Good morning, Veritas. How we doing? Great to see you all. If we haven't met, my name is Jordan. I get the privilege of being a pastor on staff here and excited to dig into the word with you. If you guys could. If there's seats in the middle, we've done this before, especially at 930. Could we, like, scoot to the middle, create some seats on the edge for people that are waiting? That would be great. Thank you. Not everybody smells great. Not everybody. He feels super comfortable sitting next to you. That's part of being family. That's us. Right? And I would say that about myself. So no shots fired. Love you guys. Grateful to be with you this morning, if you are honest with yourselves. You don't love the fact that we just went through that two week season of fall and now the next one is on the verge, right? Starts with a W. Anybody want to say it? Winter. Yeah, there's snow. Hey, I was going to hold off on the four letter words this morning. We're going to talk about that later. Yeah. Wasn't even going to bring snow up, but when I woke up this morning and pulled out my weather app, it actually said flurries. And I was like, what are we doing? I didn't want to talk about that. And I've started to think some of you are familiar with J. K. Rowling's series, the Harry Potter series, where this dark, evil character, whose name is he who must not be named. Right. Don't. Okay. He who must not be named. There's parts of our vocabulary that we don't want to say the word because it's tied to something, and so we stray away from it. In the Howell household, there's a few. There's actually quite a few. Here's a couple. Cocoa melon. We don't say that word in the Howell household. We try to stay away from Hawkeyes. All right, hey, if you want to boo me here, I'll give you a little credit. The reason we don't say it is because the Hawkeyes frequently beat up on my cyclones. Okay. A lot of hard feelings there. And then more frequently around the Howell household lately, what we would call bathroom words, which are words that are only to be said in the bathroom. And I trust you're mature enough to figure out what those might be. We have words that we avoid, and that's true in every sphere of life, but particularly this morning as a gathered church. I want to talk to us about a word that we frequently try to avoid that we can't. It's referenced twice in our text this morning. And the word is this. Religion. Religion. It's a word that doesn't sit right with us. And part of it is the fact that in 2012, there was a viral video that was placed on YouTube called why I Hate religion but love Jesus. And it popularized this approach to Christianity which said, do away with religion and give me relationship. And to that, a lot of us can say, yeah, totally right. I remember back when Facebook was still cool, I saw people changing their religion on Facebook to in a relationship with Jesus. And I'm like, okay, kind of corny, but we get what you're after. This idea of religion just doesn't feel right. We love the idea of being spiritual but not religious. But let me ask you a quick question. Is religion a bad thing? Is religion in itself a bad word, or is our problem maybe less with religion and more with bad religion? Right, like we've seen religion go wrong before. Well, the word religion itself is used five times in the Bible as a standalone word. There's obviously like religious, but the word religion five times in the Bible used both positively and negatively. So it's not that religion itself is a bad word. And when you think about what religion consists of, it's actually a very hard word to define. But it frequently is equated with commands, doctrines, structures and rituals. And let me just ask, does Christianity have those? Yes, it does. Christianity is in fact a religion. And Jesus himself practiced religion, right? Think about it. He attended the synagogue frequently. When he showed up, he talked about, I did not come to abandon the law and the prophets, but to fulfill it. He created the Church as we know it today. He established Church dIscipline, ways that we can function and hold each other accountable when it comes to our holiness. He instituted the Lord's Supper communion, which we'll take later today. Right. Jesus himself brings about and institutes religious doctrines and practices that we can adhere to. But as I alluded to, religion's been tainted. It has been. Many of us have bad experiences with religion, which is why we stray away from the word. We've seen truth get twisted, right? On one hand, that might be truth has been softened. Preachers have just tickled your ears for far too long, and truth has just been done away with. And it's just become this social club that everybody can belong to. And you've been hurt by that. You want to be fed truth. Maybe. On the other side, truth has been twisted and lorded over you. There's been an oppressive position of power in your life where you felt condemned, shamed, like you no longer belong because you fall short of the glory of God. Religion's been twisted even into legalistic systems and structures where people have tricked you into thinking you can measure up to God. But that's not us, is it? Right, like, not Veritas Church. Come on, we're Bible people, right? We're Bible people. We believe that you are saved by grace through faith. It's not your own doing. Could bad religion happen here? It could. It might even be present in this room because you're in it, and so am I. And so the question we should be asking is, how do we avoid bad