Law of Liberty

Sermon James 1:17-25 July 5, 2020 Independence Day Celebration

Law of Liberty

Our reading today comes from the epistle James. Eusebius in the 4^th century and Martin Luther in the 16^th century wondered how this letter ever made it into the canon of the New Testament. It is here and it has some things of interest for we the people of the 21^st century.

James, you might say, is the New Testament version of wisdom literature.

It is much like Proverbs in the way that it is full of nuggets of wisdom

given to aid the way of life.

James appears to lack order or structure.

The letter rarely mentions Jesus, just twice in the whole letter.

And seems at first glance to contradict the words of grace that Paul teaches in Romans.

This first chapter sets the tone for all those dos and don’ts that follow.

It establishes the goodness of God and where all good things come from and it establishes the purpose of religion.

Every generous act of giving comes from God.

Every perfect gift comes from above.

This means ALL good acts come from God,

not just some good things

and not just Christian good things.

But all acts of kindness and love.

All acts of mercy, or advocacy, or friendship,

or support.

Acts that put the other person first.

Acts that seek to lift up another and show grace.

If this is how the light from the Father shines down from heaven then we don’t have to spin our wheels judging the worth of the one who is seeking to do good for the world.

When I think of the fathers of this nation and

their incomprehensible call for righteousness and justice,

for the rule of law and truth,

for the fairness of economy

and the truth of religious freedom,

and the desire for autonomy,

I think of the words from the epistle of James.

Their expectations were that moral justice

and faithfulness to truth would be carried out

with action that demonstrated those values.

What good is a moral truth or a code of law if it is not witnessed in the behavior of those who claim it?

Even though James speaks little of grace he exhorts disciples to the professed faith.

He recognizes that moral ethics mean nothing if one’s life doesn’t conform to it.

According to James the freedom of our faith in Christ calls us to a higher calling of life.

A person who gazes on the perfect law of liberty offered through Christ and the ancient Torah is able to turn faith into deeds.

It is these gifts from God: law, liberty in Christ, and God’s word of truth that come together in perfect harmony. It is in these things we discover freedom according to James.

Freedom is essential in our nation’s law of liberty.

But, as we witness in God’s word,

freedom comes with a higher calling,

a higher responsibility,

a reckoning of how we treat our brothers and sisters.

This story of freedom was highlighted in the church edition of Newsletter/newsletter to which we subscribe. “In 2000, Cornealious Anderson was sentenced to 13 years for robbery. The 23-year-old was released on bail and told to await orders to show up to prison. But due to a clerical error, those orders never came. Some people might have taken advantage of such freedom and committed more crimes. But Anderson started a business, coached youth football and volunteered at church, earning respect in his community.
Thirteen years later, when Missouri officials discovered the error and put Anderson behind bars, an online petition called for his release. A judge agreed that Anderson was a changed man and, again, he was freed.

What would we do with such freedom? What do we do with the freedom God grants us despite our sin, and with the freedoms we celebrate on July 4?

Perhaps, Anderson’s example helps us learn to use our freedoms — social and spiritual — to serve others.”

The wisdom literature from James is a challenge to the new disciples in the dispersion of the people of faith throughout the new regions from Judea to Rome.

The question for them and for us today is:

“Do we really think this is relevant for us in our time?”

and “Do we think we too should act and think this way?”

We have a responsibility to put our feet and our voice to our faith.

Be doers of the word  and not merely hearers, James writes.

Perhaps, this is where we as Christians suffer.

We have the freedom in our faith to follow different ideological ideas as they relate to politics and economics, health and welfare.

This of course is thanks to our nation’s forefathers who decreed the freedoms of expression and the freedoms of beliefs.

Tolerance was a huge factor of the beginnings of our nation as well.

Many colonies subjected their citizens to particular religions and punished those who did adhere to the ‘right’ religion.

But, we had people like William Penn and Francis Makemie who gave their lives to the freedoms we now take for granted.

As Christians, Paul teaches the unity of faith, the like-mindedness in Christ, not as a rule to all think the same about every issue or every detail of life.

But, to struggle and work together to understand one another.

The struggle of conversation, debate, and ‘sorting through the details’, is where the unity of Christ comes in.

We pray together for discernment.

We believe the Holy Spirit will aid our thoughts.

We trust that the wisdom of God’s truth will emerge as we wrestle together about difficult topics.

The point of faith isn’t to create puppets who follow along with the masses.

The point of faith is to be united so closely with Christ that every action, every thought is from the grace brought upon us from the lights of heaven.

James recommends we: Be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to anger.

We all hope for a friend who can hear all that we have to say and really listen.

We all have let words slip out that we really didn’t want those thoughts to leave our brain.

We have all made a thoughtless comment and then regretted later.

We are all prone to the wickedness that can come from letting the desires of our egos or the neglect of our manners get in the way.

I think that’s why the words from James’ letter strike a nerve.

It’s hard work to be good all the time and it’s really hard work to be gracious and kind in a world that is often harsh.

The word of truth, every good and perfect gift isn’t restricted to Sunday.

This new birth as God’s first fruits is to be carried out Monday through Sunday.

The most important days of the week are those where we are engaged with the grace that God has called us to live out.

As we are all in different stages of reopening, emerging, or recognizing the need to remain secluded, this is the best time to reestablish the commitment we made to Christ.

Do we really believe in Jesus as the Lord of our life? 

Can we accept his love for us. Are we willing to give grace a go in our life.

Now is the time to open our heart and just whisper to God and say yes.

We can live our faith behind our closed doors.

We can recognize the various opinions of how to live with this virus. We can accept each person’s decision.

We can love each other in our range of ideals about policy and politics.

These are serious times.

These are times where brother will be put against brother.

It’s up to us to recognize the Lord of love in their choices of each brother and sister.

It is in our acts of the truth of grace that we show honor and respect to each human being.

Let us declare our faith.

Let us claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior and live our lives to that end.

We live in nation in which we have many freedoms.

Let us declare they belong to us all and lift up the weak and helpless and love the poor and the widows.

And together sing:

This is my prayer, O God of all earth’s kingdoms. Your kingdom come; on earth your

will be done. Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him. And hearts united learn to live as one. So hear my prayer, O God of all the nations. Myself I give you; let your will be done.

Amen.

Resources: NIB James by Luke Timothy Johnson; Harper Collins Bible Commentary; Newsletter/newsletter; excerpts from sermon 2012 Monica Gould