17
Every generous
act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18
In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth,
so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
19
You must
understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak,
slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s
righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and
rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that
has the power to save your souls.
22
But be doers
of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For
if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at
themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going
away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But 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.
26
If any think
they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts,
their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is 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.
Year B
August 28-September 3
August 30, 2015
Title: Am I Ugly?
Cross~Wind
Going deeper
The theme of
James 1:17-27 involves temptation in verses 17-18 and true religion as doers of
the word in verses 19-27.
James 1:17-27 (NRSV)Verses 17-18 focus our attention on temptation. 17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, [the contrast is with his previous conversation about temptation, where he stresses that God does not tempt us. Rather, temptation arises out of evil desires. The starting-point of generous and perfect gift lies outside our world. In 1:5, he has said that God gives generously and ungrudgingly.] with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. [God is without change in the way humans experience change across time and culture. Personal experiences throughout life shift our understanding of God. God is the source of life and all that is necessary to sustain it. It may seem like God changes, especially when we look seriously at the movement within the Bible from the God of the Patriarchs, to the God of Moses and the judges, to the God of the kings, to the God of covenant and Law, to the Father of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. James is not suggesting that God is a static, inflexible and immovable monolith -- undoubtedly, God has and will continue to act and respond to choices people make (cf. Genesis 6:6-7; Exodus 32:7-14; Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Jeremiah 18:5-17; 26:3, 13, 19; Jonah 3:1-10). Rather, James's assertion is that God is steadfast and true to who God is. To be sure, God demonstrates faithfulness by giving wisdom to anyone who asks God for it (1:5). Proverbs 2:6-8 says that the Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, giving sound wisdom to the upright. For that reason, those following the Lord can depend on the Lord to be the true God and to act in ways that are faithful to the divine character and consistent with divine revelation.] 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose [to provide salvation] he gave us birth [re-birth] by the word of truth [stressing that while the gift of physical life is important, the regenerative birth that comes through the word of truth is the supreme gift. Barth will stress that if we question the clarity of the Word that comes to us, we put our knowledge of this Word, and therefore faith, love, and hope, on an inadequate foundation.[1] Barth will also stress that the Word of God transposes humanity into the wholly new state of one who has accepted and appropriated the promise, so that one lives with it. We find this truth here, where the word of truth begets the Christian.[2] This means that we do not produce the word out of our experience, but rather, the Word begets us.[3]], so that we would become a kind of first fruits [we must bear the fruit that reveals the work of God in us. This suggests the relation of Christians to the rest of creation and humanity. If you are a Christian, you are the “first-fruit” of the rest of humanity and the rest of creation in experiencing the redemption that God will bring to all that God has created. Re-birth through the word is a prelude to the re-creation of the world. To say that they are first fruits is to speak of the liberation the Christian experiences in personal life.[4]] of his creatures.
[The theme of James 1:19-27 is that
true religion is to be doers of the Word. James, however, is not writing an
instruction manual whose primary purpose is to catalog attributes of dutiful
citizens and good neighbors. Instead, his aim is to nurture disciples of God's
kingdom. Here is clarification on what it will mean for them to become “first
fruit” and show their re-birth through the word of truth.]
19 You must understand this, my
beloved: let everyone be quick to listen [to the word of God], slow to speak, slow to anger [like too
many prophets of doom and political agitators. The statement itself summarizes
Jewish wisdom. James will return to the theme of the unrestrained tongue. We
see a typical technique of James here in contrasting behaviors and their
outcomes side by side.]; 20 for your anger does not
produce God’s righteousness. [Demagogues may believe they do the work of
God, but they do not. Jewish apocalyptic circles often went against Rome. The
righteousness of God has not developed in us if we give way to anger. Such
outbursts do not produce God's righteousness.
Unguarded anger spewing out of Christians negates what James wants to
stress has been implanted within the true Christian heart. Christians are to put off or take off old
non-Christian ways of acting and speaking once they have been re-born. Christians must not imagine that human anger
brings about God's righteousness.]
[In
verses 21-25, the main concern is hearing and doing.]
21 Therefore rid yourselves [in
baptism] of all sordidness and rank
growth [like a gardener must get rid of the weeds] of wickedness, and welcome with meekness [some have misused anger
against society while the antidote is to receive the word humbly] the implanted word [at baptism] that has the power to save your souls.
