James 1:19-25 - Faith Obeys

Faith Obeys by Listening First, Talking Second, and Calming Down

Introduction

Good morning GracePointe. It is always an honor and joy to gather together with you and look to God’s Word today in the book of James. I have loved how over the last few weeks both Pastor Michael and Pastor Sid have excellently helped to guide us in the first few verses of Chapter 1 in the book of James. We covered how James is the step brother to Jesus....and how there was a time where James, even though he had grown up with Jesus, did not initially believe He was the Savior, the one foretold in the Scriptures. But post-resurrection, James came to put His hope in Jesus Christ and to play a decisive leadership role in the early church in Jerusalem. Paul refers to Him as one of the pillars of the church in Galatians 2:9. However, the writing of this book plays much more to the title James gives himself in James 1:1 as he describes himself a servant.

Pastor Michael reminded how we are to count it all joy....that we are to lean in to what God can do as He works to shape us through that trial. Our faith grows, produces steadfastness which helps each and everyone of us keep our eyes set firmly on the One who Saves…Jesus Christ.

Pastor Sid reminded us that God always knows what He is doing. He can take any crisis, catastrophe, or critical mistake and use it for our good and His glory. God cannot be tempted, nor does he tempt anyone. We are tempted by our own sinful desire and that road leads to death. How many of us have been the people who live their lives on shaky foundations....that lead to being driven and tossed by the wind....like a ship in a storm with no anchor. Blessed is the follower of Christ who remains steadfast under trial. Beautiful reminder to remain steadfast.

Today, we are going to jump into the method behind that. What does it look like to remain steadfast under trial? More importantly how is that described in God’s word. My aim today is that by learning what it means to practically be steadfast under trail, we will find that a faith that works is a faith that obeys. A faith that does not just hear what the words says…but actually does what the word says. Not to gain salvation…no because of salvation. We want to have a faith that works by obeying the word

Turn with me now to James 1: 16-25 with most of our time in verse 19-25. I will be in the ESV version today. If you are in need of a bible, we would love to give you one today. Just raise your hand and someone will come give you one to keep.

James 1:16–25 ESV

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Right out the gate, I have said it before but I love the book of James. The book of James is the kind of book that is challenging in that it never lets up. If you look at the verses just before ....verses 16-18, James is outlining how every Good and perfect gift is from our Father who is the definition of steadfast. This faith is redeeming. The gospel rescues each and everyone of us. Not only that but that same faith carries us through life no matter what we may face. That same faith carries us into eternity. We are new creations as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

But how are we as new creatures supposed to act? The connection from previous verses to 19 is critical. Theologian Albert Barnes writes... “Since God is the foundation of all good; since he tempts no man; and since by his mere sovereign goodness, without any claim on our part, we have had the high honor given to us of being made the first-fruits of his creatures, we ought to be ready to hear his voice, to subdue all our evil passions, and to bring our souls to entire practical obedience."

But what does look like practically…well Welcome to verse 19 everyone.

James 1:19–20 ESV

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

In this section, we all are challenged right off. Perhaps that is why James starts in verse 19 with “know this”. Other translations are “take note of this” and “You must understand this...” The need for intensity is here…to bring our attention into view.

Verse 19 throws down the gauntlet....let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Each one of us....everyone one of us should be listening first, speaking second and striving to calm down. I will be the first one to raise my hand and say that quick listening, slow speaking, and remaining calm have not always been the trademarks of my life. In fact we could say most of the time we are the exact opposite. We are slow to hear, quick to speak and quickest to get angry.

GracePointe, if we want to live like new creations in Jesus Christ. If we want to exhibit the qualities of those rescued by Christ....if we proclaim that we belong to Him....then our lives should be marked by this verse. Our faith in Christ must exhibit these principles. In this, our Faith Works because it Obeys the will of God!

Let’s look at these more closely.

Listening First

It begins with let everyone be quick to hear. Notice hear how the challenge is not just to those who have a disposition for listening. We all know those people right? The ones who seem to listen with superhero skill. They don’t get tired, they ask good questions even everyone else is bored out of their mind....they can still listen.

There are numerous stories that pertain to different aspects of this in my own life. In regards to listening, I remember helping my dad as a young kid…probably 8 or 9. My dad told me to go turn off the generator that we were using a job site of his. He told me some other stuff…but I wasn’t listening because I really didn’t want to help him, I was reading my book in the truck. How many of us stop listening when we have to do something we don’t want to do? Well that is what I did…he said go shut off the generator and then some other things that I didn’t hear. I walk over to this old generator that had seen better days. I flick the switch off but also placed my hand somewhere else on that generator and it shocked the daylights out of me. My dad came running over and he told me later that all I was mumbling was “the generator stole my power dad....” I was an imaginative child even then!

