Live the Christian Life: Be Quick to Listen

James 1:17-27

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Live the Christian Life: Be Quick to Listen

Did you know that some people don’t think that the book of James should be in the Bible? Especially Lutherans can read this book and see instruction after instruction – “Do this,” “Don’t do that,” – and come away feeling like James is laying out a blueprint for how to earn your way to heaven. It’s all based on what we do; we have to be a good person.

There’s not a whole lot of grace in the book of James. He doesn’t really talk about salvation, and that makes conscientious Christians a little queasy. They want to see more Jesus, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting that.

There’s not much salvation in the book of James, but there is a lot of sanctification. We talked about that a couple weeks ago. Sanctification is another way to say, “living the Christian life,” which would explain why there are so many instructions – “Do this,” “Don’t do that.” James is laying out a blueprint for us to follow, just not a way to earn heaven. James lays out a blueprint for how to live a Christian life on earth.

James is writing to people who already know about Jesus, who already believe in Jesus as their Saviour from sin, the one who died on the cross for our forgiveness. James is writing to people like you and me and is essentially saying, “So you say you’re a Christian? Prove it. Don’t just talk the talk; walk the walk.”

Starting today and throughout the month of October, we’re going to be thinking about how we can do that. We’re going to read about how to avoid hypocrisy, how to exercise heavenly wisdom, how to resist the devil and come closer to God. But before we begin this journey about how to live the Christian life, James has a very important reminder for us:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.[1]

First and foremost, give credit where credit is due.

I don’t know about you, but I find it all too easy to complain about all the bad and hard things that we are facing right now. We just got through an election; that always stirs up discontentment on every side of the aisle. We are up to our ears in the fourth wave of a global pandemic and all of the controversial conversations that come as a result. Maybe you’re struggling to find work; your car broke down; you broke up with your significant other. We face all kinds of trials every day that test our patience, drain our energy, and can even cause us to question our faith in the goodness of God, i.e. “Why would a good God let bad things happen?”

But James reminds us: Every good and perfect gift is from above.[2] For every trial we face, every challenge we have to struggle to overcome, every cause for complaint, there is reason to rejoice. How many things could you thank God for right now? Do you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back, food on your table? Thank God! Do you have gainful employment, the support of friends and family, opportunity for recreation? Thank God! God gives you all kinds of good gifts day after day; his mercies are new every morning.

But even if you don’t have any of those things, even if it feels like your gifts are imperfect or that God has been incomplete in giving them to you, even if the circumstances of your life make you feel like you’re standing in quicksand, you still have reason to rejoice because you have a God whose goodness never changes. James goes on to share one gift from God that no circumstance in life can take away from you:

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.[3]

God chose you. You didn’t earn his love. You aren’t such a good person that God has to love you. What an arrogant thought that would be. Of all the people in all the world, why should God love you? I don’t know. But he does. It’s a decision he made a long time ago, long before you were born, long before you could do anything to earn or disqualify yourself from his love. He chose you.

And in that mental, emotional, internal process of choosing, God also acted. He didn’t just say that he loves you, he did something about it. He sent his Son to die on a cross to forgive you all your sins. That is the heart and soul of Christianity.

But think about this grace too: God didn’t just make a one-time announcement that he forgave the sins of the whole world and then leave it at that. God wasn’t content with that. He wanted you to know personally, so he came to you individually through his word of truth. He sent parents, pastors, partners into your life to tell you about Jesus, so that by believing in him, you could become children of God, the apple of God’s eye, so to speak, or, as James puts it, “a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”[4]

Your status before God, as a dearly loved and dearly bought child of God, was entirely an act of God. It doesn’t depend on you! Even when you mess up in life, God still loves you and forgives you. He still comes to you in his word of truth to lift you up and restore you, to remind you that even though we are fickle and fainthearted, he doesn’t change like shifting shadows; his love for you will never fade away.

So, while there may be plenty of causes for complaint in our lives, James gives you one reason to rejoice always: Every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of all creation, who chooses to love you purely out of his good will.

Everything that follows in the book of James feeds off this truth. So, think of it this way, for the rest of this book James is essentially saying, “Because God has made you his child, go and ___________.”

As I said before, we’re going to see many examples over the next several weeks of how James fills in that blank. I just want to share one with you today. James immediately makes the application, because you are a child of God:

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.[5]

Now, this is just good advice in general. You don’t have to be a Christian to see the wisdom in being quick to listen. If we don’t listen to the people in our lives – if we just assume that everyone thinks the same way we do – then we’ll be endlessly disappointed with every conversation. But if we listen and try to understand where other people are coming from, then we might not get so angry with people who have taken the “other side” on things like the results of the election, the mask mandate, the restriction exemption program. Everyone has a reason for thinking the way they do. If we open our ears and close our mouths, we stand a much better chance of preserving relationships and showing love and respect, instead of building barriers and demonstrating nothing but anger and contempt.

(By the way, this is why social media can be so harmful –it gives us all the ability to speak instantly, i.e. to post what we think immediately, without giving any opportunity to listen or any time to pause and think about the effect that our post will have on other people.)

