Sermon based on James. Presented at Hope Lutheran.
How did you learn to drive? I learned to drive in the badlands of western North Dakota in an old borrowed pickup truck with a classmate as my teacher. Being that it was stick shift and on rough rocky ups and downs, I learned through many stops and starts how to let out the clutch and push on the gas without stalling.
I don’t know about you, but what if we could skip all that and just “YouTube it” instead?
That’s what an 8-year-old boy in Ohio did on one recent Sunday night. Our young innovator had a problem: mom and dad had fallen asleep, and the boy and his 4-year-old sister were hankering for some late-night McDonald’s. The golden arches were a mile and a half away --- too far for a walk in the dark. So, the boy did what any self-respecting Gen-Z kid would do when confronted with a conundrum. He looked up “How to drive a car” on YouTube, emptied his piggy bank, then bundled his sister into the car and headed out for a Happy Meal.
Police said later that the boy obeyed all the traffic laws, didn’t hit a single thing, and drove “effortlessly” through town as though he had been driving for years --- all because he watched a few minutes of video instruction and then did precisely what it said to do.
Our young adventurer seems to have grasped early on what many of us grasped much later in life. That is that, on the internet, someone somewhere has created a video to show us how to do what we’re about to attempt. Whether it’s a repair for our home or our car, how to put on makeup, learning self-defense or making dinner, our even how to prepare a sermon, all we need to do is look it up on the world’s most popular video site --- even if its expertise on the best way to massage our pet opossum --- because, apparently, opossums need massages --- something else we can learn on YouTube!
For the few of us who don’t know, there are millions of these tutorial videos, most produced by people who have a skill and simply want to share it. It’s the crowd sourcing of expertise that makes it possible for the most mechanically inept person to fix a faucet, or a maker of microwave mac and cheese to become a gourmet chef. Of course, all this instruction depends on the viewer’s willingness to experiment and put the information into practice. Without that, it’s just another internet time-waster with cat videos.
People in the ancient world obviously didn’t have YouTube. Most of their learning was accomplish ed by watching someone model the activity in question face to face or by receiving a letter from a distant instructor --- which took way longer than even dial-up internet service, for those who remember!
The reason that I bring this up is that over the course of September our second reading will be from one of the books of the New Testament called James. The author of James, who some Biblical scholars have suggested could even have been a brother of Jesus, intended audience were Christians of Jewish background who were caught up in the upheaval. In mid-first century Palestine, there where outbreaks of violence and insurrection --- a conflict that would culminate in the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66-70 and the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem. In fact, the whole Roman world was dealing with unrest, including economic problems, food shortages, and the rapid turnover of Roman emperors that led to an erratic government policy toward minorities like Jewish Christians and others.
The problem before the church in that time of uncertainty that this author tried to address in his letter can be summed up something like this: “How do we remain a faithful Christian community in the midst of this time of trial and temptation?” James wrote to encourage his brothers and sisters and to give them some practical instruction on how to navigate in difficult times.
Therefore, because we live in our own turbulent times and we will be hearing from the book of James all of September, some time on the book may help.
The first and most important concept found across the chapters is that the author of James suggests that faithfulness is to be practiced. If we were to read the letter from beginning to end, it seems to read like a series of random tutorial videos on life, but James made clear that no amount of instruction matters unless it is put into practice. We can watch all the video’s we want to, but unless we are willing to be like that 8-year-old and take the wheel it only remains a video. James wanted the church to represent faithfulness not only in hearing the instruction but doing the instruction as well.
“Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (v. 12). In that strange language of 20 centuries ago, James saw his situation as a time of testing for the Christian community, but also an opportunity to demonstrate faithfulness.
For James, this time of testing was not something that God had thrown down in front of his people to break them. It was not a test of their faith, but rather it was a chance to shine as a community of the new creation that God had brought forth in the death and resurrection of Jesus (vv. 13-17).
You see in that day and age many in the Greco-Roman world, many consulted astrology and the alignment of the stars as a kind of first-century YouTube to help determine their course of action. James called the church to remember that they have been given the “perfect gift” of God: the “Father of lights,” the one who created the stars in the first place.
