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The Message for Sept 2, 2018Doers of the WordJames 1:17-27Rob Miller, PastorMay the words of my mouth and the meditation in our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer… Amen.Today we begin a five-week worship series on the Book of James. James is believed to be the younger brother of Jesus. Although not one of the 12 disciples, James came to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the world after Jesus’ resurrection. Can you imagine what it was like for James to grow up with Jesus being his older brother? I’m sure - on more than one occasion - his parents said to him, “James, why can’t you be more like Jesus?” It’s believed that these five chapters were originally a sermon that James may have preached in the Jerusalem synagogue around 60 AD. And it’s believed that over the years that sermon was tweaked a bit and shared with the churches beyond Jerusalem similar to the form we have today. These five chapters could be considered a manual for church conduct. These words apply to anyone who claims to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. In the book of James we find a description for faithful living -- by putting our faith to work.Point of clarification -- Paul and James seem to be at theological odds with each other when it comes to the word – justification.Paul says – “a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Galatians 2:16)James says – “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24) Let me try to clarify this… For Paul – no one can do anything to justify their existence or justify their relationship with God. No one can earn God’s grace by doing good deeds. Grace doesn’t work that way. James builds on that premise and takes it to the next level. He is saying that once we are put in a right relationship with God – once we are justified because of Jesus and his good deeds – then we ought to share God’s grace with others by doing good deeds for them. We do good things for others not to earn God’s grace – but because we have already received God’s grace thru Jesus.Paul also says that we should not trust in our good deeds to keep us in God’s good grace. James is saying that once we have it – once we are in God’s good graces - we ought to pay if forward doing good for others as God continues to do for us.Paul and James are not at odds with each other. They are saying two different things. Paul is talking about the steps before justification. James is talking about the steps after justification.In other words -- if a person is going to “talk the faith-talk” then he or she will need to “walk the faith-walk.” When it comes to living the faith our words and our actions should reflect each other… They should complement each other. They should be in sync with each other.He is what Paul says in Galatians when it comes to God’s love at work in our lives… Paul says… The only thing that counts is?faith?active through?love. (Galatians 5:6) That’s exactly what James is saying… pass it on…Words matter. What we say matters. Actions matter too. What we do matters… Story: 3752850-3619500Helen Keller was born deaf and blind (picture). You would never know from that from this picture or any other picture of Helen. She was born in 1880 and died in 1968 at the age of 87. She always looked so full of life with peace and joy written on her face. And yet, it took a long time before she was able to understand the power of words. As the story goes -- one day her teacher, Anne Sullivan was washing. Helen wanted to know the name for water… So Anne spelled w-a-t-e-r and thought nothing more about it - until after breakfast. Then she had an idea… she took Helen to the pump house and had her hold her mug under the pump while Anne pumped the handle. As the cold water gushed out filling the mug, Anne spelled w-a-t-e-r in Helen’s free hand. The word coming at the same time as the cold water rushing over her hand startled Helen.She dropped the mug and stood transfixed. A new light came over her face. She spelled ‘water’ several times. Then she dropped to the ground and asked for its name – ‘ground.’ Then pointing to the pump and trellis and asked for their names. Then she asked for Anne’s name. Anne spelled ‘teacher’ in her hand. Just then the nurse brought Helen’s little sister into the pump house and Helen spelled ‘baby’ and pointed to her sister. On the way back to the house she was excited and enthusiastic to learn the name of every object she touched. In just a few hours, Helen added thirty new words to her vocabulary.That’s a great example of the power of words. That same excitement and enthusiasm comes to us when we are touched by the Word of God. There comes a point in our faith journey when we are touched by the word of God and life takes on a whole new meaning and direction. Let me say that again… because that is what the book of James is all about. That is the basis for his message in this sermon. There comes a point in our faith journey when we are touched by the word of God and life takes on a whole new meaning and direction. This can happen over and over again and again. That’s how God’s word works in our lives, repeatedly.James came to such a point in his faith journey when he realized God’s love was made available for him personally through Jesus (and for the world through Jesus). God sent Jesus to be the living word of love in the world. God’s words and actions became one in Christ Jesus. James is writing to (or rather speaking to) an audience that already claims to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior.Turn with me now to the word of God in… James 1:17-27 That kind of sounds like a sermon… I wish we could unpack each one of these verses word by word here this morning. It would take us awhile so let’s go section by section.In the first section (verses 17-18) James says that every good gift that ever exists comes from God -- and those who live by faith pass on those good gifts to others – especially the word of truth -- the truth about God’s love revealed in Jesus. To us that’s a given. We’ve heard how the word of God is like a seed planted within us. But for those in the early church this was radical. This was