It is – or at least it should be – common sense to be quick to listen and slow to speak. But James isn’t just talking about how we relate to each other. He is primarily talking about how we relate to God. That’s why he says:

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.[6]

The listening that James is advocating for, is a humble listening to the Word of God. Think about how many problems come when we’re not in God’s Word, when we assume we know what God wants, and we act on those assumptions, without taking every thought captive to Christ. That’s where terms like “Bible thumping” come from. It’s that loveless way of closing this book and shaking it in the air as if merely mentioning God’s name gives authority to what you think.

We even do this sometimes with things that are cut and dry in the Bible. Abortion is murder. Divorce is sinful. Yes, that’s true. I can even point you to passages in the Bible that say that. But if I post that on social media or shout it from a street corner, am I doing anything to understand the reason that scared teenager is secretly considering an abortion, or the trauma that woman escaped through her divorce? Is my so-called “righteous indignation” going to do anything to change anyone’s mind, or do I just like the sound of my own voice or the idea that I am right and they are wrong?

Being a Christian means humbly accepting the word of truth. It means recognizing that I am not the authority; I do not hold the moral high ground, in my life or in anyone else’s. I needed God to choose me not because of who I am, but in spite of who I am; I needed Jesus to die on a cross for all of the sins that I still commit; I needed God to give birth to me – to make me his child – through the word of truth too.

And if I needed that, that’s what the other people in my life need too. They don’t need to hear my voice. They need to hear God’s. And the only way they can hear it through me is if I keep a tight rein on my tongue.

I’m not going to win anyone over to Christ crusading for the NDP, the UCP, or the WWE. I’m not going to win anyone over to Christ if the first thing they know about me is where I stand on vaccines, climate change, or the shape of the earth. But if I look after widows and orphans in their distress, if I keep myself from being polluted by all the controversies and complaints of the world around me, then I show that my religion is not worthless – that I am listening, and not only that, but that what I’m listening to has a home in my heart.

We’re going to talk about this more in 2 weeks, but the whole point of the picture of the person looking into a mirror but forgetting what his face looks like is just James’ way of saying, “Make sure that what you hear doesn’t go in one ear and right out the other. Remember, put into practice what you hear.” That’s when your religion is worthwhile, i.e. when you listen to the needs of the people around you, sure, but, above all, to the word of truth given to you by God.

There he tells you that you are a child of God, chosen by his undeserved and unchanging love, born by faith in his Word. Follow the blueprint that James lays out for your Christian life: Close your mouth. Open your ears. Listen to his word of truth, and do what it says. Then you will produce the righteousness God desires. Then you will live the Christian life. Amen.  

[1] James 1:17

[2] Ibid

[3] James 1:18

[4] Ibid

[5] James 1:19

[6] James 1:21

A Lesson in Discipleship: the Boy Jesus and Mary's Memory Box

Luke 2:41-52

41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

A Lesson in Discipleship: the Boy Jesus and Mary’s Memory Box

Today is a little bit strange. We’re kind of in no-man’s land. We’ve wrapped up our summer sermon series. We haven’t started our first Fall sermon series yet. We’re introducing elements of our new hymnal today and leapfrogging 14 Sundays all the way to the first Sunday after Christmas. We are all over the map, liturgically speaking.

But, truthfully, we’re right where we need to be. Two Sundays ago, we began a 4 week focus on discipleship – 4 weeks on how to be a follower of Jesus by being in worship and in the Word. And here in our Gospel Lesson is none other than Jesus himself being in worship and in the Word. What better way to learn how to be a disciple of Jesus than by following his example?

But before we focus on Jesus, I want to talk about his mother for a second. Her name isn’t even mentioned in this story. She’s always either one of “his parents” or “his mother.” Luke is making a subtle point that Mary is not the main character in this story. But she is still instructive and worth our attention today.

First, we find out that Mary made it a habit to go to Jerusalem for the Passover. That was a journey of several days from Nazareth. That’s quite a commitment. Not only that, but it was only commanded that the men of each family must attend the Passover in person. Mary didn’t have to go; she could have stayed home with a clean conscience, but she didn’t. She made it a habit to go to God’s house more than was even expected of the best, most godly women in Israel.

Then we find out that as a family, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus stayed until the festival was over. Because it was such a long journey and the festival was a full week long, many pilgrims would stay for one or two days and then head back home. Not Mary and Joseph. They stayed until the festival was over – being more faithful than your average Jew.

Then there’s the whole episode of the missing Jesus. Now, let me be clear here: Mary and Joseph were not being negligent parents. What they were doing was perfectly natural and ordinary in their culture. When pilgrims made such a long journey, they would often travel with family and friends. The women and young children would travel in the front; the men and the older boys would travel in the rear. Jesus, being 12 years old, would have been right on the line. Mary could have well assumed that Jesus was with Joseph, and Joseph could have well assumed that he was with Mary. Both were perfectly plausible. And with a son as reliable and trustworthy as Jesus, you wouldn’t expect to have to put him on a leash to make sure he was with you.

