092406 Pentecost 16
Pentecost 16, September 24, 2006
A Pretty Picture?
Text: James 1:17–22 (23–25) 26–27
Other Lessons: Psalm 146; Isaiah 35:4–7a; Mark 7:31–37
Sermon Theme: Picture who you are in sin—and who you are in Christ.
Goal: That the hearers of the Word externalize that which they have internalized: the life-giving and saving Word of Christ.
Introduction: The mirror’s view cannot be doctored or adjusted. The face you see is the real you. And that face is not always a pretty one. One of the functions of the Law in God’s Word is to provide us a clear reflection of who we are. That reflection of who we are can be frightening, puzzling, or downright nasty. However, that reflection of who we are can also be a very good thing when we consider the function of the Gospel in God’s Word. In today’s Epistle, James reminds us to remember that face—the real us—and then to live with joy in what Christ makes us—the new real us.
Picture Who You Are in Sin—not pretty
Then Picture Who You Are in Christ—that is pretty
I. Picture the Christian Church—the LCMS and Trinity—as it should look in the mirror of God’s Word.
A. The Church should look like people who take God’s Word seriously—letting it serve its proper functions of exposing our shameless sinfulness. This is what James means when he speaks to people who are listening to God’s Word, “Do what it says” (v 22).
Now what would that look like for us here at Trinity? Obviously, it would mean that we each would act like a Christian, sound like a Christian, and think like a Christian. That would be pretty perfect, wouldn’t it?
And, isn’t that what our Lord commands of us? “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
B. If it was just that easy, then, whenever the world would look upon a Christian, it would see Christ.
Luther writes, “Man was created to be the image of God, and to be his image for this very purpose: that God should and would be known through him. Therefore God should appear and shine in the entire life and conduct of man as in a mirror; and a Christian should have no higher and greater concern than so to live as not to dishonor God’s name” (What Luther Says, vol. 1, compiled by Ewald M. Plass [St. Louis: Concordia, 1959], no. 624).
C. So, why is that we Christians are but imperfect and improper reflections of Christ? Why is it that all too often we are only hearers of the Word but not doers? Is it because we don’t look into the pure word of the Law enough? I think so. Listen again to the apostolic word: "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:25, NIV) I think Samuel Clements had it right when he said:
Illustration: “Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand” (Mark Twain). This text of Scripture is painfully, albeit perfectly, clear. It’s not a pretty picture. We are not the ideal Christians, nor are we the ideal Christian Church that James—or God—would like us to be. So what should be done about this sad situation?
II. How about considering again the words of verses 17-18! Picture yourself as you look by “the word of truth” that gives us new birth. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." (James 1:17-18, NIV)
A. At one time I referred this verse to a neighbor after Bonnie had given her a hand-made quilt as a gift. I was of course referring to God’s gift to us from heaven—the gift of grace and new life in Christ. But, I think she took it to be a reference to the quilt. Not a good thing!
The Word tells us that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is “the radiance of God’s glory” (Heb 1:3). That means that he is a perfect reflection of God’s beauty. But that he willingly laid all that aside and took to himself the flesh and blood of sinful mankind. “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Is 53:2b).
Nothing extraordinary in appearance—just an ordinary man, one would think. Yet this man fulfilled the perfect Law of God for us, in our place, living life perfectly before God, doing what we could not. And why did he do that? It was so we could live as a person freed from the destructive damning nature of sin (v 25). Yes, look into the perfect law that gives freedom and you will see a new reflection, a reflection that looks like Christ himself. And that comes to us by his pure act of love and obedience to God. This is a reflection of ourselves that we don’t want to miss to be sure! In Christ—through faith in his name—we too reflect the glory of our God! Isn’t that awesome!
B. How did that great and mysterious thing happen to you and me who are but poor miserable sinners? Verse 18 says, “He,
that is God, “chose to give us birth through the word of truth” (v 18).
That spiritual rebirth comes by way of God’s own promise given in and through the water and word of holy baptism. In baptism, we have been immersed in the water of life. Through Baptism, we are united with and participate in Jesus’ own suffering, death, and resurrection (Rom 6:1–10). We have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and are now covered in the garment of salvation, Christ Jesus who saturates us with His very own righteousness. Amazing!
No wonder Paul—and every true believer can say quite accurately and matter-of-factly, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).
C. This new birth gives us a totally new view of ourselves.
Suddenly we realize a new reflection that is not quick-tempered, morally stained, and foulmouthed. Instead, we begin to see more and more clearly the new man and woman God has declared us to be. In and by His own Word God says you who have been baptized into Christ, “In you I now see my holy Son.” We may not believe our ears—remembering what our eyes see—but if righteous and holy, reborn and washed clean, is the way God says we are, then this is the way we are. God be praised.
People who are reborn and thence holy cannot help but look the part by sharing God’s love and forgiveness—even though imperfectly. Paul says to the church at Rome: “I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness” (Rom 15:14).
III. Now we see the Picture of the Christian Church—the LCMS and Trinity—as it looks to God in Christ.
A. Perfect! Absolutely perfect! All thanks be to God for the forgiveness earned for us on the cross of Calvary and guaranteed by the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
B. Now, let us live as the people God says we now are. Let us keep looking into the perfect law that gives freedom. Let us do what the word says and show our faith by our actions. Amen.