[James incorporates a gardening image to animate his directives. To begin
planting paradise here on Earth, believers must get rid of sordidness and root
out the rank (under)growth of brambly wickedness that thrives and threatens us.
Only then, can the "implanted word" take root, flourish, and
"save your souls." What doers
achieve and hearers miss is nothing less than "the power to save your
souls" -- which is the Word's ultimate purpose.]
22 But
be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. [Here is another use of a
favorite technique of using contrasting words, expressing the difference
between the genuine and the deceived. This verse is the principle admonition of
the section. The dichotomy exists between those who are doers of the word and
those who are merely hearers. Some profess Christianity, and may give public
profession, but they are not considering the wider implications of the
gospel. They believe salvation will come
by merely listening and participating to a convenient extent. Barth has a discussion of
humanity as a doer of the Word. The emphasis is upon humanity as recipient of
the Word of God. The Word has the power to save. In this power, God engrafts
the Word in the one who believes and confesses it. The Word is something alien
and the element of a new order. If so, this receiving and reversal are the
self-evident and inevitable consummation of our existence as God posits it. We
deceive ourselves if we try to be only hearers of the Word and not doers. As
hearers, the Word takes us prisoner and we surrender to it. The totality of our
existence is evidence of what we have heard. To hear and not do is deception
because we treat it as though it were not the Word and imagine that to ignore
the engrafting is to rob it of its power. We can see our natural face in a
mirror, and then turn away and forget it. However, in the mirror of the Word we
see ourselves as we are before God therefore in truth. Once we have heard what
this Word has to say to us, we can never forget. We can only be what it says
that we are. The Word lays claim on us. It demands our confession through our
lives. It demands our hearts.[5]] 23
For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who
look at themselves in a mirror; [Philosophers and theologians of the first
century in a variety of ways often used the mirror metaphor used in verse
23. James uses the mirror here to emphasize
further the different attitude that molds doers and hearers. Within James' image is the suggestion that
the ones who see just their own image in the mirror find the vision absorbing
only while they are actually gazing into the mirror. The doers on the other hand need only to
glance into the perfect law, the law of liberty, in order to be changed for
life. The mirror (word) enables the new
person in Christ to appear. If the
hearer receives newness of life in baptism and then reverts to old patterns,
shows that the new birth was not very important. This perfect law recalls James' mention of
the perfect gift in 1:17.] 24 for they look at themselves
and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.
[Deceivers/Deceived will never know who they are or where they are going.] 25 But those who look into the
perfect law, the law of liberty, ["The law of freedom" has some
Stoic concepts. They especially focus on
the inner freedom to do the law as God requires. James comes, not from Pauline Christianity,
but from a Diaspora Judaism that sought to simplify the Law. Christianity is viewed as a new law, see
Shepherd of Hermas, Barnabas, Didache. The
gospel is the true law. The emphasis is on its attributes, "perfect"
and "liberty." Liberty in context
is against wrath and evil passion. This
may reflect on adapting to stoic teaching.
Zealousness for the law often led to an aggressive attitude toward Rome
or Christians.] and persevere, being not
hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
[James now identifies the
mirror with the law = word. One must
then move to what it is that is reflected.
However, the simile itself is simple we forget mirror images quickly. The one who looks deeply will become
"doer."]
[In the final two verses, James
once again returns to his focus on the acerbic, abusive tongue as the greatest
detractor to true religion, religion that is pure and undefiled.]
26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their
tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. [James
concludes by declaring that all those who fail to follow the mandate outlined
in verses 19-21 are deceived in their hearts. What these deceived ones call
being "religious" is in fact "worthless" -- that is, fruitless,
for they will fail as God's first fruits to bring about any harvest of fruits
of their own. James makes clear that it is not right to pretend to be religious
(one of the few times the New Testament uses this word with the meaning of the
moral duty as the cultic veneration of God[6])
while attacking society with an evil tongue.
The self-deception is that such outspoken criticism is compatible with
Christian confession. In reality, true
religion is works of love to orphans and widows. James is against any piety
which does not lead to moral purity, or which tolerates gross moral defects and
consequently is not genuine.] 27 Religion
that is 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.
[This is close to Jesus. One is not led
to God through the discussion of difficult problems, but the simplest thing of
all, leading a life that is pleasing to God.
In addition, he has become acquainted with such piety through the
tradition.]
