James: Obedience That Works

We like things to work. We expect things to work.  But sometimes things don’t work the way they should.  And when that happens we just replace them – like we did last year when our fridge no longer worked properly.  Other times we call the repairman, like we did last summer when we arrived back from vacation and our thermostat didn’t budge from 84 for 12 hours.  And sometimes to make sure things keep working, we take preventative measures – like with our bodies.  We workout, not just to shed a few pounds, but to strengthen our muscles and build up our endurance.  So we like things to work and we expect things to work.

But if you’re like me, you hate it when things don’t work right… Like right now our passenger side window doesn’t work right.  When you hit the button it rolls down, but try to roll it up, forget about it.  Fortunately if you roll it up from the driver’s side, it eventually goes up. But we’ve got to get that fixed. Shortly after we arrived in Big Bear last Sunday, we drove into town for dinner. It was a pleasant 75 degrees out, so Becky rolled down the passenger window.  She forgot that we don’t roll that one down.  Fortunately we finally got it back up. But can you imagine what it would’ve been like if we hadn’t?  We’d have to drive back through the desert for 6 hours with that window down. So yes, we need to get that fixed.  We don’t like it when things don’t work the way their intended to work.

But have you ever applied this way of thinking to your Christian life?  Do you have a faith that works?  Do you have a faith that works the way God intends it to work?  Do you have a faith that stays the course when life gets tough?  Do you have a faith that’s growing in obedience to God’s Word?  Do you have a faith that moves you to care for the less fortunate? Do you have a faith that helps you to love people who are different from you? Do you have a faith that works?

You see, we like things to work and we expect things to work. So when it comes to your faith, what do you think God would like? Well I’m convinced that God wants you to have a faith that works.  Not a faith that just gets you by from week to week, but a faith that changes you, changes how you relate to those around you and a faith that impacts our world for good.  So my guess is that’s what you want this kind of faith that works the way God intends. And if that’s you, here’ the good news: That’s why God gave us the book of James.  So we can take look under the hood, examine what doesn’t work, then see what does work so we can start living out a faith that works.

And to do this we are going to start with key passage that identifies a Faith That Works.  That passage is James 1:22-25, where James shows us A Faith That Works is a Faith That Obeys.  So if you brought your Bible with you, let me encourage you to find James 1:22-25,  where we’re quickly going to learn that James pulls no punches.  He goes right to the root of the problem and identifies what doesn’t work.  I would say it this way:

A Faith That Obeys Doesn’t Just Listen  Now faith comes from hearing the Word of God.  You can’t have a faith without hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact,  whenever Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear,” he expected them to hear what the Spirit was saying through Him, but he also expected a response to what He was teaching.  So a faith that works involves listening, but not just listening alone.  There’s more to it than that.  Listen now, to how James puts it.  He says, Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. James 1:22-24

There’s a more literal way to express this first verse that helps our understanding here.“Become doers of the wordand not hearers only, who deceive themselves.” This more literal translation tells us we are commanded “to become” doers of the Word – “to become” people who are characterized by our habitual obedience to what God commands. Whenever you see the word “become” that’s a word that expresses transformation.  God redeemed you by the blood of Jesus from an empty way of life, so you could become a new kind of person.  Your life was empty because you only lived for your self. You lived to indulge the cravings of the flesh. You lived to do whatever you wanted to do, and not what God wanted for you. But now that’s all changed.

God redeemed you to “make something more out of your life” – “to make something new, make something good, to help you “become” like Jesus.  That’s why He gave you His Holy Spirit.  That’s why He gave you His Word.  That’s why He gave you a place in His body, the Church.  That’s why He gave you a Pastor – to equip you and others like you to “become mature in Christ”, to think like Jesus, to serve like Jesus, to love like Jesus.  But none of this becoming can take place within you unless you become a doer of the Word.

So the point James is making is this: Just listening to the Word of God is not enough. It’s not sufficient.  You can come to worship every week and hear the Word of God preached.  You can listen to the latest podcasts from Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Franklin Graham or Greg Laurie everyday. But, if all you ever do is listen and not put into practice what you are hearing… James says you are deceiving your self.  This is how he says it: Anyone who listens to the wordbut does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

What is he saying with this illustration?  A couple of things: First, the purpose of looking closely into a mirror was to see if there are any flaws in your appearance that needed attending to: to see if your face is dirty, and if so wash it; or to see if your hair needs some attention, and if so comb it.  That’s why you look into a mirror – with the intention of fixing what needs fixed. Every reader would understand the purpose of a mirror.  But then, he gives a ridiculous response:  after examining themselves, they walk away, neglect their appearance, and forget what they had just seen.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I can pretty much guarantee you there’s not a single woman who looks at her face in a mirror, sees messed up mascara, and this just ignores it, walks away, forgetting about what she just saw.  We have a billion dollar cosmetic industry that pretty much banks on women looking into their mirrors – checking their make-up, dying their hair, getting a face-lift, or a little Botox treatment…  See, James wants us to agree with him how ludicrous it is for people to so quickly ignore and forget what they look like.  So the point he is making is that to treat God’s Word the same way is equally absurd.

So the idea is that whenever we come to hear God’s Word, read God’s Word, or study God’s Word – we will respond to God’s Word.  We’ll put it into practice.  We’ll obey it. Whether that’s changing how we understand God or see ourselves in light of God’s love for us; whether that’s changing how we love our spouses or our neighbors;  or changing how we use our time, spend our money, or share our talents; everything in God’s Word is meant to change us, either by renewing our hearts and minds, removing our sins and flaws or restoring us into the image of Christ.

So,obeying God’s Word when we hear it is How Our Faith is supposed to work. This is how Jesus said it, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock…  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” Matthew 7:24,26  A faith that works doesn’t just listen to God’s Word, it does something about it.

