You may have heard about the person who died, and when he got to heaven’s gate, requested a
tour of the afterlife. It started with the lower realms, and when the elevator downward from heaven
arrived at the its first stop, there were a bunch of people in a room that was uncomfortably warm, but
not overly hot. The tourist asked St. Peter who these souls were. St. Peter replied that they were
Jewish people who’d eaten ham.
So they proceeded down to the next level, where it was getting pretty uncomfortable, and flames
were licking up here and there. Again, the tourist asked what these people had done to deserve
their fate, and St. Peter said that they were Catholics who’d eaten ham on Fridays.
Finally, the elevator descended to the lowest levels, where there were flames and molten lava
everywhere, and the smell of sulfur in the air. The tourist asked who these people were to deserve
such a fate, and St. Peter replied, “These were Episcopalians who’d eaten ham using the wrong
fork.”
Well, silly jokes have never been a sterling source of theology, but this one hints at a pretty
persistent misunderstanding of how we will come to enjoy a happy and blessed afterlife. It leads us
to revisit something that we’ve heard before, but we needed to be reminded of from time to time.
We can’t earn our way into heaven. It’s not about our good works outweighing our bad works, or
amassing good karma, or earning brownie points, or whatever. It’s not about us doing enough right
things that God will be obligated to let us in the door. If it were I think we might be in trouble.
Instead salvation is a gift from God received by faith. Paul tells the Ephesians, “For it is by grace you’
ve been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so
that no one can boast.” Jesus has already done the work, on the Cross. He’s paid our way. Are you
with me on that? Without that under our caps almost nothing else I’m going to talk about this
morning will make any real sense.
Now, when we exercise our faith in Jesus and receive His gift, I think it’s safe to assume two things.
First, if we have any idea at all of the value of this gift we’re going to be grateful. Second, the
Scriptures tell us that when we receive Jesus by faith, we’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Both of these
things, our gratitude and the Holy Spirit, lead us in the same direction: Now we’ll desire to please
God. Out of the gratitude in our hearts and the promptings of the Holy Spirit within us, we’ll want to
be obedient and follow God’s ways. Not to earn anything, but because we simply want to please the
One who loves and saves us. The Law is now written on our hearts, as the writer to the Hebrews
reminds us, quoting Jeremiah.
I think all of this is compatible with what St. James is telling us in his letter from which we read this
morning. I’d like to focus specifically on this passage. I think James may be one of the most
misunderstood writers in the Bible. James, the brother of Jesus, has been blamed for introducing a
“works righteousness” ethic. In other words, that we become acceptable through our works rather
than through the unmerited grace of God. Some even think that James is telling us that salvation
comes from our works.
Some great people like Martin Luther have cast a suspicious eye in his direction. Luther never
declared the Letter of James to be non-canonical, and he quoted from it from time to time. But he
did at one point refer to it as “an epistle of straw” compared to the letters of Paul, which emphasized
grace rather than works. But I think James himself corrects this misunderstanding in his letter. He
writes, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights.” OK? He’s saying that all good gifts are from God. I have to assume this includes
the best of all gifts—the gift of His saving grace. And to cinch this, he continues, “In fulfillment of his
own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth.” Not that we earned our new life, but that He
gave it to us. He gave us new birth. Do you hear what he’s saying?
You see, in those descriptions of right behavior before God that permeate his letter, what James is
saying is that genuine faith is going to bring about genuine change. If your faith isn’t resulting in any
positive change or even any motivation to change, its genuineness has to be called into question.
The motivation that comes from gratitude and from the promptings of the Holy Spirit will slowly but
surely result in us behaving differently than we did before. And what James begins telling us in his
letter is what this picture should look like.
Let’s look at the piece of this picture presented to us in today’s reading. James says, “My beloved,
let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s
righteousness.” Practical tip #1. How many marital spats, how many fallings out with friends, how
many broken relationships in the church would be prevented if we would but heed these words. “Be
quick to listen and slow to speak.” Remember Jesus once said “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
This is one sure way to be a peacemaker. Listen first. Try to understand the other person’s
perspective before you respond.
I’ve done quite a bit of marriage therapy. One of the things that’s as predictable as the seasons is
that, when listening shuts down, nothing gets solved. Each ends up competing to be heard, usually
by becoming angrier and louder. And when this fails, each tries to convince the therapist how unfair
the other person is. This way doesn’t work and a new way needs to be tried. James is saying that
God’s way, the way of love, is to listen and understand first, not giving in to a reflexive, angry
response. St. Francis of Assisi echoes this advice as he prays, “Lord, grant that I may understand,
than to be understood…” It takes some practice, but I assure you, it’s doable.
