Just Do It

Text: Luke 6:46-49, James 1:22-25

Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, Utah

June 2, 2024

The Nike shoe company is known for the phrase “Just Do It.” Along with the familiar swoosh, the slogan appears on bags, T-shirts, billboards, and in commercials.  It is known throughout the world.  It is forceful, direct, and action-oriented.

While Nike may think they were the first to say “Just Do It,” actually Jesus and the New Testament writer James were way out in front.  Though what they meant was very different from Nike.

James wrote, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”  Jesus spoke about doing what he says. This sermon is about doing what God speaks – living the life he tells us to live.

So vital to our living for God is doing what he wants us to do.

The Screwtape Letters is a book written by C.S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letters are fictitious letters between a senior demon – whose name is Screwtape – and his nephew named Wormwood. It was C.S. Lewis’ creative way of thinking about the life of following Christ through the eyes and minds of demons, from a backwards and opposite perspective, you might say.

The demon Wormwood is assigned to a believer in Christ. Screwtape gives advice to his nephew on how to frustrate and defeat this believer and make him ineffective for Christ. On one occasion, Screwtape tells Wormwood how to keep this believer from being obedient to the Lord. (To the demon, the Enemy that he refers to is God.)

The great thing is to prevent his doing anything.  As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance…Let him, if he has any bent that way, write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilizing the seeds which the Enemy plants in a human soul.  Let him do anything but act.  No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will.

Screwtape tells his nephew that if he can just keep this Christian from actually doing his faith then he will be successful.  Let the Christian think about it, read about it, even write a book about it.  But just keep him from putting his faith into action.

That is advice from hell: as long as those who call themselves Christians merely read about, hear, talk about, even write about what God wants us to do it makes no difference. We are harmless.

Every follower of Christ needs to know the word of the Lord.  Whether we read our Bible in regular devotions, listen to it in the car, find it in a devotional, go to studies and listen to sermons.  The word of God is where we learn who God is, who we are, and what he wants us to be.

No matter how much we read or how many Bible studies we attend, it doesn’t matter if we don’t do what we read, hear and learn. It’s great to know the history, the background, the content of the Bible, but the point is to live it.

James knew this.  He writes, don’t just listen to the word but do what it says. To merely listen to the word can be deceptive. He writes that to merely listen to the word is like looking at our faces in a mirror. We see dirt on our face. But then when we walk away we forget what we looked like. To hear or read how God wants us to be and live and then forget what we heard or read is indeed to, as Screwtape put it, “sterilize the seed which God plants in a human soul.” Our Christian living is ineffective.

James was the leader of the first church in Jerusalem. He was the brother of Jesus. When James spoke people listened. The book that bears his name might have very well been a sermon or instruction guide for Christians that are scattered throughout the ancient world. It is a book full of wisdom about living the God-life.

James mentions four things about our interaction with the word. First, it is something we must look into, and look into it intently, closely, with intention. The word James uses is a word for actually stooping down to look into something. We have to take the time and effort to actually read and hear what God has said to us in his word. We will never know what God’s word says, never know the life he wants us to live, never know his mind and will if we don’t look into his word.

The transformation of my life as a Christian came when I actually began to look into the Bible. I was in college and attended my first real Bible study though I grew up in the church. I also began reading the Bible for myself. The more I read, the hungrier and more spiritually thirsty I became. I began to learn who God was and what God wanted of me. I found instruction but also had many questions. The more I wondered the more I read and studied. I had to look into this word. The Bible was fertilizer for my heart and soul.

Let’s learn the Scriptures and not begrudge the time and work it takes.[1]

Earlier in his letter, James says to “humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”[2] We accept the word with humility.  And when the word of the Lord gets planted in our hearts and minds, and it gets watered and nurtured, it begins to grow in us and work.

Jesus told a parable about a sower who went out and threw seed everywhere. Jesus said that seed is the word of God, and when it gets planted in good soil – that is, a heart that is receptive and accepts what the word says – that person grows wonderful, godly, holy fruit in their life.[3] We become a garden full of the things of God. We become what God wants us to become.

James calls the word the perfect law that gives freedom. He is the only New Testament writer who calls the word of God this.  James means the law of love. Jesus always emphasized the heart when talking about the law. The law is a means to relationship with God.

It is a law that brings freedom. Being free isn’t doing anything we want as we want. Freedom is knowing the rules and boundaries, what can hurt and what can help.

