"Helping Others See God" - James 1:17 - 27

           If I invited you to name some books of the New Testament, many of you would be quick to answer.  “Matthew, . . .Mark, . . . Luke, . . . John.” There is also “Acts,” . . . . and then lots of letters: to the Romans, . . . to the Corinthians, to the Galatians,  . . . and others. At some point, with some patience and prodding, we might also come up with . . . “The Letter of James.”  The Letter to James, a very short letter, comes right after Hebrews and right before First and Second Peter, almost at the end of the New Testament. 

            About 500 years ago, the great reformer, Martin Luther, had issues with the Letter of James. Luther raised the question of whether James should even be in the Bible. Luther had objections to James because it never mentions, as he put it, “the nature of Christ.” The letter only mentions Christ two times - once at the very beginning, and then another almost in passing. And the message of James is really less about the grace of God, or justification by faith (things very important to Martin Luther) and more about, you know, the messy stuff of life. James is about how to be the church in the world. James is more about how to live in light of our salvation in Jesus Christ, how to get along as Christians, and how to love and serve. So, James fell short with the great reformer, Martin Luther.

            But, . . .the Letter of James certainly reflects the heart of Christ, and James invites us to live our lives - and live in community - with the heart of Christ.

            Listen to these verses - or see them in the bulletin - from James 1: 

17Every 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. 18In 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.

19You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. 26If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

            This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.  

            Here is what James, the pastor knew. When Christians get together in churches, everything that can go wrong sooner or later does go wrong. That is why it is so easy for those outside the church to be so critical of the church: churches are supposed to follow Jesus but so often they do other things. Churches are supposed to love God and love people, and care for people in distress; but . . . . and here is why James is so important and so helpful . . . churches are made up of people. And what happens when people get together? Well, as much as we try to be patient and loving, there can be fussing and anger. As much as we seek to be attentive to one another’s needs, we fail each other. People of often selfish amidst their desires to serve; people are often fearful amidst their commitment to live by faith; people are often weak and tempted even when called to be strong; people are often harsh even when we are expected to be humble and loving. 

            And this is why James’ words are timeless and so important, so wise and so pertinent for these particular days.

            Eugene Peterson reminds us, “wisdom is not primarily knowing the truth, although it certainly includes that; it is skill in living. For what good is a truth if we do not know how to live it? What good is an intention if we cannot sustain it?” (see The Message, Introduction to James)

            The letter of James, James the pastor, James who writes at the end of the first century, . . . James wants to encourage us in how to live - toward God and toward God’s truths. James wants us to be less of what we have been and more of what we could be - God’s beloved people who listen, love, help, and serve. It matters how we live. It matters how we relate. It is not just about what we believe, or being religious, or where we go to church - it is always and mostly about how we are - who we are.  It is, friends, about being less of what we have been and more of what we can be: more loving, more attuned to listening, more about healing the world, . . . you know, more like Jesus.

            Some of you know that on my 8 weeks of sabbatical this summer, Ginger and I did lots of hiking. I especially love hikes that have some challenge to them - I really love hikes that offer views. You hike and climb and then, . . .  wow, the view. You sweat and breathe deep, and then, . . .  the scenery. But here is the thing about hiking: it encourages you to heighten your senses, pay attention. HIking urges you to notice things - the trees, the path, the sounds, the changing terrain, the flowers and plants, the animals, other hikers along the way. Hiking heightens the act of noticing. Hiking invites you to pause, to linger, to deepen the encounters with life, with nature, and with the world.

            Certainly, there are other activities that do this - gardening can do this; fishing can do this; birding can certainly do this - listening for sounds, watching; maybe even singing, or knitting - can heighten the act of noticing, deepen our seeing, hearing, sensing, paying attention. 

            If we have these disciplines and activities that help us sense and see, pay attention and notice, this is also what religion is supposed to do: help us see the invisible but ubiquitous presence of God; help us notice the presence and wonder of God; help us see Light and Life - capital “L’s” - in everyday life. And then be moved to compassion and action.