Listening…is an essential quality to being a follower of God. I am positive that my Dad warned me about how to turn off the generator without electrocuting myself. But I wasn’t listening. You know what....the next time he told me to turn off the generator, I listened. That is why the word tells us to be quick to listen. Don’t wait for the hard lesson to force us to be quick to listen. Listen quickly.

The next question we want to ask is what are we listening for. I believe there are two critical areas we want to listen for.

The first is that we are to be quick to listen to the word of God. We should listen eagerly to the word of God and to what He would show us. Often in the gospels, we read Jesus giving a difficult saying or command and ending the teaching with “those who have ears to hear, let them hear”. Those who have “ears to hear” allow the Word to bear fruit to the glory of God. It is up to the hearer to decide whether to take the Word seriously and pursue understanding; only a few are willing—the rest have ears, but they do not have “ears to hear”. Elsewhere in Revelation 2:7, we see that we are to listen to the Holy Spirit is saying to us as a church body of believers. Are we listening?

Asking ourselves the question, am I listening to God’s word? Am I putting myself in a situation to read, hear, and interact with God’s word so I can listen to it? Especially today in 2021, technology is useless (and even dangerous) if we are so busy and so distracted that we are not “quick to hear” what God is saying to us. God’s word is so important. Look at just a few ways that God’s Word is important.

God’s word contains the saving truth of the gospel. God’s word guides our steps as Psalm 119:105 outlines that it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It will show us principles to guide us on where to go, what to say, and how to make decisions. It directs each of us to wisdom with that light…it gives understanding to us who desperately need it for guarding our way and providing warning of danger. God’s word lifts our burden when we encounter pain, grief, loneliness or sickness in our time of trouble. It also brings joy as we can read through out God’s word of His loving kindness and how our hope is found in Him. The word of God brings peace because we read time and time again how God will never leave us or forsake us. We are bound to Him. When we lean into God’s word, we find peace even amidst life’s storms.

God’s word is worth listening to. But another aspect is found here in this listening. We are to listen to one another. James is also pointing us to how we interact with others created by God. The way we communicate—just like everything else we do—should demonstrate that we love God and love others. We are God’s image bearers listening to and speaking with other image bearers. Are we listening to the hurts, pains, struggles, stories, and opinions of others in a Christ-like way that points them to Jesus? Or are we trying to point others to ourselves and how “correct” our view is?

We communicate so much to others when we listen. We communicate the fruit of the spirit by listening. We are showcasing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness, and self-control as seen in Galatians 5:22-23. These can all be proclaimed when we listen. When we stop thinking of what our response will be and listen with love to another loved creation of God just as God listens to us. Remember that God listens…so we should listen eagerly as well.

Talk Second

James doesn’t stop there although we all probably need more time to get the listening down. Instead James relentlessly plunges ahead with the second aspect. We are to TALK SECOND. Instead of listening, we often fill the listening time with our own monologues that reflect much of our own pride than anything else. At the time of this writing, there was a general cultural attitude among the Greek and educated Jewish aristocrats that eloquence of speech was the most important thing a person could do. Thus James is pointing out that we are to purposefully speak slow....and secondary to listening.

It reminds me of a friend of mine in college who went home to hang out with his parents over a Christmas break. He is sitting in the living room listening to his parents argue. He is incredulous because they are arguing about cake. His mom had made a sheet cake and his dad had cut out piece right out of the middle of the cake. His mom couldn’t believe the audacity of someone to do that. Dad’s response…that is where the cake is the best and frosting is thickest. Things were getting heated until finally the dad blurts out in haste “Fine I’ll never eat cake again!!” We should be slow to speak....because we know we will want to eat cake again.

Proverbs 29:20

Proverbs 29:20 ESV

20 Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Speak second.....are we slowing down and considering our words and the intent of our words. James is reminding his audience and us today that God’s Word is what we should be listening to. When we do speak, have we waiting long enough to make sure that what we are about to say does two things.

Glorify God

Love others

Are we listening to God and then repeating what He has said! Too often we just jump ahead without listening and so we fill our speech with our words instead of what God has given us to say. The early church apparently needed a reminder to listen and speak to each other in a way that reflected the God they followed. It’s painfully obvious we need that same reminder. The way we communicate should demonstrate that we love God and love others.

But when we speak in haste, we often get our motivations mixed up. Now we are self-promoting, choosing our self-glorification rather than glorification of the One who truly deserves it. Psalm 19:14 outlines for us our aim in how we speak to one another again promoting the fruit of the Spirit.

