St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Pentecost 16 – September 25^th and 28^th, 2003

James 1:17-27

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ¹⁸He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

¹⁹My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹Therefore, 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.

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

²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion 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.

Dear children of God.

Life is full of things that change. The towns where we grew up have most likely changed. The family you area part of has most likely changed. Your age continues to change. Your body changes each year as we grow age ever so gracefully. The stores we shop at seem to change as old ones close and new one’s appear. But this today we are going to see that the God of all grace and mercy doesn’t ever change. He is the same today, just as we was before the creation of this world. He was good and gracious in the past and he will be equally good and gracious in the present and into the future.

In love God chose to bring us into his family as the word of truth offered to us the precious message of Jesus and his salvation one on the cross. In love God tells us that we are the firstfruits of his creation. He saved us and wants us to be a part of his heavenly family. It is this love and goodness that God has so freely brought to us that changes the way that we live and act. That is why this today God through the writer James encourages us to

Sermon Theme: Live as God’s Children

1. Quick to listen
2. Slow to speak
3. Eager to do

James was writing these word for Christians we were not living their faith. He was admonishing them for their shortcomings in the ways that they were living. The people that James was writing to were people who had heard God’s Word, but they were not living God’s Word. James was encouraging them to let their faith show itself by their fruits of faith. He said that a faith without fruits of faith is a dead faith. It never ceases to amaze me that people who call themselves Christians are many times so quick to live lives that are so apart from what God has command us to do. Many people know who Jesus is, but God wants us to remember that God isn’t looking for a faith that is dead or is not living for him. Our text is a lesson from James that teaches the Christian how to use his ears and tongue in ways that glorify the God of salvation who has blessed him with eternal life.

James starts out, "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 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. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James begins a new line of thought with the tender greeting, "My dear brothers James urges us to take note of the gifts God has given us and to understand that God chose us to receive these gifts of salvation. With this understanding we want to hear the instruction of James to avoid whatever would prevent us from possessing these gifts of salvation which come through the Word of truth.

Those hearing the gospel are to be "quick to listen" and "slow to speak." We cannot hear when our mouth is open. How often haven’t parents and teachers had to remind children to stop talking and start listening? James teaches the same thing to God’s children. We can’t learn the gospel well if we are talking while it is being taught to us. This means that we need to work in being better listeners. Listening takes work and effort. It needs complete and full attention and concentration. This applies to us when we are sitting in God’s house or when we are at home listening to our spouse or to our parents.

Life would be much better for us if we took this to heart. Husbands and dads – think what this means to you as you work on communication in your homes and in your marriages. Don’t listen with one ear and read the paper and watch the TV. This is not being quick to listen. We are not working at it and are most likely missing the things that need to be discussed. Moms and wives need to stop whatever they are doing to listen and act on what is being spoken by their children or spouses. As we sit in God’s house we sometimes aren’t working at being good listeners. We are daydreaming or thinking about what we will be doing after church. This is not good listening.

James continues by saying Christians are to be "slow to anger." People easily become angry with each other when they stop listening to each other and start talking too soon and too much. When they disagree, they are not inclined to listen but to talk more. Arguments erupt and anger results. When Christians stop listening to the gospel and tell others what they think the Word of God says, the result is an argument that results in anger. Such anger does not work God’s righteousness. When one is angry he is not receptive to the message of God that he has declared us right before himself through Jesus. Thus the instruction of James: Be "slow to become angry.

Why do we get angry so quickly? Is it because we are tired and under lots of stress? Is it because we someone is always bugging us so much that we can’t help but lash out in anger? Is it because our personality is such that we respond quickly in anger? As we think about anger we realize that most often it is coming out of hearts that are filled with sin – hearts that think anger is the only way to control the situation. It doesn’t work in our job. It won’t work in our families. I t won’t work in our marriages, and it most certainly will not work as we seek to share the message of salvation with those who are lost.

James goes so far as to say Christians are to get rid of everything that opposes God’s righteousness. There is more evil in this world than we know what to do with. Get rid of it all and live opposite to the world by humbly accepting the Word of truth that the Holy Spirit uses to bring you to faith. The Word is valuable because it can save you. So be willing to avoid whatever would prevent the Word from coming to you.

But James points out that God is not satisfied that the Christian only hear the Word. God wants us to accept the Word, which is more than hearing it. He writes, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does." Too often Christians are satisfied to be only hearers of the Word. This was a great fault of the Jews of Jesus’ day. They heard the Word on Sabbath after Sabbath. But most failed to believe in the subject of the Word, Jesus Christ. The trap of Satan deceived them. "Listen and God will be pleased. Go to church and that is all that is necessary." How many Christians today are deceived by this trap of Satan? Are we sometimes guilty of this as e become lax in coming to hear God’s Word at Church or study it in our homes? Are we just going through the motions of being a Christian as we speak the right Word to make everyone happy, but God is really far from your heart? James teaches that it is necessary to do the Word that we hear.

To do the Word is to believe and live accordingly. When Christians do the Word, their lives will be a demonstration of the true saving faith in their hearts, for they will perform the works that please God. James is not teaching work-righteousness here or anywhere else in this letter. He is teaching how true saving faith, which is worked in the heart by the gospel, makes us doers of the Word. As doers of the Word, "we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph 2:10).

James puts it this way, "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." James concludes our text for today with two examples, which demonstrate the types of works a true believer can do in response to the saving gift of salvation he receives from God. The first is a work of love: "to look after orphans and widows in their distress." These were people who were forgotten by society. Even today, those who are poor and homeless are often forgotten by those who are blessed with many possessions, along with the gift of salvation. God has not forgotten these people, and neither should God’s people forget him. Certainly these are only two examples, but we can see many more opportunities to show the faith that is burning so brightly in our hearts.

The second response of the Christian is a work of faith: "To keep oneself from being polluted by the world." The Christian strives to live so that none of the world’s evils permanently resides in his heart. He also has an eye of faith on Jesus, who cleanses him from all impurity and sin. This leads us to ask ourselves some pretty personal questions. Have we been just going through the motions of being a Christian? Have we forgotten what it means to live in God’s Word and to let that Word give us the strength to put aside the evils of this world.? Are we just giving lip service to the word Christians or are we truly living as children of our heavenly Father we in love made us part of his family. James was seeking to lead the people who read his book to remember that being a Christian means that we will need to change things in our lives with God’s help of course. Let us daily strive with God’s help to get rid of the impurities of sin that are leading us away from God and turn to his forgiving love as we live for him in all that we say and do. Amen