Ralph Porter

© 2003

    As a child growing up, I often heard certain well-worn phrases I never looked forward to hearing. One of my least favorites, which my grandparents often repeated was that "Children should be seen and not heard!" We live in the age of "equal rights" and those days are now gone forever. Now we must be careful about children's rights. It may not be long until the circle comes back around to haunt us as: "Grownups should be seen and not heard!" Actually that's not such bad advice! In fact, that's exactly what James 1:19-27 tells us.

    James was written to Jewish believers, ten to twenty years after the death of Christ. The readers are suffering severe persecution. They have been expelled from their synagogues; some have been cut off from their families, Many have lost their jobs. Most have lost everything.

    When the pressure gets too great to handle and the world seems to be falling apart, we want to defend ourselves and fight back! We begin to think about ourselves and our problems. We forget about God's love and care. We forget about other people who may be suffering similarly. We begin to defend ourselves and abandon everyone else. We become angry and start to complain. We want to be heard! This was Israel's reaction in the wilderness. When they suffered, they began to complain and struggle. James warns the early church, and us, that "Grownups should be seen, not heard!

    The shooting at Wedgewood Baptist church in Fort Worth a couple of years ago gave people a chance to see the difference faith in Christ can make. When a stranger suddenly began shooting, everyone dove under the pews, except one girl with Down's Syndrome, who didn't understand what was happening. Mary Beth Talley, one of the young people, shielded her with her own body, taking a bullet for her. Even after being shot, she continued to comfort her.

    After the shootings, reporters descended on the scene, wondering how Christians respond to tragedy. Are we serious about forgiveness and hope? Members expressed sorrow that they hadn't done more to reach out to a troubled man. One told reporters, "Jesus died for the man who pulled the trigger, too."

    The mother of a seminarian killed in the shooting commented: "We're not angry; we have peace that God is in control."

    A woman who lost her husband responded, "Shawn ran the race victoriously, all the way to God's arms."

    Shooting victim Sydney Browning taught at an alternative high school for troubled teenagers. Browning told a friend after the Columbine shootings that if someone had to be shot, she hoped it would be her, because she knew where she was going--she couldn't say that about her students.

    Through the example of the early church in the midst of suffering, people could see what living faith looks like! More recently, we see it in the response under pressure of people like Martin and Gracia Burnham, Todd and Lisa Beamer, the family of Rick Husbands--even the family of Donny Klosinski! We can SEE what living faith looks like by observing how people like these respond to pressure-how we trust God in the dark. God can and does bring good out of unspeakable evil.

    For most of us, the pressure is much less spectacular. It's more subtle. But it's just as real. It's just as hard for us to trust God in the dark, when we struggle with the financial pressures; a hard situation at work; problems in our marriage; and even the pressures of school or friendships! It's never easy to trust God in the dark! How should we respond when faced with trials and the pressures of life?

    James' wrote to encourage the church in the midst of affliction to demonstrate how God's people ought to live during times of pressure and discouragement. We demonstrate by our reaction to the hard times that we have a living faith in God that enables us endure affliction.

In other words, we should be seen and not heart! So how do we demonstrate the reality of a living faith today?

    James presents a call to trust God when the pressure rises! A living faith produces fruit, even when we're under pressure! His letter develops two main premises:

              1.    A living faith endures tribulation (1:2-12)

              2.    A living faith conquers temptation (1:13-27)

    They were complaining about the pressure, and blaming it on God. As we observed last week, James answered their complaint by demonstrating that temptation doesn't come from God (1:13). God has nothing to do with the temptation to do wrong. He may send the pressure, but He does that for our good--to make us into all He desires for us to become. However, He is totally separate from the temptation to respond wrongly!

    James points out the real source of the temptation to respond wrongly: temptation comes from our own desires (1:14-15). Neither God, nor the affliction, nor Satan himself, is responsible for our self-centered attitudes and angry responses. We're the guilty ones! The pressure creates the opportunity. Satan tempts us. Sin attracts us. But ultimately we make our own decision on the basis of our own desires.

