was clearly lying about something that I knew I was entitled to. I find that I have a blind spot in my walk when it comes to someone lying to me. I guess that I got a little loud, and I noticed that he took a few steps back. I quickly made sure that he knew I was not threatening him and continued my complaint in a lower tone. A fellow Christian who works at the garage gave me a ride home. We have talked many times in the past. He said to me, “You are right in what you are saying,” and then he said, “It sure is hard being a Christian in this world.”
Listen to what James is saying to us. He is not speaking in riddles. This is as straight forward as God’s word gets. Get rid of all moral filth. That goes without saying. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” The worthy walk is not simply coming to church and listening. It takes practice, trial and error. It takes living out what you hear on Sunday morning, putting it into practice in your daily lives. Ask the Lord for wisdom in evaluating your habits and knowing how to walk worthy of the calling you have received. Remember this quote from A.W. Tozer and make sure it doesn’t apply to you. “It appears that too many Christians want to enjoy the thrill of feeling right but are not willing to endure the inconvenience of being right.”
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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