Sunday we looked at the central message in the book of James: “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only” (1.22). Scholars suggest that his readers were scattered believers across the Diaspora after the early persecution came to the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8.1). James, who is called the first pastor of the Jerusalem church, wrote to remind them to practice what they preached. He challenged them get rid of hypocrisy and apply themselves to the practical outworking of the Scripture in their own lives.
In essence, here in the early portion of his letter, he is reminding them that the Bible primarily exists for your TRANSFORMATION, not simply for your INFORMATION. Knowledge can’t (and won’t) save; only Christ in you, the hope of glory.
James insists that the Word of God demands a response. You cannot ignore it. God’s Word lays claim upon your life and mine as followers of Christ. Hence, in Scripture the tension between the indicative and the imperative moods, grammatically. The indicative states the facts of what have happened, specifically in Christ’s work for us. The imperative declares the claim it has upon our lives, for “we have been bought with a price.”
So how are we to respond to the Word? What difference is it to make in our lives?
First, we are to receive the Word (v. 21). Implanting the Word in our hearts is God’s work, but we are commanded to “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent” first. The writer uses the analogy of shedding a dirty set of clothes here as a preparatory act. Moreover, in doing so, along with being in “listening and learning” mode as he mentions at the beginning of this paragraph, we demonstrate humility. This is the key to receiving the Word, that we submit to the authority of its source and its import upon our lives. In fact, James reminds his readers that this very Word is able to “save you.”
Second, we are to remember the Word (v. 25). James uses the analogy of a mirror to assist his readers in understanding the value of the Word in their lives. They are to “let the Word of Christ dwell richly within” them. Three times he emphasizes this by using words like “look intently,” continue to do,” and “not forgetting.” All of this reinforces the importance of letting the Word of God invade our lives. It’s more than just receiving or even reading…we must contemplate it regularly. By that I mean, we are to meditate on it, revisit it through the days, let it “transform our minds” as we stoop down and look carefully into it. The blessing we receive in so doing is to find ourselves aligned with our Lord’s will and Word.
Third, we are to reflect the Word (v. 22). When we live out His Word, we “reflect” it–and its source, our Lord–to the world around us. Our light TO them is a reflection of our life IN Him. In living out His Word, we proclaim His truth (1.18). James actually pits two categories of people in contradistinction to each other here in this verse: hearers (in the ancient world this referred to those who attended lectures but never joined the group) and doers (in the ancient world this was a word used for poets and orators, those who’s identity and meaning were shaped by words). He suggests to his readers that they were in one category or the other. The key to being a doer was to implement its commands in life, to apply and live out the Word personally.
In responding to the Word, we are constantly asked the same, in fact, perhaps the most important, question of all: what will we do with “the Word” now that we know what it says? This is the “so what” of the Scripture. God has said such-and-such; how will we respond? The challenge of James, even with the practical applications he mentions toward orphans and widows, is to live it out daily…to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.
(Due to my illness yesterday, these notes from my message are a day later than usual.)
