Be Doers of the Word and Not Merely Hearers

Jesus’ brother, James, helps us put faith and works in perspective by reminding us that for people of faith, one does not exist without the other. “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. . . 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.”(James 1:17-27)

James goes on to teach that God calls us to be, not simply hearers of God’s Word, but “doers of the Word.” James tells us that by acting on God’s Word, by walking the walk as well as talking the talk, that we will be blessed in the doing, in the acting, in the living out of and living into the Word of God.

What does our doing look like? James tells us that it looks like “care for orphans and widows in their distress, keeping ourselves unstained by the world, and, perhaps the most difficult, “bridling our tongues.” (I do so hate it when preachers quit preaching and start to meddling, but, James does stop us in our tracks and force us to think about our actions.)

For those of us who are Christians today, this means that we hear the word and act; that we love one another as Christ loves us; that we feed the hungry, cloth the naked, welcome the stranger. It means that we fight for what we believe, based on our faith and our knowledge, but that we respect those whose opinions and beliefs differ from ours.

Who are the widows and orphans of our time? Who are the vulnerable in our world today? Who is God calling us to serve? To find out, we need only look to the margins of our society. To follow God’s will, we need only love and care for those who live there. May God give us the strength and courage to be doers of the word, and that by doing, to be blessed and to be a blessing!