16th September 2024

Jesus told a parable about a man with two sons. When the father asked them to work for him in the vineyard, both sons clearly ‘heard’ the father’s request, but the first son refused, revealing he had been listening with complete indifference (though he later changed his mind and fulfilled the task). The second son said he would do what his father requested but went away and forgot about his promise (Matthew 21:28-31). Jesus concludes the story by prompting his listeners to acknowledge the implied moral lesson (verse 31).

However, Jesus’s brother, James, makes some insightful reflections in the opening chapter of his epistle, enabling us to draw additional lessons from the parable. In Jesus’s story the two sons either failed to actively listen to their father’s words or neglected to do what was asked of them. Similarly, James reminds us there are two ingredients constituting genuine Christian living, both essential for our spiritual growth as disciples of Jesus: ‘listening’ (James 1:19-21) and ‘doing’ (vv.26-27). 

What we, as Christians, are instructed to give our full attention to, James says is ‘the word of truth’ (v.18), which he calls ‘the perfect law that gives freedom’ (v.25). Luke, in his account of the life of the early church, identifies this same ‘word of truth’ as ‘the apostles’ teaching’ to which, the then fledgling Christian community, ‘devoted themselves’ daily (Acts 2:42). These phrases all refer to the same ‘word’ that came to us through the proclamation of the gospel, and by which we all have come to faith and found salvation. James goes on to describe the gospel as the implanted word – ‘the word planted in you’ (James 1:21). The apostle Paul later explained this same word of truth ‘ “… is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim…’ (Romans 10:8).

We are not only to hear the gospel, or merely internalise it; James reminds us, we are to do what it says. Hearing is not sufficient on its own, doing is as essential. If we truly ‘give ourselves’ to the gospel, we will not treat it lightly, like the way someone might use a mirror, taking an occasional glance at the image they see, only to walk away and instantly forget the image they beheld. 

The law of the new life, that is ours in Christ Jesus, which James calls ‘the perfect law of liberty’ (James 1:25 KJV), is not something we are meant to briefly consider, casually walking away to turn our attention to other things. The Spirit of the new life is something we are instructed to continue in always, never turning away from, or forgetting our new identity: the person we truly are in Christ Jesus. Only then can we experience the fullness of the blessing of the gospel. James puts it this way: ‘But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do’ (James 1:25 NIV).

Local congregation:                                                  

Grace Communion Peterborough                         

Farcet Village Hall                                                    
Main Street
Farcet
Peterborough
PE7 3AN

Meeting time:
Sunday 10.30 am

Local congregational contact:
Richard Dempsey
Email:  richard.dempsey@word-of-lifeLocal church website: www.cambridgeshirechurch.org

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church