Look In the Mirror
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22
James 1:19-27 – Doing the Word: Directions for life to a scattered church from The Letter of James
Sixth Sunday of Pentecost – July 12, 2020 (am)
Approach Sentence: When I was meeting with this body back in the fall of 2004 and we were deciding whether God was leading us to join together in ministry, the most often quoted passage of Scripture mentioned to me in expression of what this body wanted from their Pastor/Teacher was right here, Jam.5:22. This body wanted a Pastor who would help them to be doers of the word, and not hearers only (22). I loved that challenge then. I still love it now. And there is nothing I’d like to see in this body more than the realization of that charge.
Jam.1 operates a bit like an Introduction, previewing the themes that will reappear and receive lengthier treatments in the following chapters (Brendsel 6). What we see here, then, is a rapid-fire overview of the central characteristics and qualities of the Christian life lived in a season of trials (2-4).
As we come to the end of c.1 (19-27) this morning, as if we were [listening] to beautiful piece of music, we’re [hearing] the crescendo of this opening movement as it previews the themes to come (cc.2-5), but we’re also hearing the completion and culmination of the overture as a self-contained expression. And James ends this overture with a flourish of images and summary instruction on his central topic.
Here he’s addressing the true belief—pure and undefiled, [worthy] religion (26-27)—what it looks like, how it behaves. And, simple as this sounds, he sets no low bar! When God Himself [brings] forth [life in] us by [His] word of truth (18) then draws out steadfastness from us through various trials which develop us toward [maturity] in Him (2-4, 12-15), the quality of our lives is unmistakable. Nothing else in this world can produce this unique collection of qualities and fruits.
We’ll look at this passage in three parts—two charges and one assertion.
Receive God’s Word and Let It Cleanse You – 19-22
[Listen], whether to God’s implanted word (21, 22) or to your brothers [and sisters] (3:9, 17; 4:1-2, 11; cf. 5:4). Put away your impulse to object or defend or fire back in anger against either. That’s not going to produce the outcome you want. So, turn away from all filthiness like that and press hard into the gospel. Receive it! Drink it in undiluted and let it do its [cleansing] (27), [saving] (21) work in you.
[Speaking] out—especially [speaking] out in anger—gets in the way of God’s work in our [hearts], and also His work in this world through us. It doesn’t achieve His work.
James is in lock step with OT wisdom literature here. Solomon wrote (Ecc.5:1): To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools. Then he continued (Ecc.5:2): Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. Pro.10:19 adds: When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. Jesus said (Mat.12:36-37): on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. So, there is incentive to be a bit [slower] to speak! Plus (Pro.17:27): Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. So, even if your heart hasn’t yet been fully [cleansed] of the ill motives that produce careless words (Mat.12:34), [bridling your] tongue still has its own merits! (cf. 3:1-12) And more, it will cast a better impression of you than you actually deserve! Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is deemed intelligent (Pro.17:28). So, there it is! You can lighten your judgment before God and people simply by keeping your mouth shut! And even if you quarrel with that idea, conventional wisdom tells you it is better to close your mouth and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt! And as for anger, Pro.14:29 finishes this thought well: Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
Practically, then, we’re far better off quieting our [angry speech]—the anger of man (20)—than expressing it. The best way to quiet it, decrease it, is to increase your [gentle] (21) [listening]. And the only way to do that is just to receive, to embrace, to accept and fully trust, the word of God which He implanted in you for your [salvation]—meaning, the gospel. Receive it with repentance and faith and let it do its work! Bind your will to it! Work it out in your life knowing that it’s God who works in you (Phi.2:12-13), who [enables] you, to put away rampant wickedness (21).
Do What God’s Word Says and Enjoy Its Blessing – 23-25
So, don’t just hear God’s word and marvel at it. Act on it! Obey it! The [blessings] you seek are found there (25). Believe what God’s word tells you about yourself and let it change you into what you’re supposed to be. That happens when you receive it and [do] what is says, trusting God that His word is truer than yours, that His assessment of what is right or best in this world, or in any given situation, is more reliable than yours. This is the pattern of life that brings [blessings] (25).
And this image of the mirror is as easily misunderstood as it is vivid. It’s the one who [hears] the word and [doesn’t obey it, doesn’t do it], who is like a man who looks intently at his… face in a mirror (23) then goes away and at once forgets what he [looks] like (24). And it’s the one who [hears] the [word of God] and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, it is he who will be blessed in his doing (25). Let’s notice two things.
· The opposite of [forgetting] here is not just remembering. It is [doing]. And more, it is [persevering in doing]. It’s enduring, steadfast (12 [cf. 3] same root as perseveres in v.25) obedience in the wake of having [heard], having [looked] into the perfect law, the law of liberty and seen what it reveals. This, then, is what it means not to [forget], it means to obey faithfully.
· So, the point of the mirror image is not just humorous; a man forgets what he [looks] like (24) as though next time he sees himself in the mirror he doesn’t recognize himself. The point is that we can’t just [look] into God’s word like we [look] in a mirror. We can’t just address what made us [look], then [forget] about that and move on to whatever’s next. That’s just [self-deception]! (22) No, we must drink in what we see there, then live in light of it, live according to it. And we press on in that pattern of life.
