Living a Faith that can be Seen - James 1:19-27
PURE RELIGION: HEARING AND DOING
Evangelicals used to think it was cool to say, “I don’t have a religion, I have a relationship with Jesus.” We understand what they meant: they were trying to say that they were not merely good for goodness’ sake, or that their behavior did not save them from sin – they were saved by grace.
When you define religion as a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality, and thus rules for morality, you can see why “religion” may be off-putting.
I tend to argue the opposite side. We need religion. In fact, we are very religious people. Years ago, at a dinner with friends, I countered a young woman’s argument that religion was a hindrance to faith. I responded by asking if she prayed regularly, read her Bible, went to worship services, and so on. She said, yes. I said, you are very religious. Her definition of “religious” was that it was stodgy, legalistic, and dead. My definition of “religious” was of being devoted and committed to a set of rituals that help us to worship and live our faith. She did not agree. She wanted a faith driven by relationship, not by duty.
My counter to faith driven by relationship is that we demonstrate our commitment to the relationship by our actions. I can say I am in a relationship with my wife, but never lift a finger to serve her, partner with her in projects, or even eat with her. We very religiously share meals together. I am very religiously devoted to Sharon.
In our text this morning, James 1:19-27, we read of seemingly random idea that climax with a definition of pure religion. But they are not random thoughts at all. They are connected by a very familiar phrase in v. 19: “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” James will show us in the following verses how these commands help us to live a godly life. We will see how he unpacks each one by giving us a word-picture to make it as clear as possible.
Slow to Anger: Clean out the Garden (20-21)
You’ll notice that James starts with “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger,” but then launches into anger, then hearing, and finally speaking. It’s out of order in our thinking, but he nails each one, so whatever.
What stands out is the emphasis on slowing down. We need to slow down and listen to God. We need to slow down and listen to each other. We are often in such a hurry to get things done that we have no patience for each other. The result is anger. We become angry because no one’s listening or noticing our problems. We become angry because we feel disrespected. We become angry when things don’t get done.
James tells his readers to slow down. You are rushing around doing so much and accomplishing little. Slow down for the Lord. When you are busy you leave little time for God. Slow down and pray. Slow down and hear God’s word. Slow down and worship him. Realign your values with what God cares about: Relationship.
The word picture in these verses comes from the words “produce” and “implanted word.” First, James tells us that “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Our anger with others is not a gift to God. It is as if James were saying that the anger we feel towards others is anger towards God. If I am angry with someone and let loose with a verbal barrage, I am probably destroying something in that person that God is trying to build up. I may want this person to shape up and improve or do things my way, but an angry attack does not build up, it tears down. It produces nothing good.
The word picture I see in this text is a garden. Anger is not a seed, it’s a weed. Do we allow weeds to grow, or do we take them out? It’s not as simple as it sounds. We inherited a row of perennials along our fence, but one plant seemed out of sync with the others. I have no horticultural wisdom, so I left it, thinking it was meant to be there. It grew taller than the other plants around it and seemed healthy. But it didn’t fit. So, I asked Sharon if I could yank it out. You know how to tell a weed? One thing I’ve learned is that some weeds have weak roots. This thing, big as it was, came out with little effort. (*Note: I am not a horticulturalist and do not know the principles of gardening, so my take on weeds may be incorrect. Some weeds, I am told, do have strong, deep roots, and are therefore more secure than the one I encountered in my garden)
James said, “Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls,” (21). Notice that the word is implanted. God’s word is in you. But it cannot grow and be fruitful if you allow anger and other stuff to suck the energy and nutrients away from the word. An angry spirit is not a teachable spirit. It doesn’t listen. It doesn’t learn. Anger is a weed that prevents us from being godly.
Quick to Listen: Looking Intently in a Mirror (22-25)
How did the word get implanted in you? That’s the bridge between these verses – the word.
James assumes that his readers are Christians who have heard the word spoken. “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves,” (22). In the first century, Christians did not have personal Bibles they could open and read. When believers gathered to worship, someone read scripture, like this letter, and they heard the word of God.
Now the translation is a bit off. James said, “be doers of the word,” but it should say “become doers of the word.” Why that matters is that you can’t just “be” a doer, it takes repeated action that becomes a habit. You’ve got to keep working at doing the word. Hearing the word of God must be followed by obedience. Then it can bear fruit. Hearing is not enough, you must obey. You know that listening to a sermon is not going to save you or change you. You need to act on it.
