Doers of the Word

Introduction

This morning we are going to continue to look at James 1:19-21. Last week when we looked at the James 1:2-18 we saw that our faith can grow in endurance by practicing it during trials. Today, we continue this theme as James lays out the need to not simply be consumers of the Word of God, but Doers of the Word.

Yesterday, my wife and I assembled a treadmill. It was not easy, and it took us longer than the instructions said that it should. The instructions came in the form of this handy app that read the instructions out to us and had 3D models that I could turn and zoom in on and click on to get more details about what part I was looking at. Each step I was careful to check and make sure we were putting the right pieces in the right places. Eventually we finished the treadmill, and it works great.

Another story, my wife and I had started watching some of Gordon Ramseys shows, like Kitchen Nightmares. We decided to take inspiration and have incorporated more cooking into our lives. We find a couple of recipes online of things we want to try each week. Read over them, make sure we obtain the ingredients and then follow the recipe to make the dish. Most of the time if we follow the recipe it turns out well.

Both of these stories could have gone very differently if I treated the treadmill instructions and the recipes the way that Christians treat the Bible. I could have read through the treadmill instruction booklet, made a nice little sign to hang in my house about putting the 2 and 3/4 screw into the base of the treadmill and went about my day not a single step closer to having the treadmill. Same is true for the recipes. I can print off tons of recipes. Buy tons of cookbooks and become a theoretical master chef. The reality is I am not a chef of any level until I get out of the books and into the kitchen.

I believe James would have something very similar to say about Christians who hear and study the Word of God, but refuse to let it change their lives. Let’s read what James 1:19-27 has to say, “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Godly Living

James 1:19-21 “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

You will quickly notice that James takes inspiration from the proverbs. James will make these statements such as “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” These short statements are filled with wisdom for those who would listen. Let’s unpack what he’s saying here. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. You’ve probably heard this before. Listen to others, think about what they are saying then respond carefully and in love. Why? James says that human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. James is drawing a distinction between human anger and God’s righteousness. Human anger will lead to sin. There is an anger from God that leads to righteousness, but most of the time, we allow ourselves to be stirred to anger quickly and we respond without thinking. I have certainly been guilty of this in the past and have seen it done many times. Quick to listen both to those people who are speaking, but also quick to listen to God’s word. Is this something worth being upset over? If it is, what is the appropriate response. He sounds a lot like Proverbs 10:19 “When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent.”

James continues by saying, “Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” James seems to be asserting if we spent less time running our mouths and more time listening, we may be able to sin less often. He says “humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” It is with humility that we admit to sinfulness, and accept the word of the Gospel. Christ died for sinners. Each one of us has some kind of sin that we struggle with, and I would guess that before you knew Jesus, you were not doing much struggling against it. We must humbly embrace the fact that we screw up, and it is by Christ’s blood that we are saved. Knowing that sin is around the corner for us, puts the whole quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger in a new perspective, because it is more likely that we will fall into sin with a speedy tongue than righteousness. God’s Word provides us with the knowledge of how to honor God with our lives.

His word is a lamp for our feet in a world of darkness. Yet, some would refuse to pick up the lamp and walk.

Knowing and Doing

James 1:22-25 “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.”

A minute ago I was telling you some stories about Felicity and I’s experience putting together a treadmill and with cooking. I remind you of these stories because Jesus did not die for sinners so that they could remain in their sin. He died to set us free from our sins. If we are set free from sin, we are set free to do good works in the name of Jesus. Here we are face to face with the idea that our faith has to be more than just words. Our faith must be trust and obedience, trust plus action. We cannot have the Word of God as our lamp to our feet, and then simply stand in the darkness.

Unfortunately, there is a more disturbing trend in todays world that I experience first hand. We live in a culture of distraction. Pull out your phone, scroll through twitter, tik tok, reddit, facebook, instagram or any number of other social media platforms and be distracted from what your doing in the moment. Turn on the TV to any number of entertainment streaming services and be distracted from the aches, pains, and responsibilities of life. In other words, not only do we look in the mirror and forget who we are when we step away, but we refuse to look into the mirror at all except for maybe one time a week on a Sunday morning. How many of you woke up this morning and looked at mirror to get ready for church? I would hope you took at least a moment to make sure you looked decent. Now how many of you that is the only time a week you’ll look into the mirror to get ready? Well I got ready on Sunday so that should hold me until next Sunday.

I am big supporter of people having hobbies and things they enjoy even if that is scrolling instagram or watching tv, but if it comes at the cost of you never being able to engage with God’s word, then you’ve got a problem. How can you do what you do not hear? I promise you I would have pile of broken scrapes if I tried to put together that treadmill without looking at the instructions, and lots of burnt disgusting meals without looking at the recipe. In order to be a doer of the Word you must hear the Word. James even says, “But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works - this person will be blessed in what he does.” His doing starts with looking intently into the mirror. The first step in being a doer of the Word is to hear the word. Then don’t set what you hear to the side, but actively pursue making your life reflect what you hear.

Actively seek to mimic Christ.

Flows From the Heart

James 1:26-27 “If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Jesus says it this way in Luke 6:45 “A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”

Whatever you are storing in your heart is what is going to come out in your life. If you are storing up sinful things in the heart, sin will come forth from the mouth. If you store up the things of God, the things of God will come from your mouth. The tongue is a powerful thing. It can speak hate or it can speak love. It can speak death or it can speak life. The difference is what is in your heart. Are you looking intently into the mirror that is God’s Word storing it up in your heart, so that from the overflow of your heart good works such as caring and loving for others flows naturally, or are you storing up the cares and selfish desires of the flesh so that when the body moves and the tongue speaks it produces sin?

James paints the picture of two distinct ways of living, those who hear and do, and those who hear and do not. Today, you will walk away from this message and be one of these two people.

Closing

The invitation this morning is has couple of parts to it. First, if you have not placed your faith in Christ, I have this to say to you, Christ died for you because he loved you enough to set you free from power of sin and death. Today, you can place your faith in him and be made to be right relationship with God. If you would step into any one of these isles and come down to the front, I would be happy to pray with you and talk with you more about what this means.

Second, if you are a Christian who has placed their faith in Christ, are you looking intently into the mirror that is God’s word or are you walking away and getting distracted by the cares of the world? If you ask yourself that question and you say I am trying to listen to the word and be a doer of the word, then I would challenge you to pray for your neighbors during this time. If you ask yourself that question and say, I think I’m walking away distracted and not looking at the mirror again except Sunday to Sunday. I challenge you to repent, and decide today that you are going to dedicate time to the Word of God day in and day out, so that from the overflow of the heart, you may become a doer of the Word and not simply a hearer.

The musicians are going to come forward, and I am going to pray for you guys. Once I finish praying, respond in the way the Spirit is moving you.