Hear and Obey | James 1:21-27
I was having a conversation with our grandchildren. And I was quizzing them about their ages. And asked one of them, “Are 15?” And she says, “Grandpa. I’m five. But I want to be 15.” Another of them said, “I’m three. But I want to be 10. I want to be big. I want to be like dad.” I tried to explain that to be 10, when you’re just three, you first have to be 4, and then 5, and then 6, and so on, before you get to be 10. You don’t get to skip from three all the way to ten.” And of course, we older folks know that’s because to grow up and get “big” is a developmental process.
James is writing to Christians, who have been providentially scattered by God, among the nations. James 1:1 says,
James . . . to the twelve tribes in the dispersion.
—James 1:1
And his purpose in writing to these dispersed Christians is to encourage and challenge them toward spiritual maturity. James 1:4 says,
Let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
—James 1:4
James’ purpose in writing is to serve God’s process of making them “grown-up” Christians. In other words, James wants them to be “big.” James wants them to be like their heavenly “dad.”
But to be “big” – or complete, or mature – they must live their way through an inevitable developmental process. And this developmental process begins with spiritual birth – or what we refer to as regeneration. James 1:18 says,
Of his (God’s) own will he brought us forth (that’s a birthing term – he brought us forth) by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
—James 1:18
So, Christians are Christians because God spiritually birthed us. And for there to be any further steps of spiritual developmental, we must first be spiritually born. In order to enter the realm of God’s family, one must be born of the Spirit. And if, right now, you are living in spiritual darkness, and Jesus, the Christ is nothing more than a name to you. You do not know him. You’re not following him. You do not belong to him. Permit me to pause right now, and announce to you that the King of heaven, this morning, sends a gracious invitation to you. And his invitation says, “As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies in his sin, but rather that he turn to me and live.” That’s his invitation. Turn to Him and live. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Renounce your self-reliance. Renounce your self-righteousness. Renounce your vain attempt at self-salvation. Set your heart and your hope on Christ alone, who laid down his life for sinners. Unless you are born again, you will not see the kingdom of heaven. End of pause.
After our spiritual birth, and in order to get “big” – in order to grow up – we must live life. And God’s developmental process for our spiritual growth and maturation includes two necessary instruments. First, we must experience things, like trials, various kinds of trials. That’s because –
The People of God Grow Up By Learning to Live By Faith In God
In order to grow, and develop, and mature, we must meet them, and feel them, and respond to them with faith in the One who has made us his own.
And, according our text today, there is another instrument by which you and I are being moved along in our developmental process toward spiritual maturation. And that instrument is the truth of God’s Word, and how you and I respond to it, and work its truth and teaching into our lives. And that’s because –
The People of God Grow Up By Hearing and Obeying the Word of God
Now our text - James 1:21-27.
Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
—James 1:21-27
The meaning of James 1:21-27 is only understood rightly in its relation to vv. 19-20. James 1:19,
Know this, my beloved brothers (and sisters): let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.
—James 1:19
It is emphatic and affectionate, and may be rightly and simply interpreted, “Grow up.” “This is what spiritual maturity looks like.” “This is how Christians act when they get ‘big’ like Dad.” But it is so out of step with the world in which we have been dispersed. We live in a world where the all-encompassing blanket of social media facilitates and fosters the voicing of “hot takes” and instantaneous expressions of opinion. But, let’s say that we agree with James 1:19. “Ok.” “Fine.” “I’m in.” But how? How is such restraint possible? Answer? V. 21,
Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
—James 1:21
How do we talk and listen and restrain our emotions? Put away all that filth and rampant wickedness. Repent! After Ryan’s sermon last week, Laurie said to me, “There’s only way to respond to that message. Repent.” A living and growing relationship with Christ includes repenting and believing because of the presence of remaining sin. It’s still there.
Two weeks ago I visited a church in El Paso, TX. One of the pastors invited me to sit in on a baptism interview he was having with an eleven-year-old boy. The pastor asked the young man, “How has following Jesus made a difference in your life?” And the boy said, “I recognize my sin faster.”
I’ve heard the stories from some of you parents – who are toilet training your young sons and daughters. Accidents happen. My wife and I have our stories. We had three boys. We know what it’s like after it happens, to help them put off their pants, and shirt, and socks, and hose them down. It’s on everything, in everything. It’s everywhere. If you have not had to do that, then you may not fully appreciate the force and struggle of James 1:21. What are we to do about the remaining filth of sin – IN OUR LIVES? Repent!
