A Tongue to Speak His Truth (CC)
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SEPTEMBER 16, 2012 SERMON WWW.ZIONTORRANCE.INFO
Let us rise for the reading of this morning's Sermon Text
recorded for us by James in his Epistle
where we begin reading with Verse 17 [JAMES Chapter 1]:
EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE,
COMING DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF THE HEAVENLY LIGHTS,
WHO DOES NOT CHANGE LIKE SHIFTING SHADOWS.
HE CHOSE TO GIVE US BIRTH
THROUGH THE WORD OF TRUTH, THAT WE MIGHT BE A KIND OF
FIRSTFRUITS OF ALL HE CREATED. MY DEAR BROTHERS,
TAKE NOTE OF THIS: EVERYONE SHOULD BE
QUICK TO LISTEN, SLOW TO SPEAK
AND SLOW TO BECOME ANGRY, FOR MAN'S ANGER DOES
NOT BRING ABOUT THE RIGHTEOUS LIFE THAT GOD DESIRES.
THEREFORE, GET RID OF ALL MORAL FILTH AND THE EVIL
THAT IS SO PREVALENT, AND HUMBLY ACCEPT
THE WORD PLANTED IN YOU, WHICH CAN SAVE YOU.
DO NOT MERELY LISTEN TO THE WORD,
AND SO DECEIVE YOURSELVES.
DO WHAT IT SAYS. ANYONE WHO LISTENS TO THE WORD
BUT DOES NOT DO WHAT IT SAYS IS LIKE A MAN WHO LOOKS AT
HIS FACE IN A MIRROR AND AFTER LOOKING AT HIMSELF,
GOES AWAY AND IMMEDIATELY FORGETS WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE.
BUT THE MAN WHO LOOKS INTENTLY INTO THE PERFECT LAW
THAT GIVES FREEDOM, AND CONTINUES
TO DO THIS, NOT FORGETTING WHAT HE HAS HEARD,
BUT DOING IT -- HE WILL BE BLESSED
IN WHAT HE DOES. IF ANYONE CONSIDERS HIMSELF
RELIGIOUS AND YET DOES NOT KEEP A TIGHT REIN
ON HIS TONGUE, HE DECEIVES HIMSELF
AND HIS RELIGION IS WORTHLESS. RELIGION THAT
GOD OUR FATHER ACCEPTS IS PURE AND FAULTLESS IS THIS:
TO LOOK AFTER ORPHANS AND WIDOWS
IN THEIR DISTRESS AND TO KEEP ONESELF
FROM BEING POLUTED BY THE WORLD.
This is the Word of our Lord. Let us pray:
Glorious and gracious God, may the words of my mouth
and the meditation of each of our hearts
be acceptable in Your sight, our only source of hope
and comfort. Amen.
[Text taken from the HOLY BIBLE:
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, 1973, 1978, 1984,
used by permission of
Zondervan Bible Publishers.]
Dear Followers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:
The Word of God in our life
is of FIRST importance.
The Word of God is what
brought us to faith!
The Holy Spirit using that Word of God,
the power of that Word of God,
for most of us connected with the waters of Holy Baptism
created faith within us.
Faith that put its trust in that Word.
Faith that put its hope in that Word.
Because it IS that Word that
has revealed to us the glories of God.
The mysteries of God; what God
is like; as well as what we
as human beings are like.
And our relationship with God. That relationship with God
that at creation was perfect.
God creating man and woman in
His own image in holiness
and perfection. That they had a relationship
that was beyond almost our comprehension.
A communion with each other that was perfect
and was beautiful.
A relationship that was
utterly destroyed
by humanity's
disobedience. By Eve listening
to that serpent and looking at that fruit
that she thought was going to be good for her
to gain knowledge to be like God.
To understand things in a way she had not before.
Adam standing there and not stopping her ...
and eating of that fruit
as well.
And immediately the Word came back
to them and they KNEW that
they had done something that was against
God's will. They felt
shame at their own nakedness.
When God came back in the Garden
to walk with them and to be with them
they hid! They hid from God
because they KNEW
of the punishment that they had now brought
upon themselves. That punishment of death.
That punishment of
condemnation. Yet God, in His love
for humanity and His relationship with them
would not leave them to despair.
Would not leave them in a place
where they would be helpless and hopeless.
He was the One who said: I will help you.
I will give you hope.
I will send to you a Savior.
I will give you My Son ...
who will RESTORE that
relationship that you have had with Me.
That HE will be the One to bear
your burden. That HE will pay your debt.
That HE will suffer when you should have suffered.
And by His death, you WILL
receive life!
ETERNAL life! Your sins will be
forgiven. Yours will be an eternity
of glory in the presence of God
with all of His saints and angels.
That is the importance of the Word
that God sent to us.
That God gave to us.
That God has allowed us to learn from
and study from each and every day
of our lives to strengthen our faith.
To see what IT has to say; to
dig into IT daily for
ITS firming up of our faith.
And for the encouragement that It gives.
And yet our own sinful nature
knows that we need to hear
these words from James ...
just as the people
he wrote this Epistle to needed to hear it.
