Rogate 2025
Rogate
James 1:22-27
May 25, 2025
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christianity “is not without good works” and “proves itself with good fruits” [LW 57: 191]. Luther said that in a sermon on this day in 1535. Faith alone is how we are saved; but faith is never alone. Luther continues in his introduction to that sermon, “the one who wishes to be a Christian must be serious about it and not hypocritical.”
Are you serious about it? That’s the question we each must ask: are we serious about being a disciple of Jesus?
This week’s Epistle reading picks up right where last week’s left off. Last week St. James told us that we need to stop talking, and listen to God’s Word: “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
This week he continues, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” “Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says” [NLT]. In that sermon, Luther says that in the hypocrite, “The Gospel produces nothing except froth in their ears and hearts.” The German word there is Schaum - it’s the froth on a beer. Imagine ordering a beer and getting a mug full of foam. You wouldn’t accept that!
But that’s what our Christianity is often like: all foam, no beer; all hat, no cattle; all talk, no deeds. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” God is holy; you be holy. Get rid of the filth in your life. Get rid of the foolishness in your life. Get rid of everything that is distracting you from being a faithful disciple of Jesus and serving your neighbors.
Notice, none of this is disconnected from doctrine, from the Scriptures. “Be doers of the word.” Apply God’s Word all the way. No loopholes, no compromises, no accommodations. The Word is our greatest treasure. St. James calls it perfect, “the perfect law … of liberty.” That’s a tough phrase to grasp. The law seems to be the opposite of freedom. But this is false. The law leads to true freedom.
Think about your neighborhood. When people are obeying the law, you can be safely outside, not worrying if someone is going to steal your stuff or harm your children. A well-ordered society leads to a free and prosperous people.
This is much more the case when, with repentant hearts, we look to God’s Word, His perfect law, and strive to have our life be conformed to it. When our lives are ordered according to God’s Word, there is tremendous peace and joy.
But instead, we fake it. The word religious in today’s reading from James means to observe worship ceremonies, to do the rituals of the religion. There’s nothing wrong with rituals; in fact, we can’t live without them. Rituals permeate our lives, from waking to bedtime. But James is talking about doing the religious rituals outwardly while your life is not in harmony with them.
And the thing he particularly notes is our difficulty with controlling our mouths. He says our tongues need to be bridled. This pertains especially to the Eighth Commandment. Grab your hymnbook, open it to p321: right hand column, bottom - let’s read it together: What is the Eighth Commandment? “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” What does this mean? “We would fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.” That commandment is the Lord bridling our tongue.
When a horse is bridled, the rider uses it to guide and control the animal. We behave worse than the animals, for our tongue is unbridled, out of control.
If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way…. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. and so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” [Jas 3:2, 5-10 NLT].
We heard last week how we must be slow to speak. That is part of bridling the tongue. But we must speak the right things, as the Eighth Commandment teaches us, speaking well of others, explaining the actions of other people in the kindest way we can; it’s assuming the best about others, not the worst. Think of Jesus, who in the face of slander, simply didn’t respond.
It’s difficult to examine ourselves. God’s Word today describes people in the church who have deceived their own hearts. Each of us must ask, “Is that me? Is my religion worthless?”
God’s Word then directs us toward the worthwhile things: “Visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Orphans and widows were the most vulnerable people of that society. Who are the orphans and widows that need you to visit? Whoever is vulnerable, whoever is in need, whoever is forgotten, that is who needs your visit. In the Bible, “visit” is often used to mean “come with help.” Think of a president or a governor visiting a disaster site. He comes and surveys, and with him comes assistance. When James tells us to visit the vulnerable, he’s not saying to pay a social call – it means help those who need it.
But while we’re doing that, we need to make sure the world doesn’t corrupt us, co-opt us, conform us to its evil. That’s what James means when he tells us to keep ourselves unstained from the world: refuse to let the culture corrupt you.
Arthur and Ryan, that’s my prayer for you today: that as disciples of Jesus, you would spend your life hearing God’s Word, striving to put it into practice. With bridled tongue, you care for the vulnerable, and don’t let the world corrupt you.
You can’t do that by your own reason or strength. But the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified and kept you in the true faith thus far.
Stay close to the Church, stay close to the means of grace. Look for a pious Lutheran girl to marry. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for the Lord Jesus Christ has overcome the world!
Alleluia! Christ is risen!