James wk 2 Listening and Doing

James: Faith and Works

Week 2 – Listening and Doing

Series Slide

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship on this amazing Mother’s Day! As we remember and celebrate our mothers and those ladies that have cared for us through the years, I thought it fitting that we take some time to talk about listening and doing. I think my childhood would have been much better if I had just listened to my mom and did what she said, Amen…

We are spending the next however many weeks together diving into the book of James. You will get a break in there when I preach in Common Ground on May 28 and take the next week off for education purposes, but we’ll be right back at it on June 11.

Last week we talked about the fact that James was the half-brother of Jesus, the pastor and Bishop of Jerusalem until he was martyred, and he wrote what some believe to be the oldest book of our Bible.

James’ letter, or book, focuses more than any other book of the interrelation between our faith, and how we live out our faith. Some people call it Faith and Works… so, as we read through this great book of the Bible, we are going to lift out themes from James that can help us live out our faith, how we can put or faith into action… into the works of our faith.

Today, we are looking at Listening and Doing.

Sermon Slide

You know, it’s one thing to hear something, to receive an instruction, but it is quite another thing to actually do what you are told. Let me ask this… those of you that lead teams, manage businesses, own companies… If you had an employee who always agreed with you, said “Yes” every time they were asked to do something, they were attentive, pleasant, and kind, but NEVER did anything you actually asked them to do, how long would you keep them around? Not very long I suspect. It’s one thing to hear the instructions, but it is quite another thing to follow through and complete the task – to do the work.

Those of us with kids know this all too well… and we’ve probably been a kid, just guessing… and we’ve ignored our parents before. Right? Jesus actually told a Parable about this.

Before we dive into James, let’s read this parable from Matthew 21:28-32. Jesus was being questioned by the Pharisees and asked about his authority, then he shares this story:

Matthew 21:28-32

So, which son did what the Father wanted? It makes me think about what God is asking me to do. Am I the brother that nods and smiles and says yes, only to go and do what I want to do, or am I the brother that gripes and complains and says NO, then relents and goes to do what I know I need to do?

Sermon Slide

We have a choice as we follow Christ, and

That’s what James is talking about here. We have to listen and obey. We have to follow through. This theme will flow throughout the entire letter, all 5 chapters.

Here’s the thing about James. He was a great pastor to the people. He cared deeply for them, so he is writing to admonish and warn them, to teach them, to help them. I love the subtle sarcasm he uses too, but in the midst of it, we sense and urgency. For James, and for all in the early church, it was a matter of life and death. And James wanted his readers to recognize the power in their actions as they lived out their faith.

I wonder sometimes, how would our faith and works, our listening and doing, be different if we were facing the persecution that they were facing?

I don’t know, maybe we will have some answers when we finally get through this series, or maybe we will be filled with more questions. We’ll see, but right now, let’s turn to today’s passage and dive in.

James 1:19-27

We are going to act and react. It is in our nature. We just need to monitor those actions and reactions. James exhorts us, brother’s and sisters, family of faith that he loves, to do what:

Be quick to listen

Slow to speak

And Slow to Anger

How many of us have told our children that we have 2 ears and one mouth so we need to listen more than we speak? In Covey’s 7 Habit’s of Highly Effective People, he reminds us that we are to first seek to understand, then to be understood.

And, in order to do that we MUST control our emotions, we have to keep our anger in check.

I shared with you all a few weeks ago about a time I was on a blood pressure medicine that caused depression and anger issues. I’m still embarrassed about how I treated those ladies, but I had another episode. One day, on a Sunday morning while most everyone was in Sunday School, I and the Sr. Pastor were standing in a hallway talking about the church and why people didn’t know what was going on. The pastor had spent like $20,000 on a website with an annual maintenance fee in the thousands. And then, he told me, “Well, all the information is on the website!” and I just lost it, my anger raged, and I barked back at him, “Nobody’s going to your stupid website!” Then I turned and stormed away to my office… all the while wondering what I had just done.

Did the message that people weren’t using the expensive website need to be said, yes. Did it need to be called stupid and barked at him like he was some Private at Basic Training? No. Because of my anger, the message got lost. As James said, my anger did not produce the righteousness God desires.

James goes on to talk about filth and evil in our lives and how we need to set those aside, that we need to get rid of them, and let the Word of God be planted, or implanted, in our hearts.

Let me stop there for a moment. When we read that God’s Word is in our Heart, or we hear that we are to Accept Jesus into our heart, that doesn’t mean we accept God into the blood pump of our body. For those in the 1st Century, the heart represented the center of our lives, the decision making center, the life giving center of our lives. For them, if we take the Word of God into our hearts, it will change the way we live. That’s the meaning of what James is talking about here.

When we take God’s Word into our lives, we are to throw off everything that is in opposition to the Word of God, or as we read from Hebrews last week, we throw off everything that so easily entangles us or slows us down.

And along with receiving the Word into our lives… we are called to actions. We are called to Do

Don’t just listen to God’s Word, do what it says!

Can you imagine someone handing you $1000… you have some things that you need to purchase and they hand you $1000… then you just stare at the money.

Or what if the bases are loaded and there is 1 out, the batter hits a fly ball to center field, the fielder catches the ball, then just stands there studying the laces on the ball while the other three runner’s score.

I know, it’s absurd. But that’s what James is talking about here. To hear the word of God and do nothing is foolishness.

Here we have the very Word of God. It has the power to change our lives. Living as followers of Jesus as outlined in this Book can gift us with not only eternal life, but an abundant life.

Remember the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount.

If you still have your Bibles, turn with me to Matthew 7.

Jesus has been teaching thousands of people on the hills above the Sea of Galilee, and as he is wrapping up his teachings he tells them:

Matthew 7:24-25

We are a people of action. We are called to action. The Great Commandment tells us to feed, to clothe, to give, to visit… these are action verbs.

The Great Commandment tells us to Go and Make – Again, Action verbs. God has created us to be a people of action, of doing… not just hearers.

James wraps up this passage on doing with a warning. It is a warning we all know all too well. It is a warning to be careful with the things that we say. We’ll get into this more in the weeks ahead, but Words have power.

We learned the little rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” You know what that is… it’s a lie.

I remember a Christian song from the late 80’s that said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words hurt deeper than anyone can see.”

What is James saying? Our doing includes out words, and our words are sometimes the most powerful thing we have. Be careful that our words are building up and not tearing down.

The other side of it is that we need to stop talking about what you might do, or plan to do, and actually do the good that we talk about.

As we read in the King James Version, we need to “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”

Our words and our actions are powerful. I love how James wraps up this thought by telling us what real action is…

Verse 27

I want you to bow your head for a moment. I want you to take a moment to reflect on this passage and what James is trying to get across to us.

Series Slide

Do you listen to others, or are you always trying to get your point across?

Do you let your anger get control and lead you away from where you need to go?

Do you listen to God’s Word and let it dwell within you?

Do you do anything with God’s Word… do you let it spur you to action?

Finally,

Do your words and your actions match the righteousness of God that you are called to?

PRAYER