The big signs where the Frontrunner trains run that warn us against walking on the tracks are there not to limit our freedom but to keep us alive.  They are there to show us the boundaries so we can live and keep on living.

Freedom is knowing how to live. God’s word tells us how life is best to be lived. That is why James can say the law gives freedom. We look into the perfect word of God to find out what it means. It shapes and forms our lives. We find wisdom and live freely.

Second, after looking into the word we continue in it. We persevere in it. We need to hang with God’s word. We don’t master it, or even understand it all at once. It comes with time, experience, and living. When you live with someone you get to know that person – his tendencies, her desires, his habits, her features. As we continue with God’s word more understanding, more wisdom comes to us. We understand the ways of God. We get used to his voice, and the patterns of his dealings with us. More importantly, our lives become richer our faith becomes stronger. Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”[4]

The third thing James says about our interaction with God’s word is to do it. Four times James uses the verb “to do”. Doing is the opposite of the forgetting that James warns against. Oswald Chambers said, one step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it. We learn, we grow, we become more mature in faith as we practice it.

One time Jesus challenged those who listened to him and said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Repeating someone’s name was a Hebrew way of expressing intimacy. God came close to the saints of the Old Testament by repeating their name. “Abraham, Abraham.” “Jacob, Jacob.” “Moses, Moses.” “Samuel, Samuel.” To say, “Lord, Lord” is to claim intimacy with Jesus. Doing what Jesus says is a matter of Lordship. It is inconsistent to call him Lord and not do what he says.

Jesus is warning that some pretend to have a close relationship with Christ, but this claim is not borne out in their lives. There are many who say, “Lord, Lord,” but don’t do what Jesus says. Jesus asked, “so why do you call me Lord?”

Jesus told the parable about the man who built his house on a foundation of rock. Jesus said that those who do build their house upon the strong and stable foundation of rock are those who

… come to Jesus,

…hear his words,

…put them into practice.

By “house” Jesus meant “life.” Jesus says, “the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.” When Jesus’ words are worked into our lives we have a strong foundation.  Trials may come.  Storms may come.  But we won’t be destroyed.

One time Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of a large crowd that was around Jesus listening to him preach and teach. Someone told Jesus that his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to see him.  This is what Jesus said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”[5]

Finally, James says those who don’t forget what they hear but do it will be blessed. Thee is blessing that comes with the practice of the ways of the Lord.

Psalm 1 says blessed is the person who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree, planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever they do prospers.

When we delight in the law of the Lord we grow strong, flourish, and bear the fruit God wants us to bear. We grow like a mighty, healthy tree.

Four ways James says we interact with the word: We look into God’s word with intent and desire.  We continue in it.  We do it.  We will be blessed by it.

Martin Luther once said, “The world does not need a definition of religion as much as it needs a demonstration.” I hear that less people are going to church.  People are skeptical about Christianity. But based on people I meet I think there is a hunger for God.

People are not looking for rational proof about the faith and way of Jesus. Most people don’t want us to prove all the stuff about God and Jesus. Most people are watching those who wear the name of Jesus and asking, “Do I want to be like you?” They want to see the life of Jesus demonstrated. Putting into practice the words of God might be the powerful witness and testimony needed to demonstrate the heart and ways of God to a searching generation. G.K. Chesterton said its not that Christianity has failed – it has just never been tried.

What would happen if we truly and really loved as Jesus told us to?  What would happen if we forgave? What would happen if we took the lower place instead of tried to scratch our way to the highest place? What would happen if we gave away our money in extravagant ways?

What if we loved our enemies?

What if we got serious about taking care of the widow and the orphan and those in deep need?

What would happen if we shared the gospel?

What if we lost our lives by giving ourselves away?

What would happen if we were neither legalistic but also not without conviction?

What if we bore others burdens? If we were faithful in prayer?

It could be that Christ would be seen by a watching, skeptical, hungry world like never before.

As long as we just sit and study and have discussions we are harmless. But if we also ask “how do I live this?” and put it into practice then we are right where God wants us.

This is not a complicated message. What has God said? That is what we just need to do.

One of those things is to do this – the Lord’s Supper.  So let’s now prepare to come to the table.

[1] This idea is from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

[2] 1:21

[3] See Luke 8:4-15, Mark 4:1-20

[4] John 8:31-32

[5] Luke 8:19-21