The Things That Come Out - a sermon for Sept. 2, 2012

A Sermon for Proper 17 (RCL B) 9-2-2012

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:            James 1:17-27; Psalm 45:1-2,7-10; Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

Themes:        the power of anger, true inner goodness, doers of the Word

Title:              The Things That Come Out

O Lord, make us masters of ourselves that we might become the servants of others.

Take our minds and think through them; take our lips and speak through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.

“You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:20).

My sisters and brothers: just as the calendar has changed months, and just as this weekend symbolizes the change in seasons from summer into autumn, so we change focus in our Sunday readings from the saga of the Kings of Israel to this Letter of James.

Throughout the month of September, we will be reading key sections of this Letter.

So first, let me briefly introduce you to it.

The best scholarly wisdom suggests that James was originally written by a Jewish believer in the first generation of the church.  It claims its authority from “James a servant of God”, perhaps the brother of the Lord Jesus who led the Jerusalem church until his martyrdom in the year 62. 

This Letter is all about practical morality: how do Christians live faithfully, and – like we pray every time after communion – “with gladness and singleness of heart.”

James is focused upon action. Over and over again, it presents exhortations for living in a way that is consistent with the actions of God.

One of the primary teachings of James is about faithful speaking, and it begins today with one of my favorite verses:

“You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:20).

It’s a simple teaching, right? As the saying goes, this is why God gave us two ears and only one mouth! That we would listen twice as much as we speak!

But is it easy to live this way? Is it easy to listen much, to speak with reticence, to keep control over your anger?

There’s a fun story about a village in Ireland where two neighbors hated each other. Jonathan and Thomas lived next-door to each other, and every day they argued. One day, Thomas yelled at Jonathan for letting his cow reach over the fence and eat grass from his yard. Another day, Jonathan complained to Thomas that nettles from his “dirty” yard where coming over onto his lawn.

Now, the two wives of these gentlemen were close friends, and they longed for their husbands to be friends as well, or to be neighborly at the very least! Eventually, one December as Christmas approached, these two long-suffering women called both of their husbands together and pleaded with them. “It’s almost Christmas,” they said. “It’s supposed to be a season of peace and goodwill. Surely you can learn to be at peace and to let go of your anger!”

But the very next day, Thomas accused Jonathan of shoveling snow onto his land, and they argued once again.

So the wives went to ask for help from the village priest. Father Kevin was an old man, with a bald head and a long white beard. After he listened to the two wives pour out their troubles, he sat in silence for a bit, stroking his beard. Then without saying a word, he stood up and went out to see these two men.

He found Thomas and Jonathan and said, “Gentlemen, I want you to enter into a competition with me on Christmas Eve. It will provide good entertainment for the whole village. The competition is this: We will divide my barn into three equal parts. Between dawn and dusk on Christmas Eve, we will see which one of us can fill our part of the barn to the fullest, using anything that we like. If either of you win, you can take all of the fruit and vegetables which grow in my garden throughout the next year. If I win, then you must promise never to argue again, and instead learn to be friends.”

Jonathan and Thomas thought they had nothing to lose, so they agreed. At dawn on Christmas Eve, the whole village gathered to watch, and Jonathan and Thomas began rushing around the village collecting anything they could find to fill their parts of the barn – bales of straw, old buckets, sacks of potatoes, whatever they could carry. But Father Kevin was nowhere to be seen.

At lunchtime, the two men were still working to fill their parts of the barn, and also all through the afternoon. But Father Kevin was still nowhere to be seen! Finally, as the sun began to set below the western horizon, Jonathan and Thomas were frantically finishing, nearly filling their spaces up to the rafters. Just before sunset, Father Kevin came out of his cottage carrying a brand new, unlit candle. He walked into his empty section of the barn, put the candle down in the middle and spoke this verse from the first chapter of John’s gospel: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Then he lit the candle, and its light filled the whole barn, all the way up into every part of the rafters.

Everyone cheered as they realized that Father Kevin had won! Jonathan and Thomas stepped forward and, standing over the candle, shook hands. And from that Christmas on, they were firm friends. (Celtic Parables, Robert Van De Weyer, P.182-185.)

Building on the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, James presents life as a simple choice between friendship with God or friendship with the world.

You see, if you live as a friend of the world, then you see life as a competition, as a struggle against those who oppose you and your needs and your wants. This opposition incites anger and a desire to get those people out of your way!

But, if you live as a friend of God, as one of God’s beloved, then you see life as a continual experience of the gifts of God, the one who showers good gifts upon humanity and particularly upon those who live in accordance with the word of truth.

For a friend of God, anger is out of place, because we no longer have any need to struggle to achieve our will, to get our way. For a friend of God, the Thomas or the Jonathan who is your next-door neighbor is a gift, a good one sent by God to test you, to give you an opportunity to make peace and to grow in the law of love.

The Father of lights gives birth to us through the message of Jesus so that we might live every moment of every day actively doing the will of God.

This is the law of liberty; this is the righteousness of God – which is the true inner goodness that can grow only out of love. This is the transformed human heart, out of which no longer comes evil thoughts and intentions, but which is continually seeking ways to love God and to love our neighbor.

Is it easy to live free from the power of anger? How many of you struggle with anger? 

(You mean that I'm not the only one?! Well, I live with teenagers, so at least I have a built in excuse!)

How many of you felt driven by anger within the last few days? Within the last day? Within the last few hours?

“You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:20).

True words indeed. But what can produce God’s righteousness? What can actively cultivate and bring forth goodness and generosity and self-sacrificial love?

It’s certainly not guilt. Maybe you’ve tried that. It doesn’t last. Guilt has no lasting power.

Nor is it as sense of duty. Any service to God based on a sense of duty will not stand up under trial, when life becomes tough and confusing.

What can produce God’s righteousness, God’s true inner goodness? What can free you from the power of anger? It can only be the power of love.

If you do not know what this is like, then ask for it. Reach for it!

When you come forward before this altar to receive the presence of Jesus Christ once again in the Blessed Sacrament, come with this request upon your lips and in your heart:

“Lord Jesus, show me how much you love me. Let your love fill my heart. And let your love be present in everything I do – every decision I make, every action I take. Fill the cup of my heart to overflowing with your love.”

My dear friends: we can live free from anger when we become those who listen, those who accept the word of God, and those who, with God’s help, put it into practice. Amen.