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Past Ponderings

Thursday, May 7, 2020

PONDERING... Is Your Religion Worth It? (James 1:26-27)

VIDEO
Is Your Religion Worth It? (AM Sermon Notes)
GIST: To have an expression of faith that is genuine and life-changing, guard your heart; live compassionately; and seek purity. 
SCRIPTURE: James 1:26-27
This morning we’re coming to the end of James chapter 1. I know it’s been several weeks, but each one of these messages has spoken so powerfully to my heart as I’ve studied these words. I pray that today we’re open to see what God has for us here, as well. 
Throughout this letter, James has been giving, and will continue to be giving, us meter sticks by which to gauge the reality of our faith. Real faith is transformative. It’s lived. It’s active. It impacts the lives around you for Jesus. Fake faith is just self-deception that gives you false assurances and misleads those who desperately need to see the truth. As this chapter comes to a close, that vein continues. Specifically, James uses the word religion and gives us criteria by which to judge its effectiveness in our lives. 
Now, that word, religion, tends to have a negative connotation in our society today. Even amongst protestant Christians, it’s a word we avoid. Instead, we focus on terms like relationship and faith. However, these words are being used to communicate the same ideas. These are the external expressions of our internal love for and worship of God. So, the question is this: is your religion, how you express your faith, worth it? Is it the real life-changing reaction to a real life-changing transformation, or is it just stuff you do? I want to focus on just the last two verses in this chapter this morning. However, I’ll read verse 22 for context, as well. 


“22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ... 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”


These verses are fairly famous and have been used to promote Church involvement in social movements like working with orphanages, funding schools around the world, and setting up hospitals. All of those are good things. However, just doing that kind of stuff is not inherently Christian, nor is it really that impactful long term if you’re just “doing” that kind of stuff. What each of these statements is calling us to is a salvation that is so real it changes how we think and what we do. So, if I could give you a gist for this morning, it would be this: To have an expression of faith that is genuine and life-changing, guard your heart; live compassionately; and seek purity. Let’s break that down.


I. GUARD YOUR HEART
“26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.”
Well, clearly the call here is to→ 
Control Your Words. For the second week in a row, we get to talk about controlling our tongues ☺️. It’s actually a big theme in James’ letter...and for good reason. Failing to control what comes out of our mouths is destructive. Think of all the hurt in our world and even in your life caused by carelessly spoken (or written) words. Here, James points out very clearly that if you consider yourself religious, that is you consider yourself a true Christian and a genuine worshiper of Jesus, but you don’t control the words that come out of your mouth, you’re deceiving yourself. Why? Because the words that come out of your mouth come from the→ 
Overflow Of Your Heart. Look at Luke 6:4545 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” That’s why this point is titled “Guard Your Heart” instead of
“Control Your Mouth”. We need to do both, but here’s the deal: our mouths are out of control when our hearts are filled with junk that shouldn’t be there. Think about what you allow to speak into your life. The things you listen to, the people you talk to, the shows you watch, the posts you read, the sites you visit, the places you go. If you fill your heart with bitterness and anger.  What’s will naturally flow from your mouth? Why? Because it’s building up inside already. If your heart is full of the lies that try to tear down your faith, or the lusts that modern media markets like candy, or the expectations and norms of a world that is running from Jesus; then you will find those words coming from your lips whether that was your original intention or not. 
That’s why filling our hearts with truth is so important. I’m not saying you should never watch tv or read anything but the Bible (though that should be THE staple in your daily reading). However, I am saying we should be extremely cautious about what we allow to become the prominent voices in our lives, and anything that is destructive should be immediately and completely cut. Life is too short to waste it on junk. Read books that point you to the truth of Jesus. Watch shows that encourage faithfulness. Listen to music and podcasts (or radio broadcasts) that remind you of who Christ is. Could this put you out of touch with what is popular? Sure. But it’s worth it. Remember Psalm 12:8? “On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.” Sin will continue to be rampant in our world and in our lives when it is honored. Don’t honor wickedness in your life. Otherwise, your words will reveal your true heart and your faith will be seen as→ 
Worthless. This means of no value. Do you ever think of your faith as having value for yourself or others? It should have both. For you, it is essential. True faith means you’ve truly given your life to Jesus who has rescued you from your self-destruction forever! For others, true faith, genuine religion, is your witness, your means of pointing them to the life-preserver who can rescue them from their drowning. If our hearts are full of junk, we’re missing out on His grace in our lives and so are the people around us. 
So, guard your heart. Fill it with His truth. Then, you’ll experience a heart change which prepares you to→ 


