I preached this morning. And last Sunday God really challenged me with a text that was
tough!
My first sermon was on Palm Sunday and was in my own personal style - it was very clearly a "me" sermon. Fun to do and a topic that I really like.
My second sermon was more of a storytelling one - again, something I love. Another facet of me and myself as a preacher explored... with positive results.
So this time around, God was really challenging me to bring a hard word with love. I'll admit to being scared that perhaps people would be offended, rather than touched. So far, the reviews are positive and it seems that God used me to make people think! Woohoo!!!
EDIT: Here is a link to the
Final Report from the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church. I reference this report in the sermon below.
On to the text:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two Ears but Only One Mouth
James 1.16-21
A sermon delivered by Jennifer Howard at the First Presbyterian Church of Burbank
09 July 2006
Pray with me:
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to You, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Introduction
So… how many of you have a sibling? Raise your hands. Ok keep them up… now… whoever has, or has had, a parent or parental figure, raise your hands. Great. How about anyone who has ever had a best friend, raise your hands. Anyone who has ever met a person other than themselves – raise your hands? Great. I think we have everyone. You can put them down now, thanks.
No more hands, but I’d like you to think about these questions; You can nod your head, smile at me, give me a thumbs up, something…
Have you ever shared a home with someone? Have you ever had a roommate? Have you ever been in a small group? On a committee? On a sports team? In a fraternity or sorority?
Then you understand what we’re going to be talking about today. Unity. Togetherness. Accord. And once you bring together more than one person, unity is something that you have to work for. Rarely… and I would dare to say “Never”… is it possibly for two or more people to always agree on everything. It just doesn’t happen. So… if that is the case, how are we, the church, supposed to be united? How do we achieve a sense of togetherness and accord as the Body of Christ? I think James had some “helpful hints” for us in this letter, and we’ll get into that in a minute. But first…
Most of you know that I went to General Assembly, and many know a little something about what happened there. I decided that, rather than avoid the topic all-together, today might be a good day to share a bit. But I didn’t want to preach GA. That’s not what we’re here to do. We’re here to hear from God. I felt like GA would be a good example and source for information for a sermon – but it is not what should be preached. Scripture is to be preached. God’s word. And so, we’re looking at a Scripture lesson that is really very relevant to the church today.
James opens his letter with a greeting “To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations”. He might be, and possibly was, referring to Jewish Christians scattered around the world at that time. This letter was circulated so that everyone would get the chance to read it. But James’ whole letter is, more generally, a letter to the church. To all churches. To First Pres Burbank. To Thompson Memorial Pres, my home church. To the PC(USA). To all denominations and all churches that call Jesus Christ: Lord and Savior. In it we find James’ love for this community and desire to see the church be united in love at all times. What I don’t think that means is that we must always agree on everything. Just like in families or with a roommate or a sibling – you don’t always agree… more often than not, you don’t agree. But, you love. And you work together.
With that background and this idea floating around in our heads, let’s listen to the passage again. Listen for James’ love for his audience, his focus on God and his passion for the community. And see if you can see how James understands community and unity to exist:
So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven's lights. Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.
My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God's sight. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls.
A Community of Truth
Don’t be misled. Don’t be deceived. It is so easy to be confused and led innocently astray. One of the first things James warns against is deception. But how are we to fight against this? What are we to do to not be deceived? Isn’t that really the fault of the deceiver? Well, yes, in a way. But we are responsible too. We can guard ourselves from deception and being misled by arming ourselves with… truth. If we seek to be knowledgeable, we can fight deception and misinformation.
Most of you are aware that there was one report at General Assembly that was getting most of the press: the report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church. You don’t have to raise your hands, but how many of you have actually read the report itself? Not commentaries or articles about it, but the actual report. I hadn’t either before I was selected to attend GA. But I found out that it’s not that long, and really not that hard to read – I was surprised. I expected it to be this massive book that was full of jargon that would mean nothing to me! Instead I found a document that was fairly easy to read and very interesting.
