Listening and Doing
Dr. James Smith
James 1:19-27
19 March 2006
Listen to this sermon.
We often take the most common and mundane things in life for granted. After all, do you really know what you look like? Other people can see your face, but you have to use a mirror.
And have you ever wondered if the mirror was lying to you? How about those moments when you thought you saw a wrinkle or a gray hair?
Have you ever woken up in the morning and looked into the mirror and much to your astonishment and horror realized that you were going bald!
Have you ever walked away from a mirror and comforted yourself by saying, “Oh, I must be seeing things.”
Mirrors seem to hold a great deal of power over people. While men will rarely admit it, they almost always look at their face if they are in the washroom.
And I’m not sure that I’ve ever met a woman who could resist the temptation to not stop and check herself out when passing by a full-length mirror somewhere in the mall.
You may be encouraged by the fact that you’re not alone. In fact, people have been doing these sorts of things for thousands of years, though their mirrors were slightly different than ours today.
In ancient times, mirrors were usually made of highly polished bronze and round, oval or square in shape. They usually had some sort of handle, and not infrequently in the shape of a female figure.
Mirrors could also be made out of copper, silver or even gold. If they developed some sort of tarnish or rust, they could easily be polished.
Our passage this morning from James 1:19-27 makes a passing reference to “looking at a mirror” in verse 23.
But on “second glance,” James’ comment on the mirror is more important than we may realize. In fact, one of the leading New Testament scholars on the Book of James (Luke Timothy Johnson) states that this entire passage turns on this whole idea of the mirror.
This is not at all apparent to us today, but it would have been to his ancient audiences.
You may have noticed that the paragraph headings found in different sections of the Book of James seem to be a bit arbitrary.
The simple reason for this, is that James is not easily divided, because it is more like wisdom literature than an epistle.
It seemingly changes ideas or topics abruptly, but the different parts are frequently linked together by repeating the same word or even alliterating parts that are lost to us in translation.
Ancient readers (or more likely hearers), of this passage would have instantly known that the image of a mirror had to do with moral self-examination or reflection.
In fact, in those inter-testamental books called the Apocrypha, we find that wisdom is referred to as an “unspotted mirror” (Wisdom 7:26) and that an enemy is not be trusted because “his wickedness clings to him like rust on a mirror” (Sir. 12:11).
Today, we often think of philosophy as a boring subject that one tries to avoid while in college because it has no practical value and philosophers as the last people on earth that you would invite to a social gathering or to a party.
But in James’ day, this was exactly the opposite. Philosophy was a way of life and a philosopher was one who practically lived out a life that was truly in love with and conformed to wisdom.
James practically reminded Christians both then as well as now, that there is no such thing as belief without acting upon that belief.
People today frequently say that they believe this thing or believe in that thing.
For men this often takes the form of a declarative statement like, “I believe the Chicago White Sox will win the World Series again this year.” This is inevitably countered with, “I’ll bet you a hundred bucks that they don’t.”
And please don’t go and say, Pastor Jim is encouraging us to gamble at the church. James’ point is that true faith and belief are always willing “to put its money where its mouth is.”
Don’t be a person who merely sits around and listens to the truth as some form of entertainment. Real belief has nothing to do with mere intellectual assent, but is truly manifested by tangible and concrete action.
Don’t be deceived, but be “doers of God’s word.”
Have you ever been in such a rush that you looked into the mirror and forgot what you saw? That’s called glancing.
Or have you ever carefully observed someone looking at themselves in the mirror, when they didn’t know you were watching them? (That’s called rude, but anyway).
It can be completely hysterical on one hand to see someone “strike a pose,” “practice making facial expressions” or “digging at a scab or a pimple.”
On the other hand, it can be also become complete vanity. One thing we can learn from the vain, is that they take great pains to notice every little detail on their faces as well as their hair. That is called gazing.
James tells us that when looking at ourselves, we should gaze or “take a hard look” as they used to say.
Doers of the Word, gaze intently rather than carelessly glance at themselves, at others or at the world.
Doers of the word frequently take spiritual inventories of themselves and then take these things to prayer. (A traditional Lenten practice).
For example, am I quick to listen to others and slow to speak? Am I easily given to anger? Am I morally clean? Do I keep watch over my tongue? Do I practically care for those in great need? Am I keeping myself from being stained by the things that the world values?
James reminds us that those “doers of the word” who consistently gaze upon the true nature of these things will come to the natural conclusion that “to believe” is to be committed to action and that belief isn’t a noun, but a verb.
Those who continue to gaze intently into God’s perfect law will come to clearly understand the true nature of our freedom in Christ.
And that just as Jesus freely gave His life as a ransom for many, so we as His followers are called to be “doers of His word” who freely serve others in His name.
Belief that is not characterized by action is simply worthless religion according to James.
And this Lenten season, may you covenant with God to begin to slow down your life, so that you may begin to learn to gaze deeply into the truth of these matters instead of offering a merely superficial and backward glance.
Let’s Pray