II. LIVE COMPASSIONATELY 
“27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction…”
Compassionate living is what is being communicated here. After telling us an uncontrolled tongue taints religious expression, he gives us an example of what makes it→ 
Pure & Undefiled. This is the opposite of worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is religion that is a true expression of our love and worship of God. Here, James says to guard your heart and to take care of→ 
Orphans and Widows. This is the portion of our verses this morning most used for promoting Christian involvement in social movements. However, Christians are not just called to do these kinds of things, but rather to have this kind of heart. I know that might seem like a silly distinction, but hear me out. For years, Christian missionary efforts focused on opening and running schools and hospitals. These were incredible efforts that had awesome personal benefits. Unfortunately, these were seen as living out the gospel, so very little gospel proclaiming happened as a result. The end product? A lot of healthy and educated people who were still missing their most important need. Physical and intellectual needs were met, but they were still dying and going to Hell. 
What is being taught here is a desire to reach the marginalized and rejected. This is a heart change — a heart change of compassion! James is calling us to live out our faith by caring for those in need. Orphans and widows were helpless in this society and often socially shunned, so telling his readers to take care of them would have been shocking. Who are the helpless in our society who no one wants to go to? Who are the people in our community Christians tend to distance themselves from? We need to be going to them. And, as we go, we need to bring the same message James is proclaiming to us here. We don’t just meet their physical needs, we point them to their deepest need, Jesus— that’s true compassion. 
Let me try and bring this home for us in two practical ways this morning. First, →
This Is The Premise of Our “Go Nights”.  Every third Sunday night of the month, we try to go out of our way to give ourselves an excuse to live this. We alternate between the Alzheimer's unit of a nursing home and a children’s ranch. Not only are these almost literally some of the orphans and widows of our community, but these are people forgotten by others. In fact, when I first contacted St. Joe about visiting their residents, they were not sure they’d have a place for us because churches were already coming most Sundays (which is great!). However, when I told them we’d be willing to visit the Memory Care Unit, they were extremely excited because they rarely had visitors since it was harder for people to keep their attention. They need to see the love of Jesus, so we go, and we love it! In much the same way, the children at this ranch have been removed from difficult and often dangerous situations. They’ve been abandoned or abused. Their lives have been a series of rejections. They need to see the love of Jesus, so we go… and, yes, we love it! If you’ve never been part of this ministry, I cannot encourage you enough to come. Let Jesus use you to touch these lives...and watch how He uses this to touch yours.
Second→  
We Need To Intentionally Build Community— Even During Mandated Social Distancing. Over the past weeks, it has been nearly impossible not to be thinking about the COVID-19 virus. Therefore, this concept of social distancing has become a constant part of our lives. As this virus runs rampantly across the world, people are terrified. We need to stand as beacons of hope in the midst of this fear. Be cautious. Be responsible. But don’t be afraid. We serve the sovereign God who hasn’t been taken off guard. He’s still moving in this! We need to share that message.
I do not know what the next weeks will hold. However, as we all prepare for the possibility of having to distance ourselves more and more from one another physically, let’s be very intentional about developing community any way. We need the body of Christ to be the body, and that doesn’t just involve coming and listening to me preach on Sunday mornings. That’s an active living of life together. Let’s develop habits now that can carry over into our times apart so this vital unity is never broken. Will you commit with me this week to try and contact at least three families from church to see how they are doing? How you make these contacts doesn’t matter. Phone calls, texts, facebook, cards: whatever works for you. And be intentional. Pray for these people and set a specific date and time for your contacting. Oh, and relatives don’t count ☺️. They should just be bonus contacts you’re making any way. If you need a good starting point, look at those sitting closest to you. Don’t have their numbers? You have something to talk about now before we leave today! Then, let’s also try to reach out to people outside this body, as well. People need to hear about Jesus. Let’s be the body. Let’s encourage one another and those around us...even in the midst of great public fear...because our God is always bigger!
I know I chased some rabbits here, but they felt like necessary ones to chase given this passage and our current climate. Now, let’s wrap this up. If our religion is to be worth it, we must guard our hearts; live compassionately; and lastly→ 


III. SEEK PURITY
Here’s the last phrase from chapter 1: “and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” I know I’ve gone long with those previous points, but good news… I’ve already addressed some of this in the previous points, so I can afford to be briefer here☺️! Let me just make two quick observations. While seeking to guard our hearts and live compassionately, we should also be striving to live→ 
Unstained. This takes effort because our natural state is stained. As we’ve been addressing over the past few weeks, we’re sinners corrupted by our own sin natures. Therefore we’re called to seek the purity which comes only from laying down our pride and our desires at the feet of Jesus— constantly seeking His face and His direction and His protection. That’s why we’re called to→ 
Keep. This is a constant, deliberate action… have we heard this before? I’d say it’s come up a few times over the past couple of Sundays☺️. True faith isn’t a passive Sunday morning thing. It’s a lifestyle! Actively purge the junk and cling to the cross!
Let’s recap with our→ 
TAKEAWAYS
1. Guard your heart.
2. Live compassionately.
3. Seek purity.

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