Untitled Sermon (4)

Faith And Devotion

James 1:26-27

Main Idea: Radical Faith is revealed in how we control our mouths, how we care for the powerless, and how we pursue holiness.

Open with time of prayer and fasting

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.

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Ex: CRT, Gender dysphoria, Racial reconciliation, systematic racism, liberalism, conservative resurgence, woke & social justice. How would you define these terms and would your neighbor define them the same way?

How do we navigate all these ideas, terms, and political positions flying around even in our own denomination?

We seemed to want unconsciously to ask, Was James a republican or a democrat? What church would have James attended?

Is this the right question?

Yet, these fallen world perspectives and ideologies permeate our lives and our minds and it impacts how we use our mouths and thumbs and how we care for the broken.

Scripture alone has the final authority in our lives.

How we live, how we define our positions and how we carry out our purpose in this life.

What we pursue in life, we offer as Worship to our God (v. 27a)

Radical faith produces radical spirituality and should be evidenced by lives of radical devotion

Three essential components to Christian spirituality (motherhood)

Radical devotion to Christ

Radical holiness in Christ

Radical Obedience for the cause of Christ

For James Religion is the outward expression of a life devoted to Christ.

James gives us three essential Pursuits in the Christian life.

If devotion, holiness and obedience are in your root these three pursuits will be your fruit

Radical Faith is revealed in how we control our mouths, how we care for the powerless, and how we pursue holiness.

Three Essential Pursuits In A Radical Spirituality (vv. 26-27)

“Essential ” This is not an exhaustive list but these must be on the list!

As Calvin says, ‘he does not define generally what religion is, but reminds us that religion without the things he mentions is nothing”

We pursue a controlled mouth - v. 26

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

James leveled two accusations at the person who practiced outward religion without inner control. (hearing w/o doing)

First, he deceives himself.

Second, his religion is worthless.

Religion is the outward expression of a life devoted to Christ.

Religion = outward expression = worship

An undisciplined tongue reflects a deceived heart

The tongue is compared to an unmanageable horse that needed a bit and bridle.

James begins his characterization of the tongue almost as a separate entity that can and will destroy a person if it is not restrained and controlled.68

Pr 10:19

19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking,

but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

Matt 12:31-32 - Word matters (Before God)

31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Mark 7:20-23 - What comes out, comes from within

20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The power of your thumbs!

What you text or the pics you post, the post you share displays your devotion to God and your love for people.

We’ve created an entire culture that says if you have a thought, then you should immediately share it with the rest of the world.

Social media is a cowardly means of communication when you use it to passively-aggressively or not so passively attack or defend yourself. (Instability and no self-control)

But followers of Christ, don’t buy that line of thinking. Keep a tight rein on your tongue and your thumbs, and speak in a way that shows your faith is real and the core of your heart belongs to God.

How are they deceived?

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart

They are deceived about the level of devotion to their God

The tongue points to a deeper lack within their whole selves

My lack of devotion to God is a root producing unbridled decision making in my every day, especially in my relationships

James is simply saying a life of radical devotion brings the whole body under the Lordship of Christ especially how we communicate with God and each other.

The first mark of true and acceptable religion (radical spirituality) is controlled speech that displays a changed heart.

A worthless spirituality (unacceptable worship)

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

“Think he is religious - “Seems” - The verb “seem” (δοκέω) implies something subjective, based on opinion and not necessarily on evidential facts

This person’s “religion” as based on external appearances rather than inward realities.

Futile, Worthless =empty - 1 Peter 1:18 - useless pagan practices

, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20

Shallowness/hollowness to their spirituality

Getting caught up in debating terminology is worthless

This verse describes a person a hearer but not a doer

The person focused on the externals of religious activities such as public prayer, fasting, giving, and worship attendance.

The term “religious” is not specifically Christian and is used widely in Greek religion to denote the reverencing and worshipping of a god (or gods).

It often connotes outward acts of worship.

