At the Mirror

Thank you for reading this sermon from Christ Fellowship. I hope and pray that this sermon will be a blessing of grace and truth to you. With that said, let me encourage you not to use this sermon as a replacement for your local church. Christ Jesus did not establish his Church simply for us to consume content. Instead, He calls us to be part of a real, covenant family.

One of the easiest ways we can deceive ourselves spiritually is when we confuse exposure to God’s Word with submission to it.

We have more access to Biblical content than we’ve ever had before. Sermons, Bible studies, articles, videos… And yet, James is deeply concerned that hearing—by itself—can actually become dangerous.

Because it is possible to sit under God’s Word, agree with it, admire it, and still resist it.

We are far better at listening to God’s Word than we are at letting it correct us.

But the way we receive God’s Word reveals whether or not it has truly taken root in us.

This morning, James will teach us that the Word of God must be received humbly, responded to actively, and reflected visibly in a life of repentance, mercy, and holiness.

[19] Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

[20] for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

James here is describing a posture of humility. In the context of the chapter, this is a person who has received the word of truth from God. How should it be received? It should be received in a posture of humility. With a teachable spirit. Listen well. Respond carefully.

And the instruction about anger is particularly important. Anger is not always sinful. We should be angry at sin. We should be angry at injustice. We should be angry about death. James isn’t denying righteous anger—but he is telling us that most of what we call righteous anger is just wounded pride.

Very often, our anger is misplaced. It’s impulsive and self-protective. It doesn’t make us holy. It doesn’t make other people holy. It doesn’t advance God’s kingdom.

And so, James says, be careful with your anger. It’s more likely to harm than to help.

It does not produce the righteousness of God. But something does. Let’s keep reading.

[21] Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
James brings us back again to the word of God. Put away sin and receive the word with meekness. What does this mean?

Notice again that God is the One doing the saving by means of His Word. Our part in this is repentance and faith. Turning from filth and receiving with meekness the power of God to change lives.

This is the only time the word for filthiness is used in the New Testament. James is using dirty clothes as a metaphor for sin. Take off your dirty clothes.

It’s a running joke in my home that if I’m working on a car, I’m going to find a way to get oil all over myself. It’s going to be on my hands, my arms, my face, my neck. It gets everywhere and by the end of the day I look like a coal miner.

And I don’t go inside like this and sit down on the couch or hug my wife. I immediately take off the dirty clothes and take a shower.

As Christians, we are still dealing with the remnants of sin. But when God’s Word exposes the dirt, we don’t sit in it. We act! And that is the point James is making. Look at verse 22.

[22] But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Hearing the word and not being challenged or changed by it is a form of false religion. Repentance is the necessary and inevitable response of someone who has truly received the Word of God. Without repentance, our religion is worthless.

It is somewhat comforting for me, as a pastor, to know that the very first Christians also struggled with this. James needs to say this because this was obviously a problem. And God has preserved this letter because it’s still a problem for us.

You sometimes hear serious, missional believers lamenting all the cultural Christians or nominal Christians who talk the talk and don’t walk the walk… but this has always been a problem. It’s not unique to modern Americans. It was a problem for ancient Jewish Christians as well.

And yet, there’s hope here in the language. “Be doers” is open-ended. This is a challenge to grow, not a hopeless condemnation. “Become doers” James is actually saying. Better yet, “keep on becoming doers”. Press into this work of repentance. Verse 23:

[23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

[24] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

What does it mean to look intently at your natural face? He’s talking about your real face, the one you were born with… no makeup, no masks… all the blemishes and age marks and scars. Why would someone look intently at that face, then walk away and forget?

This means something different to us, because we have mirrors everywhere. Some of us spend a lot of time in front of a mirror every day.

But back then, there were no photos or portraits. The mirrors they had weren’t nearly as good as ours and most people didn’t have one. In other words, seeing yourself wasn’t a daily occurrence.

That explains why someone might see himself in a mirror and then soon forget what he looks like! If you saw a problem in the mirror, you had to deal with it immediately or you may not get another opportunity any time soon.

And that’s the simplest way to say what needs to be done. If God shows you a problem, deal with it. Don’t just look at it and walk away! Verse 25:

[25] But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Look at how James describes the law. He calls it “the perfect law of liberty”. That may sound strange, especially if you’re more familiar with the way Paul talks about the law.