Introduction
The image of the mirror brings to
mind the concern most of us have for how we “look.” Am I beautiful or handsome?
Am I ugly?
I have a picture of me when I was
something like 10 or 12. I also have one from a bit later, graduating from High
School in the Spring of 1970. I was about 18. I was so self-conscious. Most of
my teen years, the 1960s, Dad insisted that I receive a “burr” haircut. The
problem in my eyes, however, was my ears were too big for my head. When the
Beatles made long hair popular, I so much wanted to let my hair grow, at least
to my ears, to cover them up a little.
In those years, the teen and early
20s, I suspect most of us, unless you were one of the lucky ones whom everyone
thought of as handsome or beautiful, go through a phase of wondering if we are
attractive.
I came across an article in which
this expressed itself in a sad way on YouTube.
Her screen name is
"sgal901" -- and she wants to know if she is pretty or if she is
ugly. Rather than ask her parents or ponder it with her friends, this
middle-school student decides instead to pose the question to the world at
large, via YouTube.
That is right. Smiling sweetly at
her laptop and donning a knit-cap made to look like a koala bear
"sgal901" does what middle school girls do: She complains of being
called ugly by some and "oh-my-gosh-so-beautiful" by others. Rather
than simply lamenting the craziness and confusion of being 13 years old through
scribbles in a diary, this is, after all, the digital age, "sgal" has
turned to the Internet for insight. Is she pretty? Or is she ugly? Of course,
the Internet has responded. This one young girl's public pondering of her own
beauty has received more than 5.5 million views and racked up over 130,000
comments.
This girl is not alone. In fact,
she is representative of a growing trend among young girls who have been
jumping on sites like YouTube and Facebook by the thousands and begging
sweetly, albeit very naively, for input on their level of attractiveness. As
you might imagine the fad has many a parent of a "tween-age" girl
looking to toss the laptop in the trash, retreat to an Amish community and lock
their daughter away until the age of 30.
Yet, if we ponder what it is that
is truly bothersome about this trend, one must admit that it is not the fact
that kids are wondering whether or not they are attractive. No, that question
is a common and constant one, not just among adolescents but also among every
adult who owns a mirror. The question itself is normal.
The audience for it makes all the
difference.
For an insecure child looking to
affirm her self-worth, the anonymous world of YouTube commentators is probably
the worst of audiences. It is a world comprised of unemployed dudes in their
mid-20s who live in their mothers' basements and are working on a double major
in Jonah Hill movies and jaded sarcasm at Slacker University. Do not ask those
people if you are pretty. You do not want to know the answer.
However, asking someone who truly
knows you, loves you, and cares for you, whose opinion you respect and who
wants the best for you, asking them to give you feedback can be an incredibly
healthy and highly constructive thing. A father knows what is truly beautiful
about his daughter. A mother knows what is potentially ugly about her son. A
wife knows when her husband is most handsome, and a lifelong friend can be
trusted to tell you when you are being kind of ugly and unlovely. Yes, ask them
if you are pretty; that is fine. Their answer is likely worth listening to.
As members of God's family, we must
be willing to ask the question, "Am I spiritually ugly? Am I reflecting
the righteousness of Christ, or today, in the way I am thinking, acting and
treating others, do I look like I've been hit with the ugly stick of sin?"
As we have learned, the audience for this question makes all the difference. We
can ask ourselves and we will see what we want to see, conveniently justifying
everything unattractive. Or we can go to someone who knows us, someone who
loves us, someone who wants what's best for us, and who can look well beyond
what's on the surface and peer deep into our souls.
Application
The Word helps us to be beautiful people
This is what James is driving at
when he says,
"... be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive
themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like
those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on
going away, immediately forget what they were like" (James 1:22-24).
The truth of the Scriptures has the
ability to reveal lovingly how God perceives us. Then, based on that feedback,
we are able to discern how we should live in response. It is a truth so
trustworthy and instruction so vital that to reject it is to embrace a life of
self-deception and to be unchanged by God's power.
Specifically, when we open God's
Word ready for an honest, spiritual assessment, God speaks to us in two ways: through words of law and words of gospel.
We will start with the law.
The law closes us off from future
possibilities. It brings us to the end of our rope. It tells us all that we
cannot do.