But what James writes next is of utmost importance. Again v. 21,
Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
—James 1:21
We grow up, we gain ground, we are progressively sanctified, NOT by our unaided activity, but rather by our receptivity. That is, we receive, with meekness God’s implanted Word. With meekness (dependence, humble reliance, faith)! It’s the difference between hard soil, or thorny/weedy soil, and good soil.
This is so important! We are ACTIVE in the developmental process of our spiritual lives. We receive. We take in. We get nourishment. We work out our salvation. But it is only because it is God who works in us. This is the point!! It is the Word of God that does the Work of God (i.e. the work of growing us, of transforming us, of building us into the maturity and stature of Christ) in the People of God
It is God’s Word that gets the work done. God’s Word makes all the functional difference. It’s God’s Word that is the operative instrument in the developmental process of growing us up into Christlike character. And if you forget this, if you forget it for a second, and shift your reliance on to resources you do NOT possess, all it’s going to do is increase your frustration over your failure, and lack of progress and growth.
Now here’s the main point of this passage. We receive the implanted word (v. 21) in order to become doers of the Word (v. 22). And that order must never be reversed. It’s the difference between worthless religion, and the fruitful and functional power of the gospel.
We Receive the Implanted Word In Order to Become Doers of the Word
In other words, the Bible, is the most reliable instrument in our redeemer’s hands to shape us according to His likeness. But it is a war. It’s a ruthless war. It’s an all-out war. Sometimes, some days, it’s a full-frontal assault. Other days it’s hand to hand combat. But almost all the time it is a war of propaganda and misinformation. It’s a war of deception. And the deception we face has two dimensions that James explains through two different words. Look at v. 22.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
—James 1:22
The word translated “deceiving yourselves” in this verse implies the notion of “going astray.” So, what is James’ concern? I believe he is warning us that it is easy to be deceived into thinking that because we hear the word, we are also obeying the word. In other words, we can confuse hearing with doing.
Confusing Hearing With Doing
We can be fooled into thinking that hearing equals obeying. We can convince ourselves that knowing and understanding is doing. I read my Bible. I listen to sermons and podcasts. I go to Bible Studies. I’ve got my Bible intake going. But according to James hearing the best exposition of the Scripture, even with clearest instruction in sound doctrine is not the same as heart obedience. Hearing plus understanding does not equal Christian maturity. Hearing without doing is nothing more than obedience by imagination. V. 23-24,
If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
—James 1:23-24
The impression was there for a moment. But it doesn’t last. That’s the problem with hearing without obeying. The seed of the Word falls on the well-worn path, but penetrates no further. It gets nothing done. In a sermon on Ezekiel 33:30-32, Sinclair Ferguson makes the observation,
“Because we come to hear the preacher perform, but not to obey the Word of God he expounds, we may develop spiritual rickets (rickets is condition found in children due to vitamin deficiency) because we are lacking in the vitamin D the word of God produces when hearing it issues in obedience. Instead we have soft bones, large heads, and weak joints. We need to be undeceived before it’s too late.”
—Sinclair Ferguson
Soft bones, large heads, and weak joints are not the traits that will endure great trials, or make Christ obvious in the places we have been dispersed. So what’s the cure? What is the prescription for the kind of spiritual health James is pointing to? Look at v. 25.
The one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
—James 1:25
The word translated “looks into” conveys the idea of stooping down in order to peer into something. It implies searching, studying and whole-hearted interest. And James’ point is, it’s impossible to grow up, get “big” and be like our heavenly dad without daily stooping and searching the Word. So hearing IS necessary.
But there’s more. James uses distinctive vocabulary here to describe God’s Word. He calls it the “perfect law, the law of liberty.” It might remind you of Ps. 19:7,
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
—Psalm 19:7
That’s what God’s Word does. It is perfect and is intended to make us perfect, complete and mature, lacking in nothing. It operates to set us free from the power of sin, because it is the law of liberty. Sinclair Ferguson writes,
“God’s Word does its work in our lives, not by treating us as robots, but by effecting in us an obedience to its commands, and a desire to live in a way that is consistent with its precepts.”
—Sinclair Ferguson
So hearing and true obeying involve both our work of peering and God’s work of perfecting. But James mentions yet another key component to our hearing AND obeying. In v. 4, James says,
Let steadfastness have its full effect.
