September 3, 2006
by Rev. Dr. Jim Carlson
James 1:19-27
Opening Illustration
Letter of James is general – not to specific group; probably read by Jewish
Christians in different areas of Eastern Mediterranean.
Name of James placed on it. Probably not written by Jesus’ brother, but may
reflect some of his teachings.
Author expects Jesus to come back from heaven any day. Wanted readers to
understand the kind of people they were supposed to be while they waited.
James, like Paul, drawing contrast between the behavior he’s heard about and
behavior they should observe waiting for Jesus.
Warns frequently that they should choose their words wisely in order to keep
peace at the church.
Draws contrast between hearers and doers. Hearers are those who believe what the
church says about Jesus but don’t do anything positive in response. Doers are
people who commit acts of charity in response to Jesus.
(Slide) Contrast of hearers and doers.
(Slides) Mirrors – not pulling an image out of the air. His readers would have
made these connections right away.
Faces in the mirror (slide). Images of people who were hearers and doers – the
kinds of people they see reflected in the gospel – the kinds of people they are
supposed to be.
The question I want to raise this morning is this, “When you look in the mirror,
what face is it that you see?” As you look at the claims of the gospel, as you
listen to the stories about Jesus, as you experience Jesus in the interaction
between other people in this congregation, what image is staring back at you?
In other words, what does the person who God wants you to be look like? What
would a transformed version of you be like?
Commercials – (this is you; this is you on drugs). No one can say exactly what
God wants to do with your life, but James gives us some ideas of what that face
in the mirror might look like.
James says that regardless of what face might appear in the mirror for you,
everyone ought to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. That
sounds easy enough, but just try it sometime.
Chaplaincy training – I had to learn how to quit talking and listen.
Anger – Church is not a place to stir up anger against other people. Anger in
our culture is profitable, especially in entertainment.
Talk show hosts who don’t entertain by spewing anger against some perceived
enemy aren’t commercially viable. Angry even when they win.
James says the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. Meekness
does, even if it doesn’t go over well with advertisers.
The other thing James tells us in this passage is that those who truly hear the
good news about Jesus must also act on it. For James, you can’t seriously call
yourself a Christian unless you display your faith through acts of charity.
Anyone who says, “I’m a Christian because I believe in Jesus” but neglects to
address the needs of the poor and vulnerable in society is a person with a dead
faith. James goes so far as to say that pure religion lives itself out this way:
To visit widows and orphans in their affliction and keep yourself unstained from
the world.
How many people do you know that use this kind of measuring stick when
evaluating the quality of their faith?
Churches don’t advertise expertise in visiting widows and orphans.
Lesson this week in true religion – Betty Clark and Renoel Sanders.
For James, the difference between someone who simply listens to the good news of
Jesus and someone who acts on what they’ve heard is tremendous: the hearer is
content to agree with what the church tells him or her to believe.
The doer, on the other hand, realizes that Christians do more than simply say,
“Yeah, Jesus died for my sins. I’m saved.” They understand that you cannot
affirm what Jesus did for the world without at the same time committing yourself
to standing with the poor, the vulnerable, and the afflicted people of society.
The good news of Jesus cannot be separated from the New Testament’s call to
serve the needy. It isn’t enough to say that poor people need to get jobs and
stop sponging off the rest of us. We have to be with them, and sometimes they
are us.
Will you be a hearer who enjoys the worship and gets a taste of the person God
wants you to be, and then walk out and forget what you saw? Or will you be a
doer who puts Jesus’ radical call to discipleship into action by standing with
the poor and the afflicted? If you are, then James tells us you will be blessed
in doing so.