“Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” But before you can be a doer, you have to be a hearer. And so James would have us consider our hearing of the Word this morning, and our speaking, and our doing.
The Word of God goes in, and the Word of God goes out. And it’s in the in-between time when the Word is wording us, when the Word is “Jesusing” us. It’s like breathing. Air goes in, and air goes out. And it’s in the in-between time when the air is oxygenating us.
But before James can talk about faith and works, he needs to talk about the Word, about Jesus. That’s because faith, like every other generous act and perfect gift, is from God, from above, as James so eloquently wrote. It’s from above where we receive our new birth. We are born “from above” in baptism, through water and Spirit, as Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:3-5).
James tells us, “By his, [that is God’s] own choice, he gave us a new birth by the Word of Truth, so we would be the first crop from the harvest of everything he created.” You didn’t choose to be born from your mother; you didn’t choose to be born from above. That is God’s doing. What James says is that God chooses you!
And if we don’t hear James clearly, we can all-too-easily start patting ourselves on the back for making the “right, religious choices.” The unchangeable Father of lights willed us to spiritual birth through the Word of Truth, through the Gospel of Jesus, so we would be the first crop from the harvest of everything he created.
The “first fruits” or the “first crop” are what come first. More will follow. A new creation is on its way, awaiting Jesus’ return. But even now, as the old creation spasms and groans, you are the “first crop” of the new, testifying to what is to follow.
Believers are sprinkled throughout the world like salt on food to show the world that Jesus gives life, even though we will die. This gift of life from God is all by His grace. We don’t deserve a lick of it. Such life is all by the Word of Truth having His way with us. The Holy Spirit working through the Word kills the sinful creature within, making us alive. He drowns the sinner in baptism, raising the saint, killing sin, and raising righteousness. It’s all God’s work, a generous act and perfect gift from the Father of Lights through the Son in the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17). Jesus says, “The one who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15). And James says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” That’s sound advice for our conversation with others. Listen first, and then speak.
When you look at your head, you see that you have two ears and one mouth. And so it just makes sense that you should listen twice as much as you speak. And if that’s true for our conversation with one another, how much more true is that in our conversation with God? Be quick to hear and slow to speak. Before you can breathe out, you need to breathe in; before you speak, you should hear.
But here’s the problem. We’re born deaf to God’s Word. Sin is a ringing in our ears. It’s a tone deafness we inherited from Adam’s rebellion, which tunes out God’s Word, putting our word in its place. We don’t want to shut up and listen. We want others to hear our voices, and change what they are doing because of our protests.
But before a single, righteous word comes out of our mouths, a steady diet of righteous words needs to go into our ears. Unless the Lord opens our lips, our mouths will not declare His praise, not naturally (Psalm 51:15). Before we can pray, praise, and give thanks, we need to be still and listen to the Word of the Lord.
That’s why Lutherans don’t have what many call “prayer and praise” services. For what does “prayer and praise” stand for: it points to what we’re doing and neglects that God is the primary doer when we gather to worship. It shows, contrary to God’s Word, that we are being quick to speak and slow to listen. That’s why Lutherans have services of the Word and Sacrament, services of preaching, and services where God the Holy Spirit can drum the Word into our ears. We have services where we are quick to hear and slow to speak.
As James says, we “should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” Anger is the static, noise, and interference in our hearing. Did you ever worship when you were angry? And if so, did you get anything out of worship? Probably not, because your emotions had short-circuited your ears. Anger is like static on the radio. Anger plugs your ears and fouls your tongues. For us, it doesn’t work the righteousness of God.
Anger is what happens when you realize that you aren’t God. Anger is what happens when you’re not in charge, in control, and when you don’t get your way.
Anger is also a response to loss. We lose control of what we think was ours to control, and we get angry. We lose our car keys, and we get angry. We lose our health, and we get angry. We lose our loved ones, and we get angry. And so we sit and stew–and all the while God is speaking, but our anger plugs our ears.
Get rid of the wickedness and filth that clogs your hearing like earwax in uncleaned ears. For it’s easy to underestimate the cumulative effect of anger, of immorality, of wicked speech, of lies that eat away at your faith. Don’t think that you can wallow in the mud and not get dirty.
James isn’t speaking to the world; he’s speaking to the Church, to the baptized. He is warning them to put away the fallen filth of sin. The Apostle Paul did the same. He urged his hearers to put to death the sinful nature with its sexual immorality, impurity, and idolatry, to put away disagreement, dissension, and division.
Are you beginning to see? We live in it every day. We see it on TV and in the movies. The music on the radio drums such sinfulness into our ears. We read about it in magazines and newspapers, and it’s plastered all over the internet.
Don’t think that you are immune. Baptism is not a Teflon coating against our cultural muck and mire. No, baptism is a call to struggle, to war against the blatant appeals of your own sinfulness, to live in daily repentance. The Small Catechism says:
What does such baptizing with water mean?
It means that the Old Adam in us, with all its evil deeds and desires, is to be drowned and die by daily sorrow and repentance. Day after day, a new man is to emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
That’s true freedom. It’s freedom to live, love, and serve. And it begins with hearing the Word.
But there is a hearing when real hearing doesn’t take place. That’s when the words go in and rattle around, but nothing happens. That’s hearing without listening. That’s hearing without doing. That’s hearing without expecting the Word to do something. James compares such hearing to a man who goes and looks in a mirror, and the instant he turns around, he forgets what he saw. Such hearing is spiritual Alzheimer’s.
James says to be doers of the Word, not simply hearers. That Word of God is the same Word that created the world, that still orders creation, and keeps us alive. That Word of Jesus is the power of God for salvation. So, don’t think that it doesn’t have power. Expect it to do what it says. For it’s Christ–the Word–in action!
The Word you hear takes hold of your heart. It plows you under and then lifts you up. That Word is no idle, empty Word. For when the Word of Christ says that you are forgiven, you are forgiven. Now live as one who is forgiven. You get to do that. When the Word of Christ says that you are free, you are free. Now live as one who is free. You get to do that.
That’s what it means to be a “doer of the Word.” It’s letting the Word have its way with you, so God is at work within in you both to will and to do His purpose and pleasure. The Word says, “Believe in Jesus Christ, trust Him with your life and death,” and the doer of the Word believes. The Word says, “Don’t try to bear your sins or atone for them; instead, confess them and hear forgiveness.” And the doer of the Word confesses and hears.
The Word says, “Love as Jesus loves you.” And so to the widow, the orphan in distress, the least, the little, and the forgotten of this world, you love them as Jesus has loved you, in your littleness, in your corner of the world. Those are the works of mercy that the Word moves you and me to live out.
Christ is hidden in these little ones for you to serve. You serve others, even if it may never lead to their eternal salvation. You serve them because of who you are in Christ, because He has saved you. Jesus hung on a cross to free you–and them. He opened your ears, so you could hear. He loosed your tongue to speak and sing His praises, so others might hear and believe. You are the first fruits, the first crop–and soon to come will be the harvest of the resurrection!
Indeed, Jesus has done everything well–and you are on the receiving end of all He has done! Hear it, believe it, speak it, and do it. Amen.