    Finally, James demonstrates that God is the source of good gifts--not evil (1:16-18)! Everything God sends our way is for our good. His purpose for our life is good! Therefore it is totally inappropriate to blame our tendency to respond wrongly to God!

    The rest of the first chapter focuses our attention on the fact that when we trust God and recognize His good purpose for our life, even in hard times, living faith produces practical results in our life!

    When struggling under pressure, our natural response is to be quick to speak and slow to listen! We tend to be especially quick to speak in anger! In contrast to that normal reaction, James calls us to be quick to listen and slow to speak--especially in anger!

Willing to listen

    Our normal response is to attack the adversary and complain against God. A living faith produces the willingness to listen and be taught, by God's Word and by others.

    Trevor Mabery was a Christian doctor, trained as a specialist in ear, nose, and throat. He was the first teacher I remember sitting under to study the book of James. His insights into the book, on the basis of his medical specialty were often very helpful. We'll look at some of those insights as we continue our study of James. In the initial study of the book, Trevor pointed out that the ear is a delicate part of our body. Its function is important and it can be damaged easily. Therefore God has protected it.

    In God's Word the ear is also important. The exhortation to hear what God has said is repeated frequently: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear . . . ." Speaking to people under pressure, James emphasizes value of hearing. Those who trust God are willing to listen and be taught.

    The ancient philosopher Zeno observed: "We have 2 ears and only 1 mouth. Maybe that should tell us something!"

    James Hamilton tells a story based on life before refrigerators. In those days, people went to ice houses to preserve their food. The ice houses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitted door. In winter, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the ice houses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.

    On one occasion, the story is told, a man working in the ice house lost a valuable watch. He searched for it carefully, raking through the sawdust, but couldn't find it. His fellow workers looked also, but found nothing. A young boy heard about it, slipped into the ice house during lunch, and came out with the watch. Amazed, everyone wanted to know how he found it. The boy responded, "I closed the door, laid down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I could hear the watch ticking." For us, as for that young boy, the question isn't whether God is speaking, but whether we're quiet enough to hear Him!

Slow to speak

    When we respond quickly under pressure, it's almost always in anger! James advises us to stop a second! Take a deep breath! Give God a chance to speak! Someone has paraphrased one of the proverbs with the affirmation: "Better to keep silent and have people wonder whether you are a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt!"

Slow to become angry

    James doesn't say that all anger is always wrong! He advises us to be slow to anger. We ought to be marked by a longsuffering attitude towards people who offend us. Anger wastes the energy of God's people! Laurence Peter comments: "Speak when you're angry and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret." A simmering pot of hostile feelings produces growing frustration. It will consume us! It leaves us exhausted! If allowed to fester, and left uncontrolled, eventually it will kill us!

    We're to be slow to get angry, recognizing that "our anger never produces God's righteousness" (1:19-20). This terse statement introduces one of the most important lessons we ever have to learn: our anger doesn't produce the good fruit God wants to produce in our life.

    Our discussion of anger usually raises questions concerning our Lord's anger and "righteous indignation." Our Lord certainly exhibits anger that isn't sin and that does produce God's righteousness (Matt. 21:12-16; Mark 3:4-5). Paul, also, indicates that it's possible to be angry and not sin (Eph. 4:26). In all these cases the anger that accomplishes God's purposes and glorifies Him is never a self-centered anger, in response to a personal offense against the person who is angry. The anger is directed against those who are resisting God and doing harm to His name.

    Most the time that's not the kind of issue we are angry about! In our case, we usually become angry in response to an attack against us. It's a personal reaction to a personal offence. That kind of anger doesn't glorify God. It's not "righteous indignation!" More often than not, we would be well advised to accept the counsel: "When in doubt, let God handle it!" He gets better results than we do anyway.