Because how often
don't we just ignore
that Word?
How often
is it at the bottom
of our list of things to get to
today?
How easy it is for us to neglect
that Word. To think that
we're always going to have it and when we need it for that
special time in our life we'll be able to run to it and break
the glass on the case that we have it in and
save us. But James says:
Look at what you're doing.
Examine your life.
You have been given the Word of Life.
And that Word is important
to you. Hear that Word.
Don't just listen to it and think
that that is enough. Don't just spend
time with it and hear the sounds that those
vowels and those consonants make.
It's not enough.
Because it isn't what God desires from us.
God desires from us that we LEARN
that Word and KNOW that Word and then
DO what that Word says.
SHOW our
FAITH!
Live a life of thanksgiving and sanctification
based upon what God's Word has said.
Let that Word live in us
and shine for the world to see.
Let people understand from our testimony
what God's Word says.
James says: Do what the Word says.
Watch your tongue.
And watch your temper.
Those are two areas that we can concentrate on
this morning ... so that we can do
what that Word says. To put a rein
on our tongue.
To be slow to listen ...
to think over what is being said and slow to speak.
Because sometimes we don't
hear the whole story before we begin talking.
It's one of those things in conversation
that just irritates me that when someone
starts a sentence, the person who is listening
just jumps in before the sentence is complete.
Or you ask someone a question and they answer it
before they know what the question is because they're
answering what they THINK your question is.
Communication is listening
and speaking and
discussing and talking
to each other ...
in a way that shows our faith.
And how often, don't we just ignore that fact?
Don't we just not think
that the words that we say,
how we say them and who we say them to
matter? Because they matter
because of God's Commandments.
If we look at the First Commandment that we fear and
love and trust in God above ALL things,
that means that we will live
in His love. It means we're not gonna
misuse God's name.
We're not just gonna throw it out there
as if it's a throw-away thing.
We are gonna use it
to call upon God in praise.
And the same name that praises Him ...
the same person that uses that name in praise and in worship,
should not be using it
in condemnation and foolishly
outside of church.
How we talk is important!
James says: Don't be polluted by the world.
And maybe it's a matter of
just stopping and thinking of this for a moment:
Look at the way you talk
and the words that you use.
Would your parents
have talked that same way?
Would your grandparents have?
And it comes easy for us to brush that off
and say: Well, we're from another generation
but maybe it's because they weren't so polluted
by the world;
that they weren't so bombarded
with words that constantly
denigrate God and denigrate
the blessings that He gives.
And how important it is for us to continue to watch
what we say. To choose the words that we say
carefully. That they are
in worship of God. That they're praising Him.
That we use His name to pray. That we not use it
to defame someone else's character
to bear false witness againtst them.
But to support them;
to strengthen each other. To use those words
in a God-pleasing manner.
Because that's what God has directed us to do.
God's also directed us to
watch our temper. To not just
fly off the handle. To not make quick
assumptions about a situation when we maybe
do not know all of the facts.
Or just have put our own assumption
or all of the history that we have with someone
onto a situation that isn't calling for it.
And how easy it is and how quick
it is for us to become angry with someone.
To become mad at their behavior; to not like what
they're doing and to call them out on it.
To go back in our anger and
use words that are not going to be helpful to them
that truly are hurtful.
And do more damage in our relationship with the brothers
and sisters in Christ, with the people that we work with,
with the people in the world. And sometimes they become
even unreparable ...
because of our own temper,
and our own anger.
And God says to us:
Righteous anger is appropriate.
There are things that we should be angry about.
Those things that God is angry about.
Those things that are against His will and against
His Law. The things that He Himself has spoken against
we, too, speak against.
But how often isn't our anger
about just little irritants
between each other. Just little things
that set us off. And maybe it's because
we're having a bad day, and if we just would have stopped and
examined the moment and waited,
we wouldn't have said it.
Because how often haven't we,
responded to somebody's email
and hit 'send' and knew the moment
that we did it,
it was the worst thing we could possibly
have done.
Because it was our anger
reacting to something.
We've got to take our time.
Put the best construction
on everything. Give other people
the benefit of the doubt and give them the break
until you know for certain.
Give it time to work out.
Give yourself time to examine it
and to think about it.
It's Christian behavior.
Because if Christians are running around cussing like
everyone else, and using the language of everyone else
in the world, and reacting in anger
and hatred at the drop of a hat,
are we really doing
what the Word says?
And what is our testimony?
What is our confession?
What does it say
about the Word of God?
And we know the answers to those questions.
And each of us gathered here today,
knows how the Law speaks to our hearts.
And we know our sinful behavior.
We also know that God
has forgiven that sin.
And that God gives us the strength to amend
our sinful life. To take today
the knowledge that we have;
the knowledge that God has given us in that glorious and
gracious Word that He has planted in us ...
not only to hear that Word,
but to do what it says.
Amen.
Amen.
Let us rise. Now may the peace of God which
goes beyond all of our understanding keep your hearts
and your minds and especially your lives in the one true
faith unto life everlasting. Amen.