September 2nd:
The Liquor Ads
September 2, 2012
Potsdam and WS
Call: Psalm 45 (795)
Text: James 1: 22-25
The Liquor Ads
This October, in this building,
I will be teaching an advanced lay speaking class bearing the title
"Reading and Preaching The Prophets."
It will be the sixth lay speaking class that I have taught since I have been serving in the North Country.
I am excited to be teaching it
Not only because this is a brand new class that I created
But also because teaching lay speaking classes is important to me
They have been important to me since I took my first class in early 1993,
It was a moving experience
So moving, in fact, that it was a part of my call to the pulpit.
I will always be indebted to the UMC for offering such classes
I mention that this morning because
today's text from James takes me back to that first lay speaking class - 19 years ago
For toward the end of the six weeks of classes,
We were asked which book of the Bible was our favorite
And two of the other six students chose "James."
I was floored.
You see I had never read James
I knew virtually nothing about the book
I am not confident that I would have included it
If I had been asked to write down as many of the books of the Bible as I could.
And yet one third of my classmates liked it best!
Later I would learn that there were dissenting opinions about James
Martin Luther and others
Thought the letter should not be in the canon
Because of its seeming accent on works.
Luther and those others believed that that accent
Was in conflict with, or would undercut
the church's position (obtained a great deal from Paul's writings)
That we are justified (saved)
by grace through faith
And not by our works or our deeds.
In short, the church asserted - and we still assert -
That we are saved by God's freely offered and given grace
Because we have faith in God
And that we are not saved by anything we have done
For nothing we have done would or could earn us salvation
This is important
Or else we can fall into the trap of saying to God
"Look at what I did. You have to let me in."
Therefore, with the criticism of James ringing in my mind
I was apprehensive when I set out to acquaint myself with this NT letter.
What, I wondered, if I found that I liked James?
Would I be abandoning Paul?
Would I be moving to a works oriented theology
Rather than a faith and grace oriented theology?
And so, despite my introduction to this letter by two very enthusiastic lay speaking classmates, I had to wonder,
Could I allow myself to like James?
It took me a while and it took some effort to get over this fear
And to be able to look at and reflect on James
with the openness required for the letter to enrich my faith
However, as the years have gone on, I have become more and more convinced
That my fear or anxiety was misplaced.
For while the two letters have accents that differ.
As I read them, I think that
not only are the writings of Paul and James compatible,
But they actually make each other better.
For I do not read James as a "saved by works" theology.
Listen, to some of what he wrote in his first chapter. [1: 22-25]
The key sentence of this chapter
- actually the key sentence of James' entire letter
[And also I would note: The sentence that got Luther upset.]
"Be doers of the word
Not merely believers who deceive themselves."
Paul, Luther, and the church assert
That belief - that is faith - as opposed to deeds
is what is important.
And here is James telling us that we must be doers
Not merely believers.
But this is not contradictory
For James is not saying that deeds are more important than faith/belief
All he is saying is
The way to tell that faith is real and lasting
Is if it produces good deeds
For good deeds not only logically follow,
They necessarily and inevitably follow from a faith that is true
James is not saying that good deeds are the reason we receive God's love and protection
- Our faith is the reason -
But that what we do is evidence of that faith
And of the strength and endurance of that faith
James position is that if one does have faith,
If our faith is real, It will be reflected in good deeds.
Otherwise it is merely a transitory and fleeting thought or observation
Like an image in a mirror.
The thief on the cross acknowledged Christ's lordship
And Christ responded, "Today you will be with me in heaven."
The thief did not have the opportunity to become a doer of the word.
But You and I do.
Believe it or not, I like to think of James' letter
as being similar to an ad for a particular brand of scotch whiskey.
Although I never bought the whiskey I did love reading their ads.
The brand name was spelled "D e w a r ' s"
And pronounced "doers."
Taking advantage of that, their ads showed
a photograph of a person who was a "doer"
and below the picture in a resume-like manner set out:
home town:, age:, profession:, accomplishments:, quote:
concluding with "scotch: Dewars."
As a younger man I thought it would be neat to be profiled in such an ad
Today, I think I would much prefer Christ to prepare a similar profile
Concluding with a category "Response to Faith: Doer."
I wonder what Martin Luther would say about that.
But I am not certain that I really care.