“Hearer, Seer, Doer”
12 Pentecost B –
James 1:17-27
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Grace and Peace to you from our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Joke: Man who believed he was saved not through works but by the grace of God goes to heaven. At the gates, St. Peter asks what he has done in his life. The man replies: Nothing.
Got most of the theology right. We are not saved by works. But it’s an incomplete theology, as our reading from James reminds us. Shelley Wee wrote that “James is a book that continually compels us to remember that we are saved not only from something -- death, damnation -- but for something..”
Christian life is more than sitting in church content in the hope of salvation. That same hope and faith should propel us out into the world, beyond that comfortable pew, to become doers of the word, as James writes.The saving grace of God, for the water of eternal life that the gospel brings these gifts should lead to doing good works as naturally as exhaling after you inhale.
Great receivers in football esp. the wideouts Max McGee, Raymond Berry, Jerry Rice -- Mark of the greats, not catch the ball, but what they do after: take it upfield, sense for where the dbacks are. Skill at breaking tackles.
Reception is just the beginning. Still yards to be gained, points to be scored.
Paul: Romans
Romans
What does James say how we should be doers of the word.
1. Act thoughtfully
a. Watch our tongues.
b. Gossip receiver vs. subject
c. No editor in the brain -- whatever in goes out. Can hurt, drive people away from faith.
2. Act Compassionately
a. Care for the needy
b. Broader definition of orphans
c. Passion -- act in light of what you have heard and believe Christ did for you.
3. Act to Resist Evil
a. Unstained by the world -- realistic?
b. Do repentence -- fight against evil begins with the evil within us
In short: DO LIFE -- Ubuntu --display from Atlanta Youth in narthex. Lots of doing went on. Exactly what James was talking about -- thoughtful, compassionate, fighting the evils of our society -- and doing it with joy and fun. DOING LIFE, BEING CHRIST. Indeed: “Word of Life Jesus Christ”
Baptized hearers of the word can do no less. Joy, not a burden. Doers of the word discover their true, god-given selves. “For if any are hearers of the word and nor doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.”
To not do, to not be a doer is to forget who we really are. To turn away from the God who made you in his image. Like a receiver who catches a pass and then forgets everything and runs into his own end zone instead of the opponents. Forgotten who he’s playing for and who threw him the ball.
To not be a doer of the word is to:
be deaf to the truth of the word of the gospel
be blind to the love of Christ
be paralyzed in your soul, indeed your life and your identity
forget who made you and all things
“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.” 17-18
There is the source. There is the purpose. There is the call. Hear the word. Do Gospel. Do Life. And then see the God incredible ways in which God will bless you in your doing. Ubuntu!
Amen.
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