I’m not going to get into what the report says; that would take forever. Rather, I mention the PUP report (its little nickname) because this is a good example of not being deceived. The media, starting the night we voted on this report and continuing in earnest the next morning, has been reporting their own take on the vote… even to the point of mis-reporting the actions taken by the General Assembly. Rather than trust the media’s interpretation of this document, wouldn’t it be smarter to read it ourselves, discuss it together, pray about what it means and what God intends, and then come to our own understanding of what it says and what this vote means?
And what about God’s role in all of this? Isn’t God really the source of all knowledge and truth? Shouldn’t we perhaps look to God to reveal the truth? James wrote: Unlike [the lights of heaven], [God] never changes… Unlike the lights of heaven, unlike God’s own creation… God never changes. The implication here is that, if God never changes and that is ‘unlike’ creation, then we must be changing – and not always for the better! God, who never changes, can be our source of truth. We should be seeking knowledge and understanding and truth for ourselves and trusting in God to provide it.
A Community of Love
Ephesians says: We will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Truth alone is not enough. James doesn’t stop with the idea of preventing deception. He goes on to talk about love. I know, you’re all looking at the James passage now, or at least thinking back to it, and wondering where you missed the word love. Relax. You didn’t miss it. But love is there just the same. James’ language is full of images of parental love – choosing to make us children, giving us something precious: his true word, and thinking of us as his ‘choice possession’, His favorite piece of art in the collection.
Having established God’s love for us, James moves on to talk about how, as beloved children of the Creator, we are to show that love to each other. It looks to me like James doesn’t trust us to just say “love each other as God has loved you”. Reminding us of his love for us “my dear brothers and sisters”, James gives us three things to do in order to show love to each other. Three steps to ensure love and fellowship within community.
Be quick to listen. First things first, right? But the first thing to do isn’t to preach, or write a paper about how right we are, or to gather forces together for our side of things. Instead, the first thing we are to do is listen to each other. And quickly. Listen, not just hear, which implies thoughtful attention; listening that is intent on understanding the other before speaking. James is asking us to be quick, because it needs to be our first response. We need to put aside our desire to respond and then we need to listen – actively listen. Listen with our ears and our minds and our hearts. Focus our attention on the other person and really try to understand everything they are saying and not saying.
In my Church History classes at Fuller, John Thompson would have us write 3 papers each quarter. The assignments were to read documents written by key theologians from this time period and then write a paper summarizing their point of view on a particular topic; for example: Martin Luther on Freedom or John Calvin on Predestination. The challenge is to write a paper that accurately reflects what the original author was trying to communicate as a way for us to prove that in reading them (in essence, listening to them) we have actually heard what they said.
Be slow to speak. This goes hand-in-hand with the listening, really. In being quick to listen, we have to resist the desire to start talking immediately. We need to leave room to actually listen to the whole story from the other side, and listen for God’s voice in the situation before we speak. Slow to speak doesn’t imply unintelligence. Rather, it is the intelligent person that will take the time to fully understand the other’s position before speaking. This prevents us from saying things that are inappropriate or incorrect. Because if we misunderstand, we take the chance of causing anger in ourselves and in those around us. Which leads us to James’ third point:
Be slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight. Our anger prevents us from really listening to each other. It makes us start to work internally on our response to this person who has been a catalyst for our anger, rather than hear what they have to say. James is clear – our anger is never going to correct things. I don’t think that it is something that should never happen – Jesus himself got very angry and overturned the money changers’ tables in the Temple – but it wasn’t meant as the overall solution, but as a catalyst for change. Anger can be an effective tool to address problems, but only when based in fact and directed appropriately. That’s why all anger needs to be slow – even righteous indignation – because sometimes our anger can be misplaced because of misinformation or misunderstanding. Being slow gives us time to really consider the implications of our anger.