hard to understand. The people were blind and deaf to God’s word made available thru Jesus…In the next section (verse 19-21) James offers some powerful words to live by – words that are like seeds planted within us to produce good fruit. If we did nothing else, but what James says to do in this section – my, my, my, my, my – this world would be a much better place. The fruit we produce would be sweet and healthy and refreshing. Our work-life, our home-life, our church-life, our daily lives would be so much better and we would be so much healthier for it… if we did what James says to do here in this section. He says… Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak?and slow to become angry,?because human anger?does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1:19-20)Do you know why we get angry? Because we don’t get what we want… It’s that plain and simple. When we get angry we always, always, always look for someone to blame for our anger… That’s why conflicts happen. The next time you find yourself getting angry with someone hit the pause button - don’t hit them. Think for a moment (90 seconds) and ask yourself this question - Why am I so angry right now? What is it about this situation that I want? Then realize the problem could be you and your expectations… More often than not – we get angry because of something going on inside of us – something we want, but not getting. That’s why this next section is so important to consider.James says (verse 22-25) we are already blessed by God just look in the mirror. And we shouldn’t forget what we look like. We’ve been created in the image of God. We’ve been set free by the law of liberty – AKA the law of love that Jesus taught and made possible. So be a blessing to others wherever your faith journey takes you…The next time you get angry with someone consider how you can be a blessing to that person in that situation. Here’s why -- God loves you in spite of your sinfulness… so love others in spite of their sinfulness.In the next section (verses 26–27) we are reminded that we ought not think too highly of ourselves. We ought not think too “hoity-toity” about ourselves as my parents used to say. We ought not consider ourselves religious -- if we go about saying one thing and then doing something else. We probably all know someone who can’t stop talking about himself or herself… Or we know someone who is quick to judge others and point out their faults… Or e know someone who complains all the time about everything and everyone… And if you can’t think of someone like that then it might be you… I’m just saying… We also know that such people are usually not willing to step up and help out when there is work to be done. Or if they do help out -- they take the joy out of the enjoyment of serving. We say he or she is “all talk and no action.” Or all talk and bad action… James is saying to those of us in the faith community -- we should hear God’s Word and do what is says - which includes the words that come out of our mouths. James puts it this way -- Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues?deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. (James 1:26)Our tongues can tear down people or build them up. Our tongues can hurt people or help people. Our tongues can condemn people or commend people. So watch what you say… please… Let your words and your actions reflect the love of God. Sometimes I begin the Sunday morning message like I did this morning with a prayer that goes like this… Let the words of my mouth and the meditation in our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen We could pray a version of that prayer in our relationships with others before we speak to them… A prayer could go like this…May the words of my mouth and the mediation in my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer, Amen.Let’s practice… Let’s pray that prayer together right now…*** Write it down, if you have to. Use that prayer this week in your relationship with the people in your life… Our actions speak louder than our words… That’s why this prayer is so important to say before we speak…There is a story told about a man who died and went to heaven -- to his surprise he saw a shelf covered with human tongues and nothing else. The heavenly guide told him, “These are the tongues of people who spoke sweet words of virtue, who said what was kind and right, but never did anything to support their words. So their tongues have come to rest here in heaven and the rest of their bodies are somewhere else.”Think before you speak and then do something to back up your words… That something is focused on helping others. In the early church it was helping widows and orphans. There were no nursing homes or foster care in those days. There were no programs or financial assistance from the government. There was an opportunity to serve others in need – to share God’s love in word and action. I’m sure there were other things that James could have invited people to support. He chose widows and orphans. Today we have an opportunity to serve others in need as well. We have an on-going ministry to feed the hungry. We participate in the ELCA World Hunger Ministry. Some of you give to that outreach ministry regularly. Thank you for your ongoing support. Throughout this series I am going to invite you to do two things. Read a chapter from the Book of James each week. This week read chapter 1 every day and let the word of God speak to you.2. Give a financial gift over and above your regular giving towards our World Hunger ministry. Mark on your envelop or your check the amount you are giving to this ministry. This is in addition to your regular giving in support of our mission and ministry. Let’s set a goal of at least $1200 by the end of this month. I think we can far exceed that goal. So here this morning I give $100 towards our outreach ministry of World Hunger. What are you willing to give – $5, $10, $20, $100, or more?Let us together “talk the faith-talk” and “walk the faith-walk” every day. Because as both Paul and James have taught us here today… The only thing that counts is?faith?active through?love. Amen ................
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