religion? Or maybe put positively, how can we practice religion or practice Christianity in such a way that it's pure? What does pure Christianity look like? And how can we see if we're living that way? We're going to be in James chapter one, closing out the chapter. Would love for you guys to open up the scriptures with me. We're covering a whopping two verses this morning, but I trust that they'll convict you because they were super convicting for me. Matthew last week talked about the section right before of being doers of the word and not hearers only. We don't want to be people that just show up to church and hear the truth. We want to be people that practice the truth, that do the truth, that let the truth shape our lives. And what James is going to do this morning is get a little more practical with us in addressing this. What does it look like to be somebody who does the word? And he actually starts by telling us, this is what it doesn't look like to be a doer of the word. James Chapter one, starting in verse 26, the word of God says this. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Wow. We're not just talking about bad religion here. We're talking about worthless religion, like religion that if you practice it, has no good. And did you see what the mark of it is? It is an unbridled tongue. An unbridled tongue. And this is a major theme in the Book of James. In fact, he spends almost all of James three talking about this, the ability to control your speech. And he uses this word picture of a bridle, which is a small instrument placed on, most frequently a horse, in the name of controlling the horse, this big, powerful creature which the original audience would have known about with the Roman military. And to see this small instrument over the horse's face that controls it and what James is trying to say to us is, have you controlled your tongue? Do you have control over what you talk about? Because if not, your religion might be worthless. So let me just ask you quick, how's that going? How are you doing at controlling your speech? We joked about snow being a four letter word. There's other four letter words that I know people in our church use. Right? How's that going? But it's so much more than that church, I think we're frequently quick to say, oh, well, I don't swear. Do you lie? Have you been telling a half truth to your employer, to your family? You've been covering something up with your connection group. How about gossip? This idea of talking about people behind their backs in a way that might tear them down. How are we doing there? The convicting one for me, venting. Right. How are you doing with complaining? Complaining about people and situations? And in the name of venting, you can come home to your spouse and just pour it out on them. But just like Israel in the Old Testament, they weren't just complaining against Moses. They were complaining against God. How are we doing when it comes to making crude or inappropriate jokes? We live in a society that is just so sexualized that it's easy to go along with it in the name of humor. How are we doing there? When Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he does not tell them, do not use four letter words. He doesn't even say, do not gossip or do not lie. Here's what he says. Ephesians 429, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear. Is that the way you talk? That is a high standard church. When it comes to how followers of Jesus ought to control what comes out of their mouth, does it give grace to those who hear? Does it build up? I mean, I have been guilty of violating this in leading a collegiate student leaders meeting. I have stood up in front of college students who are leading in our ministry, and I have spoken harshly in a way that has not given grace to them. And I've had to double back and say, I am really sorry. I should not have said that. That was not gracious to you. That did not build you up. Please forgive me. This is a heavy standard, and for many of us in the room, we're like, cut to the heart, convicted. But I know that there's a lot of people in this room who will also say, sounds great, Jordan, I've had control over my mouth for years. And I want you to know that you might not be off the hook yet either, because in James 126, when James talks about bridling his tongue, he's also bringing up deceiving our heart and thinking we're religious. Is it possible that you have not been controlling your speech in a Way that leads to you thinking you're religious? Eugene Peterson was a Presbyterian minister who wrote the book, the Message. Many of you are familiar with it. He translates James 126 this way. Anyone who sets himself up as religious by talking a good game is self deceived. That hits different, right? What James might be getting at here is not just, do you swear like the rest of the world? Do you lie like the rest of the world? What he might be getting at is if your religion is just you talking to talk, it's worthless. You might know all the right answers. You might be able to tell everybody what's true, but unless it's impacting your heart, what good is it, right? It might not actually be genuine if you can talk about it, but it's not shaping the way you live your life. There's a passage in Mark ten, maybe you're familiar with it, where Jesus talks about, let the children come to me. You guys have heard that before, like, let the children come to me. For to such belong is the kingdom of God. And I used to think that there was a sense of like, oh, Jesus wants