Sermon Text: James 1:27

Below is a sermon manuscript from February 16, 2024. Watch the sermon here.

Introduction

I was in the back of the bus and thinking of all the rhyming words I could. The method was simple, I didn’t have the prowess to elongate words or add syllables in order to rhyme something with the word orange. But I was having fun anyway. At least I thought I was. You see, that is when I got in trouble in elementary school for saying curse words. You can see how easy it could have been, especially because I had no idea what a curse word was. I knew bad words like the “S” word (shut-up) that could be used instead of “be quiet” or things I shouldn’t say to my brothers, but I didn’t know about this whole class of other off-limits words. Sometimes, we put things in the wrong categories. In our passage this morning, we see one of those words. James will help us understand it better.

1. Religion is not a curse word

Displays of faith can be empty

As we look at this passage, the first thing that might stick out to us is the word religion. This word can have a lot of negative associations today. Sometimes we hear people differentiating religion from having a relationship with Jesus. Or they might say they are not following a religion but they are transformed by the gospel. Others might contrast the work of the Holy Spirit with the structures of religion. Religion is often associated with structures, rules, stuffiness. For many it might even imply the externals of the faith removed from the internal heart change. These ideas are not made up on the spot or merely a product of our time and place. In fact, we see Scripture showing how there can be external aspects to the faith that a true relationship with God. We see Jesus calling out the Pharisees for being white-washed tombs. They looked good on the outside, seems to do the right things, but were dead on the inside. Jesus also related this to religious practices. In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches that his followers aren’t to do things in order to gain the praise and attention of others. Giving to the needy, prayer, fasting, can all be used to draw attention to ourselves. This is an empty kind of religious activity. Jesus quotes Isaiah h Matthew 15:8 saying that the Pharisees and scribes honor God with their lips but their heart is far from him. 

This emptiness and mere religious practices and going through the motions is what we typically think when we hear the word religious. To quote Bono, “I often wonder if religion is the enemy of God. It’s almost like religion is what happens when the Spirit has left the building.”^[1] Scripture indeed speaks this way; Colossians 2:23 refers to it as self-made religion. It can be helpful to evaluate our own hearts and be challenged if we are merely going through the motions. Going to church, praying, and taking the Lord’s Supper can be treated as mere rituals. 

Displays of faith are ordained by God

But we need to understand that this is a perversion of the practices, not something inherent in the practices. Just as the good gifts of eating and drinking can be perverted into gluttony and drunkenness, so the spiritual practices can be perverted. But just as the perversion of food and drink doesn’t mean we should never eat or drink so the perversion of spiritual practices doesn’t mean we avoid them altogether. After all, Jesus tells us to baptize and to take the Lord’s Supper. We see the early church gathering to hear the Word taught and to pray. And James is telling us here that there is religious activity that is pure and undefiled. To be sure it is not covering all of true religion, but highlighting these particular elements for us – perhaps missing in the day. These particular elements may serve to counter those who go through the motions. They speak of living out the faith in everyday life.

I love this summary of James’ intention in this passage that I came across in my study,

James says, in effect: “Does the show of religion frighten you? A religion that never shows itself publicly frightens me. Intellectual theology, hidden faith, and knowledge that never drive action alarm me. Give me something visible. Prove your faith is real by doing the word^[2]

Saving faith, as we will see later in the letter, is a faith that holds onto something. It’s a faith that trusts in Someone. It’s a faith that can’t be hid under a bushel because the good news is too good to be contained to us. 

2. Pure Religion is Socially Concerned

The first aspect that James discusses is that pure religion has a social concern. This should not surprise us. We believe in a God who came to save those who couldn’t save themselves. One who left comfort and took on weakness so that we might be healed. The gospel is not about adding heaven to an already good life. It’s about trusting in a God who cares that deeply. This is a transformative reality. How can we say that we are Christians, an originally mocking term my enemies of Jesus followers that meant “little Christs” how can we be that and not care for the helpless? The gospel shows us that we were helpless in what mattered most and God provided, this frees us from self-righteousness. How can we think “Why should I help them?” God helped us. 