Next James uses some words that are rather colorfully descriptive of sin. The Greek word here given
to us as “sordidness” really means something like moral filth. Kind of a strong term. Combine that
with “rank growth of wickedness” and you’ve got a pretty pungent image. It kind of sounds like
something growing on your leftovers in the refrigerator. Which I guess in a sense, it is! If that
leftover dish represents our baser nature, James is saying, “Don’t let that stuff take root! Get rid of
those thoughts and acts that defile and distort the good gifts God has given you.”
How? By “welcoming with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.” The
word of truth and instruction implanted in us by the Lord mustn’t simply be heard, but welcomed and
responded to. And this is done with an attitude of meekness that says, “God, I can’t do this on my
own. I’ve tried and I’ve failed time and time again. Now I’ll listen and respond to the word you’ve
implanted within me.” The implanted word also is like an electrical outlet. It’s right there, but we have
to plug in the cord if we’re going to receive the power we need to clean out all those things we don’t
want inside of us.
James continues the same theme with words of instruction that couldn’t be clearer. He says, “Be
doers of the word, not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” And he says that those who hear
and don’t do are like those who look in a mirror and five minutes later forget what they look like.
They’re like those who perhaps come to church and say all the right things, then go out and live like
they don’t believe a word of it. James says this is not a good sign.
But then James, who like I said has been blamed for being long on works and short on grace, says
this: “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.”
Notice that James refers to a law. He calls it the perfect law. And what is the perfect law? The law of
liberty. The law of freedom in God’s grace, which, if we look into it and see what it really means to
us, will propel us to be doers of the word, and not just hearers. We’ll follow Jesus and His ways. In
his great hymn called “And Can It Be” Charles Wesley writes, “Long my imprisoned spirit lay / Fast
bound in sin and nature’s night / Thine eye diffused a quickening ray / I woke, the dungeon flamed
with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.” This is
freedom.
In closing today’s passage James next draws back the lens to give us the big picture. If religion that
doesn’t practice what it preaches is worthless, what is real religion? If worthless religion is saturated
by hearts and minds that remain sordid, and rank, and generally gross, what is pure and undefiled
religion? James says, “Religion that’s 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.” Loving and
caring for your fellow human beings, especially those who’ve been injured in this life on earth, and
living a clean life before God. James says putting our faith into action involves getting out of our
easy chairs, serving our neighbor, and living a moral and upright life.
Really, what James is talking about here is something that’s found throughout the scriptures, from
Genesis to Revelation. He’s talking about the twin virtues of justice and righteousness.
Today’s Psalm asks, “Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? Who may abide upon your holy hill?
And the response is, “Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth
from his heart.” If you ever do a word search through the Psalms you’ll see that they’re peppered
with verses that pair the words “justice” and “righteousness.” In fact Psalm 89 exclaims to God,
“Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne.”
And In the Book of Jeremiah, the prophet writes, “Let him who boasts boast about this: that he
understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness
on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord.”
God delights in us caring for one another, and caring enough for ourselves that we don’t allow
ourselves to stay soaked in sin. He revels in our single-minded commitment to Himself, the
Lord, the One who made us, and has written His word on our hearts. One thing about justice and
righteousness: We must be careful here to define them as God sees them, at least as much as
possible. Sometimes we in the church can put our weight behind “justice” issues that look a bit
politically inspired, for instance. And sometimes we want to redefine righteousness to conform to our
own biases of right and wrong, rather than those that are given priority in the Scriptures. Once
again much of the antidote for that type of mistake comes simply from steeping ourselves in the
scriptures and getting a feel for the consistency in what they’re telling us.
Nevertheless, if in our hearts we desire to do right by our fellow man, and to serve God sacrificially
and respond obediently to His word implanted in our hearts, in James’ view we’re showing clear
evidence of a genuine faith. And this genuine faith is this: that Jesus Christ, by His life, death and
resurrection, has made us part of God’s new kingdom and given us the gift of eternal life. Now it’s
time to assume full citizenship in that kingdom and follow the King. Genuine faith brings genuine
change. This is what the letter of James is trying to teach us. Let us, you and I, plug into the power
source of the word planted within us, and be doers of that word today and every day. In the name of
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
tour of the afterlife. It started with the lower realms, and when the elevator downward from heaven
arrived at the its first stop, there were a bunch of people in a room that was uncomfortably warm, but
not overly hot. The tourist asked St. Peter who these souls were. St. Peter replied that they were
Jewish people who’d eaten ham.
