Hearers, Not Just Doers

Intro:

Imagine this… You’re one of the best to ever do your job, okay? You’re being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do your craft. But you’re not allowed to call your own shots. This happened to a great Dallas Cowboy quarterback… His name was Rodger Staubach. Roger Staubach led the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory in 1971 but he admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn’t call his own signals was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play. Landry told Roger when to pass, when to run, and only in emergency situations could he change the play. For those of you who don’t watch or follow football religiously as I do, that’s a big deal. Normally a Quarterback has the freedom to decide to change the play if he sees something on the field he doesn’t like. But even though Roger considered Coach Landry to have a “genius mind” when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team. Roger had a decision to make. Would he allow pride to rule his life and ignore his coach, making himself the star? Or would he listen to the coach and do what he wanted? Staubach later said, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.” Who hear likes to be told what to do? I know it’s a struggle for me to listen to others. Whether it be my boss, a coworker, my parents, my girlfriend… whatever… it’s hard for me to obey or even take advice.

If Rodger could listen to a man, who is in fact just that a man, and follow orders to a tee, what keeps us, as believers, from doing that with God? We’re going to be in the 1st chapter of James and we’re going to see that James gives us 3 ways to do exactly what Rodger Staubach did with Coach Landry. To follow His orders to a tee. I don’t know how many of you know the quote “God gave you 1 mouth and 2 ears so you can do twice as much listening as you do talking.” But I’m going to add one more section to that saying. Not only does God give us 1 mouth and 2 ears so we can do twice as much listening as we do talking, But he gives us two arms and two legs so that we can do twice as much doing as hearing.

If you have your Bible open up to James chapter 1 and let's read it together.

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wildflower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.

Listening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (Jas 1:1–27.)

Prayer

Dear God thank you for your word. Thank you for this time we get to gather as a body of believers and worship you together. I pray that as we learn from you God that you will open our hearts to what needs to be fixed and that you would do great things in this place and in the lives of those here today. I pray my words will not be my words God, but that they would be your words. May you be glorified through what is said and done here today. In your Son's name, we pray. Amen.

OVERVIEW OF JAMES

James, unlike other letters in the New Testament, is not written to a specific person group or dealing with a certain issue. We see in verse one whom the book is written to. “To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” Meaning that this book was sent to those Messianic Jews who did not live in Jerusalem. This chapter really sums up the challenges in this whole book. How do we become doers of the Word? The answer to that question can really be boiled down to three things so stay with me. I’m not giving you all three at once so you’re going to have to pay attention if you want to find out what they are.

SPEAK WITH LOVE

The first “S” of being doers of the word and not just hearers is found in verses 19-21. Let’s read it again, it says “19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” We’re going to entitle this way as “Speak With Love.” I found this quote and I thought it was interesting… “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” I love that. I know far too often when my brother seems to disrespect or ignore me I flip out and get angry so quickly. I say some stuff I later regret, and then that makes HIM angrier and there is this awful back and forth till we both start yelling at the top of our lungs. That “doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.” Let me tell you about a story…

Story

There was a time in my life when, believe it or not, I was a little bit of a punk. My family will probably tell you I still am, but now I’m a punk trying to live for Jesus, slightly different from younger me. But during this time in my life, I struggled with a few things. I struggled with stealing, and I had a tough time telling the truth. It was so hard for me, even when it was just a silly little thing like if my mom asked me, “Andrew, did you brush your teeth.” I’d say, “Yep!” even though I defiantly didn’t. So my grandparents always had a no candy until after lunch rule, and I always hated it. So ,14-year-old Andrew decided to load up on candy, hide under a blanket on the couch, eat the candy under the blanket, and dispose of the wrappers into the couch cushions.

Well, I thought I had gotten away with it… but my grandpa walks up to me, hands full of candy wrappers; he looked at me and asked, “Are these yours?”

I look him dead in the eyes and go, “No.”

He looks at me again and says, “You sure?”

I look down at the ground and go, “Yes.”

