James 1:19-21
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger[a] does not produce the righteousness[b] God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
Christianity 201: Applied Christianity. James’ message to his readers sounds a little like an applied sciences class, does it not? Just do this or, don’t do that. Practical advice for any believer. Common sense. There is any number of ways you can look at it but, the bottom line turns out to be the bottom line. James is brusk and direct. That’s OK. As I mentioned in last week’s lesson, his readers are Jewish. If you have ever heard Jewish comedians, you’ll find that they are very direct and sometimes dismissive. It is part of their shtick (a Yiddish term meaning - a gimmick that is often done to draw attention to oneself). There are other familiar terms that provide insight into the Jewish culture and mindset; ‘meh’, ‘chutzpa’, ‘kvetch’, ‘oy vey’ all come to mind. Look them up. They all allude to a directness, a no-nonsense approach to life that is commonplace within the Jewish community.
In that vein, James’ command to be slow to speak and quick to listen would have been a loving reproof to a community that would be naturally inclined to ‘give you a piece of their mind. But can that apply to other peoples of different ethnos? Absolutely! After all, who among us has not wanted to give someone a little piece of our mind from time to time? I certainly have. I can hear my mother saying, “ You have two ears and one mouth, use them proportionately.”
James also directs his readers to a holy exchange: our evil intent for God’s Word which imbues righteousness. In essence, apply the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to our daily lives as well as our eternal hope. What? Beloved, according to Jewish thought, we were saved when we accepted Christ, we are currently being saved (sanctification) and, at the end of time, we will be saved. As Christians, we have embraced this ‘three tense Gospel’ with an emphasis on the ‘was saved’ (by confession in Christ) and ‘will be saved’ (at the final judgment) branches. As for the ‘being saved’ tense, most Christians believe that this has to do with growing and maturing in Christ over time. Longing for personal holiness and applying God’s Word to our lives as an integral part of the process of sanctification.
James 1:22-26
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
Muscle memory. Things are best remembered when they incorporate the mind and the body as part of the memorization process. When you are ‘doing’ something repetitively, you get better at it over time. Often times, you become so good, through practice and repetition of a particular discipline, that you may, over time, come to be considered a master or an expert of that discipline by your peers. The same is true with the Word of God. When you apply and practice God’s Word, his precepts and principles to your life on a daily basis, you grow up. You mature. In the process, we bring value to God’s kingdom. Wisdom is learned, gained over time through study, meditation, prayer, and then, practice. James concludes this thought with an example: tame your tongue.
James 1:27
27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
James’ epistle is often regarded as a New Testament rendering of proverbs or ‘wise sayings and advice’. Verse 27 stands apart from most proverbs, in that it is a key precept of scripture and a real reflection of the heart of the Father. In the Torah, God repeatedly instructs Israel to care for the indigent among them, whether they are relatives or strangers. Additionally, the prophets of Israel repeatedly admonished Israel and Judah over their treatment of the poor. Beloved, Jesus instructs that the greatest commandment is for us to 1. Love God, and 2. Love our neighbor. When he was challenged by a religious expert on whom to regard as his neighbor, Jesus gave him (and us) the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’. Beloved, James reminds us that true religion requires the verb; Love. Love that is active. Love that inspires action.
I Corinthian 13:8 - “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
I Corinthians 14:1a - “Let love be your highest goal!”
Until next time…
Selah
wb
No comments:
Post a Comment