To Do or Not To Do

James 1:19-27

September 3, 2006

“To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? - Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 3

Hamlet is deciding whether to take action, to be who he was meant to be, or to just sit by and let life happen.

“To do, or not to do, that is the question.”- James

The letter of James was probably one of the earliest New Testament books written. The author says he was “the brother of the Lord,” probably one of the children of Mary and Joseph after the birth of Christ.  Eventually James would become one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem .

James is not writing about how to become a Christian, but rather how to take action, how to live like one.

In other words, it’s discipleship.  You see, James reinforces for us the fact that faith has a sense of motion—it’s the Christian walk, not the Christian observation.  It’s a lifelong endeavor.  A parade: either a bystander or a participant.

The problem he addresses is that most of us hear about it but are confused about what discipleship—a living faith—means. 

Some might suggest real faith means going to church or having perfect attendance. Obviously, I’m in favor of church attendance and church membership. But anyone can do that. 

Many of you probably read the book or the saw the movie about Corrie Ten Boom’s family who risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbors from the Nazis during the opening days of WWII (The Hiding Place). At one point in the book, Corrie and her sister question their father about why so many of their professing Christian neighbors were siding with the Nazis. “They are part of the same church we are,” observed young Corrie. Wise Pappa Ten Boom answers, “Just because a mouse is in the cookie jar doesn’t make it a cookie.”

Maybe you can tell if a person is a disciple of Christ by how big a Bible they carry. Maybe it is how a person dresses or how far back in the sanctuary they sit. James’ Jewish audience might have defined a real disciple by right ceremonies, rituals, or temple sacrifices. But none of these things define a disciple.

We all hear God’s word, but the difference between merely hearing the word of God and doing the Word of God is the mark of one who is an active follower of Jesus—a disciple. That’s the message that James wants us to learn this morning in our scripture reading. Verse 22 says "Do not merely listen to the word and deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

He compares the person who hears the word and rejects it to someone who looks at himself in the mirror and walks away and immediately forgets what he looks like. Why does he forget what he looks like? It might be because he doesn’t like what he sees! But the mirror doesn’t lie, does it?

I mean, we can look into a mirror and recognize that we have a dirty face, or that we need a hair cut, a shave, or the makeup is running, but the mirror is not much good to us if we don’t actually do something about it. People might come up to us and say, “you know, you’ve got a blotch of mud on your cheek?” And we can say, “yeah, I saw it in the mirror.” The knowledge is pretty useless unless we act on it!

And that’s how many people react when they look into the mirror of God’s Word. We hear it on Sunday morning, and think, “Wow, this stuff is good!  I need to read my Bible every day!  I need to get off my butt and help out on a ministry team at the church!”  This happens because God’s word is a mirror to our hearts, and convicts us if we are calling ourselves Christians yet not living like a disciple.

The problem is that we hear it on Sunday, but never get around to actually doing anything about it. We need to realize that being in worship and in Sunday school or Christian education classes on Sunday morning is just to prime the pump—the action takes place when we leave.

It’s like the story of a guy who came to church late. He walked in right near the end of the service. He said to an usher, "Is the sermon done yet?" The usher answered wisely. He said, "The sermon has been preached, but it has yet to be done."

That reply pretty much sums up the message of the book of James. The word of God is not just meant to be preached. It’s meant to be practiced. We must not only hear the word. We must heed the word.

Human beings are creatures of habit. And I have become convinced over the years that unless you consciously strive to make something a habit, what will eventually happen is that you will develop other habits that just fill in the time.

Just as we need to form good hygiene habits, we need to form good spiritual habits. When you wake up in the morning, where is the first place you usually go? I mean after the bathroom.  What is the first thing you do?  Read the paper?

Here’s an idea- how about reading the Bible first?

The Bible is probably the most bought, and least read book in the world.

Owner’s manual versus driving a car.

Regularly scheduled service.  Jiffy Lube.

Walk around inspection.

The manual is the theory—we put it in action.

Christianity was never meant to be theoretical, or a spectator sport. The danger is to see that we are saved by grace through faith and think that we can go on living any old way that we like.
Jesus is constantly reminding us that if we truly understand the sacrifice he made for us on the cross purely out of his love for us, then we need to actively respond.

Karl Wallinger sang this great line in the ’80s.  It was a take off on Jesus’ prayer from the cross: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do," except he sang “Father forgive them for they do not what they know.”
(from “ Hawaiian Island World” by World Party on “Private Revolution”)

We need to do what we know.  Only then will we live the abundant life that Christ has set out for us; only then will we be able to face the “outrageous fortunes” and the “sea of troubles” that Hamlet speaks of.  Only then will we truly know how to stop living purely for ourselves and be able to love someone else.

This Labor Day weekend, what “outrageous fortune” or “sea of troubles” pervade your life? 

Well, now that you’ve heard God’s word, take action.  Recommit your life to Christ, and take your burdens to the One who calms the sea and there will be rest from your labors.

But it’s up to you.  To do, or not to do.

COMMUNION