Sermon – September 13
Text: James 1:17-22
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. 19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
You are God’s New Creation
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ:
When I was a student at the University of South Carolina nearly every day my path took me past a sign in a window which always generated a smile. It read: “Department of Redundancy Department.” I find redundancy in the label: “Born-again Christian.” If you have been born again, you are a Christian. If you are a Christian, that means you’ve been born again.
At the same time, we dare not forget the fact that we have been born again. Through the grace of God we have been given a spiritual rebirth and brought forth as a new creation. This makes us different from the unbelieving world. All too often we forget and lapse into habits that belong to our former unbelieving self. May the Holy Spirit bless our study today as we strive to have what we do and say match what God has created within us.
1. You were reborn by the Word of truth
Just previous to our text James is defending God against accusations that He would tempt people to sin. Accusations of God causing evil or putting us in situations that we can’t handle haven’t stopped. Adam blamed his sin on God because He gave him Eve to be with him. Others blame God for whatever situation that they find themselves in. The thought being then that there is no choice but to sin.
Far from God bringing evil into our lives, we have this written for us in verse 17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Whenever there is something good in your life, whether it is cut healing, pleasant weather, being refreshed from sleep, having food to eat or whatever you can think of that is good, it comes from the “Father of lights.” He doesn’t change from day to day in His goodness. He is consistent in giving us gifts that are helpful to us. We need that reminder so that we don’t fall into the temptation of accusing God of tempting us to sin.
God’s goodness is particularly illuminated in the creation of people. We recall how unlike the birds and animals that He simply called forth, He specially created Adam and Eve. Unlike the animals He gave souls to Adam and Eve and their descendants. He made this entire world for people to enjoy from a babbling brook to the vast array of stars and planets. Everything was made for people!
He gave to our first parents a relationship with Him, and even when that relationship was ruined by sin He took it upon Himself to fix it. Verse 18, Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. What God wants is for people to regain God’s image by undergoing a rebirth by the Word of truth. Just as He wanted people around in the first place and made them, so also He gives new life in the washing of water and the Word. All of us were born sinful, yet by grace reborn we’re told as a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. God’s people have been told to return to Him their firstfruits, that is to give to Him off the top. Here the phrase means first as in best. Of all that God created, you are the most important to Him. And all this came about through the power of the Gospel of Christ.
2. You were reborn to use words in God’s ways by your listening and speaking
Our words are not as powerful as God’s, but they do have impact. How are we to function as a new creation when it comes to words? Verse 19, So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear , slow to speak, slow to wrath. Sound like you? This is the exact opposite of how we naturally go about our day. We’re slow to listen to other people, We’re very quick to try to get our point of view across. And whether anger comes out of us quickly or is quickly deposited so that we can do a slow burn, it comes very fast to us.
This is how relationships break down. I think that I could have avoided nearly every fight and argument that I’ve gotten into if I could have followed those three basic principles. It is hard to follow these because it involves putting someone else first. What a shining example our Savior gave us. When He was insulted, He didn’t get down into the gutter and give it back. He was patient with the slowness of His disciples. When He exhibited anger like when He threw the money-changers out of the temple it justified. All of this even though there were nights that He didn’t get enough sleep. He was around irritating people. Yet He fulfilled all righteousness in this respect and all others.
There are consequences when we do not keep our anger in check. For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Running roughshod over others in our speech and temper and not listening means that we are not fulfilling our purpose. We are not who we are meant to be. Instead of making and strengthening relationships with others we are wrecking them. One beautiful aspect of having a friendship with a Christian is that his or her vertical relationship with God spills over horizontally into his relationship with other people.
When are not producing the righteousness of God we are hurting other people rather than helping them. Instead we are producing bitterness, discontentment, and in that dark world of the old man we are giving ourselves more reasons and excuses to sin. If you don’t take time to listen, you don’t know what other people need. If you start speaking before another person stops, how can you provide helpful words. If you have a hair trigger people won’t want to be around you, and those who are around you will become fearful. That is not who we are meant to be.
3. You were reborn to be Word-doers not just Word-hearers
As a reborn creation of God there is the idea of being complete. James wrote his letter as a warning to those who were abusing the grace of God. Just as there is a danger in putting too great an emphasis on works, there is a danger in not seeing the harm of sin. We often like to categorize our faith by trying to separate the Word into what we hear and take in, but not making that connection to what we do.
In verse 21 there are two things that we are told to. Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. Too often we focus on only one of these things, or think about doing them one at a time. Maybe we focus on stopping wickedness, but don’t fill up our souls with the Word. Or just the opposite. Making regular use of the means of grace, but not keeping our sinful flesh in check.
Both are necessary. If there isn’t crucifying the old man with daily contrition and repentance and strengthening the new man with Word and sacrament, sin will win. It is our default setting. Think of it this way. If you are told pull weeds and plant vegetables, you must do both to have a living, productive garden. If you just do one, there will only be weeds.
Our final verse is the theme of the letter of James. In this letter James warns about favoritism, having a mere head knowledge of God, and the deadly nature of the tongue among other things. He is trying to root out hypocrisy. All of this can be summed up in verse 22: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
If you think Christianity is just being a Word-hearer and not a Word-doer. you are fooling yourself. Christianity is not just for the ears. You have been brought forth by the Word of the truth to follow Christ in all ways. This is not a contradiction to being saved by grace. Jesus did all the work for your salvation. The Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel, and made the work of Jesus personally your own. He has adopted you into His family.
Through grace you have been forgiven for the times that you gave in to anger and refused to listen and act on the needs of others. These and all other sins can be laid at the foot of the cross. In Christ’s blood we are washed clean from all of our faults. Our sins have been drowned in the depths of the sea.
But you were reborn to be different from that of the unbelieving world. You were reborn to be different from your sinful nature. God has brought goodness into your heart not to be locked away, but to be shared as you listen, speak, and do. Amen.