Good Morning!

It is good to be back and we are praying for those that are sick today.

As most of you know, my family was out sick last week and we had a pretty small crowd here. lol

Conveniently or perhaps providentially, we were scheduled to start a new section in James.

We know this is a new section because anytime James says “My dear brothers” he is beginning a new teaching or thought.

That is where we find ourselves today and we will cover James 1:19-21.

As a reminder, our goal in this study is to develop True Faith, because True faith never stops growing.

Before we dive in today, I want to set the stage for what James is addressing.

It is always incredible to me how issues don’t change.

Here’s what I mean by that, the subject may change, but the underlying problem is still there.

We see this often when we study scripture.

We will open up the bible and it seems as if the author is addressing something that is happening right now, in real-time.

Maybe in our personal lives, or perhaps something that is happening culturally.

The same is certainly true in the passage we are reading today and as we dive in, I want you to be aware that I’m not speaking to any particular subjects but to the underlying issue.

In fact, I’m not even going to name one of many subjects that we find ourselves divided over.

One or two may pop into your head as we move forward and that is fine.

Let the Holy Spirit guide your thoughts this morning.

As we all know, division is unfortunately not new in churches.

The Bible Exposition Commentary James 1:19b

In the early church, the services were informal; and often the listeners would debate with the speaker. There were even fightings and wars among the brethren James was writing to (James 4:1).

You may be like me and be somewhat astounded by that, but then I think of my short history in the church and how much division and fighting I have seen or at times participated in.

We have all seen and experienced this.

When I say “we” when talking about division, I’m not speaking specifically of TGP West, although, that could be the case as well.

I’m speaking of the Church, globally.

In the world today and in the church, there is no shortage of things that get people fired up.

Often we find in ourselves a desire to be right, or to be heard, or to at least be acknowledged.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to be right, heard, or acknowledged, we must be careful.

If we place our desire for those things above God and His work, then they are wrong.

This week I heard a clip of Francis Chan's sermon from the Passion Conference this year.

If you are unaware, Passion is a conference for people 18-25 years old.

He said this...

“I think one of the most destructive practices of your generation is that you value your own thoughts way too much. When God says ‘My thoughts aren’t the same as yours.’ And you want to look inside and you wanna tell everyone else what you’ve been thinking and what you’ve been feeling rather than opening up the word of God and saying ‘These truths are way beyond mine.’” -Francis Chan, Passion 2022

Chan is referencing Is 55.8-9

Isaiah 55:8–9 CSB

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

When I heard this clip and I thought of this passage in James, the Holy Spirit made the link for me.

We have so many these days that are “taking a stand” for what they believe and as you are about to see, this isn’t new.

Also, I don’t think this is true of only one generation.

I think it is something that all of us have, will, or do struggle with.

After all, we want to make a difference in the world.

Right?!?

When I was a kid, my dad took me hiking several times and he taught me some of the philosophies that he learned when he was in boy scouts.

One in particular was that you always leave your camp site better than you found it.

I think this is what many of us and many in the world are trying to do.

We want to make the world a better place.

The problem is that we are talking way more than we are listening.

Look at what James is telling the church.

James 1:19–21 CSB

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 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.

Talk Less, Listen More

It may or may not be obvious to you, but this is a play on one of the themes of Hamilton, the broadway hit.

Throughout the musical, Aaron Burr repeatedly tells Alexander Hamilton to “talk less, smile more. Don’t let them know what you are against or what you’re for.”

Burr’s advice is for Hamilton to keep his thoughts to himself in order to hide from the world what his agenda really was.

While I intend this to be a clever way for you to remember the point of this message, talking less and smiling more is not what James is saying.

James is saying to talk less and listen more.

James’ goal was not for people to hide their thoughts from the world, but rather to dig into what God was saying and share that with the world.

Think about what it must have been like for the early church.

All their lives, they thought they understood what it meant to “fear God” or to be in right relation to him.

Now that Jesus has lived, died, and rose from the dead, in front of many of them, all that they thought that they knew of God had changed.