The law is given to us whenever we
hear God telling us what we should or should not do or the kind of person we
are expected to be. Reformation-era theologians liked to say that such commands
not only tell us what to do, but how we have failed to uphold them and that we
are crushed under the weight of them. In this way, the law serves to show us
our spiritual ugliness and, when bursting with pride or tempted to trust in our
own awesomeness, reveal who we actually are.
No, when we approach God's Word
seeking a true assessment of ourselves, and the law crushes us under the
reality of our sin, the intention is that by being hearers of that word we
would be doers of the word and run to, cling to, Christ.
Martin Luther puts it like this:
"After the Law
has humbled, terrified and completely crushed you, so that you are on the brink
of despair, then see to it that you know how to use the Law correctly; for its
function and use is not only to disclose the sin and wrath of God but also to
drive us to Christ."
- We are driven to Christ in confession of sins to a
Christian friend.
- We are driven to Christ with a prayer of thanks for the
"great exchange" that through baptism we get to wear his
righteousness, his goodness, in the eyes of God as if it's our own.
- We are driven to Christ when we cry out to him saying,
"Lord, I see who I am because of my sin, tell me how much you love me
through the cross!"
This brings us to words of gospel.
The gospel is promise or good news
that opens us to the future. The gospel proposes a future that might belong to
us, if we open ourselves to hear it. The gospel enables a new future.[7]
If the law is those words which tell us what's demanded of us from God,
revealing our ugliness, then gospel is those words that tell us what's been
done for us by God, revealing how lovely we are to him, how treasured, valued
and desired we are by him. The gospel is heard in words like those found in
Galatians chapter 2, which tell me, "I
have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is
Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians
2:19-20).
It is when we come to God's Word,
already convinced of our own flaws and deep imperfections, already buckling
under the weight of the world's expectations -- and if we have been hearing the
law, God's expectations as well -- that we need these words to whisper sweetly
into our ears. We need them to tell us that we are no longer ugly because of
our sins but that we have been made over in the eyes of God through the work of
Christ.
Like the law before it, these words
of gospel serve not only to tell us who we are but also to transform how we
live. Once we have heard that word, we then become doers of that word by
seeking to live in a manner reflective of the beautiful, beloved and
grace-given creature God says that we are. We become a doer of these words when
we give grace to others as it has been given to us. We become a doer of the
word when we speak life to others as it has been spoken to us. This is why
James goes on to say, "If any think
they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts,
their religion is worthless" (James 1:26). We become doers of the word
whenever we embrace a loveliness with our doing that matches the loveliness in
our being that God says is ours through Jesus Christ.
Without God's words of law and gospel, it is impossible for us
to see who we truly are and to be the man or woman God has called us to be. Yet
when we open the word, ready for a spiritual assessment, ready to ask, "Am
I pretty?" -- not to Internet trolls but to God, the right audience -- we
will be transformed. The God who knows us and loves us will show our sins to
us, and we will cling to Christ. The God who wants what is best of us and who
demands nothing of us will whisper all that's been done for us and we will
respond in kind. Through that process, we will hear who we actually are and we
will truly become beautiful.
Conclusion
"sgal901" has much to
learn. No surprise there, she is in middle school. She is yet to grasp that so
much of what we label as "pretty" or "ugly" is subjective
and contextual. What constitutes thin and fit today would have been labeled
sickly just a short time ago. In the Renaissance, a huge forehead was
considered a beautiful feature for a woman, and in the future, folks will
likely scoff at our current obsession with things like "man-scaping.
(removing hair from the body)" And most of all, she's yet to learn that
while asking questions in life is fine, even essential, it's important to be
wise about it. The audience makes all the difference in the world.
May we, as encouraged by James, seek to assess our own
spiritual beauty. However, may we seek the critique from someone who knows us,
someone who loves us, cares for us, and who wants the best for us. May we seek
to see our reflection in God's word, where his law can drive us to Christ in
response to what's broken, and his gospel can drive to give love to others in
light of all the loveliness he has given to us. Amen.
[1] Church Dogmatics IV.3 [69.3] 230.
[2] Church Dogmatics I.1 [5.3] 152-3.
[3] Church Dogmaitcs I.1 [6.2] 195-6.
[4] Church Dogmatics IV.3 [71.6] 674-5.
[5] Church Dogmatics I.2 [18.1] 365.
[6]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1,
121.
[7] Robert Jenson, Systematic
Theology, (1997) Volume 1, 15-16.
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