“Pure and Undefiled Religion”

Meditation on James 1:17-27

Aug. 30, 2015

      “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.  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 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.

       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.”

***

     I had the pleasure of meeting with a young couple this week whose baby we will baptize in September. During our conversation about baptism, I shared some of my faith journey.  I always have to share the part about how God used my love for ice cream to draw me closer to Himself. I was a college student who had fallen away from the church and the faith in which I had been raised when two people from a college Christian fellowship knocked on my dorm room door. They invited me to an ice cream social. Now this was a special kind of ice cream social because the ice cream would be served in a long gutter--you know, the metal kind that are on the top of our houses to move water off the roof. They assured me that the gutter had been bought new for the event and had never been used before. Ice cream and sliced bananas would be spread out in this long gutter, then topped with whipped cream, fudge sauce, sprinkles, nuts and cherries. It was refreshing on a hot, August night, just before the first day of classes!

    My involvement with the fellowship group grew my faith and my commitment to God. My heart changed--and so did my life. But something happened as the years passed. I became discouraged by some of what I saw in the Church and the larger Christian community.  The more I was involved in the Church, well, the more unkind words and deeds that I noticed. Little by little, I scaled back my involvement, retreated from some of my Christian friends, and sought out a larger church where I could kind of disappear, be anonymous, where no one would invite me to serve, and I didn’t have to be in close relationship with anyone. Then I proceeded to hold onto my hurt and the discouragement of seeing other Christians behaving badly.

   Looking back, I believe what happened with me is not all that unusual--when I became discouraged with my church and other Christians after my initial excitement wore off. We will all have our highs and lows in our journeys of faith--times when we feel excited and passionate and closer to the Lord and God’s people then ever before. We just can’t get enough of studying God’s Word and worshiping the King of Kings! And there will be times of dryness. Wilderness. When we are kind of stumbling along, unsure where we are and where we are going, not feeling very joyful but still clinging to our faith and God’s Word, seeking the Lord in prayer, worship, and through relationships with other Christians. During those times of wilderness--or maybe even during the happy times of our faith-- we may be tempted to look around at other Christians. We will see the flaws--because the flaws are always there, if you look for them. Yes, Christians are imperfect. We are all sinners, saved by grace.

     We all know the Greatest Commandment of all -- to love God with all heart, soul, mind and might and neighbor as ourselves. We all know that we must love one another and let our witness to the world be our love for one another. But sometimes we are only hearers of the Word, without being doers of the Word, as James instructs.

   So what brought me back to the Church and to recommitting my life to Christ? I was convicted of the sin of “looking around” -- finding fault, without first taking the log out of my own eye. And I was convicted of the sin of refusing to forgive! I was using it as an excuse to not be the person God wanted me to be--to not live as the Lord wanted me to live. And, truthfully, I really missed the fellowship of other Christians and feeling that sense of belonging, that this is my church!

     Brothers and sisters, we cannot bear fruit as Christians if we isolate ourselves from other believers--and refuse to be involved in the work and worship of the Church. And there is absolutely no way we can call ourselves religious if we are unkind, using our words to hurt others. James tells us we are only fooling ourselves if we do not bridle our tongues. That kind of “religion” is “worthless.” Nor are we “religious” if we look around at other people, with the purpose of finding fault. And we are not being faithful to Christ if we refuse to forgive and let go of our hurts that get in the way of serving God and God’s people.

    “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father,” James says, is this--actually, two things. 1. Care for the orphans and widows in their distress (the neediest and most vulnerable people in your community) and 2. Keep yourself “unstained” by the world. Guard your heart! For, as Jesus says in Mark 7, it is from within the human heart that evil intentions come.

       Our hearts are revealed by what we say and do, how we spend our time and money, who we choose to be our friends, how much we care for others. In short, how we live our lives.

***

     When I heard that First Presbyterian Church in Willmar was partnering with Family Promise of Kandiyohi County to do a new thing and minister to some of the most vulnerable, needy people in their community, I wanted to know more.

    What are they doing? And is it working? Are homeless families finding homes and jobs? How does the church pay for this ministry? Are many volunteers needed? Do you have to be a downtown church?

    Friends, we ask the Lord to reveal needs to us and show us how we might respond to those needs. We hear God’s Word telling us that pure and undefiled religion is helping the most vulnerable people in their distress. But we seldom talk about homeless people and how we may be able to help. Aren’t they some of the most vulnerable and needy people of all? Maybe we don’t know they exist in our area or assume that if they don’t have a place to live, it’s because they have done something wrong or just aren’t trying hard enough. Doesn’t everyone have family or friends to stay with when times get tough?

    Maybe we think, “What can we do, anyway? We are just a small, country church. Isn’t this someone else’s responsibility?”

   Friends, let me introduce Nancy Chamberlain…

   She is a native Willmarite -  4th generation. She was baptized, confirmed and active in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod until 2003 when she married the Rev Mark Chamberlain, a Presbyterian minister. She joined the Presbyterian Church in Willmar in 2005, was ordained an Elder in 2006. She says that helping others has always been her passion, so she immediately joined the mission committee at First Presbyterian.  She serves the church in many other ways; she leads adult Sunday school, serves on Session, leads mission teams to Clearwater Forest Presbyterian Camp two times each year and also led a team of 30 to Louisiana for clean up after Hurricane Katrina.  She chairs the Visual Arts Team, the Mission Committee and the Family Promise Task Force.  Nancy also works full time for the MN Supreme Court. Her office is in the Kandiyohi County Courthouse.  She is enthusiastic about retiring next April after 31 years of government service-- and all the possibilities of ministering with her husband, Mark, in whatever way God calls them to serve. She is the mother of two adult sons, step mom to two adult daughters and one adult son, and grandmother to 4 amazing grandsons --Bruno, Luca, Eli and two-week old Ezekiel.

    Nancy, tell us about the homeless. How many are there in our area and where do they usually go for help? Why are you so passionate about helping the homeless that you have come to speak today?

   How did you hear about Family Promise and how did your church come to partner with them? What kind of help does your church provide? How can your congregation possibly afford to do this? Maybe you could describe the discernment process your church went through as you sought to help the homeless with Family Promise. How did you get the word out to your congregation? Were some people in your church concerned about opening your church to help the homeless? Did they have questions? What were some of their concerns and how did your church respond to their concerns.

   What about the other churches who partner with Family Promise? How many are involved and what do they do?

    Nancy, what could we do? We are 25 miles from Willmar. How might we get involved in helping the homeless in the future? Do you have some advice for us as we seek to help our neighbors in need?

   Thank you, Nancy, for coming to visit us today! Lord bless you and your congregation as you continue to minister to people in need.

Let us pray. Holy One, we thank you for Jesus Christ, our hope, our joy and our peace in this turbulent world. We pray you would help us to be doers of the Word and not just hearers only, deceiving ourselves. Lord, teach us to be religious--the way James defines pure and undefiled religion. Give us wisdom to know how we might help the homeless and people with other needs. Should we partner with another group so that we can do more than what we try to do on our own? Loving Spirit, fill us with compassion for people in need so that we are moved to acts of kindness, generosity and love. Forgive us when we have been timid about helping others, perhaps even fearful of people with great needs. Strengthen us to be a witness to the world of our love for God and neighbor so that others will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior and experience new, abundant, and everlasting life through belief on Him. In Christ we pray. Amen.