Once upon a time there was an organisation called the International Association of Fishermen. The IAF was formed at a time when there were substantial global fish stocks. Each week IAF members met together and talked about catching fish.
All year round, without fail, they held their meetings and asked themselves questions like:
· Is deep sea trawling too dangerous?
· What is more exciting; fly fishing and pole fishing?
· Are fish farms the answer?
· What about dolphins getting caught in tuna nets?
· Should we (or not) wrap fish and chips in newspaper?
They got visiting speakers in to give exciting presentations on new and innovative fishing techniques. They defined and redefined the meaning of fishing for the 21st Century.
They came up with a Mission Statement and a logo and put them on a plaque.
They published articles in their magazines such as this one: “With the Increasing Popularity of Chicken Does Fishing Have a Future?
They developed an enquirer’s training course called “Fishing for Beginners.”
Their President even declared a Decade of Fishing.
The one thing they didn’t quite get round to was to go out and catch fish. If any organisation deserved the slogan “Just Do It” it was the International Association of Fishermen. They know everything there is to know about fishing but have never caught a single sardine.
Putting the Word into Practice
The New Testament also says “Just Do It.” Reading about God is good - but not good enough. There has to be more. There must be action.
That’s what Jesus was driving at in the parable of the two sons. Dad says “Come and help me on the farm.” One says “All right” but does nothing. One says “I don’t think so” but then changes his mind, gets up and works. Only one pleases his father; the one who decides to just do it.
James, the Lord’s brother, said much the same thing but he added some detail to explain it more fully. James 1.22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
I come from a Roman Catholic family. So I grew up often hearing the expression “practicing and non-practicing Catholic.” Are you familiar with that language?
I don’t get it. What’s the point of believing in Christ, of defining yourself as belonging to a particular branch of the Christian faith, if you never actually live as though it means anything to you at all?
It’s a bit like having a season ticket for a football club but never attending a match. Or going onto a nudist beach dressed up in a suit and saying, “Well, I’m a naturist but non-practicing one.” It’s just silly; everyone can see it’s ridiculous.
In the same way, God says here “What’s the point of owning a Bible, opening it and reading it but never doing what it says?”
What would you think of me if I got out my car owner’s manual to find out how to change a tyre, found the page, read where the jack and spare tyre are kept, then put the manual back in the glove compartment and carried on driving with a puncture? You’d think I was one sandwich short of a full picnic wouldn’t you? Maybe you think that anyway…
But James says here that reading the Word of God without ever actually putting what it says into practice is like that. And, just like an owner’s manual, the Bible is very practical, especially books like the letter of James. This is no-nonsense, hands-on stuff that will help you live life well.
James goes on to explain that those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror and, after staring at themselves for a bit, go away and completely forget what they look like.”
So you get up in the morning, you look in the mirror – speaking from personal experience that’s not the most promising way to begin the day – you head downstairs to put the kettle on and while the water’s boiling you can’t recall if you’ve got a face like a film star or if you’ve got a face like a bag of screws.
You don’t know
· if you’re blond or dark or grey
· whether you’ve got long hair, short hair or no hair
· whether you’ve got brown eyes, blue eyes or green eyes
You can’t remember the colour of your skin and you have to feel your chin to remember if you’ve got a beard or not. Weird…
And it’s weird to go to Bible studies, listen to sermons and attend conferences without God’s truth ever actually having any effect at all on how you live life, on what you say and what you do – it’s just like looking in the mirror and instantly forgetting everything you see.
In other words, (take a deep breath), you might as well not have bothered reading it at all.
Just so we understand exactly what God is saying to us here, James gives five clear, specific and practical examples of the kind of thing he has in mind. To put it in plain English, it might be easiest to spell this out as 5 dos and don’ts.
· Don’t be a windbag; be a listener.
· Don’t be a hothead; be patient.
· Don’t endorse the world’s standards; humbly accept God’s.
· Don’t lie or gossip or swear or criticise; control your tongue.
· Don’t ignore the poor; care for them.
Isn’t this just reducing being a Christian to a code of rules? No. It’s saying that to read the Bible and listen to its teaching without ever making progress, by the grace of God, in these kinds of areas is a holy waste of everybody’s time. People are tired of words. The world is waiting to see if Christianity delivers.
1) Don’t Be a Windbag - Be a Listener
Let’s take the first one. Verses 19:
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak.
As a preacher, I should be careful what I say here – and how long I spend saying it!
You don’t need to remind me of the story about a vicar who was about to give a speech at a formal dinner. The MC stood up to announce him saying, “Pray for the silence of the Revd Smith!”