The word picture James used is a person looking into a mirror. In the ANE, mirrors were not like the ones we have today where you can look quickly and adjust yourself. Their mirrors were made of polished bronze or copper and produced a warped image. You could glimpse at yourself and see if it was you, but a glance would not tell you much. With those mirrors, you had to bend down and really study your reflection to see what action was needed. Is a lock of hair sticking up? Is there spinach in your teeth? You really have to look.
That’s why James wrote that the man looking in the mirror “looks intently.” The mirror is the word of God, and we are to look intently into it to see ourselves. James then said, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like,” (23-24). It’s a ridiculous analogy; it’s like a man not being able to pick himself out of a police lineup. But it’s ludicrous on purpose. No one does this.
Hearing the word spoken in a sermon or scripture itself is supposed to garner a response. Oh, I’m struggling with anger towards someone, I should work on that. Unlike the lady who shook hands with the pastor after Sunday service and said, “That was a wonderful sermon. Everything you said applies to someone I know.”
Being impressed with Jesus’s teaching is nothing. A woman who thought Jesus spoke well yelled out, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” That was odd. Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk 11:27-28). Hearing is not enough.
James speaks of doing what the word says with a promised result, “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing,” (25). What is your attitude when you hear the word preached? The Welsh preacher Rowland Hill, as an old man, visited a long-time friend who said, “It is now 65 years since I first heard you preach. I still remember part of your sermon.” Hill asked what he remembered. The friend said, “Some people are funny about listening to sermons. But you said, ‘Supposing you went to hear the will of a relative being read in which you were to receive an inheritance of money. You would hardly think of criticizing the way the lawyer read the will, but you would pay very close attention to what was left to you and how much. And that is the way to hear the Word preached.” (Paraphrased; Spurgeon).
Be quick to listen. As someone said, have you ever learned anything while you were the one talking?
Slow to Speak: Ride that Bronc!! (26)
With the garden of your spirit weeded of anger and other sins, and your attitude on cultivating the implanted word – hearing and doing the word – the result ought to be a controlled tongue. The relationship is easy to see. Anger out of control leads to a person saying things he shouldn’t say.
A person who cannot control the tongue reveals that her religion is worthless. As one preacher put it so well, you are lying to yourself thinking that you are a Christian who loves Jesus when you cannot keep your tongue under control.
James condemns the unbridled tongue, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless,” (26). The unbridled tongue is one of the reasons "religion" gets a bad rap: what we say does not match what we profess. Angry outbursts and uncontrolled verbal diarrhea of various kinds (i.e. gossip, passive aggressive retaliation, etc.) are inconsistent with the banner of love we insist we live under.
The word picture of a bridled tongue reminds me of breaking horses. A tongue that is not bridled is like a wild mustang that has never been saddled. It bucks and kicks and throws the rider in all directions. That tongue needs breaking.
Early Native Americans would break horses by taking the wild ones into deep snow where it was hard to kick. Or in summer, into deep water with the same effect. It seems that with the tongue, we need to carry peanut butter or marshmallows to slow our tongues down. Slow the tongue down. Be slow to speak.
I have found with texts or emails that make me angry, it is best to leave them alone for a day so that logic can guide me instead of my overheated emotions. James will say more about the tongue in chapter 3, but its relation to religion is significant. When our untamed tongues speak angry words, we reveal what is the garden of our souls. A wagging gossipy tongue is not merely annoying, it actually threatens the gossiper’s spiritual health.
What is pure religion?
In other words, what does God want to us to value as worth doing? What does he care about?
James tells us: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world,” (27).
Throughout the OT, the LORD constantly reminds Israel to look after orphans and widows (Deut. 10:18; 24:19). One of the reasons Israel found itself under God’s judgment so often is that they neglected widows and orphans, the helpless and the unfortunate in their midst (Is. 1:16-17).
And in the NT, God continued to impress on the church that he loves the orphans and widows and wanted his church to love them too. In 1 John 3, love and action were married together inseparably. John said, “…if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth,” (3:17-18).
This last week, Sharon and I attended the ICYA banquet. We heard testimonies and saw videos of the difference love-in-action was making in the inner city of Winnipeg. People who loved Jesus were discipling other people in impoverished conditions to love Jesus too. Inner city folks responded to the gospel because action backed up words. I saw the need and it begged a response. That’s what the word of God does in us when we clear away the useless weeds of living for this life – it calls for action.
We have heard the needs of Safe Families as well. How families in dire straits economically and relationally are in need of a little help.
Pure religion is this: to visit (that means more than going to have coffee – it means serving) …to visit orphans and widows. If we focus on the people that Christ values, we will keep ourselves unstained from other pursuits. And we will have a pure religion – a devotion to God that blesses his name!
Be quick to listen...
Be slow to speak...
Be. slow to become angry.
AMEN
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