Psalm 19:14 ESV

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

A quick note here....There’s absolutely a time and a place to correct someone, comment with your disagreement, or offer a strong differing opinion. We are called to speak the truth boldly and we should not shy away from that. However, the truth we are boldly proclaim is that of the gospel, God’s character, how we were rescued. Often times, we are not sharing that…instead we are boldly arguing our own way, that which benefits us and all the while..not listening. Let us not forget the old adage, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt”? As we listen, as we speak (after we listen both to God and to others) may we exemplify communication that shows we love God and love others.

Calm Down…and repeat the first two.

But what about when people say this? But what about when people do this? Did you read that article? Did you see what that person posted? Did you see what that guy said on TV? Did you see the law they passed? I am so offended! We should be afraid!

Each one of us, myself included, need to remember that God knows what He is doing. Our worry is a wasted outpouring of energy that could otherwise be given to God and His aim.

Proverbs 16:32 ESV

32 Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

James points us to to the idea that we need to be slow to anger. Other translations point out the type of emotion James is referring to.

“Slow to wrath” (ASV). “Don’t get worked up into a rage so easily” (Voice). “Slow to lose his temper”

The contemporary English Version puts in quite plainly “If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things that God wants done.” In Ecc 7:9, we read it another way.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 ESV

9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

The anger he is talking about is uncontrolled, unrighteous anger. It is passionate displeasure about selfish things. It is self-defense. It is directly motivated by pride. As Michael has pointed out, being offended is a direct connection to your pride. Consequences of this type of anger are attacking the wrongdoer rather than deeper problem. The anger is left to smolder and grudges are held, depression and irritability over little things that are not related to the original problem....friends if you are this kind of angry, you cannot do any of the good things that God wants done.

How we accomplish our mission of loving God and loving others is our job and our ability to control our anger effects the quality and consistency of that mission? I also have a story on this as well....

A few years ago, Jen had asked me many times to dig out a large butterfly bush in our yard. I hadn’t gotten around to it because I frankly didn’t want to do it. Well one day we were having a discussion and it was brought up that I had not yet done that task. Now I stopped listening because I got frustrated and angry. Why? Because she was right…and I was wrong..and that feels like getting kicked in the groin. I hate getting kicked in the groin. So I abruptly said “Fine....and I walked outside grabbed that shovel in full anger and walked over to butterfly bush and basically decided to try furious shoveling. Anyone else try furious shoveling before. How about furious hammering or rage filled chainsawing? Well I tried furious shoveling and 3 hits in, I hear my shoulder make a pop. Immediately I knew something was wrong. It hurt bad. A second later, I hear a voice from the door of the house from my lovely wife “What are you doing?” It wasn’t mad....an honest question. Now listen...I am in pain....and angry that I was dumb in hurting myself…and angry that she is now witnessing my blunder....so much immaturity. I respond in a childlike manner...”I am doing what you asked....taking that butterfly bush out”. She very calmly responds...”That is not the butterfly bush. That is the rose bush”. I hung my head in shame and also smirked a little…Of course. I wasn’t listening.I tore something in my shoulder and it didn’t heal right…probably because I didn’t listen to the doctor.....I still can’t reach around in my seat to hand something to the boys when we are in the car. There are long lasting consequences to our not listening and rage.

That anger…our anger is directly connected to our ability to quickly listen. When we quickly speak, we are often led to be quickly angry. The angrier we get, the less we listen, the more we speak and the cycle repeats itself. Emotions are often hard to control but actions....those are well within our ability to control. You often can’t control how you feel but you can control what you do. I can prove it to you......you are in an argument with kids, a spouse. Voices are starting to raise along with tempers. Your voice is starting to sound like a bad low budget scary movie. The cell phone rings and you pick it up......”Hello, how are you? I’m so glad you called.”

We are to be slow to anger because God is slow to anger. Exodus 34:6

Exodus 34:6 ESV

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

The phrase “slow to anger” in Hebrew literally means “long of nose,” as in it takes a long time for God’s nose to get hot! God is patient, and he gives people a lot of chances to rethink their decisions and change. Not just good natured folks either but historical villains through out the Bible…God gives chances to. Pharaoh was given ten plagues but these were also opportunities to change his ways. Through out the bible we see the way that God’s anger is played out.....not in a volatile immature way but in a measured response to great injustice and evil. God’s anger is often poured out by God giving them over as he talks about in Romans chapter 1. The logical consequences of the decisions. But we must remember that God is slow....patience and full of grace and mercy…He is slow to anger.

Another question would be what did Jesus get mad about?

Often times, we as Christians get angry about something. When someone calls us on our anger…we throw out that Jesus got angry. But I would push and say that we often don’t ponder what made Jesus angry. What caused Jesus to get angry.

