To Remember,....to Do

And James gives two examples of those needing our concern: orphans and widows, those without any protections, those who need someone to speak for them, to comfort them, to assist them.

One of Harry Wendt's most powerful little illustrations is his definition of sin as an arrow that circles around to point only at itself.

It is a visualization of the old Latin phrase about being incurved upon oneself.

To be a doer of the word is to be turned outside of oneself for ones such as these, James is indicating.

[In passing we might note that those who are profoundly orphaned in our day and need us to speak for them are those who are so alienated from their mother's affections that she would rather kill them than allow them to be born.]

Back to the main track.

I'll remind you of the old story about the pastor who went to a new call.

On his first Sunday he preached a fine sermon and everyone complemented him.

On the second Sunday, he preached the same sermon.

There was some murmuring, of course, but they decided not to say anything to him, since he was just settling in, etc.

Then came the third Sunday, and again the same sermon was preached.

Now the president of the parish called the Pastor aside and asked him why he was doing that.

“Oh, it is very simple”, replied the Pastor.

“When I see some evidence that the members of the congregation have begun to do what the Word has been directing in that first sermon, then I'll move on to another one.”

Be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers, deceiving yourselves.

It is just like James to reel off pithy little sayings like this which are true, but which we really don't want to hear.

Jesus does not say to us,

“Just thoughtfully consider what God says and see if you can come to some level of intellectual assent to it.”

Rather, Jesus says, “Follow me.” Just do it.

Be doers of the Word, not merely hearers who deceive themselves.

We deceive ourselves when we think that we have done the faith when we have listened, pondered, and agreed.

But the test of a good sermon and a good worship service is what happens afterward.

Are the gifts we received actually shared?

Does the intellectual stimulation lead to action?

Are the hungry fed physically and spiritually?

Are the thirsty assuaged?

Are the strangers welcomed and offered a share in brotherhood?

Are the naked clothed?

Are the sick under care, in body and spirit?

Are the imprisoned visited and true freedom shared with them?

Does the fellowship we begin to practice here in this gathering spill over into all of our daily relationships?

Do we recognize that our hymn of praise is incomplete until every voice in all creation is bid to join in singing?

And leadership in the doing of these things may come from unexpected quarters.

Perhaps you have heard of Daniel's Closet, a ministry of Redeemer Lutheran Church for the past several years.

It began when a 10 year old member of the congregation was outside one day and noticed a man sitting on the church steps.

“Why don't you have a coat on? he asked.

“I don't have one. Can you get me one?”

So Daniel went inside and talked with his gram who was busy with little tasks in the church.

They found a coat that had been left on a rack for some time, took it out, and gave it to the man.

In conversation they began to discover that there are a number of people who need things as that man needed a coat.

So gram began to ask friends if they had clothing they no longer needed that could be shared.

One thing led to another, and now Daniel's Closet gives clothing to several hundred people one Saturday each month year-round, with no questions and no paperwork.

Gram is the gregarious sort, who talks with everyone who comes in, welcomes them, offers them a cup of coffee, points them to whatever sort of clothing they need.

She also recruits volunteers, lugs clothing from here and there, distributes what is left to other places, etc.

And young Daniel continues to hang around, packing and unpacking, making sure that everything goes well.

It began with one young boy and one grandmother.

Be doers of the word and not merely hearers, deceiving yourselves.

It is not easy, though.

In Wmspt. we're trying to put together a coalition of congregations who will offer overnight hospitality a week at a time, four times a year, for one or more families with a total of not more than 14 persons.

We talk and talk, but building a coalition of 13 or more congregations is a very slow process.

There are so many objections and reservations and hesitations,

from good people who have heard the word, and in one way or another seem to be afraid to let that word really work in them.

Or, maybe I'm only revealing my impatience, and the Spirit is at work on God's own timetable, not mine. But somehow...

Be doers of the Word, not hearers only.

We've mentioned Daniel, a young boy, and now an aged PA saint: Johann Christian Friedrich Heyer,

who came alone to the US at age 13.

in the 1820's & 30s he was a missionary as far west as Missouri, starting a number of congregations.

in the 1840's he went to India and his work helped to begin the work in which our friend Pr. Sam Schmithenner later served.

in the 1850's he served on the Minnesota frontier, & helped to form that Synod.

In 1869, at age 76, he was attending the General Synod convention in Reading or Harrisburg, when due to economic conditions they were ready to give up the mission in India.

He pleaded with the convention not to do that.

“We need someone to go and lead that work,” they said.

Who will go? Will you,? asked someone snidely.

Yes, I will, he replied, and my valise is right here beside me.

The chastened convention actually did send him to India, where as an aged leader he served valiantly for several more years.

He came across the ocean yet one more time, served as a house-father in the Philadelphia Seminary, were he died and is buried in Somerset.

Certainly, a doer!

And we should mention also Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died on this day in the year 988.

He was born to privilege, and could have avoided much heartache,

but he chose to observe the Benedictine way of life, and as an able leader in monastic communities and dioceses, was called upon by a series of kings to serve as advisor to them as well.

His work as abbot and bishop involved reestablishing and reforming monastic communities that had been destroyed in the Viking raids, building churches, and especially trying to clean up the scandalous behavior of the clergy.

[Do we need Dunstan again today?]

Our first reading today is talking about the doing of the Word also, but it comes at it from another way, by use of the terms remember and forget.

We could summarize:

Remember what God has done,

do not forget to do all that he commands.

Try this on as a working definition of the two terms:

to remember...to recognize that the promises and commandments of God continue to have a present effect and relevance, and that we are invited and encouraged to do them.

to forget... to pretend that the promises and commandments of God don't have any current effect or relevance, and that we need not think about or do them.

To remember truly is to do what the Word says.

...to take, bless, break, and share in the Sacrament, for example.

There is lots more to explore here, but enough for now.

Let's close with a few sentences from the Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict.

This, then, is the beginning of my advice: make prayer the first step in anything worthwhile that you attempt.

Persevere and do not weaken in that prayer. Pray with confidence, because God, in his love and forgiveness, has counted us as his own sons and daughters.

[There is sweet gospel!]

At every moment in our lives, as we use the good things that he has given to us, we can respond to his love only by seeking to obey his will for us.

The Lord waits for us every day to see if we will respond by our deeds to his holy guidance.

“That was a wonderful sermon, pastor.”

“Well friend, may it be so,

with you and with me,

in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.