September 1, 2024 First Congregational Church in Auburn UCC
Scripture Reading: James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8 (The Message translation)
. . from James: 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. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who lok into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act– they will be blessed in their doing.
If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
On August 28, columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote in the Boston Globe: In a heartwarming photo essay on the Globe’s front page, my colleague Stan Grossfeld wrote about the angels in long dresses and bonnets who came to Monica Hampton’s ravaged home in Brookfield, Vt., bearing hope, hammers, and sheets of drywall.
The eight women in their 20s are members of a horse-and-buggy Mennonite community in Pennsylvania that eschews many elements of 21st-century life — no cellphones, no television, no air travel, no college. By design, their rigorous lifestyle separates them from modern social culture. At the same time, their Christian faith instills in them a deep commitment to serve others in love. Which is why these modest women, volunteers with the Mennonite Disaster Service, willingly gave up their summer vacation and traveled to Vermont to help Hampton and her family, whose lives were upended by disasters: After a fire destroyed their home in January 2023, floods ruined most of what was left.“Then all of a sudden, the Mennonite Disaster [Service] came out, and they said, ‘We’ll help you get along,’” Hampton told Grossfeld. “I thought, maybe we’ll get a couple of hours … but they’re still here.” The women — who declined to give their names because, as one said, “We’re not here for fame” — hang drywall, paint, and install insulation. And they do it with the joy that comes from the conviction that God smiles on their selflessness and hard work.
It’s really not possible to over-estimate the flood damage in New England this summer. You probably saw the damage of the most recent floods in western Connecticut, along the Naugatuck and its tributaries. And Vermont has been devastated now at least twice, particularly because roads, homes, farms and rivers run along together along the narrow valleys of that mountainous state.
Any help to any of these places is great, but that this group of Mennonite women took their vacations and came up to Vermont is truly impressive.
And yet, after Jacoby’s article, most of the letter-to-the-editor responses were contemptuous, even filled with hatred of religion, not just Christianity, but all religions. And many of those responses named when they’d seen our words and our deeds beating each other up. We spoke of love, they said, and then told some group they weren’t welcome. We spoke of justice, and they saw greed. We offered aid, and they saw manipulation and coercive action – we’ll feed you, but only if you join our church….
And isn’t that kind of hypocrisy just what James is talking about? Yes, it is. Now, hypocrisy itself isn’t a Christian problem. It’s a human problem. And James names it, and tells us how to get out from behind it, into the Christian way.
All we need to do, he says, is match our words and deeds. Be undivided people, wholly committed to the Christian way.
This sermon is about salvation: now some folks believe that salvation, for the Christian, is entirely about going to be with God after we die. Give your heart to Jesus, they teach, and that’s all you need to do. James tells us that really, saying that going to heaven is all of what it means to be saved, is like saying that jimmies are the only important part of an ice cream cone.
Jimmies are great, but jimmies alone – not so much.
And going to heaven is great, but that’s the “jimmies” of being Christian. The base (the ice cream??) of our Christian faith is living that faith out every day. It’s about matching those words “I am saved” with the belief “I am saved to serve my world”. That’s the fullness of the salvation that Jesus brings.
In the Message translation, James puts it this way:
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
When we bring our words and our deeds together, no matter how difficult those deeds, there is a sweetness to our lives that comes no other way. Salvation, the Christian salvation, is a way of live that makes our world better.
When you take Communion this morning, re-dedicate yourself to bringing together word and deed, and being a whole-hearted, whole-lived Christian.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
© 2024, Virginia H. Child
Note: This is my final sermon at the First Congregational Church UCC in Auburn MA. Stay tuned for my next assignment.
To Believe is to Care. . . To Care is to Do 