The true test of any religious profession, suggests James, is not the outward ritual of worship, which many go through unthinkingly and with little heart commitment.

the real litmus test of a religion (devotion to God) is obedience—without it, religion is vain: empty, useless and profitless, and worse not accepted by God.

The first pursuit of a radical spirituality is that we pursue inward self-control that guards how we communicate, the second pursuit is who we are to pursue:

We Pursue the powerless - v. 27b

27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

This is a critical illustration of what doers under the law of liberty do!

We are free in Christ to bridle our voice and give a voice to those who dont have one.

We abide with the powerless

“Visit” - to look after or care for someone - an active presence in someone's life

Matt 25:36 - visited people in prison or sick

36 vI was naked and you clothed me, yI was sick and you visited me, aI was in prison and you came to me.’

Acts 6:3 - used to pick out someone specifically

3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

Heb 2:6 - Who is man that you care for him - this denotes a choosing to be a presence is someones life to care for them.

6 It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

All believers are to pick out the most helpless and care for them

Two problems

Actively neglecting

High cost - (Isa. 1:10–20).

Israel compromised their purity and neglected the powerless ( opposite of James 1:27)

The warning: Engage the powerless or God will not receive your worship

10 Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of Sodom!

Give ear to the teaching of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!

11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

12 “When you come to appear before me,

who has required of you

this trampling of my courts?

13 Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

17 learn to do good;

seek justice,

correct oppression;

bring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause.

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

20 but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A lack of holiness and a lack of caring for the powerless bear fruit out of the same soil.

Care for the Fatherless is commanded in the Old Testament as a way of imitating God’s own concern for them—he is the ‘Father of the fatherless and protector of widows’ (Ps. 68:5).

5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows

is God in his holy habitation.

Without the church, the neediest among us will not be able to consider their various trials joy.

Widows and single moms have to trust the government because the church has turned its back to their affliction.

Actively oppressing - (Later in James)

Not to give aid to these poor ones turns out to be only the beginning of the problem, for the rich later come under the charge of being active oppressors of the poor (cf. 5:1–6).

Who were the widows and orphans?

The outcast

Orphans and widows, lacking fathers and husbands, respectively, formed two paradigms of the needy and dispossessed in patriarchal societies.

Men often died in their 30’s-40’s

Those with no voice - no means of support nt standing in the courts

Those who have little means to support themselves, physically, emotionally, spiritually & psychologically

Those who are vulnerable

In many countries, a husband will die and leave a little piece of land to his family and they will be forced off their land and have no voice no means to fight it.

Built into the Law was God’s concern for the powerless - Dt 10:18; 24:19; Ps 146:9; Jer 7:6; and Zec 7:10.

Orphans and widows may be outcasts to the world, but they must be enfolded in the relationships of all believers.

Why help the powerless?

We are to help orphans and widows because they are helpless.

We help them because they can never pay us back

We are to help them because it is commanded

We are to help them out of a heart that is devoted to our God, to love how and who He loves.

We remove their suffering - v.27

27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Don't feel like you have to offer people what you don't have; offer them what you do.

Join an active church and start there. We vet the places we support

Listening is helping - Being there - give them a voice and being an advocate

Provide resources to ease their suffering while pointing them to their greater need which is Christ

Fold them into your life, then ours

How can you help the powerless?

Pursue CCRM (Join us! Volunteer weekly or monthly)

Pursue Lifeline Children Services (Adopt, foster, guardian at litem, Respite Care

There are 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, over 100,000 of whom are waiting for and wanting a parent to adopt them (AFCARS).

James is saying what God says throughout Scripture: we must be selfless, we must not neglect them regardless of what it cost us. This is what a radical faith produces.

God knows what it cost for he gave you what you have and may ask you to give it up as worship.

Pursue KM CRisis ministry (Donations, volunteer opp.)

Pursue the homeless (Care bags)

Pursue the broken and hurting around you. (Single moms are everywhere, abuse victims, divorce, socio economic & racial pain (perceived or real)

Relieve the need

Engage in a relationship

Build Trust

Give truth

James clarifies that social justice (biblical justice) is necessary but not sufficient for true religion.