Unlike the changeable nature of events in the world James said, there is “no variation or shadow due to change” in God’s nature (v. 17). God and the word of God are the only reliable bedrock for a community of faith, which God created “in fulfillment of his own purpose” and birthed “by the word of truth” (v. 18).
James sets this up as a direct contrast to the other kind of “birth” people have; a birth conceived out of heterosexual sex, which, in turn, gives birth to death (v. 15). Now we could look up “How to give birth” on YouTube and find a whole bunch of videos --- you know, in case we need to check out a video while racing to the hospital. But for James, the only birth that really matters is the one that happens when we are born anew daily, “first fruits” of God’s new creation in Christ (v. 18).
Unfortunately, our fundamentalist Christian brothers and sisters have created this impression that this word is black and white in King James English. But what James had in mind, is that God’s word is reason under holy inspiration that helps us when the world seems to be spinning out of control. It’s tempting to give into anger, revenge and nasty words. Just like there are a ton of instructional videos on YouTube, there are plenty of folks who also use that platform to rant, spew venom and conspiracy about some person, cause or issue.
James instead reminds us that this is like trying to deal with a problem without taking the time to read the directions first. “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (vv. 19-20). James instructs his brothers and sisters to get rid of that kind of toxic reactivity and instead, begin with step one: “welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls” (v. 21). The same “word of truth” that gives new birth daily also guides the words and actions of the one whom God has saved.
How does that “record” button start? James says that we are at our best when we practice. “But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (v. 22). The purpose of receiving instruction, receiving the “word of truth,” is to put whatever we do know into action. If, say, I watch a YouTube video on how to fix a leaky faucet but never pull out the tools and get to work trying what I’ve learned to use, then I will still be stuck with a constant drip. If we just watch the video and say, “Yeah, I’ll need to get back to that,” We will quickly forget everything we’ve learned.
The author of James says the same thing happens when we only hear or watch and don’t put it into practice. When we fail to take the word, we have received and put it into rehearsal, nor built a kind of spiritual muscle memory, then we fail to recall who God created and redeemed us to be as people gathered to be co-creators for the kingdom of God (vv. 23-24).
If, on the other hand, we keep our focus on “the perfect law, the law of liberty,” and persevere, being hearers and doers as flawed as we are, we will be “blessed” in our doing. “Blessed” is not getting our Powerball number or the tornado missing our homes, so it flattens our neighbors, rather blessed is satisfaction in practicing what we have been instructed to do.
Now, I don’t know about you but when I have looked at some of the YouTube videos to accomplish a task which in my case is usually with a plumbing problem, some tutorials don’t quite convey the information in a way that’s easy for us to follow. Try tying a bow tie while watching a video, for example. It’s difficult because that mirror image forces me to do everything backwards. Rather to tie that bow tie effectively I need someone standing beside me to show me how, guiding my fingers and helping me develop the internal memory of the process until it becomes second nature. It’s one thing to conceptualize the process, and quite another to execute.
The same is true for “faith,” says James. It’s not simply about a solo running of the mouth and declaring one’s faith; nor is it about lashing out at those who might be challenging (v. 26). It is faith, in other words, that uses the model of Jesus for both its belief and its practice. But perhaps like tying a bow tie, there are some things YouTube just can’t quite teach. It can’t teach us how to be a follower of Jesus. Oh, sure, it can teach us the principles of discipleship, but to really learn, we are stronger and healthier when we live out faith with others who likewise strengthen and help us be healthier along the way. Information alone won’t get it; it takes imitation in community as well. That’s why we need a community of faith to guide us and give us examples for putting this infinitesimal faith we have into practice.
In a culture where there is plenty of upheaval, we are the opportunity to be the glimmer in the night that reflect God’s glory. And we shine most brightly when others have a sampling of faith come up in their top ten searches and want to be instructed in how to do the same.
Sure our “videos” may be clumsy, amateurish and there may be others with more views, but an 8-year-old learned to drive by watching a poor tutorial video and then grabbing the keys. Because, all the motivation he needed was not found in the video, or in what he heard or saw, but in the prospect of a Happy Meal.
Over the coming month as we hear the words from the book of James, may we be motivated to take the examples of faith we have been given by grace in, with and through Jesus Christ to put into practice God’s grace because we are models of faith in hopeful community to an even greater destination, better than just some golden arches. Amen .
Comments