A Faith That Obeys Continually Acts On What is Heard  Notice how James takes this mirror analogy and shows us how faith is supposed to work: 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. James 1:25

James gives us three ways to cultivate faith that obeys:  First, he says, “whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it”  The first way you can cultivate an obedient faith is to Closely Examine God’s Word For Yourself.  This word picture carries the idea of “stooping down and looking closely.” This is much like the image of a child who bends over to get nearer to the bug he wants to examine.  A saw this a couple weeks ago when I was watching one of the first Fed Ex cup tournaments: Patrick Reed’s caddy, literally laid on the green to examine the slope of the green.  I’ve done that my self a time or two.  Another thing I did as a kid, was that everyday I would closely examine the sports page.  As soon as my dad was done with the sports section I would see if the Dodgers won, then I’d look at the box score, check out the batting averages, see who got RBI’s and home runs.  I knew how every player was doing and how my team was doing.  I totally examined everything I could.  Now when we go to the Doctor we expect the same treatment.  We expect the Doctor will examine us closely.  The idea is that when you are intently looking into something, you are going to learn so much more than a passing glance.

I did this with this verse:  First, I saw three ways to cultivate obedience to God’s Word.  But then as I continued to look closely, I saw something else, something that encouraged me greatly and should encourage you.  Do you know what I saw?  The word “whoever.”  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. James 1:25  Do you know what God’s Word is saying here? It’s saying that anyone who studies God’s Word with the intention of obeying it, when they obey it they will be blessed in what they do.  And what that tells me is this: anyone, literally anyone who does this will be blessed in the doing.  God blesses anyone who obeys His Word.  You just don’t hear that advertised on TV?  You don’t hear inspirational speakers talking about obeying God’s Word as the key to unlocking God’s favor on your life!  Anyone who gets serious about applying God’s Word will be blessed when they do!  You don’t have to have to go to Bible School or Seminary to get in on God’s blessing.  You’ve just got to get down and take a good hard look at what God’s Word is says, stay at it, don’t forget it, and just do it, and you will be blessed in the doing!  That’s pretty great.  Anyone can do this!  That means you.

So the first way to become a doer of the Word is to closely examine it for yourself, and keep at it. Don’t stop.  That’s the first way.  Now here’s the second: Remember what you have heard.  This command not to forget God’s Word reminds us of the history of God’s people. In Deuteronomy God gave His people His law before the people went into the Promised Land.  Deuteronomy 6:4-9 contains one of the most important passages in Israel’s history, and it relates to remembering God’s Word: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them whenyou sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9

God gave His people a number of ways to remember His Word: talk about it, tie His Word as symbols on your hands and head. Write His Word on the door-frames of you house.  Now, If God’s people needed all these reminders, what about us?  What can we do to help ourselves remember His Word? Today, you can buy a t-shirt with God’s Word written on it.  You can get great art with Scripture written on it.  How long has it been since you memorized God’s Word?  Maybe you say, “that’s too hard.”  But what about meditating on a truth of Scripture every morning for a week.  In my first year at Bible College, we were given the assignment of reading through the book of Romans in six different versions. We did that for six straight weeks.  And man, did that book of Scripture ever come alive.  I still remember the impact that had on me.

But let me ask this question: Why is it so important for us to not forget God’s Word? A couple of chapters later in Deuteronomy God warned His people not to forget His commands when they got to the promised land.  Listen to what he said to them: When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proudand you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  Deuteronomy 8:10-14  If we don’t intentionally focus on remembering God’s Word, we’ll become proud and might even forget God.  That’s a sober warning.  It makes me want to start memorizing God’s Word, starting with James 1:22-25.  What about you?  God wants us to remember what we have heard. And as we do, we will put it into practice. And leads us to the final way to cultivate obedience to His Word:

Just Do It!  Nike didn’t originate this phrase.  God did. Just do it. Just do what it says. Put it into practice. How important is this to God?  Listen to how Jesus said it to his disciples: Whoever has my commands and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21 Obedience to God’s Word is really about loving God.  We don’t obey God’s Word because we have to.   We don’t obey God’s Word out of guilt.  We don’t obey God’s Word out of duty…  We obey God’s Word because God has redeemed us and set us free.  He has set us free to live the life we have always longed for.  We no longer have to go through life wondering what life’s all about.  We no longer have to follow the mantra of the world that tell us to follow our heart.  No, God gave us His Word so we can live in the freedom of His will and become more than we ever thought possible. For whenever we obey His Word, we live by faith, and whenever we live by faith we show God that we love Him. And what’s even better than that, we unleash God’s love in our lives.  Now I would call that a faith that works!

So let me ask you: Do you want a faith that works?  Do you want a faith that unleashes God’s blessing in your life?  Do you want a faith that obeys?  Then learn to

Closely Examine God’s Word For Yourself.  Find creative ways to Remember What You Have Heard and then Just Do It! and you will have a faith that works.

This sounds simple enough, but sometimes we need to help one another obey God’s Word.  So let me remind you of two opportunities we have that can help you:  First,  Bible Study 101, a three week equipping opportunity that will help you learn how to examine God’s Word for yourself.  And two,connect with aJourney Group. After all, anyone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus, learns from Jesus how to live and love like Jesus; by learning to obey Jesus. That’s what our Journey Groups are all about.  And if you’ve never been part of one and would like to connect with others let us know.

God wants you to have a faith that works.  That’s why He rescued you at the Cross.  That’s why He gave You His Holy Spirit and why He gave you His Word. But let’s not settle for be just listeners of His Word, but let’s become doers of His Word.  For when we become doers of His Word, then we will have a faith that works.  Let’s pray.