September 3 sermon Be Doers James 1: 17-27

September 3 sermon Be Doers James 1:17-27


Who is James?? James was the oldest brother of Jesus. He didn’t even believe Jesus was the messiah until after Jesus was resurrected and then showed up in front of James. James became the head of the Jerusalem church and was the one who corrected the issues between the Jews and Gentiles and smoothed out any complaints.

Many people don’t like James though. He focuses on the law and faith, while Paul seems to focus on grace and faith. Interestingly, there is not dissention and conflict with James and Paul. They are actually complementary and focus on different aspects of love, law and faith.

James starts in our selected scripture saying “every good gift comes from the father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The best gift to get from God is the same gift he gave to Solomon in the Old Testament. When God told Solomon he could have any gift he wanted, Solomon asked for wisdom.

In chapter 1 verse 5, Peter says “If anyone of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously.” What is wisdom?? Wisdom is not just acquiring information, but practical insight with spiritual implications. James is compared to Proverbs by most scholars because the whole book is practical wisdom for the people.
Speaking of wisdom, Proverbs says Wisdom will protect you from the wicked; Wisdom is understanding; Wisdom is supreme, though it costs all you have. So wisdom is that good and perfect gift James is talking about.

James goes on to say that the Father of heavenly lights does not change like shifting shadows. He is saying God, the father created everything you see. He created the heavenly lights and he is pure light that never goes out or leave so the shadows are never there.

I love to take pictures. PULL OUT YOUR CAMERA. When photographers take pictures, they have to think about the shadows created with the flash of their camera. And if the sun is just going down or coming up then new shadows are created.

But God is radiant light that is all over. There are no shadows created because God surrounds us with his pure light leaving no room for shadows.
James says God chose to give us birth thru the word of truth. This is not creation when we were born at our first birth date. He is referring to regeneration…… Being Born Again.

His audience was called to be first-fruits. Just like the first part of a harvest was given to God based on the OT book of Leviticus, these first believers in Christ are a sign of the harvest of Christians to come.
Jesus makes a reference to this also when he says “Look how ripe the harvest is. We need to bring it in, but the workers are few.”
My dear brothers and sisters, all of you, (and what does all mean; all means all and that’s all all means). All of you should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.

Oh my gosh. I don’t like these rules. It goes totally against the judgment of those of us who know everything. Quick to listen and slow to speak. Brandy got mad at me one time. Here’s how it went.
Brandy says (yelling): You don’t listen enough and take my feelings and ideas into consideration. I don’t feel like you care. Etc etc.
Sean hears: You don’t blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Sean yells back: Why are you yelling at me?

I wasn’t listening. But boy I was quick to speak. I wanted to make my point and make sure I go the last word in.
Oh I was talking to someone the other day about funerals and they said they had heard about people video taping their final will. That way there is no question what was meant with the written will……… and they could get the last word.
OK…so be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger for anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James is writing about communication skills.
I tell you, miscommunication is the biggest cause of arguments and problems today. Also, email and cell phones makes the possibility of communication problems even greater.
Mike sent me an email the other day in all caps saying he would be too busy to play on a softball team. I sent an email back saying “OK, stop yelling at me”. All caps in email is considered yelling.

Also, just putting a comma in a different place of your sentence will change the meaning of that sentence.
SO your communication gets all messed up and one party gets mad about it, because they did not understand what you were saying. They communicate back (in a not so nice way), and make you mad also. Then the anger flairs up.

So therefore get rid of all the evil and malice that is in you. Just like Jesus said, If you are angry with your brother or sister, go and make amends with them, and THEN come and talk to me. When the anger has moved out of your life, you can then accept the word of God fully, which can save you.

Now I am going to tell you how to be blessed. Do you want to blessed? I want to be blessed. I can’t wait for Jesus to tell me “Well done, good and faithful servant.”


James says that if you listen to the word, the perfect law that gives freedom, and continue to follow it, not forgetting what you heard, but continuing to do it, you will be blessed.

What does that mean?? Well if you listen to my sermon, and when I come to you on Wednesday and ask you what I talked about, and you remember it, you are blessed :o). Not exactly.

The perfect law is the moral and ethical teaching of Christianity, which is based on the 10 commandments and Jesus clarified this even more in his teachings, like the Sermon on the Mount.

This perfect law gives freedom. The sinner is a slave to sin. Why a slave?? Because the slave cannot break free on his own. The slave has to be given freedom by his master, and sin does not give in without a fight.

There is truth in this teaching in that for a slave to have this perfect freedom James is talking about, he must be freed by something greater than the sin and greater than himself. He must look to the perfect law of Jesus Christ to become free. There was The Law in the Old Testament.

You can refer back to Leviticus for that if you have some time and a few shots of caffeine.
Jesus came not to destroy this law, but to fulfill it and by accepting Jesus as our Savior (that’s big word implying he has to save us from something). By accepting Jesus as our Savior, he, as the perfect law, will free us from the enslavement of sin.

Without the saving power of Jesus we will stay in sin forever. The only punishment available for sin (or another way to put it is the only option and destination when we have this sin in us) is death and eternity away from God. When we are freed by Jesus, our enslavement to sin is no more and eternal life with him is our only future.

Now in the last two verses, 26 and 27, James explains what true religion is. It is controlled speech, and protection of the weak. Pure religion (or as many people today would say pure spirituality) is taking care of those who can’t always take care of themselves.

They are not always helpless per se, but can use some help. James says orphans and widows, because in his day, they were the groups left behind in life and not taken care of. Today I will add the single mom, the working poor, and how about the “string of bad luck” guy.

Last week we pulled a vehicle into Bill’s hanger and he changed the brakes out and on another one I changed the oil. The only expense the owner had was for parts. $140 brake replacement turned into a $30 brake replacement. That’s what James is talking about when he says “be a doer”. I love our men’s group. I talk about the men’s group because I’m not involved in the Methodist Women’s group. Something about not being a woman…I think. Not sure what all that is about.

But before our men’s meeting last month, Dan called me. I know Dan can’t do too much physically. But he asked me about getting those guys who have not been in church to hear the announcement about the men’s meeting. I told him the only thing I could think of was to call them. He volunteered on the spot to call them.

The bible says God will give us work based on our gifts and abilities. Dan opened my eyes to that verse right then.

Finally James says to not get polluted by the world. Be in the world, not of the world. We can’t hide away in these 4 walls. We are called to go out into the world and make it better. The salvation Jesus brings is not to just keep us out of Hell at the end of this life.

Salvation is from the hell in this world also. We are here to transform this world. We are here to make it better. See these bags next to the podium?? Each of these is a meal for a family in need.

And yeah I know feed a man a fish and he is full for a day but teach him to fish and he is full for a lifetime. Sometimes people just need to eat for today just to make it. That’s why we are taking these bags to Waxahachie Care food bank.

And if you didn’t get to bring anything, but still want to, you can grab a bag in the back and bring it to the church tomorrow. During communion this morning you can leave money on the alter rail. This will also go to Waxahachie Care. Giving is not a mandatory thing. Give out of your abundance and what you are led to give.

Join me on page 13 in your hymnal for our communion service….