How Simple Can It Get?

First Presbyterian Church, Fort Scott, KS                                                                            

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9

James 1:17-27

We just finished several weeks reading and reflecting on Ephesians.  And during September we’ll be reflecting on the letter of James.  So I invite you to begin reading this letter on your own this month.  And while you read, ask yourself this question, “What does God want me to DO right now?”

Ephesians was pretty theological -- God chose us in Christ before the foundations of the world?  God’s plan is to unite everything in heaven and on earth in Jesus Christ?  God was putting to death our hostility towards other people through the cross of Jesus Christ?  That’s a deeply theological vision of things.  It gets more practical towards the end, of course.  But it required quite a bit of imagination.

James is all about DOING, putting your faith into practice.  If you are a practical person, this will be right up your alley.  You’ll find yourself thinking, “Wow, finally I can breathe.  This is a whiff of fresh air, stuff I can relate to!”

If you are a person who tends to focus more on what you “believe” than on what you “do,” then James will be a good challenge.  James reminds us in a number of ways that God didn’t become incarnate and die on a cross so that some people would BELIEVE a few things.  God has done all this for us in order to transform our lives.  God seeks a response of love, a life lived differently because of what’s happened to us.

So James addresses problem areas of our lives in a practical way:

            How to endure trials (ch. 1)

            How to treat poor people with dignity (ch. 2)

            How to control your tongue (ch. 3)

            How to get along with others and deal with conflict (ch. 3-4)

            How to care for others (ch. 5)

The focus is on putting God’s Word into practice.  Did you notice the absurd situation of the person who looks in the mirror, but can’t remember what they look like the minute they turn away?  Well, James says that’s what it’s like when we listen to God’s Word but then turn away and don’t put it to work in our lives.

You might think of Scripture like a script that’s been given to you as an actor.  If you’ve agreed to be an actor in a play, it won’t do just to say, “Well, I have READ the script!”  The director won’t commend you just for reading it, even if you read it many times and know it front to back.  It’s a SCRIPT, and the whole point is for you to act it out, to make it come alive.

James reminds us about God’s largest goals for us.  God relates to us for the purpose of turning us “on.”  God’s Spirit comes to us in a way that’s meant to switch us on, to activate and energize us.

Here’s how it sounds in James’ letter:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if people claim to have faith but have no deeds? . . . Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14-17).

“Who is wise and understanding among you?  Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13).

The response God wants from us is not a lazy yawn or a passive shrug, but an energized, activated life.  You don’t have to DO anything important or flashy or heroic.  But you do have to DO something!

And here’s one of the key insights to James’ letter: it’s common for people like us to get off track.  It’s quite common for church-going people, and churches themselves, to get off track.

Three times in the first chapter, James refers to how we “deceive ourselves” – (vs. 16, 22, 26).  We human beings have an amazing gift for self-deception.  That is, we’re good at tricking ourselves into believing something, when in fact our lives and behavior go in the other direction.  And just to make the point a sharp one, James says that “religious” people are more prone to this kind of self-deception than anyone else.  We give ourselves points for being on God’s team for all kinds of reasons, but in fact we don’t put into practice God’s good plans for the world.  We don’t DO what God’s kingdom requires.

Now, we might be tempted at this point to think, “Well, I guess that’s right.  I should start trying harder.”  But that would be a very bad idea.  Trying harder won’t do you any good.  It will just make things worse.

The problem is much too deep for that.  The remedy – the way for us to stay on track – involves coming to grips with God’s amazing goodness towards us.  That’s right – people who aren’t putting their faith into practice won’t be helped by doubling down on their effort.  They’ll only be helped by finding themselves in amazement and wonder at God’s unceasing, overwhelming generosity.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

The simple, daily practices of faith are always a response of gratitude and love.  Every one of us, every day, is living out his or her response to God’s goodness, whether they know it or not.  It might be surprising – but both the lazy and those grinding away out of guilt have the SAME problem: they have not yet come to grips with God’s gifts.  And so they have not yet come into a way of life marked by active, energetic gratitude.

This sermon is entitled, “How Simple Can It Get?”   I want to leave you with verse 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.”

In coming weeks we’ll address the problem of being “polluted” by the world.  But today I want us to focus on this call to look after orphans and widows.  Because, says James, this is “pure” religion from God’s point of view.

In the fifth grade, my teacher asked for volunteers who would make a cake for our party the following day.  I volunteered with my friend, my sweet little friend, Carol.  So we went to Carol’s house, got a cake mix from the cabinet and got to work.  When we cracked an egg, the shell fell in.  We thought that was funny.  So we cracked another egg and threw that shell in too.  That was funnier.  So we started grabbing whatever we could find and dumped it into the cake mix:  cayenne pepper, cumin, sage, oregano, all spice, and who knows what else.  When the concoction came out of the oven, we used mayonnaise for icing.

Strangely enough, one boy in our class ate his piece and asked for more!  Now the cake would have been just fine to eat.  But we messed it up by adding in too much other stuff. 

The life God wants for us is very simple.  And you’ll mess it up if you try to add a bunch of other stuff into the mix. 

And here’s how simple it is: take care of orphans and widows.

In that culture, which knew almost nothing of social policies as safety nets for the needy, orphans and widows were people made vulnerable to all kinds of loss and harm.  They had lost those family safeguards that normally functioned as a kind of protection. 

James urges us to look out for and care for the most vulnerable among us.  Those without built-in protections.  Those around you who have the greatest need.

We don’t need more information.  We just need to put into practice what we already know: that God loves everyone, especially those in great need.

I have seen this lived out in a number of ways in this congregation: legal protection for kids in custody and abuse cases, food and clothing for those who need help, home projects completed for some of our older people.  And the list could go on.  So let me say: these are the moments when we shine the brightest – keep up the good work.

Here’s my prayer for the month of September: that God will help each of us put something into practice that we haven’t practiced before.  Maybe it’s something you’ve been putting off.  But I believe there’s some area of our lives that God will help us identify.  And I believe that God will give us the energy to “do” what we know needs to be done.  And this can be a breakthrough moment for us. 

I already know what God is asking me to do.  And I’ve been putting it off.  It’s a tough conversation with a friend (not this congregation).  And for a variety of reasons, I have delayed bringing the matter up.  So that’s what I need to DO.  And I need to get it done as one of the ways I’m responding to God’s goodness to me.

What will it be for you?  Let’s put our faith to work this month.