    Normal human anger--our natural response to people who attack us--won't accomplish God's righteousness. Striking out at others, fighting back, trying to get even, seeking to get our own way, and similar angry reactions will never produce God's righteousness. Our response to pressure should be different! We should be seen, not heard!

    Billy Martin tells a story about going hunting with Mickey Mantle. Mantle had a friend who frequently let him hunt on his ranch. When they reached the ranch, Mickey told Billy to wait in the car while he checked with his friend. Mantle's friend gave him permission, but asked a favor. He had a mule in the barn that was going blind, and he didn't have the heart to put him out of his misery. So he asked Mickey to shoot the mule for him.

    Mantle returned to the car, acting angry. He slammed the door. Billy asked what was wrong: Mickey told him that his friend wouldn't let them hunt. "I'm so mad, I'm going out to his barn to shoot his mule!"

    Martin protested, "We can't do that!"

    But Mantle was adamant. "Just watch me."

    When they got to the barn, Mantle jumped out of the car with his rifle, ran inside, and shot the mule. As he was leaving, he heard two shots; he ran back to the car. Martin had taken out his rifle, too. "What are you doing, Martin?"

    Martin yelled back, face red with anger, "We'll show him! I just killed two of his cows!"

    Our anger never produces God's righteousness!

    James mentions three areas where we frequently lose control when we suffer: listening, speaking, and responding in anger. Do we struggle with these? God says we should be seen and not heard!

    The second practical result a living faith produces is submission to God's Word. As important as hearing is, it isn't enough. What else does God ask? Most of us learned Jesus' parable concerning the wise man and the foolish man in Matthew 7:24-27. In that parable, the difference between the two isn't in the hearing. Both the wise man and the foolish man "hear" God's Word. The difference is how we "act" on the basis of what we hear. The wise man puts into practice what the Word of God says to Him.

    James introduces three appropriate steps we should follow in relationship to hearing God's Word when the pressure rises. These exhortations are presented in

contrast to the angry verbal response mentioned above.

    The passage indicates that there is a clearly established time sequence in these three steps that our translations fail to focus on. The "laying aside" of the old lifestyle precedes receiving the Word. You can't do this until you become a new creature! This isn't something we do in our own energy. Only those who have received new life, by trusting Christ's work on the cross, have the presence of God's Spirit Who enables us to live this way! However, we must lay aside our old lifestyle and the old way of responding to those who offend us, before we will ever humbly accept what the Word tells us.

    The old statement many of us have seen in the pages of people's Bibles applies to this situation: "Either this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book!" The anger mentioned in verse 20 produces all kinds of sin. It produces employee theft to harm our employer, vengeance by physical violence, and sometimes even murder, adultery or fornication.

BEFORE hearing: get rid of known sin   1:21a

    The two words James uses to describe the sin we should lay aside have significant implications related to the rising pressure the early church was facing. Since receiving Christ, they have been persecuted for their faith. As new creatures in Christ, James urges them to demonstrate a new lifestyle.

    James first urges us to get rid of "everything that pollutes." The root idea of the word comes from dirt. It views dirt as that which makes things dirty. This could be applied figuratively to moral filthiness, as some translations indicate. In modern environmental terminology, it could refer to everything that contaminates or pollutes the environment. James affirms that the way people respond to personal attack "pollutes the environment" in which we live. He urges us to lay aside all the pollutants from the old life, so that we can respond in a new way, as new creatures in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who produces a different kind of fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, and such attitudes (Gal. 5:22-23).

    The second thing James urges us to get rid of is derived from a word referring to a surplus or overflow of something. It can also be applied to what's left over, after an activity concludes. As such it could be translated as "leftovers" or "the residue." The residue, or what's left over--what overflows--from our old life will block our obedience to the new response system God wants us to follow when the pressure rises. If we go back to the old way of dealing with pressure, we'll never resolve it God's way! Avoid such evil deeds; get rid of it!.

