Do It

Scripture

James 1:17–27 NRSV

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

;17-27

Introduction

The most obvious thing to preach on this morning would be don’t just be hearers of the word but doers.

James 1:22 NRSV

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.

But this, while certainly a message in this scripture, I want us to examine something else.

James 1:27 NRSV

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:

We know about orphans and widows, we talk about that a lot here, mission, doing what Jesus says is our DNA, it is is what we are about. Jesus transforming lives here so we can go out and transform lives there. Its the phrase after the comma I would like to zero in on today. “to keep oneself unstained by the world.” What does James mean by world? What does he mean by “unstained” and how do we keep ourselves from it, because he makes the point we want to keep from it. So let’s dive in and see what we can learn this morning.

Background

James is an interesting letter. When the canon of the Bible opened back up during the reformation, Luther wanted this book removed. In fact in his German translation of the Bible he moved it to the end with Revelation, which he also wanted removed from the New Testament.he also moved Hebrews there, too. His problem with James is that he felt, theologically, James was saying salvation was by works, not faith. Salvation by faith alone was one of the major tenants of the reformation, so you can see why he had a problem with it. Most scholars, however, agree that Luther misunderstood what James was saying. James was saying our faith is what should motivate us to do “the Law.” The Law he is talking about here is Jesus’s interpretation of Torah.

James uses the term law, because he is writing at what most certainly is a Jewish audience. The fact that he seems to lift up the poor and denigrate the rich is probably because his audience was poor and being taken advantage of by the rich. They were probably oppressed by wealthy landlords. He was writing his audience during a time of suffering to address various issues related to their faith, and to bring them hope.

Of course James was Jesus brother, so this letter was most likely written from Jerusalem, of course that is disputed by many scholars. if James did write it, it had to be written prior to 62 AD because of James martyrdom.

Exegesis

Contextually our text is located at the beginning of the Letter. James is setting the stage for the rest of the letter in chapter one. Here he tells his audience to recognize God as the giver of all good things, especially salvation by the word of truth, that has made them a new creation. He then talks about hearing and doing the word, in fact the majority of the verses are about doing the word.

Of course the word is the gospel. He is saying do the things Jesus taught you to do and you will be blessed in your actions. Don’t fake yourself out he says by listening and not doing.

The we get to that last sentence: (go back to slide on 1:27)

James is saying here in so many words that all your worship, Bible study, private devotions, receiving the sacraments are for naught, if you are not taking care of the widows and the poor. Foolish religion is corrupted by the world, it doesn’t control the tongue, it deceives the heart in thinking that all that is necessary is internal religion, piety.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, also railed agains empty piety in his book Life Together. he condemns a church that is merely interested in it’s own piety. he says that the Word only stays healthy when the church goes outside of itself and understand that it is part of the church universal, sharing deeds, suffering, and hardships together.

Wesley, too, understood acts of piety to lead to acts of justice. Similar to what James is saying here. He says that works of piety and works of mercy go hand in hand. A balance of faith!

Ok so what does that mean for us? Well lets examine that last statement “keep oneself unstained by the world.

The Greek word for world is “Kosmos” which how it is used here is in the sense of a corrupt system. he is saying as Christians, more particular the church must not be compromised by the world. he doesn't say to withdraw from the world, but to engage it but don’t get dirty.

A man once said to DL Moody, “Now that I am converted, must I give up the world? No, Moody answered, “You need not give up the world; if you give a ringing testimony for the Son fo God the world will give you up pretty quick. They will not want you around.”

I know whenI became Christian, I stopped hanging around the folks I wasn hanging around with. I formed a whole new group of friends. Did I abandon the others. No, they abandoned me.

Application

So how do we engage the world as a church without being “stained” by it. Well, first our actions need to add value to our words. We just don’t study the gospel, we do the gospel. Our piety should lead us to caring for the lowly.

Our values should be reoriented. We no longer live to the standards of the world

Romans 12:2 NRSV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans a2:2

We control our tongue, we have concern for the less fortunate.

Just coming to church, Bible study etc. has nothing to do with keeping the stain of the world off of us. its our moral attitude and action, James says, that does this.

I like what Barclay says here: “It is perfectly possible for a church to be so taken up with the beauty of its buildings and the splendour of its liturgy that it has neither the time nor the money for practical Christian service—and that is what James is condemning.” This is a great definition of being stained by the world. The porhet Micah says it even better

Micah 6:6–8 NRSV

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

;-8

The church has a sordid past of its piety and actions being compromised. Here in the south before and during the Civil War the southern preachers preached slavery as if it was a Biblical value. The Church of England, in Wesley’s Day told the poor that they needed to understand that God predestined them to be poor! This is religion that is not pure, this is the church stained or better polluted by the world.

Systemic sin its in our churches, its in our governments, its in our corporation both for profit an non profit. How can can we best avoid and correct this? James says:

We receive the word with humility so it can develop deep roots within us shaping our character and values

We do not speak in anger and control our tongues

Simply hearing the word is not enough, we must act on it

We recognize that all good comes from God

We take these things into our churches, our places of business, our schools, hospitals, the ball park. We cannot separate our personal morality with our corporate morality. When we do we are polluted by the world. This results in the rationalization of sin, the kind of rationalizations I mentioned above.

In 1963 Martin, Luther King put it this way "But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will loose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century."

And Wesley said, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

An article from Gawker a few years ago about easter attendance : Did you go to church this morning? If so, did you get a shiny new toy for your efforts? Congregants at Christian Life Church in Lexington, Oklahoma might. Anyone who attends the church's Easter services today will automatically be entered to win prizes like 32-inch flat screen TVs and $50 gift cards.

I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist cither in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.

Christian Life isn't the only megachurch luring people in the door with the promise of gifts.Long Hollow, a Tennessee Baptist Church that boasts five locations and 31 Easter services, is handing out $5 Starbucks gift cards to anyone attending for the first time today. While new visitors are there, they can enjoy "Life in Color," an Easter service inspired by a OneRepublic song.

ACF Church in Eagle River, Alaska, is hoping to bring people in with a Walking Dead-themed Easter celebration. "Our church tends to attract a younger crowd of singles and families with small children," Ross Montgomery, the church's "visual storyteller," told The Daily Beast. "We see using The Walking Dead for Easter as a way to break down some barriers for people who may have a bland taste in their mouth from church or have been hurt in the past."

As any good Christian knows, if there were three things Jesus stood for in his time, they were consumer electronics, overpriced coffee, and television shows about zombies.

We have to guard against the corruption and the pollution of the world. or I am afraid we will become a dead sect or an irrelevant social club.