More, but not less, than this

We have to be careful not to limit our understanding of pure religion to just care for the marginalized. James point is not to say these are the only things that are included but to give a tangible picture of what it looks like. Again, we are instructed in Scripture to gather with God’s people, take the Lord’s Supper, be baptized. These are important. 

The matters that James mentions in these verses were undoubtedly problems among the Christians to whom he is writing. But they are also frequently mentioned in Scripture as key components of a biblical lifestyle. “Looking after widows and orphans” picks up a frequent OT refrain. In the ancient world, with an absence of money-making possibilities for women and any kind of social welfare, widows and orphans were helpless to provide for themselves. A mark of Israel’s obedience, therefore, was to be a special concern for these helpless people. The Lord commanded the people: “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan” (Exod. 22:22), and the law specified that the people were to go out of their way to provide for the widow and the orphan (Deut. 14:29, passim).^[3]

Care for the helpless

For us that means there is a call to help the helpless. Those who are at risk and cannot provide for themselves. James uses the word “visit.” This particular lemma is used 12 times in the New Testament and interesting it’s used in a similar sense in Jesus’ teaching about the final judgment. 

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’^[4]

As we have seen, this teaching is throughout Scripture, and this idea of pure religion is intricately woven into the idea of love for God. Visiting others in this way is not stopping by to say hi. But it’s caring for them. It’s looking after and making sure they are alright. We might think of the handicapped, those who may be adjusting to life in a new country, or what about those who don’t have a voice to be heard themselves and are most vulnerable. In the words of Proverbs 31:8, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”^[5]

James is getting at the idea of those who have found themselves in a difficult situation not of their own making. He’s not directly addressing those who have been unwise or foolish in their life and brought misery to themselves. There is wisdom for how to help in a way that doesn’t hurt that Christians certainly should consider. This is where we need God’s wisdom. But the call here is clear: Christians – even while exercising wisdom – should be a people who desire to help and love others – especially those in greatest need.

Social concern can be concerning

Scripture dictates the issues and means

In our right pursuit and care for social issues today, we do have to be careful of not letting these terms and ideas be hijacked by the culture but informed by the Word of God. There can be artificial categories of helplessness. There can be harmful directives to help in specific ways. I think that our association, the EFCA was helpful in how they addressed this in the affirmations and denials they put out a couple of years ago. This isn’t binding for members of the churches but is a helpful taste for the direction of the leadership.

Social concern does not save us

We also need to understand the place of social concern within the faith. This is an outworking of saving faith it is not itself saving. There are some who teach that salvation is through social work. This is to see Jesus as merely an example to follow or that salvation is not found through faith alone but by our faithfulness in action. 

3. Pure Religion is Personally Transformed

Religion also has the idea of following a code of conduct. Of having a way of life that we are called to pursue. Some that press into the idea of social concern can do so to the detriment of the call to personal holiness. You may hear some say, “Why are you concerned with how I use my body when I am helping feed the homeless?” Some try to jettison the Biblical commands by saying that we only care about those issues because we live in an individualistic society. Those in other cultures would read things more corporately, so – the thought goes –  we don’t need to worry about individual holiness. But we might press back and say, why is the idea of individual responsibility so prevalent? A big reason is because Biblical ideas permeated culture. 

Keep yourself pure from the direction and patterns of this world

James use of the word world is getting at the idea of the patterns and direction of this world. Those things which are at odds with God and His Word. Theologians have distinguished between structure and direction. Or we might say things that are in the world and the patterns and behaviors of the world. This distinction is important because it can safeguard from a misreading of James. For instance, the Amish take this verse and import many things in this world as opposed to patterns of the world. So avoiding driving cars, going to movies, and having electricity would be seen as a way to keep oneself unstained from the world and their religion pure. While I admire a desire to adhere faithfully to this teaching, I believe this is a misreading of the passage. Paul taught that every good gift is from God. We see in Genesis that there is a call to exercise dominion over the earth by both stewarding and developing it. Technology, the arts, business, government, education, and architecure, do not need to be seen as belonging to the world but can be used for good.

A diagram from “borrowed” Wolter’s book Creation Regained may help illustrate the problem with a sacred/ secular divide. If we imagine that this box represents creation in all its variety.