We see Jesus get passionately displeased when rules are prioritized over people. Not God’s law but the extra stuff. The preferences, the cultural norms....what helps people fit in. When these rules are heightened and people are kept away from God because of it. Jesus didn’t like it and went against it as we see in Matthew 12:10.

Jesus got mad when kids are pushed aside as his disciples rebuke Jesus for the time He was spending with kids in Mark 10:13-16. Yet Jesus rebukes them and reminds them in other passages that we must be like Children to enter the kingdom.

Other things that make Christ steamed…self-righteousness and hypocrisy. Jesus calls this out in Matthew 23 when he says that the religious elite wash the outside of the cup but ignore the inside of the cup. They cared more about what people thought about them than what God already knew of them. Jesus wasn’t mad at their sin as He knew that he could cover for that…He was mad at their pretending they were better than they were.

Selfish ambition was something that Jesus stood against definitively. He critiques the Pharisees for praying loudly in public (Matthew 6:5) because they were doing so for their own gain. He once said he preferred the pennies of a widow to the large bags of coins from the Pharisees (Mark 12:41-44). He was admonishing the Pharisees because they didn’t care about the heart of giving.  It was all a show.

Finally, we see the greatest example of Jesus passionately displeased when it is made difficult for people to get to God. In John 2:13-17, Jesus flips tables, makes a whip and drives out religious leaders and profiteers. What was happening was the religious leaders were selling the sacrifices required by God’s law for a profit. In other words, poor families who traveled far and at great expense to follow God’s law were extorted, when they should have been helped.

Guess what....Jesus did not react in anger when he was beaten, scorned, mocked, denied, tested by Satan. When it had to do with empathy and helping of others, Jesus would show passionate emotion and come to the defense. When it was about his rights, his needs, his things he so rightly deserved, Jesus surprisingly didn’t get mad.

Even if we are slow to anger, we must remember that there are things to get protective. Loving and protecting others, protecting against hypocrisy and self righteousness. And yet…most of the time, just like me and the butterfly bush that ended up being a rose bush…we are getting the wrong kind of mad about the wrong kind of things....

In listening, speaking, and in being slow to get angry, we see that James calls on these believers to get rid of all moral filth and evil by humbly accepting the teachings of Christ. In our world today, this can also mean online and on social media. There as well, we are to reflect that we love God and love others. Before you post something or respond, ask yourself if you have read God’s word, prayed about it asking the Holy Spirit to work in you. Then think through “Am i being quick to listen? Am I waiting to speak? Am I calm?

Conclusion

This section of James deserves extensive self-reflection and some follow through. And I believe that James wisely knew that as he concludes this section. James 1:22-25

James 1:22–25 ESV

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

As we look at how we listen first, speak second and calm down, we must think through how that manifests itself in our lives. Do we hear that we are to, in everything including communication, love God and love others and then do something different? Have you ever been dressed up for an event and grabbed dinner at home before you head out? How many of us would admit that we have spilled something on our shirt and now there is a stain…loud and clear.....we can do something about it but we take a long look in the mirror and say “nope....I think I look great!” In this analogy, we can do something about it. Change!

In our spiritual walk with Christ, we don’t like to self-evaluate. Perhaps we have tried to solve the problems on our own strength. But we cannot solve these problems in our own strength but rather, we are to let the Holy Spirit, the helper, remind us of the next right thing to do. God’s word is to be listened to and it is designed to change us from the inside out! Finally, fear tells us that our sin is insurmountable. That no one can forgive what we have done, thought, said, or avoided doing. But the truth of the gospel is that Jesus already paid the price for our sin. Forgiveness is on the other side of confession. Confess to Him, and He has promised that He will cleanse us of all unrighteousness and remember our sins no more. As far as the east is from the west, God reminds us in Hebrews 8:12 as well as Jeremiah 31:34....God says “I will remember their sins…no more”.

Perhaps something today in regards to listening to God word or listening to one another....perhaps waiting to speak or responding before listening....perhaps getting angry in the wrong way and about the wrong things....something in that spurred within you a desire to ask the Lord for forgiveness. I know that in preparing this week for this message, I have had to do that. James leaves no room for “well but I am a good person....” When I look in the mirror, I am either choosing to be a new creation and thus communicating in a new creation way…or I am choosing my old life and the old way of communicating. May we all be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry as we live in a faith that obeys the word of God. Let us pray

Prayer

If you would, please stand with me. I want to leave you with a charge.

In Hebrews 12:1-3

Hebrews 12:1–3 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Have a great week and thanks for Joining us today!