people that are pure and blameless to come to him. And then I had kids, and I'm like, that ain't so. Wait a second. My kids. If it was pure and blameless, here's how I see my kids live this unbridled tongue out, okay? One of my kids just yesterday chucks a giant plastic toy at my face, wrecks me, hits me right in the chin. And pretty quickly, he knows that he messed up, right? And he says, I'm sorry, daddy. He's crying. And I'm starting to think, like, oh, maybe he's really sorry, or maybe he wants to go to a pumpkin patch. I don't know. One of the two is true. But it became very evident that his apology was not sincere when later that night at the dinner table, I was telling him to sit at the table and eat his food, and he said, daddy, I'll hit you in the face again. And I was like, oh, this kid's about to get it right. He knew the right answer. He knew to say, I'm sorry. But it wasn't actually shaping his heart. Or maybe it's at bedtime. I'm putting my Boys down. I love that they do this. They're quick to name off people in our church that they want us to pray for. It's so sweet. Like kids that are teaching in their classrooms, they're like, will you pray for Isaiah? Will you pray for Miss Shelby? They'll pray for our staff. They'll say, pray for Danny and Selena. It's so sweet. But there's also this reality when it's like, yo, we've prayed for 16 people, and you still want us to keep praying. I'm like, do you actually want to pray or do you just not want me to leave your room? Right? Because the whole, like, God, thank you for all of our friends at church doesn't suffice. For whatever reason, they know the right answer. But is it shaping their heart? Is there anything in your life that you know the right answer to but you're not obeying? You know what you should say or what you should do, but it's not actually impacting your heart. Maybe being a doer of the word is not just about knowing the right answers, but acting the right way. And here's what James says. Pure religion. Religion that's not worthless. Religion that's worth something. Here's what it looks like. James 127. 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. It's not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. And here, James creates two categories, two marks of pure Christianity, right? Jesus has said before in the Gospels, like, you'll know them by their fruit. Okay, well, what is the fruit of pure Christianity? Let's tackle them together. The first is that James calls out a deep compassion for the helpless. Deep compassion for the helpless. He talks about visiting orphans and widows in their affliction. Now, what you should know is that orphans and widows, culturally speaking, were the most vulnerable population group present. People that were unable to earn an income and then with that, were unable to qualify by any form of care from the government. They were left without protectIon. And what the original audience had to be thinking of in this moment was Isaiah One. Their ancestors, the people of Israel, who actually were talking to God, were praying, were showing up and worshipping. And here's what God said to them. In Isaiah One. He says, when you spread out your hands, I hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Because here was the problem with Israel. They were not caring about justice. The command in verse 17 was, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, and plead the widow's cause. James is calling Christians to action, saying, you need to care about the vulnerable, the helpless, the needy in your community. So how's it going? I mean, it should wreck us. Church that today, 2023 in Lynn County, Iowa, there are over 800 children in the foster care system, which tells me there's a huge need for healthy family units. And it also shows me that there are a lot of families that are not jumping in and helping. And one statistic that won't show up in a lot of places is the amount of parents that do foster care that drop out because it's really hard. And so maybe, just maybe, the Lord would call you to enter into the mess of a family situation for the sake of caring for these kids and caring for that family unit. Maybe that's for you, but maybe you're called to come alongside somebody that's providing the direct care and care for the foster family. Right. To care for the people who are doing the direct care for the family unit. I love belonging to a church that has a foster and adoptive support group, and maybe that's something you should lean into and say, wow, I want to help make a difference, directly or indirectly, that the Church of Christ would step up and model that to a hurting world around us. But it's not just orphans and just widows, and there's no direct correlation. I understand that between biblical era, no care from the government. I understand that in America today, but there are a lot of hurting and vulnerable people in our city. Think about refugees who have fled their country and have found asylum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who have a language barrier that's hard to overcome. They need somebody to come alongside them. Think about single mothers who are working hard day after day, night after night, trying to provide for their family, and they need support. Think about the elderly who may need assistance getting the basic necessities of life. Think about people with disabilities who need someone to come alongside them and help them function and flourish in our city in this life. How's it going? And I want to give you a word