There are at least two ways we can show the opposition between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world/ Satan. The first is to draw the line horizontally separating the church from the rest of creation – this is a form of sacred/ secular dualism.  We could also draw the line vertically. Nothing is secular but sin. It is a rejection of any sacred/ secular divide.^[6]

You are Called to Personal Holiness

While it is important to get a right understanding of the world and recognize that we can use things well for God’s glory, we also need to understand the personal nature of the instruction here in James. Keep oneself. We are called to live faithfully in this world, and there are certainly social dimensions to that, which we discussed already, but there are also individual elements. We have individual responsibility before God to live an unstained life. The sense here is maintaining a life of holiness. As we go about in a world that has many patterns and behaviors directed away from God, we will be tempted to follow. 

Before we know Jesus, this is our default leaning. For those who are in Christ, we have victory in Christ and have the Holy Spirit with us but we still have remnants of sin.  Romans 8:13 and Colossians 2:15 instruct Christians to put to death what is earthly in us. Very similar to what James is saying here about not being stained by the world. In fact the word is literally spotless. No spot from the world’s influence of being directed away from God. It reminds me of the NIV’s wording of Ephesians 5:3, 

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people^[7]

There is a sense that not owning a toaster is much easier than not having a hint of impurity. 

Personal Transformation and Pride

We mentioned that social concern can go wrong. But personal transformation also can become misaligned. As Paul writes in Galatians, there is a danger for those who begin in the Spirit to think they can be perfected in the flesh. We are called to pursue holiness, but we must recognize that the power to live a godly life is from God. Self-righteousness is always creeping at the door. We can easily say with the Pharisee in Luke 18:11-14,

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

There is also a danger of isolationism. We can turn inward and focus on this aspect to the neglect of social concern. But personal holiness and social concern are meant to be mutually reinforcing. Social concern that lacks personal holiness cuts the legs out from itself. The person who is giving time to help the homeless kills their Christian witness when those homeless find out that she has been skimming money from the charity. Certainly one is not giving out of desire for other but to enrich themselves.

Doing good, even in the name of Jesus, will bring few to Christ when others see no inward transformation in those reaching out to them. Conversely, the most pious, moral believers who refuse to help the needy of the world will find their attempts to convince others of Jesus’ love often falling on deaf ears.^[8]

I love the examples of people in our church family who are doing this well. Those who love Jesus seek to live faithful lives and pour themselves out for the sake of others. I love it when my kids notice this. The other day, my daughter said to me, “The Murrays will do anything for anyone.”

Conclusion

Keeping ourselves unstained and caring for orphans and widows does not save us. In order for us to have a heart for these things, we need to have a heart change. Our motives are always mixed. We do things for others with the hope of getting noticed. We try to live upright lives so that we feel good about ourselves or to earn someone’s approval. But The gospel counters all of this. It says that, yes, we are going in the wrong direction, but Jesus – the only perfect person to ever live on this earth – came for us because of his concern for the helpless. Orphans and widows have little hope in a society that is against them, but we have no hope because we have sinned against a holy God. This doesn’t leave us destitute but destined for eternal punishment. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He came to save and rescue sinners. The gospel is scandalous to those who think they have things all figured out. You might cry, “I’m not needy. I’m not helpless.” I will figure it out on my own. Go ahead, try. But tell me, is a gospel of “I pulled myself up by my own effort;” is that good news that will lead you to care selflessly for others without expecting anything in return? Is that good news that will cause you to submit your life to God’s way of living instead of your own? Or is it the kind of news that says, “Look at my blood, sweat, and tears.” Instead of falling down before the one who shed his blood for you and telling others of that good news. 

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^[1] U2, “Bono On Keeping The Faith,” U2.com, accessed February 15, 2025, http://www.U2.com/news/title/bono_on_keeping_the_faith_1060/.

^[2] Daniel M. Doriani, James, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2007), 61.

^[3] Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2000), 96–97.

^[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 25:31–40.

^[5] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Pr 31:8.

^[6] jasonestopinal, “You Should Know Neo-Calvinism,” The Laymen’s Lounge (blog), February 11, 2021, https://thelaymenslounge.com/you-should-know-neo-calvinism/.

^[7] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Eph 5:3.

^[8] Craig L. Blomberg and Mariam J. Kamell, James, vol. 16, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 100.