So they proceeded down to the next level, where it was getting pretty uncomfortable, and flames
were licking up here and there. Again, the tourist asked what these people had done to deserve
their fate, and St. Peter said that they were Catholics who’d eaten ham on Fridays.
Finally, the elevator descended to the lowest levels, where there were flames and molten lava
everywhere, and the smell of sulfur in the air. The tourist asked who these people were to deserve
such a fate, and St. Peter replied, “These were Episcopalians who’d eaten ham using the wrong
fork.”
Well, silly jokes have never been a sterling source of theology, but this one hints at a pretty
persistent misunderstanding of how we will come to enjoy a happy and blessed afterlife. It leads us
to revisit something that we’ve heard before, but we needed to be reminded of from time to time.
We can’t earn our way into heaven. It’s not about our good works outweighing our bad works, or
amassing good karma, or earning brownie points, or whatever. It’s not about us doing enough right
things that God will be obligated to let us in the door. If it were I think we might be in trouble.
Instead salvation is a gift from God received by faith. Paul tells the Ephesians, “For it is by grace you’
ve been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so
that no one can boast.” Jesus has already done the work, on the Cross. He’s paid our way. Are you
with me on that? Without that under our caps almost nothing else I’m going to talk about this
morning will make any real sense.
Now, when we exercise our faith in Jesus and receive His gift, I think it’s safe to assume two things.
First, if we have any idea at all of the value of this gift we’re going to be grateful. Second, the
Scriptures tell us that when we receive Jesus by faith, we’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Both of these
things, our gratitude and the Holy Spirit, lead us in the same direction: Now we’ll desire to please
God. Out of the gratitude in our hearts and the promptings of the Holy Spirit within us, we’ll want to
be obedient and follow God’s ways. Not to earn anything, but because we simply want to please the
One who loves and saves us. The Law is now written on our hearts, as the writer to the Hebrews
reminds us, quoting Jeremiah.
I think all of this is compatible with what St. James is telling us in his letter from which we read this
morning. I’d like to focus specifically on this passage. I think James may be one of the most
misunderstood writers in the Bible. James, the brother of Jesus, has been blamed for introducing a
“works righteousness” ethic. In other words, that we become acceptable through our works rather
than through the unmerited grace of God. Some even think that James is telling us that salvation
comes from our works.
Some great people like Martin Luther have cast a suspicious eye in his direction. Luther never
declared the Letter of James to be non-canonical, and he quoted from it from time to time. But he
did at one point refer to it as “an epistle of straw” compared to the letters of Paul, which emphasized
grace rather than works. But I think James himself corrects this misunderstanding in his letter. He
writes, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights.” OK? He’s saying that all good gifts are from God. I have to assume this includes
the best of all gifts—the gift of His saving grace. And to cinch this, he continues, “In fulfillment of his
own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth.” Not that we earned our new life, but that He
gave it to us. He gave us new birth. Do you hear what he’s saying?
You see, in those descriptions of right behavior before God that permeate his letter, what James is
saying is that genuine faith is going to bring about genuine change. If your faith isn’t resulting in any
positive change or even any motivation to change, its genuineness has to be called into question.
The motivation that comes from gratitude and from the promptings of the Holy Spirit will slowly but
surely result in us behaving differently than we did before. And what James begins telling us in his
letter is what this picture should look like.
Let’s look at the piece of this picture presented to us in today’s reading. James says, “My beloved,
let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s
righteousness.” Practical tip #1. How many marital spats, how many fallings out with friends, how
many broken relationships in the church would be prevented if we would but heed these words. “Be
quick to listen and slow to speak.” Remember Jesus once said “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
This is one sure way to be a peacemaker. Listen first. Try to understand the other person’s
perspective before you respond.
I’ve done quite a bit of marriage therapy. One of the things that’s as predictable as the seasons is
that, when listening shuts down, nothing gets solved. Each ends up competing to be heard, usually
by becoming angrier and louder. And when this fails, each tries to convince the therapist how unfair
the other person is. This way doesn’t work and a new way needs to be tried. James is saying that
God’s way, the way of love, is to listen and understand first, not giving in to a reflexive, angry
response. St. Francis of Assisi echoes this advice as he prays, “Lord, grant that I may understand,
than to be understood…” It takes some practice, but I assure you, it’s doable.