Diane Vaughan, a sociologist working at Oxford University, spent ten years researching the reasons why marriages fail. She discovered that whenever either partner feels unhappy the problem gets worse if hints or complaints are ignored or go unnoticed. In almost every marriage that breaks down according to that extensive study, there is a failure to listen.
Kathie comes home says to John “Darling, I’ve had a terrible day” John listens badly if he responds by giving Kathie advice on how to have a better day next time. John listens well if he hears Kathie out attentively, uncritically and without butting in - and then says something like “You must feel exhausted. Is there anything I can do for you?”
The author Richard Moss once said “The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.” I agree with that.
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak.
How many broken relationships would be healthy today if Christians had put this word into practice? Two ears - one mouth. Good design. Just do it!
2) Don’t Be a Hothead - Be Patient
The next thing this passage deals with is rage:
[Be] slow to become angry, because our anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
On the night of September 7, 1995 a fire broke out in a three-story building in Austin, Texas. Firefighters arrived and found people fleeing the building dressed in pyjamas, or wrapped by sheets. A young pregnant woman was screaming at the window on the 2nd floor. Firefighters shouted to her that she had to jump, which she did. She almost died. They desperately tried to pump water to beat back the fire but they knew it was too late to save the building or anyone left inside.
The next morning they found the body of a young fifteen month-old girl in the ruins. But before they made that awful discovery the cause of the fire had been revealed. A man had fired a gun at a window of the building and accidentally hit a jerry can filled with petrol. He had become angry because someone had not given him back the $8 they owed him. The building was completely destroyed. 48 people were made homeless. 7 people were hospitalized. A baby was killed - all because of an argument over $8.
That’s extreme. But James says here that:
Anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
It never does. Anger never solves anything. If you struggle with anger, the Holy Spirit can change you. The fruit of the Spirit is not anger but patience, gentleness and self control. Love is not angry but patient and kind. And when the Holy Spirit takes control of your life, patience, thoughtfulness, serenity and restraint begin to eclipse irritation and rage.
3) Don’t Endorse the World’s Standards - Humbly Accept God’s
Next, James says in v21:
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.
In v27 he talks about the danger of being polluted by the world.
Strong words... What’s this about? It means that putting God’s Word into practice is bigger than taking actions. It’s about a revolution in our values. It’s about a change in our attitudes. It’s about a transformation in our ideas.
Why do we need that? Because the realm in which we live advocates and promotes the opinions and values of those who are not Christians, who have not tasted the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ and are even in open rebellion against him.
If you are a Christian, often you will have to swim against the tide.
But accepting the Bible’s teaching and acting upon it affects everything. It will turn our standards on their head. It will change our principles about money. It will reshape our values about sexuality. It will disturb our prejudices about race or age or gender. It will transform our attitudes to power.
Are you unquestioningly accepting the world’s values? Or are you humbly bowing to God’s standards, the word planted in you, which can save you?
4) Don’t Lie or Gossip or Swear or Criticize - Control Your Tongue
The fourth one is “don’t lie or gossip or swear or criticize; but control your tongue.” I’m going to skip this one today because it is covered in greater detail in chapter 3. We’ll take a look at what God says to us about the use of the tongue on August 7th.
5) Don’t Ignore the Poor - Care for Them
Finally, don’t ignore the poor and unfortunate; look after them.
At the beginning of v27 James gives another example of the putting God’s word into practice.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.
In the world of first century when there were no local services, no benefits, no social safety net, the plight of widows and orphans was devastating. If your husband or your parents died, you would have no income, no home and no hope.
In our context, let’s say that the nearest equivalent to widows and orphans are those the world’s most hopeless and vulnerable citizens - who suffer wretchedness and poverty, who are unemployed, unemployable and destitute, who are distressed. These kinds of people should see ample evidence of the pure devotion of Christians.
Thank God for A Way Out and the asylum seekers ministry at Portrack Baptist.
Thank God for Sowing Seeds and Stockton Street Pastors.
Thank God for Daisy Chain and the Mary Thompson Fund.
Thank God for Tearfund and Traidcraft and Christian Aid and the Salvation Army.
Ending
So, to close, in all these very diverse areas of life, God says “Just do it!” It's time to be real with him. God intends for us to take this book seriously and to live it out practically - not play religious games.
God says to us this morning:
· I measure how well you love my word by how much you act upon it
· Don’t settle for just knowing the theory
· And, when you look intently into my perfect word that gives freedom, and continue in it - not forgetting what you have heard, but doing it – I promise you this; you will be blessed in all you do
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 17th July 2011
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