    When the pressure rises, we ought to respond differently--laying aside the old ways-the things that characterize our culture--the pollution around us-the residue of our old lifestyle. We have a new standard to apply-one that produces God's righteousness. We should be seen, not heard!

WHILE listening: receive the Word humbly   1:21b

    When we have taken off those things that characterized our old lifestyle--when we stop doing "what comes naturally"--we are ready to respond appropriately to what God's Word instructs us to do. James indicates that this Word is implanted in us. It's the same Word which was the source of our new life initially (1:18) that has now been implanted in us. It isn't unknown truth. It's truth we already know because it's on the inside, we just need to conform our lives to it.

    We're to submit to that truth; not try to force it to confirm our desires and prejudices! Stop fighting what you already know is right! Too often we already know how God wants us to respond. We're just not willing to do it. James urges us to submit to what God has instructed us to do.

    A godly pastor friend who served the Lord faithfully for many years went to be with the Lord a couple of weeks ago. He used to tell the story of a pastor who had been seriously wronged by other people. He was hurt and bitter. He ended up sick in the hospital. My friend visited him and counseled him to humble himself before the Lord and let God exalt him, because the Lord exalts the humble and opposes the proud. Every time my friend gave him that counsel he got angrier, and sicker! Finally he got the point. That's the way we all are. We let the wounds simmer. We want vengeance. James urges us to submit humbly to what the Word tells us.

    James affirms that this same Word, which has been implanted in us, is also able to deliver us. The word translated "save" is used various ways in Scripture. We always assume that it's talking about eternal salvation from condemnation. A study of the word's use in the entire Bible demonstrates that it often refers to deliverance from physical danger or other kinds of problems.

    In the midst of the rising pressure and persecution James is dealing with, it is helpful to remember the two options he introduces earlier in this chapter:

PRESSURE => PERSEVERANCE => PERFECTION

OUR DESIRE => SIN => DEATH

    Our response to the pressure can be used by God as the means to make us all that He desires us to become. But that same pressure, when we respond on the basis of our old, natural human desires can entice us to sin and, ultimately, it can kill us. James tells us that the Word implanted in us is able to deliver us from the consequence of that sin cycle. It interrupts the natural cycle-it blocks the natural consequence! It saves us from death!

    Therefore, James counsels us: "humbly accept the Word God has already planted in your heart" Stop fighting it! Submit to it! "Welcome it!"

AFTER hearing: put it into practice 1:22-25

    The third step in the process has to come after listening to God's Word. We're going to spend more time examining the implications of this step next Sunday. However, James wants us to understand that it's not enough to hear the Word. He warns us: "Don't just listen to it. Just do it!" We're to be doers of the Word, not hearers only.

    In his commentary on James, George Stulac tells about an InterVarsity conference he attended years ago. The conference speaker stirred a student who came to talk after the meeting. The student asked the speaker: "What do you do when things go wrong, and people are hurting you; when you're wounded and angry?"

    The speaker responded: "Have your quiet time!"

    We think: "That's too simplistic! He didn't even address the problem!"

    But, that IS the answer! We have to humbly accept the Word of God, because it really is able to deliver us from the destructive power of sin which will ultimately kill us!

            Be quiet.

            Lay aside the old polluted way of dealing with pressure.

            Listen and submit to what the Word says.

            Just DO it!

    That's how our Lord responded under attack! Isaiah predicted that He would never open His mouth before his accusers! Peter affirms that when He was insulted, He didn't retaliate; nor respond with threats.

    God's plan is that, like our Lord, grownups should be SEEN, NOT heard!

    How about us? I don't know what this week will hold for you. Are rough times ahead? Will things go against us? Will someone be out to get us? I don't know what your week will be like. But I DO know that whatever this week may hold, God's purpose is that we--His people--should be seen, not heard!