Next James uses some words that are rather colorfully descriptive of sin. The Greek word here given
to us as “sordidness” really means something like moral filth. Kind of a strong term. Combine that
with “rank growth of wickedness” and you’ve got a pretty pungent image. It kind of sounds like
something growing on your leftovers in the refrigerator. Which I guess in a sense, it is! If that
leftover dish represents our baser nature, James is saying, “Don’t let that stuff take root! Get rid of
those thoughts and acts that defile and distort the good gifts God has given you.”
How? By “welcoming with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.” The
word of truth and instruction implanted in us by the Lord mustn’t simply be heard, but welcomed and
responded to. And this is done with an attitude of meekness that says, “God, I can’t do this on my
own. I’ve tried and I’ve failed time and time again. Now I’ll listen and respond to the word you’ve
implanted within me.” The implanted word also is like an electrical outlet. It’s right there, but we have
to plug in the cord if we’re going to receive the power we need to clean out all those things we don’t
want inside of us.
James continues the same theme with words of instruction that couldn’t be clearer. He says, “Be
doers of the word, not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” And he says that those who hear
and don’t do are like those who look in a mirror and five minutes later forget what they look like.
They’re like those who perhaps come to church and say all the right things, then go out and live like
they don’t believe a word of it. James says this is not a good sign.
But then James, who like I said has been blamed for being long on works and short on grace, says
this: “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.”
Notice that James refers to a law. He calls it the perfect law. And what is the perfect law? The law of
liberty. The law of freedom in God’s grace, which, if we look into it and see what it really means to
us, will propel us to be doers of the word, and not just hearers. We’ll follow Jesus and His ways. In
his great hymn called “And Can It Be” Charles Wesley writes, “Long my imprisoned spirit lay / Fast
bound in sin and nature’s night / Thine eye diffused a quickening ray / I woke, the dungeon flamed
with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.” This is
freedom.
In closing today’s passage James next draws back the lens to give us the big picture. If religion that
doesn’t practice what it preaches is worthless, what is real religion? If worthless religion is saturated
by hearts and minds that remain sordid, and rank, and generally gross, what is pure and undefiled
religion? James says, “Religion that’s 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.” Loving and
caring for your fellow human beings, especially those who’ve been injured in this life on earth, and
living a clean life before God. James says putting our faith into action involves getting out of our
easy chairs, serving our neighbor, and living a moral and upright life.
Really, what James is talking about here is something that’s found throughout the scriptures, from
Genesis to Revelation. He’s talking about the twin virtues of justice and righteousness.
Today’s Psalm asks, “Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? Who may abide upon your holy hill?
And the response is, “Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth
from his heart.” If you ever do a word search through the Psalms you’ll see that they’re peppered
with verses that pair the words “justice” and “righteousness.” In fact Psalm 89 exclaims to God,
“Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne.”
And In the Book of Jeremiah, the prophet writes, “Let him who boasts boast about this: that he
understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness
on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord.”
God delights in us caring for one another, and caring enough for ourselves that we don’t allow
ourselves to stay soaked in sin. He revels in our single-minded commitment to Himself, the
Lord, the One who made us, and has written His word on our hearts. One thing about justice and
righteousness: We must be careful here to define them as God sees them, at least as much as
possible. Sometimes we in the church can put our weight behind “justice” issues that look a bit
politically inspired, for instance. And sometimes we want to redefine righteousness to conform to our
own biases of right and wrong, rather than those that are given priority in the Scriptures. Once
again much of the antidote for that type of mistake comes simply from steeping ourselves in the
scriptures and getting a feel for the consistency in what they’re telling us.
Nevertheless, if in our hearts we desire to do right by our fellow man, and to serve God sacrificially
and respond obediently to His word implanted in our hearts, in James’ view we’re showing clear
evidence of a genuine faith. And this genuine faith is this: that Jesus Christ, by His life, death and
resurrection, has made us part of God’s new kingdom and given us the gift of eternal life. Now it’s
time to assume full citizenship in that kingdom and follow the King. Genuine faith brings genuine
change. This is what the letter of James is trying to teach us. Let us, you and I, plug into the power
source of the word planted within us, and be doers of that word today and every day. In the name of
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
A Misunderstood Letter
(James 1: 17-27)
(James 1: 17-27)
August 30, 2009
Fr. Dan Tuton
Fr. Dan Tuton
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