of caution. Talked about this with Salt company a couple weeks ago. Truly caring for people is not just giving out assets, but meeting needs. And that requires a real depth of relationship. It's not just about giving a handout so that you can feel better about yourselves and prove yourself as somebody that can help. You want to keep people's dignity, value and worth. You want to come alongside them, hold their hand, have them at your dinner table, show them their real needs, and then help them see their needs met. That's not as easy as just handing something out on the street. This is what Christians are called to do. And you might ask, why would this be one of the, I mean, he's only talking about here, like, two marks. Why would this be one of them? Like, caring and a compassion for the helpless. Why would that be? Well, it's because it's the very heart of God. It's the very heart of God. Psalm 68 Five talks about our God's character this way. Father of the fatherless and protector of Widows is God in his holy habitation. That's who our God is. We see this so clearly in the person work of Jesus, who moved towards the outcasts, who touched the beggars, who moved towards those who had leprosy, the paralytics, the bleeding woman, people who were considered unclean. Jesus moved towards them, who talked about these children in Mark ten who were not seen as valuable. And he said, no, let Them come to me. For to such belongs the kingdom of God. He's talking about being helpless. That's what he's getting at. The kingdom belongs to helpless people, which means if you're a Christian in the room this morning, this is what's been done to us. This is our story. Right? Matthew Nine. Jesus looks out of the crowds, and it says he's moved with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Ephesians one says that you were adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ. John 14. Jesus is about to die and resurrect and ascend. And he says, I will not leave you as orphans, but I will come to you. This is what has Been done to us Church. And so maybe a true test of whether or not you have been a recipient of this great compassion in a state of helplessness is whether or not you reflect that to helpless people around you. If we want to claim the name of Christ, we must be willing to show the compassion of Christ. But that's not it. That's not all that James says in this passage. He also wants us to have a concern for holiness. Did you see that in the text? It's not just visiting orphans and widows in their affliction. It's keeping oneself unstained from the world. James is getting at refusing to be given over to the values and behaviors of a world that is running in the opposite direction of God. And likely here, he's getting at a very pointed sin with this audience, which is the sin of economic exploitation and indifference. You can tell that based upon what comes next in James Two, the sin of partiality, there's a high likelihood he's getting at we cannot be like the rest of the world that climbs the corporate ladder and forgets about needy people. But being unstained from the world is about much more than that, too. The pursuit of wealth, storing up earthly treasure. A life that is just all about pleasure, living it up. Let's get comfortable. Let's just consume what we want to consume. Eat, drink, be merry. This is the life we have. So what the world is selling, you sleep with who you want to sleep with, drink what you want to drink. The weekend is for the boys. Like, whatever. That's what the world is selling. You. Entertain yourself, give yourself over to earthly accomplishment and reward. Stop working for the man. Like, who are you to listen to somebody right? Set your own work hours. Don't listen to authority. Place yourself in control. This is the way of the world. And I have to say, one of the most dangerous ways of the world that has affected God's people for generations is this desire to be popular, this desire to fit in. It's what Undid Israel so many times, right? You know the story of Exodus 32, where Moses is up receiving the word from the Lord, and God's people are uncomfortable. It's uneasy. And rather than waiting for Moses to come back and deliver a word from a God they cannot see, they form a golden calf and say, well, other cultures, other people groups, they have these statues and these gods that they can bow down to. Let's do that. Become just like the pagans worshipping idols. Think of one, Samuel Eight, where God's people look around and they say, every other nation has an earthly king. We want one, too. Maybe God wasn't a good enough king. Wow. This desire to fit in is contradictory to what we're even created for, which is to be a people, for God's own possession, to be set apart by him and for him. So maybe we should ask the question, am I watching the same shows as the rest of the world? Am I listening to the same music as the rest of the world? Is my online presence the same as the rest of the world? Do I talk the way the rest of the world talks? Do I dress the way the rest of the world dresses? Do I want to keep up with the Joneses like the rest of everybody else around me? And if so, what's underneath that? There's a high likelihood that there's a desire to fit in. And it's a problem if people that do not belong to Christ can look at us and if asked the question, what would you have to give up to become a Christian? If they could look at our lives and say, not much, tHat's a problem. We have to be cautious about what we consume, Church, what comes