Galatians, Romans, Ephesians… many places make it clear that the law cannot bring us freedom from sin and death. We cannot rely on the law for salvation. But for the Christian, the law is good. It even brings a type of freedom.

But the purpose of laws is to restrict us, right? Don’t do this. Don’t do that. How can law bring freedom? The answer is that good laws bring freedom by restricting us in healthy ways, in accordance with our purpose and our nature.

We’ve all seen YouTube videos where someone promises a reward if certain rules are followed. Whoever keeps their hand on this sports car the longest gets to keep it. That’s a restriction, but it comes with a reward.

The law of God absolutely restricts our freedoms, but it also promises blessings. And those blessings are not arbitrary or exclusive, like a YouTube challenge.

It’s more like telling a fish that they will be blessed if they stay in the water. For the fish, water is law. But it’s also life. Keeping God’s law is like that for us. It’s who we are meant to be, and breaking God’s law is bad for us.

But the law also holds up a mirror – a perfect mirror that exposes more filthiness in us than we want to see. That’s why we might be tempted to glance and walk away.

Not just because we’re lazy or worldly, but because of our pride. In fact, I think self-righteous people have a harder time with this. But James urges us to look into the mirror and persevere. Keep looking. Don’t walk away.

Yes, the law exposes our sin. But it also shows us the character of God. And it corrects our self-perception.

How many times have you walked around for hours with food stuck in your teeth or sauce on your shirt and no one told you and you didn’t notice until you saw it in the mirror?

This is a universal church people problem. We all assume we are doing ok until we look in the spiritual mirror. We forget that we still need to repent.

I think this is the plea James is making to professing believers. You’re not done looking in the mirror. You’re not done dealing with sin. True spirituality looks like ongoing repentance. Keep coming back to the word with meekness. Keep becoming who God intends you to be.

And then James applies it in a few very specific ways.

[26] If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

That’s strong language. Your religion isn’t just weak or compromised. It’s worthless!

James connects the tongue to the heart, just as Jesus had done before Him. Matthew 15. It’s not what goes in the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of his mouth. What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart.

Gossip is a heart problem. Lying is a heart problem. Hurtful language is a heart problem. A lack of self-control over our tongue is a heart problem. And it’s one I’m very familiar with. I can erase a whole day’s worth of good intentions with one careless sentence.

And so, the first thing James tells us to look for in that spiritual mirror is how we speak. But he also tells us something beautiful to look for in the mirror of the law.

[27] Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Notice, James calls God “the Father” again, and I think this verse is sort of a summary of the heart of God. Which makes it’s a summary of the law.

This is what God wants for His church. He wants us to actively care for the people in society who are the most vulnerable. And to pursue holiness.

What I love about this verse is that it stretches both kinds of Christians. The ones who lean towards works of mercy are sometimes less concerned with holiness. And the ones concerned with holiness are sometimes less concerned with mercy.

We don’t want to be a mercy church OR a holiness church. We should want to be both! James refuses to let us choose between compassion and obedience—because God never does. As a side note, this is why we have elders and deacons. The elders are more concerned with our holiness, and the deacons are more concerned with our compassion.

God cares about both. We see that in the ministry of Jesus. On every page of the Gospels, we see Jesus showing compassion for hurting people. But Jesus also pressed His disciples to obedience.

Luke 11:28 – “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Matthew 7:24 – “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man…”

John 14:15 – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

And so, it is completely appropriate for Christians – necessary even – for us to evaluate our hearts in this way. Does our speech reflect the heart of God? Does our love for others, especially people in need? Do our lives reflect the character of God?

James is not calling us to save ourselves by better behavior, but to live honestly in light of what God has already done in Christ. The God who gave us new birth by the word of truth now calls us to receive that same word with humility, because only grace can produce a listening heart, self-control, and merciful action.

Hearing without doing is self-deception not because obedience earns life, but because real faith—union with God’s perfect Son—inevitably bears fruit.

Jesus is the true Hearer and Doer of the Word, the one who perfectly loved God and neighbor, bridled his tongue, cared for the helpless, and remained unstained by the world on our behalf.

And we are united to Him by faith. The law no longer condemns us; obedience becomes liberating… the joyful fruit of God’s Spirit at work in us. Mercy and holiness are being produced not from fear of judgment, but from gratitude for the word of truth planted in our hearts.

What James demands, Jesus supplies—and then produces in us by His Spirit.

James is basically borrowing from the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8 and he’s asking us if we are the good soil.

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

May God help us to grow for His glory.