            I think James the letter, James the pastor, James from the 1st century, is trying to help us recover the art of seeing - be attentive, be listening, be sincere, be focused - so that we and others can indeed see and notice God active in the world, and be part of God’s actions.

            And how much do we need that in these days? See and sense God present!

            We are all so concerned about the crisis in Afghanistan - so much heartache, so much turmoil, so many vulnerable and suffering through the evacuation efforts. So much confusion and despair - and it all comes after so many years of efforts, and money, and mess there. 

            We are all so fatigued with COVID and how contagious it has become.

            We are all often overwhelmed with other things - personal issues, people we love who are struggling. 

            Honestly, life can feel very discouraging, disheartening.

            I think James has a very important message for us.

            First, he uses the phrase “Father of lights” - do you see that? Every hope and every good thing find its source in God, Who is constant and abiding in care. 

James affirms that God – the Author and Giver of Life - governs and rules the world. God has plans and purposes that we cannot see. We can and must trust God – not the snares of the world. Everything that lights up the world is a gift from God. Even with all the heartache and uncertainty, the sadness and loss - there are lots of things lighting up the world. And, in fulfillment of God’s loving and great purposes, as James reminds us, we are given birth and life so that we can bear fruit, reflect God’s light in the world. Life comes from God. Life is held by God. Our life is to be about serving God – being instruments of God’s light.

This little passage - with the image of the word being poured into us, with this reminder that we have received from God and we are to be first fruits - reminds me of the opening words of John’s gospel: the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. 

The presence of God, the promises of God, do not just exist. They are poured into us and into the world. Our lives are to reflect God - God’s light, God’s love, God’s presence  - regardless of the snares and failings in the world.

So, it matters how we live. It matters what we do - so others can see God - sense God at work, pay attention to God active in the world. Our actions, our activities reflect God and God’s light and God’s word in the world.

So, James - the pastor, the first century letter - James says: “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.” James says - and it applies so much to these challenging days - “rid yourselves of sordidness . . . and wickedness, . . . with meekness the implanted word has the power to save your souls. . . . Be doers of the word.” 

James clearly loves Jesus. And James is calling us to be . . . . well, like Jesus - “doers of the word.”

We have so many things weighing heavy on us, and this encouragement remains helpful and straight. We cannot control what happens . . . . Afghanistan, . . . . COVID-19. We have lots that frustrates us, breaks our hearts, even alienates us from one another. What we can do is strive to be “DOERS” of the word that has been implanted in us. We can keep finding ways to help others see God present and active in the world. We can strive to be “DOERS” so that all know the Light and Life that sustain us all.

We hope in the coming days that we at Second will have some avenues where we can provide love and care, assistance and help to Afghan refugees. We are working with our partners to find ways share our blessings with these people. We look forward to seeing what we can do - as DOERS.

We hope in the coming months, we can get our Child Care Center open again. We have much to sort out - staffing needs, children to enroll, logistics with COVID and more, but we are working on plans to fulfill that mission. DOERS.

We have people in our midst who are struggling - feeling isolated from our community, dealing with serious health and transitions, even wondering what is next - and we are doing our best to bear God’s light and help people see and sense God’s love and care.

It takes all of us. James - the pastor, James who writes the letter in the 1st century, James who wants us to have the heart of Jesus. He reminds us that we belong to the Father of lights, whose intention is to bring light to the world. As God’s people, we are to bear God’s light, not contribute to the darkness. We are to be first-fruits for a better and more hopeful world.

James says, “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers.” Let’s keep working, looking for, striving for small ways and large ways to bring God’s light to the world - We are doers of the Word. Doers - so other can see God present and active and at work even in these hard days. May it be so. Alleluia. Amen.

Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon during Sunday morning worship on August 29, 2021. This is a rough manuscript.