The Christian life is much more than "just looking." Fayetteville Christ UMC/ 9/17/06
James 1:17-27
Does your job require you to work on commission? I used to work on commission selling men’s clothing. To someone who works on commission, there are few more disheartening words from a browsing customer than when in response to a polite "May I help you?" one hears "No thanks, I'm just looking." "Just looking" -- What it mostly means is "Go away, I have no intention of buying anything here." Sometimes we go "just looking" because we're bored. We cruise the malls looking in one shop after another, simultaneously overwhelmed by all the choices before us and uninterested in what seems to be just "more of the same."
Sometimes we go "just looking" to sneak a peek at all those things that are beyond our reach. Ever pretend to be studying the photos of yachts for sale down at a marina? Or ever walk through the showroom of a Porsche dealership, checking out the latest models you won't be buying? Or maybe you prefer trying on a few diamonds and rubies, just to see how they look on your finger? "Sorry, just looking."
But some people spend all their lives "just looking" -- never willing to invest their energies or emotions or economic security in anything because of the risks involved. People who are permanently "just looking" drift in and out of jobs without ever finding a vocation; they drift in and out of relationships without ever daring to love; they drift in and out of communities without ever casting a vote or dropping anchor; and they drift in and out of the church without ever opening their hearts to the spirit of God or feeling the pulse of Christ's body. The text from James today reveals the author obviously felt a similar sense of frustration with would-be Christians who were bystanders and bench-warmers. People saying they were Christians without having any sort of commitment. The writer reminds us that just hearing the word, the good news of Jesus Christ, is not enough. We must be "doers who act."
A biblical faith finds plenty of precedence for action without a plan, but very little evidence of plans without action.
- Abraham didn't have a plan ... but he packed up and left home.
- Moses didn't have a clue ... but he confronted Pharaoh with an ultimatum.
- Rahab didn't have a friend ... but she hid Joshua's spies to Jericho.
- Elijah didn't have a hope ... but he defeated all the prophets of Ba'al.
- Nehemiah didn't have a country ... but he rebuilt the Wall of Jerusalem.
- Mary didn't have a name ... but she bore the Son of God.
- John the Baptist didn't have a home ... but he made the wilderness his pulpit.
- Peter didn't have a backbone ... but he became the "rock" of the church.
- Saul of Tarsus didn't have a heart ... but Paul became the spokesman for the Gentiles.
- Jesus didn't have a sin ... but he suffered and died on the cross for our sake and our salvation.
You know what is really amazing about all of these people? They had an idea of what the end goal was, but they didn’t know what would happen the next day. They couldn’t go through life “just looking” because they had to be ready to act at all times. Faithful Christians must be doing, not "just looking." The whole crux of faith is that we don't know every detail, every contingency, every possible development that awaits us. But we do know who is in charge. A life of faith demands we work hard but know that ultimately God is in control.
Thumb through the Old and New Testaments and try to find God speaking through people with lots of plans. Notice how the people God used to put God's love and deliverance into action are not called planners, instead they are called prophets. Christians are those who have heard the word and are called to act upon it, we are not to plan but to prophesy our way forward in life. When we prophesy our way forward, our faith is not in demographics or flow charts, in financing schemes or economic trends -- our faith is in the power of the Holy Spirit. When we prophesy our way forward, the way is not always clear; the risks are real; the commitment required is total; and the results may surprise us. When we prophesy our way forward, no one is "just looking" -- no one is just along for the ride. Everyone must get out and push when the going gets tough. Please don’t hear me say that plans are bad because I strongly believe that the Holy Spirit can be a part of the planning process, but we can’t let plans and what if’s keep us from doing what we are called to do.
A community of faith that would prophesy its way forward for Christ's sake must also be willing to listen to the Spirit and trust in the Spirit’s power. The hot and sweaty slogan of the Nike company, "Just Do It" isn't quite right. In the church we don't "just do it," we "just pray it." It is in the power of a Spirit-filled closeness with God's desires that the church begins to see the shape of its future. That kind of closeness is possible only through prayer -- the Christian's conduit to God. Maybe you’ve been wondering, “Why aren’t more people coming here?” I have thought about that question for a long time and I am still thinking about it. Then something happened that I think gives me at least part of the answer. A few weeks ago, Stephanie asked you all to engage in daily prayer. She gave you a sheet of paper with prayers for certain times of day asking you to pray for certain things. She asked you to reflect on what God was saying to you during your prayer times. Finally, She asked you to write down what you thought God was saying to you about this congregation. How many of you did it? You don’t have to raise your hands, but I think you get my drift. We haven’t received many reflections back. I’m happy for what we received, but why weren’t there many more? I hear so many of you saying that you want the congregation to grow, but when I ask you to do a simple thing like pray, you don’t do it. This is a part of the reason why people aren’t coming here. We, this congregation, aren’t connected to the power that is available to us. We have opportunity for Bible studies and only a very small number participate. How can we expect to be connected to God if we aren’t willing to pray to God and to study about God? How can we expect to know how we fit into this community as an agent of change if we aren’t willing to humble ourselves and seek God’s face?