Grandpa takes a moment and says, “I’ll trust you, but if you’re lying, I’ll be very disappointed.” He then turned to leave, and I spoke up,

“They’re mine!” I shout. He turns around and looks at me, and I can see the hurt in his eyes

from being lied to. He tells me something I have never forgotten.

“Thank you for telling the truth, but don’t ever lie again. If a man doesn’t have his word, he has nothing.”

Now, my grandpa could’ve gotten mad and yelled and reamed me out for lying to him. He had the right to; I lied straight to his face, twice. But my grandpa stayed calm and corrected me. Corrected me in a way that I don’t think I’ve lied since. That is except for Christmas presents and surprise parties. The point is this. Because my grandpa loved me, he decided that the best way to correct me was to stay calm instead of flying off the handle and yelling and screaming. 1 Corinthians says that if we speak with tongues of angels but don’t have love, we are just white noise. A clanging cymbal. My grandpa’s words cut through because of his calm and loving correction.

TRANSITION

The same goes for being doers of the word.

James says we should “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” We should speak in love. However, not only should we speak in love, but like 1 John says “let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

2. Serve your Neighbor

The next “S” is found in one little verse in chapter 1 of James… Let’s read it again… “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Does anyone have a guess as to what the second “S” is? It’s to serve your neighbor.

We shouldn't just serve our neighbors though. We should do it with love. Jesus was the ultimate example of this.

It’s the Passover, and Jesus is sharing the meal with some close friends, his disciples, and as he’s eating, he looks around the room, and he notices the house where they’re staying didn’t provide a servant to wash their feet. That was customary of that day to have someone wash the guest's feet because they were walking everywhere, and on that same road, they would walk on they would also ride animals. And most animals just do their business wherever, right?? And they wore sandals so their feet would be dusty and dirty and probably not smell too great. But the master of the house would often provide a servant to do it. I imagine it would be given to the low man on the totem pole, right? It would be like how the intern at work who gets to take out the trash or scrub the toilets. Well, the master of the house failed to have a servant there to wash their feet. So we get to verse 12 and Jesus says,

“Do you understand what I have done for you?” (He just finished washing their feet). 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” Jn 13:1–17.

Jesus gets to show us and his disciples the benchmark for service. He gets down to his skivvies, grabs the bowl of water, walks up to Andrew, and starts to wash his feet. Then, he goes to John, then Matthew, then Philip, he goes and goes and goes, faces a little resistance from Peter, but he washes every single one of their feet… When Jesus gets done He says this to them. Now that I have washed your feet you should wash one another’s feet. Because Jesus, the SON OF GOD washed his disciple's feet… What’s keeping us, silly little people, from inviting our neighbors over for dinner? OR what’s keeping us from serving at the food pantry? What’s keeping US from serving our neighbors with LOVE?

STORY

There was this woman I grew up with. She was my 3rd grade Sunday school teacher. Her name was Carol Hinton. She was a woman of such enormous faith. She used to go into the prisons and hand out Bibles, she’d run bible studies for the inmates. She would go door to door and hand out tracts. Nothing was too big or small for her to do for God. She was also around 75 years old. So don’t tell me you’re too old to invite someone in for dinner.

But one particular time, I remember being with her and a couple of other students, and we were handing out invitations to our church Easter service. I remember driving down the road, and she saw this homeless man on the side of the road; she pulled over and got out to talk to him. The students in the car, me included, were so terrified. We were wondering what in the world she was doing. After a few minutes, she got back in the car; we turned around and went to the store. She tells us, "We're going to be Jesus to that man." So, we get to the store, pick up some food and water, and take it back to that homeless man. When Ms Carol handed him the food, he looked up at us with tears in his eyes. Miss. Carol then prayed with the man, got back in the car, and then, without a word, we drove away. But this moment sticks in my head all the time. How often do I just drive by homeless people? I was driving through Peoria the other day with friends and we saw about 4 or 5 homeless people in the span of 10 or 15 minutes. Why didn’t we stop and help them? Were we in too big of a rush to be Jesus to that man? Miss Carol Hinton was a warrior for Jesus. She just lived differently…. She lived like Jesus… She SERVED like Jesus.