So, the word of God, the perfect law of liberty (25), not only shows us what we’re like, it also has the power to change us into what we should be/were meant to be! (Brendsel 7) That is its [blessing]!
True Belief in God Aligns Your Heart with His – 26-27
And what it produces in us will be the proof of its truth and power. It will enable us to control what we say as well as to honor what it says! It will align our [hearts] with God’s and rescue us from trying to align this broken world with ours! [Hearing] and doing the word doesn’t lead us to argue with people about the fallen state of this world or about the policies of our government or even about the legitimacy of their own suffering. It doesn’t move us to speak out in anger against this world because it knows full well that [our] anger [cannot] produce [God’s] righteousness (20), which is what we most want to see. [Hearing] and doing the word just leads us out into this world to bring relief—to the weak in their affliction (27).
That’s just what happens in us as the word of truth (18), which God has implanted in us (19) and through which He has [granted us life] (18), does its [saving] (19), [cleansing] (27) work in our [hearts]. And that’s just what we offer to the [needy] in their affliction (27). We can’t restore husbands to the widows or parents to the orphans. But we can lead them to the perfect law of liberty (25) that can transform them just like it’s transforming us!
This word of truth (18) can even bridle [our] tongue! Ponder that image! So many things in our day make us want to speak out in anger! This reminds me of Psa.39:1 … I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence. Could you use a muzzle when the wicked are [present]? For James, [controlling] our tongue is an essential component of [worthy] religion (26). It’s a reliable indicator of the sincerity of our faith!
So, have you truly trusted Christ as Savior? Do you give clear evidence of that by how you talk? Seeing how James opens and closes this closing flourish (19-27) of overture (c.1) with references to the tongue—it’s silenced by our determination toward anger-free [listening] and our [putting] away of all filthiness and rampant wickedness in the opening verses, then it’s harnessed by a bridle in pursuit of pure and undefiled, merciful service to God, free of all forms of [self-deception] in the closing verses—are we persuaded that [controlling] our tongue is an essential component of [worthy] religion, that it’s a reliable indicator of sincerity of our faith? And how are we doing there?
But even more to the heart of this matter, and the most practical question I could ask from this poignant and penetrating passage: are we persuaded that [the expression of our] anger does not produce the righteousness of God? (20) Are we convinced of this not just in principle, but in actual practice? Thus, are we comfortable that the word of truth (18) is indeed implanted in us and has truly saved our souls? (21)
Conclusion
As we look into that glorious word of God, the perfect law… of liberty (25), we’re enabled to go away changed, transformed by it into doers of the word (25) who reflect the heart of God in this world. We’re drawn unswervingly toward the purity (27, cf. 21) and the mercy (27) of God—not just in appreciation of Him but in imitation of Him—and [we] will be blessed in [this imitation] (25). We’re willing to entrust this world into His hand and give ourselves to this pursuit of [humble], [quiet], [self-controlled] [purity] through [obedience] to His word of truth that He has implanted in us for our [salvation], [sanctification], and fullest [blessing], and for our service to Him in this world as His agents to the [poor] and [needy]—the manifestation of His [heart] of [love] and [mercy] to the [afflicted].
There is no way in this world for us to do this on our own, my friends. The charges that James issues here, the vision he crafts, cannot be done in us just by our choosing to pursue it. This is a work of God. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. This is His work. And we need to call out to Him for it to be accomplished in us.
We’ve set aside time for that today; rather than a season of silent prayer in response to the sermon, I would like to lead us in a Pastoral Prayer of Intercession.
Pastoral Prayer of Intercession
Our merciful and gracious, loving Heavenly Father, we are moved this day by the beauty and this compelling picture painted by your servant, James, in these concluding verses of his chapter 1.
O Lord, we, too, long to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, because we know that our hearing the word and our claim to believe and follow it are nothing short of self-deception if we’re not doing so.
But we are so weak. We are so impressionable. And we can be so captivated by the sound of our own voice and the insight of our own reason. We can be so easily swayed by the critiques and criticisms of our world that are expressed with such passion in the favorite places we like to go to hear the news, or even to hear the Word.
And even though we know better—even though we can quote Jam.1:20 from memory—there is some level deep within us that thinks [our] anger [really can] produce [Your] righteousness. Or at least it can contribute to the realization of Your righteousness.
O Father, in further manifestation of our own fallenness we can be so much more drawn to expressions of anger at this fallen world than we are to expressions of your heart of mercy and compassion toward it. So often we would so much rather rail against the displays of perversion in our streets than ease the suffering of those who are being crushed under the weight of it.
Heavenly Father, forgive us. Forgive your church. And move us toward genuine expressions of our faith that are generated by Your saving work within us, that are empowered by the work of Your Spirit among us for the exaltation of your Son Who has saved us.
Make us Great Commission Christians whose eyes are tuned to the suffering of this world around us and to whom the plight of the widows and orphans is a reminder that our need as fallen creatures runs so much deeper than our physical lacks.
And deepen our confidence in Your gospel that has saved us, Father. Strengthen us in our experience of it such that we see it as the solution to all the ills around us and all the lingering expressions of self-deception that remain with us.
Make us a people who stand out in this world as doers of [Your] word, and not hearers only. Bless us in that calling, Father. And grant us the joy of seeing much fruit in our proclamation of it in Jesus name, amen.