James 1:22-27
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Spooky Words
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Now and again, one comes across something really spooky in the Bible. Of course, from the unbeliever's perspective, visions of the judgment and hell are truly spooky, but they are intended to be, to awaken the unbelieving heart and lead them to repentance. The thing is, there are parts that are spooky for the Christian, if you take them seriously. Our text today is just such a text, aimed at the self-professed believer, and spooky - genuinely frightening - in what it says. Our theme this morning is, "Spooky Words".
James is the one book of the Bible that Luther discounted for a time. He eventually accepted it as the Word of God, but it was used against him by those who opposed the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone. They misused the text, and for a time Luther was too caught up in the battle to take a cool-headed look at the words, and so people came to believe that James was saying something contrary to Luther. Naturally, then, when a Lutheran comes to something spooky in James, the temptation is to ignore it, or dismiss it and let matters rest there. But that isn't the part of the faithful child of God.
James begins this particular section of the letter with the admonition to prove yourself a doer of the Word and not merely a hearer who deludes himself. He is not saying that you can prove yourself to be a Christian by what you do, because unbelievers and hypocrites can do the same deeds and look holy and righteous - and often do! That is the stock and trade of the false teacher: look holy and righteous and just dare anyone to attack the perception of godliness that your project. "How can this man or woman be a false teacher? They are so godly looking and sounding and so obviously blessed!"
Of course, you know that we do not look at appearances when we test the spirits, we listen to the words they speak and compare them to the Word of God. There the truth shines and the false teacher is exposed by what they say and teach. We do not measure one's standing with the Lord by their outward condition - and we cannot - not we dare not measure their faithfulness as teachers of the Word by their outward condition or behavior alone. We turn to the Word to judge their doctrine.
So, how do you prove yourself to be a doer of the Word and not merely a hearer who deludes one's self? You begin by understanding that the letter is not saying "prove" as in 'this makes it absolutely sure', but "prove" as in 'show' or 'demonstrate'. In other words, 'be one who lives out the Word, and lives their life from their faith' and not someone who simply listens to the Word but does not take it to heart. That is where the spooky words come in. James speaks about those who are "merely hearers" who delude themselves.
The thought that one can believe that one is a Christian and doing what it takes to be a Christian and yet not be a Christian is spooky! Of course, this behavior describes all hypocrites to some extent. They believe that they are true believers, but most of them know that they do not believe what is being taught. They think the preacher is wrong and they are right, and they are fully aware that they do not believe what he is selling. What makes them hypocrites is that they hide their disagreement and pretend to be just one of the flock, and go along with the crowd just to get along. Sometimes they will tell other people about their disagreements, but privately, and swearing them to confidentiality, until they can build a base of co-conspirators and fellow-travelers and come out publicly to undermine the preacher of the doctrine of the entire congregation publicly.
But there are some individuals that hear and agree, for the most part, at least, but it never goes any farther. They are merely hearers. They listen, perhaps enjoy what they hear, they think it is true - and so they believe after a fashion, but it never changes them in any way. They think that they are Christians and possess all of salvation, but they do not. This is the spooky part. They are merely fooling themselves - perhaps others around them - but they are not actually part of the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints, because they are merely hearers. They are super-hypocrites, if you will, because they are pretending so well, that they fool even themselves. But they cannot fool God.
James goes on to describe them a little more in our Epistle: For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. These are the people who hear the Word of forgiveness and don't take it with them. They doubt their forgiveness, or they find that it has no meaning for them in their daily lives. They hear of the love of God for them and His steadfast good will toward them, and they allow the circumstances and frightening elements of their environment to convince them that they are in danger, and that God is not paying attention to them! The hear of the price Christ paid on the cross for them and their sins, and yet they recognize no urgency to holiness or to compassion towards one another. They are consumed by the world's agenda and the world's values, and focus on the moment, on the pleasure, on the pursuits of this life, such as fame and fortune and power, with such single-minded devotion that they will do whatever it takes to achieve them, without regard for whether it is right or good for their neighbors, or honest, or brings glory to God. Holiness is not a big concern for them because they have not come to appreciate the destructive nature of sin or its horrifying price - both from Christ and, in the judgement, from those who do not repent and believe.