TRANSITION

Jesus shows us examples of speaking and serving with love in multiple places in scripture but I want to open to a certain one, in John chapter 4, we see the account of Jesus talking to a woman from Samaria, now if you don’t know Jews often found Samaritans to be unclean. When Syria came in and captured the northern tribes of Israel they sent their people to live in Israel, therefore, people were intermixed with you and Syrian and therefore the resulting children were considered half-blood Jews. Worth nothing and unclean. But Jesus sat and talked with a WOMAN who happened to be SAMARITAN. She and Jesus have a back and forth and Jesus is trying to show her that he doesn’t care about her past, he just wants her to come back to Him.

Jesus took the time to sit and talk to a woman, who is a mess, slowly, concisely, in love. And eventually leads her back to himself. How many times have we missed opportunities like this because we don’t take the time to speak and serve in love? This is a great example of our first two S’s… And it happened because Jesus is actively living out the third S.

3. Stepping Out In Faith

James 1:2-15, “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (Jumping to verse 12) 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

These verses show us the third and final S in this chapter, and that is stepping out in faith. James gives us two ways we can step out in faith and one is found right off the bat… “consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds.” Joy in the midst of trials… I want to take it a step further… We should do our best to thrive midst of trials.

We in America, live in a pretty cushy society when it comes to religion, right? I remember the freak out in 2015 when Christians felt we were being persecuted when Starbucks took the Christmas design off their red Christmas cups? Does anyone remember that? I found this quote in the Washington Post. The quote is from Joshua Feuerstein who claimed Starbucks “Hates Jesus” because of this change… He says, “Do you realize that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new cups?” he declares, holding up one of the offending paper products. “That’s why they’re just plain red.” Yikes… What persecution.

Would you consider that persecution? Well, friends… That is nothing…. NOTHING compared to what some of our brothers and sisters are facing right now… The apostle formally known as Saul… He knew persecution… This man went through so much for the sake of the gospel… In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul drops a list of everything that has happened to him because of Jesus. It says

“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” He was imprisoned, he was stoned, he was flogged, he was shipwrecked… etc etc etc…. But he never gave up… “He considered it pure joy…” He thrived.

If Paul can withstand all of this. Surely we can suffer through the trial of our plain, red, Christmas cups… We should be so different as Christians who are under persecution that people who know us, or even people who don’t, look at us and wonder what in the world is wrong! I love how Paul says we should act during persecution… He says in 1 Corinthians 4:12-13, “We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.”

Let me tell you about a Priest, a priest who dared to step out in faith. His name was Greg Boyle. In 1988, Father Greg Boyle received his first assignment after seminary. He was assigned to be the parish priest of the Dolores Mission Church in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. If L.A. was considered the gang capital of the world at the time, then Boyle Heights was the gang capital of the gang capital. A different gang controlled every other block in this neighborhood. He quickly recognized that to really be a witness to God’s love, and he had to do more for the young men caught up in these gangs than just preside at their funerals. He went from gang to gang, trying to hammer out peace treaties between them. While doing this he earned a lot of street cred and the members started hanging out at his church. As Father Boyle got to know these young men, he realized that most of them didn’t really want to be in a gang. Instead, they saw gangs as the only way to improve their economic situation. However, the problem was that when they finally decided that they wanted out, they so tatted and had rap sheets so long that no sane business owner would hire them. Out of LOVE for these young men, Father Boyle started a tattoo removal service right there on church grounds. He then started talking to the managers of the factories in the neighborhood to see if they would be willing to hire these young men. While they agreed philosophically to the premise, no job offers ever actually materialized. So Father Boyle took matters into his own hands once again: against all advice, he started a bakery staffed entirely by ex-gang members. Soon there were more requests for jobs than they had openings. In response, He expanded and opened a silk-screening shop, then a janitorial business, and then a café, again staffed entirely by ex-gang members. This was when Homeboy Industries was born. The excitement around this place was so tremendous that First Lady Laura Bush came down to tour the facilities. She even invited Father Boyle and a few of his ‘homies,’ as they were called to the White House. https://www.hillsidemedford.org/transforming-love/homeboy-industries/)