They weren’t being negligent, but they were being ignorant. Their assumption that Jesus would just automatically leave Jerusalem and travel back to Nazareth overlooked the important work that Jesus had to do. I’m sure it was tempting throughout his childhood, but it seems here that they had forgotten that Jesus wasn’t your ordinary boy. 12 years must have faded their memory of the messages that the angel Gabriel relayed to them when Jesus was born.

But here, in the temple courts of Jerusalem, 3 days after the Passover, Mary had a new memory to store away. Luke almost quotes himself word for word from earlier in this same chapter. On the night that Jesus was born, Luke wrote: “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Here, 12 years later, Luke writes, “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”

Mary didn’t have a footlocker tucked away in a basement bedroom full of Beanie Babies. She had a heart full of treasured memories of her baby boy. This would be one more – the memory of Jesus sitting among the teachers in the temple courts, listening to them and asking them questions. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph did not understand why Jesus had to be in his Father’s house, but, even though she didn’t understand, Mary treasured that memory – she put it in a see-through plastic box and pulled it out every blue moon and pondered it.

Ironically, instinctively, without realizing it, Mary was imitating her son. She was being a faithful disciple of the 12-year-old Saviour. She was taking in information, just like Jesus was, and she was mulling it over. She was growing too – maybe not in stature, but certainly in wisdom and in favour with God.

That’s what Jesus was doing. That’s why the main character of this story, the only one who’s mentioned by name, stayed in Jerusalem. In his own words, he “had to be in [his] Father’s house.”

Jesus was the perfect child. He always obeyed the 3rd Commandment; he always “remembered the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” He was always in church when he was supposed to be.

The thing that blows our minds thinking about this is that Jesus is God! Why does he need to be in church worshiping himself? As God, Jesus is “omniscient” – he is “all-knowing.” How can he possibly “grow in wisdom” if he already knows everything?

Paul answers that second question for us in Philippians 2:

Jesus… being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.[1]

In other words, when Jesus became a man – when Mary gave birth to Jesus – he gave up the full use of his almighty power and wisdom. He didn’t use his almighty power to his own advantage; he set it aside for a while.

And so, as a child he had to grow. He had to learn how to talk and walk, how to add and subtract and find the hypotenuse of a right triangle (he was a carpenter, after all). He even had to learn God’s Word. And he did! With all his heart. At every opportunity. Not just being there because he was supposed to be there. He was active. He listened and asked questions. He wanted to know more and actively, persistently pursued his own spiritual growth.

If the Son of God can dedicate himself to a lifetime of spiritual growth, don’t you think you can too? Don’t you think there’s room for you to grow too? Of course, there’s room for you to grow! But do you? Do you zealously pursue your own spiritual growth with the same hunger that Jesus did? Or do you find it easier to be the compliant child who just comes to church because his parents expect him to? Do you find it easier to be the passive participant who’s there listening, but who lets God’s Word come in one ear and fly right out the other?  

We’ve all been there. We all neglected our spiritual growth sometimes. We could all be better about overcoming the obstacles and getting rid of the excuses that keep us from God’s Word. None of us is as good as Jesus was. But that’s why Jesus had to be there.

Jesus wasn’t doing this for his own sake. He was doing it for you. Long before he was 12-years-old, Jesus was doing everything you are supposed to do. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the first 30 years of Jesus’ life because this is literally the only story we hear about Jesus after he was born and before he was baptized 30 years later. But every minute of every day, Jesus was doing work. He was actively obeying every Commandment – not just the 3rd – for you. So that finally, when Jesus died on a cross at the age of 33, he could die pure and blamelessly, the perfect sacrifice for sin, the perfect substitute for sinners, like you and me.

That’s why Jesus had to be there. That’s what Mary and Joseph didn’t understand then. But that’s what makes Mary’s memory box so important. She didn’t understand it when she saw it, but she squirreled this memory away so that some day in the future she could take it back out and put her palm to her forehead and say, “Of course! It all makes sense now!”

That’s the life of being a disciple. You don’t need to understand it all right now. You don’t need a master’s degree in theology to be a disciple of Jesus. All you need to do is be like the 12-year-old Jesus and listen attentively and maybe ask a question or two. All you need to do is be like Mary and treasure up the things you learn from God’s Word in your heart so that as you grow, you can come to know and appreciate more and more the unfailing love your God has for you.

I want to brag. Can I brag to you about one of our teenagers? Jaidan came up to me a couple weeks ago and said, “Pastor, I finally get it! It makes so much sense now!” It was something we had talked about in confirmation class, which, for her, was 2-3 years ago. But because she kept a corner of heart set aside for God’s Word – and because she kept coming to hear God’s Word – what she didn’t get then, she totally understands now.

You don’t have to be perfect to be a disciple. Jesus was perfect for you. You don’t have to understand everything immediately. You just have to be willing to listen and learn, and to hear again and again of the love your heavenly Father has for you in Jesus. He was the perfect child, a faithful student, an obedient son, but more than anything the atoning sacrifice for your sin and your Saviour. May you grow, just as Jesus did, in wisdom and in favour with God. Amen.

[1] Philippians 2:5-7

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