I am sure that most, if not all of you, have heard the phrase “God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason.” Here it is, in James. Listen first – and to use the quote, twice as much. Having listened, speak truth in love. Take into consideration what you have heard and speak in reply. It’s what makes a real conversation. And finally, be slow to get angry. Be careful about how much and how often you let your anger get stirred. We don’t see much anger from Jesus in the scriptures – so that when we do it is even more powerful and important.
A Community of Salvation
So far James has spoken about a community of truth, a community of love and finally (in this passage anyway) we read about a community of Salvation. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls. Being honest and loving with each other brings about a desire to remove the evil and embrace the good that God himself has planted within us. Humility allows us to see and accept this message – which is our salvation. God is the source of that word, God gives us the power to see it, and as a result, God saves. What an encouraging word from James that is: It is not our power to be perfect or holy. It is not our knowledge that we acquire. It is not our own strength. For [God’s message planted in your hearts] is strong enough to save your souls.
God is strong enough.
I was humbly reminded of this during the General Assembly. Just before discussion began on the PUP report we stopped business for a few minutes, stood and prayed together as a community. We prayed for love, forgiveness, wisdom, guidance, peace, humility… you name an emotion or need and I’m sure that somewhere on the floor someone was praying for it. After an open time for prayer, Joan Gray, our new moderator, began singing from her podium, joined by the end of the first line by most of the people gathered in that hall:
Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me
Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me
Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me
The assembly of over 700 stood and pleaded for the Holy Spirit to fall upon us and be a part of our discussions. And let me tell you, the spirit fell. It was a powerful moment to witness and words cannot describe that moment in time. But I knew, I knew, that God was in control – as He has promised to be. We serve a God who is big enough to handle salvation for all… and that is a humbling and exciting thing!! What an honor it is to be called to serve this God with our lives – and what a joy it is to do in the context of community.
Conclusion
As General Assembly came to a close, Joan Gray took a few minutes to leave us with a pastoral message. It was very important for me and what I sensed God was calling me to be a part of now that the meetings were over and the conversations were beginning. Joan’s message reminds me a bit of James’ message as well – and so I share it with you:
- Don’t gossip – speak the truth and be informed. If you don’t know where the information came from, don’t speak it.
- Don’t slander – speak well of each other and don’t be mean. Be filled with love for everyone, even if they disagree with you. You’re more likely to have a good conversation that way.
- Tell people “Don’t trust how the media has reported these larger issues”. This goes back specifically to the gossip. The media were there but didn’t really understand all the dealings and had not had the chance to actually read these documents. They watched for awhile, went on what little they knew of the event and reported to the best of their ability. While they were faithfully trying to report on the event, these were not believers or people who had been engaged in this process all along. Not the best source for truth. A reminder for us all to be discerning about our sources of information.
- Mend relationships before you leave – this is just a good practice all the time. Don’t let hurts fester. Forgive and seek forgiveness. Remember that we are all part of the ONE Body of Christ. And remember to seek forgiveness for the gossip and slander already committed. Repair broken relationships.
As we close, remember that James is calling us to be a community, engaged in the calling of God: to bring about the Kingdom of God. And James knows that we’re bound to mess up our relationships with each other – so he offers us some clear ideas on how to achieve that community: be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.
Do not let our struggles and disagreements divide us. One definition for unity in the 2000 American Heritage Dictionary is: “singleness or constancy of purpose or action”. Our purpose is defined in many places: “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever”, “to make disciples of all the nations”, “live lives worthy of our calling”… but the most all-encompassing is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. … Love your neighbor as yourself." Let us show our love for one another by listening quickly, speaking slowly, and angering little. And let us pray that we can be the united, and diverse, church that God has created us to be.
Amen.
Benediction
We are one body of Christ. One community of faith. And James wanted to make sure that, even while scattered around the world, we learned how to be a community together. Our love for each other, which is the result of being loved by God first, marks us as different, unique and special in this world.
Receive the benediction from Ephesians:
I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—
one Lord,
one faith,
one baptism;
one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Amen