They are truly like someone who looks in the mirror, and then forgets what they look like. I can understand that, because my self-image is not this chubby, grey-haired old man I have become, but a much slimmer, younger, and darker hair man I once saw in the mirror, decades ago. Every time I walk by a mirror, I am startled! What is my father doing in my mirror?
When we look into the mirror of the Word of God, we will not like what we see there, either! We will see our failure to live up to what we confess that we believe. We will see how even after years of being a Christian, we are not what we should be or want to be. But in that Word, we will also see Jesus, crucified for us and forgiving us, inviting us to walk in His love and act as though we believe the things we confess every Sunday - that He has paid a horrible price for us, and we are redeemed to live holy lives for Him and in service to those He places around us to love and serve on His behalf. That would be family and congregation first, and then the world around us.
But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does. The Law of Liberty is the Gospel. When you look into the love of God for you, and believe how much He was willing to do for you, and His favor in calling you to believe, you live that faith and that liberty out. We love one another because He first loved us! We forgive as we have been forgiven, freely, without holding back, without pre-conditions. We live as though we understand how deadly and corrosive sin is, and we do holiness to the best of our ability because we have seen the truth about our sinfulness, and the price of our salvation, and we do not desire to ever walk back into sin and death and the condemnation to hell.
If you walk in the light of the Gospel - forgiveness and God's favor fixed on you - you will be blessed in everything you do. That doesn't mean you will be successful in the eyes of the world, or make a great living. It means that you will be blessed - what you do will make a difference, and you will succeed in living as God's ambassador in the world. People will see Christ reflected in you. They won't necessarily tell you they see it, or like seeing it in you, for that matter. Sometimes, Christ is attacked viciously by the world - and when they see Christ in you, you will receive the assault of the world on Christ. But God will sustain you, and use your life lived in the light of the Law of Liberty to be a blessing for others, and to accomplish His good and gracious will. Sometimes even when the world rejects you and despises Christ in you, people will still see and hear what God will use in them for good. It's like Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:12, Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Spooky words. I mean, what does the life of the doer, and not merely the hearer, look like? James gives us a picture: If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James does not intend for us to understand by this just visiting the widows and orphans. The picture his words paint is a life that takes into consideration those who cannot help themselves. In the world of the first century, that group was the widows and orphans. There was no life insurance, and no social net to protect such people. The sign of the Christian was his or her compassion. The Christians did their best to live lives that reflected the love of God and exercised self-control. One bridled his or her tongue and only spoke the truth and said what was constructive and helpful. Lies, false doctrines and inflammatory rhetoric had no place in the life of the Christian. It has no place today.
The pure and undefiled religion is the life lived in the awareness that Christ has won salvation for you - so you have nothing to win for yourself with your life. Your life is to be about others, family and congregation of fellow-believers first, but especially those who cannot help themselves. And we are not talking about throwing money at some charity, or building homes for habitat for humanity. If you want to do that, that is fine, of course. But the life a Christian is about compassion at home, right here where you live, showing mercy to those who live around you, and goodness, and the love which God's love for you has taught you. It might be helping some charity organization in the community, and then again, it might be doing for someone things that no one but you and possibly they will ever know. It is living out in word and deed the grace and forgiveness and comfort that the Gospel has taught you and brought to you from God.
Those who live as though they have never heard the Gospel - who fear what life can do to them more than they love God and one another, are those who delude themselves. They are merely hearers, subject to those spooky words of James in our text. We are to look into that perfect law of liberty and find peace, and freedom and salvation there, and then make those gifts part of how we think and how we live out our lives day by day. Those who don't live in the Gospel and live it out have been hearing about God and about themselves, and then walking away and forgetting just what sort of people they are.
We are sinners. And we are forgiven, redeemed by Christ, and given the gift of life eternal, without having to worry about measuring up. To live as though Christ is not true, the cross does not save, and as though your life is yours to do with as you wish without considering your fellow believers, or your God, is to deceive yourself. And those who do so do not possess that which saves. Such people are merely hearers who delude themselves into thinking that just being here is what counts - and that someone can do that without realizing what they are doing are the spooky words of our epistle today. God grant that we may walk in law of liberty faithfully and deliberately, and rest all our hope in Christ!
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
(Let the people say Amen)
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