Monday, September 10, 2012

mind, mouth and ministry



090912         James 2:1-17

Our worship series from the book of James kicked off last week with Chris’s challenging us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger….to be both hearers AND doers of the word, the Logos, the Christ within us.  I may as well warn you, today it’s more of the same.
This is a very practical little book, written to Christians who are new to living in a faith community within the larger secular community. Just like us, they need help in listening, discerning, speaking in ways that are uniquely Christian, ways of people who try to live the Jesus way, not the Fpt way, not the democrat way, not the republican way…
And the author keeps it pretty simple –there ‘s not a lot of deep theological mumbo jumbo in his writing.  And he’ s pretty hard hitting  too.
Here’s what I think it boils down to: practicing what we preach is important.
 What we believe or think in our minds, what we say with our mouths, and what we do in our day to day life (which is all ministry), should all match up.  You’ve heard of 3M, this is a 4M sermon.
If you’re a homemaker, or a doctor or a secretary or a garbage collector or an engineer or  retired and volunteering – you are called to be a Christlike one—your ministry isn’t just what you do in or for church (not even if you’re the pastor!).  Being a follower of Jesus is a 24-7, 365 attitude and lifestyle.  That’s what makes Christianity a movement—the church stuff is the support structure for the movement that happens in society when Christians act like it.
To illustrate this, James takes a couple of simple every day examples—our attitudes and prejudices based on appearance for one, and our half hearted wellmeaning words for another.
We all do it.  Make assumptions immediately in our minds, make mistakes with our mouths, and fail to act out what we say we believe.
The other day, there was a news item on TV about a child mauled by a dog, and her parents came on the screen, obviously distraught and deeply loving of their daughter.  But what did I see?  Tattoos. And what did I think first?   A prejudicial thought.  Shame on me.  I had to get away for a bit and pray that one away, for it was not befitting a follower of Jesus.  Thoughts matter.
Later that day I stopped at a traffic light, where a young man stood with a sign: homeless, please help.  It was warm and sunny and my window was down, so I smiled and said good morning to him then drove off on the green light. 
I used to have a stack of McDonald gift cards for such an occasion, and I know more than one place he can get food and shelter and a shower and so on.  But I had let that slip, so I wasn’t prepared to be as Christ to him.  James would say  I’d got sloppy and lazy in the works department—my faith might be fine, but it’s worthless if it’s not acted out.  Mouth matters and must match ministry.
You see, our faith is not personal spiritual massage – altho our faith does comfort us when we need it.  Our faith is a daily, hourly, moment by moment commitment to the inner journey and the outer care for the world.   One without the other is pointless, and most of us err a little heavy on one side or the other….lots of good works, lots of churchy stuff, maybe serving beyond these walls, but spiritual babies on the inside, neglecting the development of our spirits.   Or we spend hours in prayer and spiritual growth groups, meditation, teaching or preaching (!),  but unprepared to actually be helpful to that homeless man, either in personal action or political influence.
Mind, mouth, ministry matter.
James asks us, do your mind, and mouth, and manner match?
As our new program year begins at church it’s a good time to get this balance redressed. We’ll take a minute or two of silence to reflect on our own 4Ms, and listen with our hearts for God’s guidance for us….

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