James 1:22-25
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
The secret lies in the prosperity gospel.
MANY titles bestowed on Donald Trump—from president to commander-in-chief—are hard for non-supporters to digest.
But the honorific that most puzzles the world, perhaps, is that bestowed by American conservatives who praise the swaggering tycoon as a man of God.
Where Skeptics remember Trump stoking sectarian rage at campaign rallies they also remember which White House aides called President Trump a leader bent on uniting the great faiths, who will bring a “message of tolerance and of hope to billions” during stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and Rome.
Being 'doer of the Word' means rejecting hypocrisy, cover - up(S).
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word application as "the act of putting to a special use or purpose."
Every day we read the Bible. Every day we pray. But not every day do we act like a Christian. Why?
It’s because we forget to become doers of the Word. The Bible is very clear that if you and I don’t become doers of the Word, we are like the man who looks in the mirror and forgets what we look like after we walk away.
All the knowledge of the Bible and all the sermons in the world will not make you a good Christian unless you actually apply what you know and what you hear to your walk. For example: Love your neighbor. If you don't know or get to know you neighbor, how can you love them?
Another example: The Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us as we have forgiven our debtors.” Is that a prayer we really want to pray? Lord, forgive just like those I forgive? Would God actually forgive you if that were the case? Have you really forgiven others? If not, watch out what you pray for.
Are you and I really applying the words of God to our life? Or are we just going through the motions? The dictionary says application means "the act of putting to a special use or purpose." For what special use are you using God’s Word? Is it for knowledge? That’s not too special.
God wants us to share His Word. He wants us to apply what we learn and hear to our lives, our families’ lives and to each person we come in contact with.
So I ask you: Are you a forgetful hearer or an effectual doer of God’s Word? There is a difference.
America do something this morning which is seldom done under Trumpism, connect with the Scriptures, put together a coat of arms, have a motto that summarizes goals in life, what is meant to achieve as a child of God, and the way faith was going to carry on it's work as under God healer in nation and of nations.
So, Americas thought life must begin where yes, I'll take that motto and although challenging will try to live up to that as to be doers of the word in recognition requires taking all of the Scriptures, everything in these Scriptures will now be taken very seriously in Trust.
It also means not only the scriptures, but Jesus. Do you remember in the prologue to John's Gospel, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … and the Word became flesh."? Jesus is the very Word of God. So you look at his life and you try to model yourself.
If you're going to listen to the word, you have to listen to Jesus. Again, this becomes very challenging. If you just take today's Gospel, what was Jesus upset about? Because people were pretending to follow God, but they had made up their own human traditions. Jesus says, "You're hypocrites. You claim to follow God, but you're following your own ways." Following God means listening to Jesus and not being hypocrites.
When we think about that and how Jesus challenged those scribes and Pharisees, we should right now recognize the failure(S) of our leader(s) especially where the false pride of Trumpism and its devils advocates were allowed to dominate and become all we've heard over the past weeks. Disgraceful!
What must be recognized while dealt with is the reality behind why the GOP allowed its incumbents to go back to work and repeat crimes over and over again as one of the worst calamities that has ever happened in national history.
If you're a doer of God's word, you would not be protecting and moving around from one place to another where abuse happens again and again. Being a doer of God's word would mean rejecting that kind of hypocrisy and living a life of full integrity. We have failed. It's a huge challenge for America now under the leadership of Donald Trump to try to bring us back to a real integrity of following the word of Jesus.
I'm sure some of you remember Vatican Council II over 50 years ago now, as the time you began to understand the church, not just as the hierarchy, the bishops and the institution, but as the people of God. All of us are the church.
The document from the council called "The Church in the Modern World" opened with the statement: "The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and the hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ."
What that document was teaching us (that was the first sentence), was not that the church is here to help us get into heaven, no, the church is here to help us to transform the world, enter into the world as church, the body of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus that can transform the world into the reign of God. That's what that document was teaching us, not just that we're trying to get to heaven, but we're trying to transform the world doing action for justice. Just a short time later, a few years later, the Synod of Bishops meeting in Rome in 1971 issued a document called "Justice in the World."
Among the things that document teaches is very challenging. This teaching that action for justice and participation in the transformation of the world — these are constitutive parts of the teachings of the church. Action for justice and participation in the transformation of the world constitute the very work of the church. That means we have, again, to try to enter into what's going on in the world, transform it, change this world until it becomes the reign of God where everyone is treated with human respect and dignity, everyone has an opportunity for a full life.
Transforming our world to make it a world of justice and peace is a work that is very profound, but it's one that all of us are called to. I recognize over the years whenever I see that passage about being doers of the word, I'm challenged. I'm challenged to not just take this message and read it, and then put it aside some place, but to read it and to try to bring it into the life of our church, the life of our world, and to follow Jesus who is this Word of God. Be a doer like Jesus was where he reached out to the poor, reached out to those who are vulnerable, welcomed them, and welcomed the refugee. He himself was a refugee.
Jesus shows us so much if we only watch him and listen to him.
That motto continues to challenge us in the Hope all of us were challenged as we listen today to the words of St. James,
"Be a doer of the word." Enter into the work of the church to transform our world into the reign of God, the reign of God where everyone has the chance for a full human life where we build a world of peace and justice. This is what we are called to do if we follow Jesus, if we are doers of the word who is Jesus.
If you just took today's Trumpism Gospels, what would Jesus be upset about? Because people were pretending to follow God, they had made up their own human traditions.
ReplyDeleteJesus says, "You're hypocrites. You claim to follow God, but you're following your own ways." Following God means listening to Jesus and not being hypocrites. https://youtu.be/uwdpMwHE2ag