They are now trying to reconcile their old ways and beliefs, with the revelation of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I don’t think it is too far a jump to think that these angry rants, or what he goes on to call “wars” in chapter four, were people passionately sharing what they thought was the “right” way to live in a relationship to God.

But look at those first two verses again.

James 1:19–20 CSB

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

Human anger that James is saying can also be translated as man’s wrath.

Men meaning a person and the wrath is usually something on the “epic” scale.

As I mentioned a few moments ago, James later refers to these fights as “wars”.

Obviously, James is talking about something severe.

I wish I could say that those types of things didn’t happen today, but it does.

Let me say it this way.

If someone misrepresents God by portraying any emotion that God has not, that person has crossed a line.

We have to be so careful and that is why James is telling the church to be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to anger.

James knows firsthand the results of someone acting quickly and not listening for God’s direction.

We will look at some examples in a moment, but let’s bring this back personal for a moment.

As we just agreed, all of us want to leave a lasting mark on the world.

That may not be true of every person that is alive, but as I look around this room, as I thought about our church members this week, I know that to be true about you.

You may not want to see your name in lights, but you do want to make a significant impact ionn the people’s lives around you.

When you leave this world you want the people around you to know that they were deeply loved and cared for.

The underlying issue that James is addressing, that Francis Chan is addressing, that God is addressing with you and me, here, today, is our inclination to speak first and think later.

This is not a new trend, that belongs to any particular generation.

We see so many throughout scripture who fall into the same trap.

Consider King David when the prophet Nathan confronts him about killing, Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband.

2 Samuel 12:1–7 CSB

1 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him: There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very large flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. 4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest. 5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.” 7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from Saul.

David spoke quickly, with anger, before taking time to consider what Nathan was really telling him.

God had a message for David, but David didn’t pause long enough to realize that he was the man he was angry about.

David was not a dull guy, but he let his emotions speak before his brain caught up.

Or what about Peter in the garden?

Remember I told you James had personal experience?

John 18:4–11 CSB

4 Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am he,” Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. 6 When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. 7 Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. 8 “I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

James saw Peter act without direction from God.

This was not the first time that Peter acted this way either.

There are many more examples of this in scripture, but I think the point that James is making is quite clear.

We need to listen, think, and pray before we speak or act.

Do you remember us discussing that James would have grown up studying Proverbs?

Look at some of the passages that are linked to this section in James.

Proverbs 17:27–28 CSB

27 The one who has knowledge restrains his words, and one who keeps a cool head is a person of understanding. 28 Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent— discerning, when he seals his lips.

Proverbs 10:19 CSB

19 When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent.

Proverbs 14:29 CSB

29 A patient person shows great understanding, but a quick-tempered one promotes foolishness.

This is not a new problem.

It is an underlying issue that all humans struggle with.

This may raise the question, should I say anything at all?

Am I saying that you shouldn’t speak up when you feel something is off in the world?

No!

There are absolutely times that we as individuals or we the church should speak out.

I would ask and I believe that James is asking that we take the time to consider what God is saying before we speak or act.

I’ll give you another example.

So, yesterday, I’m writing this message.

Okay?

I’ve spent the whole day with these thoughts in my head.

Literally, as I got done and got up from my desk I noticed a tweet that popped up as a notification.

I won’t say who said it, but let’s just say that the person that did is at a level of leadership that they should know how this works.

To paraphrase, this person said “because we are in a global crisis the gas station owners and operators need to drop the price of gas at the pump to reflect the price you are paying for the product and do it now.”

Now, that may not seem like a big deal to you, but I work in that industry and work very closer with those people that he is referring to.

I went of the handle!

I was so upset because I felt like this person was speaking to my people and I know for a fact that those owners and operators only make $.05 - $.10 per gallon.

Let me do a little math for you.

If a store owner is making ten cents per gallon at today’s cost, that means that store owner has a 2% markup on that gallon of gas.

Yes, you heard that correctly, 2%.

To take that a little further, and help you understand how this all works let me tell you what it cost to build just the fuel system at a store.

If you want just four dispenser, and this price would include the canopy, tanks, piping, electrical, etc it would cost upwards of $600,000.00.