—James 1:4
“Steadfastness” carries the basic idea of being able to remain under something. Picture someone carrying a heavy load without buckling under the weight of it. The image that comes to my mind is from the story of Luis Zamparini, told in the book (and the movie by the same title) Unbroken. There is an unforgettable moment when Zamparini, who is being held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp is, forced to hold up a massive log (or was it a railroad tie) on his shoulders for hours without crumpling. That’s the idea here. But in v. 25, James uses another word, similar, but with the basic meaning of “remaining alongside.” V. 25,
The one who looks (peers) into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
—James 1:25
The idea here is that we not only hear the word, study the word, and meditate on the Word, relying on the perfecting power of the Spirit as we do so. But we also keep in step with it. Holding it up. Remaining under it. Continuing along with it so that we don’t deceive ourselves and go astray, thinking that hearing IS doing, or reading IS obeying. Rather, we hear the Word, and read the Word, and receive the Word, and stoop down and peer into the Word IN ORDER to be doers of the Word.
Now, confusing hearing with doing is not the only way we can deceive ourselves. If it’s possible to mislead ourselves with the notion merely listening to preaching, teaching, podcasts, or reading the Bible is the same as practical Christian obedience, then it is also possible to mislead ourselves into believing that IF we can talk theology, talk doctrine, talk apologetics, talk the gospel, talk every chapter and verse of the Bible, then we are thereby obedient doers of the word. We deceive ourselves if we confuse talking with obeying.
Confusing Talk With Obedience
There is a remarkable tendency to confuse spiritual maturity with the ability to talk clearly, confidently, or courageously about any and every topic of Christian interest. James holds a different view. V. 26,
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
—James 1:26
Being opinionated, or possessing the capacity to dominate conversations is not typically seen as an evidence of grace, whereas the ability to say nothing often is. It is a stunning statement that the person with an unbridled tongue is a person whose “religion is worthless,” no matter how impressive it seems. Such a person “deceives his heart.” How can this be? Yet, so often the person who fails to bridle his tongue mistakes that propensity for spiritual giftedness, when in fact it expresses the absence of grace.
Now don’t misunderstand. Talking a lot is NOT the issue. One commentator on this passage writes,
“The real issue is whether we prefer to talk about the things of God rather than do the things God says, whether knowledge of the truth is more important to us than experience of the power of the truth we know.”
—Derek Tidball
If false religion lacks restraint (it can’t keep a reign on its tongue), and if it lacks reality (it’s self-deceptive), and if it lacks results, then what constitutes religion that’s pure and undefiled? Or to say it another way, what does it look like when we’ve grown up to be like “dad?” V. 27,
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
—James 1:27
Real Christianity means, first of all, doing those things that express the generous-heartedness of our heavenly Father – “visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” One commentator writes,
“Religion is pointless unless it points to the mind and will of God.”
—Alec Motyer
True religion, grown-up Christianity, is expressed in what we do we do among those who tend to be hidden and marginalized. After all, it was James’ half-brother who said,
As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
—Matthew 25:40
But it also implies developing a lifestyle free from ‘this-world’ perspectives and a desire to draw attention to ourselves. That’s what it means to “keep oneself unstained from the world.” It shows itself as an unblemished life, not an unbridled tongue.
I find myself thinking about what it must have been like to be a part of one of those twelve dispersed tribes. What must it have been like to be a refugee, scattered, dispersed to a different place, region, nation, language, people group? What kinds of trials would they have met?
Refugees typically don’t decide to disperse. Leaving is forced upon them. It’s forced upon them by untenable trials. They move. The relocate, or perhaps, are relocated, in order to survive.
And that makes me think of the various kinds of trials we meet. You need a job. There’s no job here, but there is a job there. Or, you need to be near your parents in order to care for them in this season. Or you need to be near your kids in order to be cared for by them in this season. Or, you need particular health care, that is only offered in that state. Or you need to complete your education, and the program is in another place.
James is addressing people whose repositioning/relocation was not sought for or planned by them. But ultimately, they were scattered according to God’s purpose and God’s providence. And for us, that kind of scattering happens every day.
In a few minutes, this gathering will end, and we will scatter. We will be dispersed. And then, later this week, we will gather and scatter again. Gathering and scattering is part of our rhythm. Gathering and scattering is actually an intentional ingredient to our missional strategy. Gather to worship, then scatter. Gather for gospel community, then scatter. Gather in discipleship huddles, then scatter. Gathering and scattering is an essential part of the developmental process by which we make and multiply disciples. Gathering and scattering is a vital aspect of our spiritual maturation. And some of you have been gathering and scattering with us for years. And you aren’t who you were. Time, and trials have tested you, and shaped you. Gathering and scattering have deepened you, and made you grow up.
But gathering and scattering is not fruitful in our developmental process - unless we hear AND obey. So as we gather and scatter, receive the word of God with meekness of spirit. Reject whatever is ungodly in your heart. Reserve and store up the word of God. And respond to those you see who seem to be in need.