“Doing God’s Work” – James 1:17-27 – August 30, 2009
One day Charlie Brown of the comic strip Peanuts is bemoaning his situation. All that he asks is that someone says, "I like you, Charlie Brown." Lucy asks him if he is sure that is all it would take to make him happy. "Do you mean to tell me that someone has it within his or her power to make you happy merely by doing such a simple thing?" Charlie Brown affirms that is exactly what he means. Lucy doesn't think that is asking too much of anyone. Then she turns and walks away, saying, "I just can't do it."
Why is it so difficult for us to give compliments to people? Perhaps we are a lot like Lucy, allowing pride to get in the way. It was just too much to ask of her to say something nice about Charlie Brown. Maybe we like people, but we don’t like the things they do. We are so quick to make judgments.
In lasts Sunday’s Parade there was an article about Barbra Streisand. Some folks don’t like her because she is a little eccentric. Streisand keeps many of her costumes, including gowns that she wore in her earliest days onstage. She shows them off, affectionately stroking a plaid taffeta top, admiring the workmanship and fine details. On the other hand she recently donated $5 million to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for women’s cardiovascular research. “For so many years, research into women’s heart disease was done on men. Can you imagine? We’re not worth the studies?” she asks indignantly. Her foundation also gives large grants to education and environmental programs
Today our scripture lesson is from the letter of James. James was encouraging a positive view of Torah or law, primarily the “love of neighbor.” (Lev. 19:18) James was giving voice to the prophets and understood himself as a servant. James also calls us as a community of believers to be involved in mutual gift-giving and support instead of being competitive. It is about being generous to others rather than looking out for number one. James encourages the church to be different from the world we live in. For James it is God who defines who we are, not the world.
James says, “Every generous act of giving with every perfect gift, is from above.” In other words, we are not to make judgments about those who do good things. Rather, we should embrace them and be willing to give ourselves. At the same time we are not to take credit for what we do for our generosity is really God working through us. We tend to forget that all our gifts were first given to us by God.
Therefore, we need to cut Barbara Streisand a little slack. Rather than begrudge her generosity, let us be grateful for her gifts and at the same time be those who are willing to give what we have. I believe that basically James is upholding the love ethic of sharing. It is not what we have that defines who we are, it is what we do with our gifts that defines who we are.
Secondly, James says, “We need to be quick to listen but slow to speak.” Words can be offensive. Words can divide, demean, criticize and be hurtful. Negative statements and harsh judgments are not a reflection of the true community of faith. Unless we “bridle our tongues, we are deceiving ourselves.”
In Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II, there is a story about a teenager named Jason. Jason was from a good family. His parents were very successful and Jason had anything a young man could want. But, Jason was always winding up in trouble, creating some kind of mischief. In school he was labeled a troublemaker and some thought he had Attention Deficit Disorder. His grades were low and he was often placed in a special class where he couldn’t bother the majority of students.
One day, his parents were having lunch at the local country club. One of Jason’s teachers said, "Jason is doing so well these days, we’re very pleased and excited." "You must have Jason mixed up with someone else," his father replied. "He is worthless, he’s always getting into trouble."
Jason’s mother then said, "You know, lately Jason hasn’t been in trouble, and his grades have improved, perhaps we should talk to him." They confronted Jason and asked him how he was able to raise his grades. They assumed he was cheating. Jason told them he did it all by himself. But his parents weren’t satisfied and took him to have a talk with the principle.
The principle assured them that Jason was doing well. He then told them, "We have a new guidance counselor and she seems to have touched Jason in a special way." He then took them to meet her. When they walked in the office the guidance counselor was looking down at some papers on her desk and didn’t hear them come in. Finally she noticed, then she made some gestures with her hands.
"What’s this," said Jason’s father. "Sign language? She can’t even hear." Jason then replied to his parents, "That’s why she is so great. She does more than hear, she listens."
I was at a minister’s meeting recently with about twelve of my colleagues. We generally use our time catching up with one another, sharing the woes of our congregation and sharing news. One pastor talked the entire time. She was so consumed with her own agenda she never took time to “hear” the struggles of the rest of the group. And we wonder why the church doesn’t grow.
Third, James said “We need to be doers of the word and not hearers only.” Real faith is one that “cares for the orphans and the widows.” In our day, that would be anyone who needs encouragement and hope.
Sometimes I wonder if sermons fall on deaf ears. Unless a sermon is able to transform us and cause us to act, nothing changes. When we truly hear the word of God we act. We give where there is a need. We listen where there is a hurt. We care by getting involved.
At my first church I made an effort to give hope and encouragement. The congregation was small and they were feeling insecure and ineffective in their ministry. They frequently complained about their diminishing numbers. On the front wall in the sanctuary they had a board that listed the previous week’s attendance and offering. I found it to be counter productive. But, very week, the entire congregation, including visitors, could see the statistics.
During my first year of ministry, one of the daughters of a prominent family in the church I was serving was getting married. Naturally her wedding was to be at the church. The family spent weeks, painting and remodeling the church. They naturally had a vested interest. They totally painted the sanctuary. In the process the attendance board was removed and stored in a closet. The wedding went on as scheduled and everyone commented on the beauty of the church. Apparently they forgot about the attendance board since it remained in the closet for the next several years. Fortunately the church grew. I like to think that my preaching helped. On the last Sunday of my ministry there I was leaving the sanctuary for the last time and I turned to give my last goodbye to the congregation. As I began to leave I noticed that the attendance board had been returned to its original location. I was crushed. Had everything I preached for the last several years fallen on deaf ears?
The fact that the attendance board regained its prominence in the sanctuary really deflated my ministerial ego. Sometimes we have good intentions but no one really listens and acts.
However, there was a silver lining. The woman of the family who had gotten married later wrote a letter to me. She and her husband left the community and started their new life together in Columbus. She said she will never forget a sermon I had given about “letting go” and “following your dreams.” That message had given her the courage to leave her little home town and make a life for herself in a much larger community. Sometimes our words do have a transformative affect on those who are listening. James knew that to be the case otherwise he wouldn’t have included in his letter.
By the way, Barbra Streisand has a new CD. It’s called, Love Is the Answer, produced by Canadian jazz singer-pianist Diana Krall. It is her first studio recording in four years. Available next month, it opens with the song “Here’s to Life.” The lyrics go: “I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets/So give it all you’ve got/I’m hungry still...to see what’s down another road.” To follow a dram one has to hit the road.
When we do God’s work we believe that all good comes from God. God wants us to appreciate the gifts and generosity of others without judgment. When we do God’s work we listen. The words we speak we choose carefully, words that build up the body of Christ instead of tearing it down. When we do God’s work we get involved. Our actions speak louder than our words.
Scott Russell Sanders is a prize-winning essayist and English professor at Indiana University. In his book, Writing From the Center (1996), he tells about a prominent builder in a small Ohio town who was asked to join the volunteer fire department. He politely declined. After all, what could he get out of it? His home was brick, wired to code, and fire-resistant.
But one day his house caught fire. The volunteer firemen showed up with the pumper truck. But before turning on the water, they playfully asked the contractor if he still saw no reason to join. Without hesitation, he said he would be glad to join right then and there, and the fire was extinguished. Sanders said, "We should not have to wait until our houses are burning before we see the wisdom of facing our local needs by joining in common work. We had better learn how to live well together, or we will live miserably apart." (from Steve Wilson, "Cult of the Individual Weakens Sense of Community)
Dr. Keith Wagner