Father Boyle was so intent on stopping gang violence and war in Boyle Heights that he did not give up on these men. He biked back and forth, trying to get them to stop the fighting. When that didn’t work, Boyle gave them an escape. He opened up opportunities for them to gain what they wanted, financial security, and gave them what they didn’t know they needed, Jesus Christ. Father Boyle’s ministry is a fantastic testament to a life lived devoted to living out what he heard from Jesus in Matthew 28:18–20. “ All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Father Boyle lived in a way that showed people that he was different. He spoke with love… If he didn’t speak with love to these gang members, he would have lost them immediately. He may have even been killed. HE spent time serving them. He opened the church for them and let them hang out there. He served them…He also stepped out in faith. Father Boyle not only heard the great commission… He lived it out too. I said that we had three things that we have to do to be doers not just hearers… And I made it illiterate so it’s easier to understand, right? We must 1, speak with love, 2, serve your neighbor, and 3… Step out in faith. So that’s my challenge for you guys today. Don’t take what you heard today, what you were convicted of, and keep it inside... Act on it. How many of you would wake up in the morning, go look at yourself in the mirror and see that your hair is all crazy-like, and you just shrug and walk away… How many of you did that today? None of you, right? That’s the same way we should be with the Word. If it convicts us… If it challenges us... If it moves us to want to act, we should. We shouldn’t just leave it there and walk away, but we should act upon it.

I’m going to leave you with a story about a dude who changed my life for the better because he did these three things. He dared to step out in faith, spoke in love, and served. My family and I had just moved down to Illinois. We had gone through a lot of, to put it lightly, not super fun stuff at a church where my dad pastored. We were struggling to find friends and we, through a crazy turn of events, found out about a gathering of students that was happening that night. We decided to go. So my mom drives me and my sister to this get-together. We were super quiet and I naturally have a very scary resting face. But this dude, let's name him Caleb, dared to come up and chat with me. We talked about a bunch of things but little did i know this was a start of a really great friendship. His mom, who was also at thing get together was talking to my mom about this drama academy and we decided to join up. All this to say we get involved in the circles where this dude hangs out. At this time I wasn’t really walking with the Lord all too closely, and this man quickly became my best friend. A little bit later down the road, he invites me on a retreat, and I go. During this retreat God gets a hold of me again. I start living for Him again. I leave behind all my sins and struggle and strive to live for God again. Because of Caleb. He invited me to go with him to summer camp summer of my senior year. I go. It’s there I find God’s calling into ministry. There are a ton more ways God used Him in my life. And I doubt he knows the impact he’s had on my life. But God used him and he allowed God to use him. He dared to Speak to me with love. Even when I didn’t look approachable. He served me, he paid for me to go to summer camp with him. And he stepped out in faith… Caleb took a chance, inviting me on a retreat, not really knowing if I’d say yes, but he did… And because of that, I’m standing here in front of all of you today. So think about that… You have no idea what impact you could have on a person's life just by stepping out in faith and acting upon God’s words. Not merely hearing it but doing it. Caleb heard what God told him to do… But he didn’t sit on that… he moved… he acted. So please don’t take what God is telling you and hide it away… If Caleb had done that, I might not be here today… But take what God is saying, act on it, move forward in faith, and God will do the rest. He just needs a willing heart to not only be hearers of the word but doers as well… Let’s pray.

PRAYER: Dear God, you know our hearts… you know our thoughts. Tune them to your will God. I pray that as we go out of this building that we’re spurred to action by your Spirit. That we love others enough to speak to them about you, to serve them by meeting a need today God, and that we wouldn’t be hindered by doubt but that we would go fourth in the faith that you’ve given us today. I pray that we would learn to be doers of your word not merely hearers. It’s in your Son's great name we pray…. Amen.