We pursue a godly worldview - v. 27c

27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

This world system is polluted

James says we need to avoid thinking and acting in accordance with the value-system of the society around us.

Ex: Darwinian evolution - kill the powerless - Christian worldview - all life is precious and sacred.

The believer who lives ‘in the world’ is in constant danger of having the taint of that system ‘rub off’ on him.

Matt 6:33 - Seek the kingdom and his righteousness

1 Peter 1:19

(Not) polluted demands a freedom from contamination by the world.

Peter used this word to refer to Christ as “without … defect” (1 Pet. 1:19).

We reject what the world values

from the world. = World system - Worldview

“World” (κοσμός) appears elsewhere three times in James (2:5; 3:6; 4:4), in each case referring to the fallen world system within which believers must navigate Christ-honoring lives in a polluted world.

This polluted system is integrated into all political systems on both sides of the aisle.

It permeates into the church and informs our methods for reaching the lost and broken.

Social justice becomes godlessness when it becomes a substitute for Jesus Christ and him crucified.

We must function as salt and light to the needy, but not lose our ability to arrest corruption and illuminate the darkness in the midst of ministry.

There are religious and political systems that claim to help but only enslave.

In politics, we can jump on a right-wing, conservative platform and talk about how we need to protect our morals and the sanctity of marriage and life.

Or we can jump on a left-wing, liberal platform and talk about how we need to be concerned socially about the poor, the weak, the downcast, and the oppressed.

What does James say this morning?

Does James say I get to opt out of helping the poor to stand for life?

Does James says as long as I help the poor moral uprightness is irrelevant?

James is saying these are outward expressions of my devotion to Christ, so ofer them as worship but never as salvation for salvation comes thru repentance and faith in Christ alone.

Christianity is radically concerned with personal purity (don’t be polluted by this world)

Christianity is a radical concerned practical, public acts of compassion (We care for the people no one else cares about).

True Christianity is marked by both for this is the worship God accepts.

James is about to lean into holiness in a very distinct way; they are treating others: (Chpt 2)

Prejudice, racism & favoritism - This is the subject for next week

We embrace what the world discards

The powerless

Ex: Casting children onto the garbage heap and Christians taking them home.

Ancient Rome embraced Infanticide, they thought nothing of abanding even killing deformed children or children of the wrong sex.

“The catacombs are filled with very tiny graves with the epitaph “adopted daughter of…” or “adopted son of…” inscribed on them. These inscriptions refer to the many babies and young children Christians rescued from the trash over the centuries. Tertullian says Christians sought out the tiny bodies of newborn babies from the refuse and dung heaps and raised them as their own or tended to them before they died or gave them a decent burial.”

The Christian idea that each individual person has worth because they were created by God was foreign to the lies of pagan society where the State, the tribe, the collective was the only value they knew.

To rescue the powerless as we pursue holiness - This is the worship God desires from his adopted children

We believe the Lord is in the Resurrection, redeeming, restoring business and so must we!

So What?

Is my life radically devoted to love how God loves?

Worthless devotion = a spiritual shallowness

A church with good theology but no actual practice is as spiritually shallow as a church that has good practices with no sound theology.

Jonah had a sound understanding of God but no mercy or compassion

Jonah 4:1-3

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Jonah reluctantly obeyed

Jonah knew God & his character

Jonah 4:10-11

10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Jonah loved his own, he love himself, he loved his comfort.

Jonah never loved how God loved

Jonah cared for the plant because it benefited him but cares nothing for those made in God’s image

God had mercy on men, women and children and even the animals that would have perished if judgment fell.

Will we love who and how God loves?

Will we love without compromising either our holiness and the gospel message?

Psalm 34:8-14

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

for those who fear him have no lack!

10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

11 Come, O children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 What man is there who desires life

and loves many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking deceit.

14 Turn away from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

Now What?

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