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!”
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.
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