Several years ago, I heard the story of Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his neighborhood from a new perspective. He went down to the local army surplus store one morning and bought 45 used weather balloons. That afternoon, he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled balloons. He took along a six-pack of beer, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky -- smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport. Too frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two hours forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon, causing long delays in flights from across the country.Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions"Were you scared?"…"Yes."…"Would you do it again?"…"No."…"Why did you do it?"…"Because," he said, "you can't just sit there."
[1]
This is what James is talking about. We can no longer give lip service to being Christians. We must act like Christians specifically for the sake of the Kingdom of God. I mean more than just being good people. “Being good people” isn’t cutting it!! You know, in the Old Testament, God told his people that they would look like his people when they were seeking justice for the poor and the widows. The poor and the widows were the most oppressed people of the land, and God wanted his people to actively seek justice for those people. God didn’t say try to get all the money you can. God didn’t say be nice to everyone you meet and hang religious pictures in your houses and decorate your cubicles with crosses and posters from Family Christian Store. God said seek justice. The Old Testament prophets were constantly conversing with God. The prayers prophets breathed up to God of praise, confusion, anger, fright, anguish and joy kept them motivated and kept them moving. It was only on those occasions when the prophet lost contact with God -- through cowardice or indecision or stubbornness -- that the prophetic witness became muted and mired down. Our prophetic witness to this community has become muted and mired down. And it is time for us to heed the words of James and rise up and do something that stretches us beyond our own families into the kingdom of God.
The "buster" generation, those born between 1965 and 1983, this is where Stephanie and I fall in, are making a reputation as slow to commit and cynical of wit. So many grew up in broken homes that the notion of a life-long relationship seems a dream at best, a joke at worst. They expect the worst and are afraid to risk hoping for the best. They look at a world of diminishing resources and shrinking economies and tragically tease, "I had a dream."
Can the church universal and this congregation in particular stand as an exciting alternative to a "just looking" culture? Are we willing to trust in the spirit and dive in? What paths lie ahead of us that call us to prophesy our way forward?
Conversion is meaningless unless it leads to a changed life. A changed life leads nowhere unless it serves others. The reading from James chapter 1 began with a reminder that every good gift comes from God and those gifts are perfect. The chapter ends by stating The Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
[2] By caring for powerless people, the Church puts God’s Word into practice. When we give without regard for receiving anything in return we are doing so much more than “just looking.” Remember, God showed His love for us in this that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. That proves God’s love for us. Remember that we Christians are a people who are live by the example of Jesus who gave us the ultimate example of living a life of self-sacrifice and service. Are you willing to serve?
Our challenge for this day and always is to be Christians who act in this world for the sake of the Kingdom of God. So that others will know the same power offered through Christ that frees us to be whole human beings who live in God’s shalom—God’s restorative, saving peace. To grow in faith takes work. That reminds me of the story about a little boy who was listening to his mommy play the piano...
She began by playing the simple melody of one his favorite songs. Then she began improvising, weaving in some incredible harmonies and the little was enraptured. He slid onto the piano bench and waited for her to finish so he could try. When he tried to imitate his mommy the resulting sound was chaotic and eventually even irritating to a little boy. He stopped, looked up and asked, “Mommy, when can I play like you?” A flood of memories washed through her mind of the hours…weeks…years of drills and scales and practice that got her to the point where she could play with such freedom.
Are you willing to act?
In closing, I’m going to read the Scripture passage again from The Message. As I read, contemplate what God is saying to you right now. Are you willing to act? If at any point you feel God moving you to pray and you would like to kneel, feel free to join me at the chancel rail.
So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.
Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.
Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but. You let the Word go in one ear and out the other! Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.
Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.
Take a moment to pray silently.
Oh, holy and merciful God forgive us for not being who you have called us to be. Forgive us for not seeking your face. Forgive us for not actively seeking justice for your kingdom. Empower us right now God so that we will move. We want to move for you. We want to act for you. We want to be agents of change in your community and in your kingdom. Help us O God. We cry out to you. Help us O God. Move us to action. God move us. In the name of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Benediction
Now O Lord, let us not live to be useless, for Christ's sake. Amen.
[3] [1] --Gary Gonzales, "Raising Your Creativity Quotient," Leadership 14 (Summer 1993), 35
[2] James 1:27
[3] John Wesley (1703-1791)
