Wordsmiths
James 1: 17-27
annonymous

Many of you know that prior to going to seminary to study for the ordained ministry, I spent over twenty years in the practice of public relations. In that time of twenty years, I heard many words used to describe just what it is that public relations practitioners do. Names that immediately come to mind are ones like "PR jockeys" and "spin doctors" as if those in the public relations field dedicate themselves to spinning the meaning of words to fit what needs to be said. I should tell you that terms like "spin doctor" are offensive to those ethical public relations practitioners who are committed to their profession. Jack Kevorkian calls himself a medical doctor, but he certainly does not represent the entire medical profession. So, too, everyone who presents themselves to be involved in public relations, does not represent those who practice public relations professionally and ethically.

One other name used for people in public relations, is "wordsmith." Just as someone who makes or shapes things out of metal is called a "blacksmith," people who make and shape stories out of words are called "wordsmiths." But public relations people are not the only ones who are "wordsmiths." Biblical writers were wordsmiths as they shaped and told the stories of the people of God.

Because of those stories, we can visualize David, with his slingshot and five small stones, approaching the giant, Goliath. The stories of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness would not be complete without remembering how God provided for their hunger by furnishing them with manna everyday. These stories make our tongues inquire what it would be like to eat the same white "stuff" day after day after day. The gospel writers shaped words so that with our mind's ear, we can hear the song of the angels to the shepherds on the hillside. When Jesus went to the tomb to raise Lazarus from the dead, he said, "Take away the stone." But, Martha, the sister of the dead man, says, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days" and our noses can imagine the stench.

All of this is because the Biblical writers wanted us to experience the sights, smells, sounds and stories of the people in the Bible. All they had to do this with was words.

The earliest form of communication was oral. The stories of who they were, whose they were and what God wanted them to do, were passed down from generation to generation of those who were children of God.

First these words were only spoken. Then people began to write them down. History and law and poetry and psalms and tales of the prophets were gathered together into books which became the Hebrew Scriptures. After Jesus' birth, crucifixion, death and resurrection, his followers, too, wrote about his life and their lives as disciples and followers.

The words of the Bible are a vital source of guidance for our faith journey. Of course, all of the words in the Bible are not easy to hear or even to understand. The words in the Bible convict, encourage, teach and reprove. But they equip us for discipleship. That is one of the reasons for the Disciple Bible Study that is offered. (This is the time I can throw in a commercial for Disciple). The purpose of this nine-month weekly study is to form and transform people for their faith journey. It nourishes us and equips us for discipleship through biblical study - a study of the words and stories of the Bible.

Let us return to the words of the scripture we heard earlier - the words in the Letter of James. The author of the Letter of James is unknown. Traditionally, he is believed to be a brother of Jesus who became a leader of the church in Jerusalem.

The way in which the letter is written, the way in which the words are shaped, seems to support this. However, James was widely revered in the early centuries of Christianity and, like other writings in the scriptures, his name may have been used to lend authenticity to the letter. Therefore, the general nature of the contents make it difficult to attach it positively to a specific time and place.

The whenever and whoever of the Letter of James are not the primary focus for us. Whoever he was, James was a wordsmith and what we need to examine is the message of his words. James writes to a real audience. His message is for a community of faith. Apparently that community of faith has been following the words of the Apostle Paul. But the community seems to have run amuck of the real message of Paul. James sets out to set them straight.

Paul says we are justified by grace through faith. Paul's letters to the Christian communities tells them they are to have faith and, where they are not faithful, they are to clean up their act. James is more honest. In fact, he is forthrightly honest. He minces no words. He tells it like it is. Sure, they are to have faith. But Christianity is more than having faith. They are to live their faith.

One of my seminary textbooks was appropriately named, The Scandalous Message of James. James says the message is NOT to just have faith and then do as you please. He says that faith that you hold in your heart or believe in your mind, has consequences in how you live. Faith has to do with where you put your faith down. Faith is where the rubber hits the road.

Don't take this scandalous message in the wrong way. James is not saying that we do works to pile up credit with God. Rather, James says that the way we live is a faithful acceptance of God's grace. What we do expresses whether or not our faith is lodged in God through Jesus Christ. What we do and how we live is an expression of what God has already done for us.

This is not so different from Paul's messages of faith. James is talking about how God's grace bears fruit in our lives through the working of the Holy Spirit. Many of the early Christians were intimidated about "works without faith." The concept of works had gotten bad press. But it was "works" only, "works" alone, that was to be avoided.

John Wesley believed that if we had faith, we just naturally would live lives that demonstrated our faith. If faith is acted out, it is expressed in how we live. It is our human response to a gracious God. James does not talk about laws or codes but rather the kinds of behavior that support the life and health of a community of faith. It is how we live together than embodies the reign of God - through justice, peace, wholeness, integrity.

James is the corrective voice to a community that needs correction. The sailor, out on the water, sets the coordinates toward a particular destination, or the navigator on an airplane sets the instruments for guidance. However, she or he never makes the settings and then turns away. Constant vigilance is required and often corrective settings are necessary.

This is what James is doing for the early Christian community - being a corrective voice to a community that has gotten a bit off course.

James tells them it takes more than faith alone. He says that works are an expression of a faith that is alive. He does not say "do this" or "do that." Rather he says, "You've got it but what does it look like?" You have faith, but how does it show?

Faith is expressed in how one lives not how faith "just happens." James writes, "You say you have faith. I don't see a thing. I can see your faith when I see your works." It is NOT a perverted way of earning brownie points with God.

Each of us as Christians is called to live our faith. We at Annandale UMC live it in our Bread of Life ministries, in our Caring ministries in teaching in Sunday School, through missions and ushering and providing music and the many other activities and programs of this church. We live it through a smile, a hug, an expression of sympathy, an understanding and listening ear. We live it when we willingly help out where and when we are needed, expecting neither glory nor recognition.

There is power in a single word. For example, what are some images that come to mind when I say words like guilt, accusation, jealousy, complaining. How are those images altered when I use words like faith, love, hope, compassion, grace?

I challenge you to take a moment and reflect on your life of discipleship. What words do you live? How do they reflect your faith? Where does the rubber of your faith hit the road of life?

The words we believe need to be lived. The Word of God, capital W, is Jesus Christ who is our compass, our guide. The words, little w, of the Bible provide us a direction for discipleship. We are called to be more than wordsmiths. We are called to more than shaping the words we hear and believe. We are called to be disciples not just by saying the words but by living them - every day of our lives.

The music artist, Michael W. Smith wrote and Amy Grant recorded a contemporary Christian song called, Thy Word. The words of the chorus go like this:

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

James says the same thing. Our faith is not words alone. It is living and walking in the way of Jesus Christ.

Amen.