At a 2% mark up a store would have to sell six million gallons of gas before it paid for the fuel system.

It would take that owner almost 20 years to pay that debt.

Y’all I was livid.

I’m talking pacing around the room as I was explaining all this to Bethany.

What I wanted to do was tweet back and tell this person what I thought of them.

After all, they were talking about MY people!

I have a right to do that don’t I?

My intention would be to set the record straight and let the world know that my people aren’t the problem.

But let’s be honest.

1. My reach on Twitter isn’t significant. That person would never see it.

2. If I had responded in that moment, I would not have represented God well because I was angry.

The people that did see wouldn’t have heard God’s heart, they would have heard my anger.

It is ironic to me how God dealt with my heart immediately after getting up from writing this message.

Church, the problem is not with our intention.

I am not wrong about what I just told you, this is what I do for a living, and I know for a fact how these numbers work.

I wouldn’t be wrong if I tweeted all that, but I also wouldn’t be representing God properly either.

The problem lies in our response.

This was true of David, it was true of Peter, and unfortunately, it has been true of us.

I would be willing to bet that all of us have a story or many stories of when we have spoken too quickly.

James doesn’t just end this statement with a negative tone.

Look again at how he finishes it.

James 1:21 CSB

21 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.

That’s some strong language, but it helps us to understand how serious this was to James and to God.

This isn’t some little, no big deal, sin that they were dealing with.

Consider what the division, the brashness, and the undercutting comments have done just in our denomination.

There are factions all over the SBC that are at war with one another.

What James is pointing out is that the subject doesn’t even matter.

The stink that is being created is far overshadowing what the disagreement started over.

The reality is all of us have gotten fired up about the wrong thing at some point in our lives.

So what do we do now?

James says we need to rid ourselves of the filth and evil that is so prevalent.

Humbly receive the implanted Word.

He is speaking of Jesus when he says “Word”.

John 1:1 CSB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

That is what is important.

All the other disputed things don’t matter in the end.

If you were right or wrong about a disputable matter is irreverent in the kingdom of God.

Only Jesus, the word, is able to save our souls.

Our doctrines, our opinions, or our ideas cannot save us, only The Word can save us.

That is what we should be speaking of.

I want to leave us with some hope today.

I want to go back to Peter for a moment to remind us of what the power of God can do in a person’s life.

When Jesus meets Simon (Peter) he is a hard-working, stubborn, I would say sarcastic, fisherman.

Jesus calls him to be his disciple and prior to this moment we are about to read, Peter’s life had many failures.

Times where he spoke and acted before he thought and guess what, Jesus knew that.

In fact, Jesus knew that he was going to continue to make those same mistakes, but look what Jesus says to him.

Matthew 16:13–19 CSB

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

“You are Peter (Rock), and on this Rock I will build my church.”

I could be wrong, but I’d be willing to bet that none of us has put our foot in our mouth quite as much as Peter.

I will say that I have made my fair attempt though.

What I want us to leave here with today is that God can do more through you than you could ever imagine.

In order for that to happen, you and I need to Talk Less, Listen More.

You may wonder where to even start.

How do I make that kind of change in myself?

I’ll leave you with one final image as we close today.

You may not be aware of it, but you know it.

There is something that invades literally every physical area of your life and most of the time you are completely unaware of its presence.

Any guesses?

Radio waves.

Some of our kids may not know what is, but I know all of you have been indoors before moving the antenna around on a TV or Radio to get better reception.

The most important part, before you mess with the antenna is to make sure you are tuned to the frequency.

Man was that a pain with the analogue sliders.

All our lives those radio waves have been around, but it wasn’t until we decided to tune in that we knew what they were playing.

I’d like to challenge and encourage all of us to take the time this week to tune into God.

He’s right there with you.

Whatever is going on in your life that is causing passion to well up inside of you, ask God about it.

Take the time to listen.

Let God speak before you do.

God gave you that passion and wants to use it, but He wants to show you how to do it in a way that is most effective for your good and His glory.

Both of those things can and will be accomplished if we will Talk Less and Listen More.

Let’s pray.