in our head, what comes in our ears, the people we surround ourselves with. We have to be cautious. The environment around us can so easily entangle us. But hear me when I say worldliness is not just around us, it's within us. Maybe you have joked around with people before. I know the joke's been tossed around to me where it's like, what if we all just moved away together into some comfy corner of the world, preferably where it's warm, and we just did this Christian thing alone, and we can trick ourselves into thinking, like, wouldn't that be great? No, it wouldn't. It would be miserable, right? How many people that belong to this church that you love? I'm certain, like your connection group, for example, play it out with me. You move away with your connection group. You would be just like me and be like, I love you guys, but this sucks, right? Because here's what's true. You're still you. You still have sin inside you. You still have this desire for control. You can't escape you. No matter how hard you try to escape worldliness around you, you still have worldliness inside of you. And God wants to get at that, right? Jesus in John 17 says that you are in the world, but not of the world. So how do we remain in the world but not become of the world? How do we remain unstained from the world? And why would this be such a big deal to God? Again, why would this matter? Why is he so concerned about our Holiness? Well, Peter helps us out in one. Peter, one verses will be on the screen. He tells us, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct as it is written, you shall be holy. For I am holy. If we follow a holy God and we call ourselves Christians, we should care about holiness. Okay. And if you call on him, his father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout your time of eXile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold. But get this, this is incredible. You were bought with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. It's the same exact language as James 127 of what we're being called to be unstained from the world. We follow a Savior who was the lamb without blemish or spot. That's what we're called to do, to have a deep concern for our holiness and to follow after Jesus, who was holiness in human flesh. God, who came as a man, who lived more than 30 years in this broken world, who was mocked frequently as a friend of sinners and tax collectors. But he was perfect. He was perfect. Never spoke a false word, never complained. That's the God we follow. And now he has created us as a people for his own possession, to put him on display. There's a pastor by the name of Charles Spurgeon, long gone by now, but he was known as the Prince of Preachers. He said this about remaining unstained from the world. I would like to see a Christian not kept in a glass case, away from trial and temptation, but yet covered with an invisible shield, so that wherever he went, he would be guarded and protected from the evil influences that are in the world in almost every place. It's like the goal is not convent living. The goal is to be filled with the Spirit, to be obedient to the Spirit. Because here's what's true, Church. If you have trusted in the finished work of Christ, in his perfection, not your own, in his moral standard, not your own, then here's what God has done for you. When he resurrected, when he ascended into heaven, here's what he promised you. In John 14, he says, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. The same spirit that lived inside of Jesus and allowed him to live, set apart, holy, perfect, now lives inside of you. And so this command that once was unbearable, right? Keep yourself unstained from the world. How? How can I measure up to that? You can't. But here's the invitation. You are now free to not be stained by the world. You're free. I look at that text in first Peter, and it's like, here's what you're free from. You're free from your former ignorance. You're free from your futile ways. Don't you see that they didn't measure up. Treasure Jesus. Listen to his spirit, and remain unstained from the world. What an invitation. And this is what pure Christianity looks like. Church, you could say it this way. Pure Christianity is marked by compassion for the helpless and a concern for holiness. Pure Christianity is marked by compassion for the helpless and a concern for holiness. And I trust because I prepared this sermon that as you sit under God's word, it is convicting. Wow, this has messed me up in some really challenging ways. But the first step of application that you need to do is look up. I mean, Caleb set up our time of worship of like, lift up your eyes. You have seen your sin. But now it's time to get over yourself and look at Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who fulfilled the righteous requirement when we couldn't, who died for us because he was moved with compassion and you were helpless without a shepherd. Look at Jesus. Refresh yourself in the Gospel. You are an adopted child of God. He is not waiting for you to clean up your act. He says, come home. Let me clean you up. Look up. And yes, from that place we need to respond. James is a book that is action packed and we actually have to live out our faith. So here's what you might need to do this week. You might need to look within. Look within. I think there's one camp in our church that would champion compassion for the helpless and praise God for you. Thank you. You are quick to hand out meals and to meet with people who are really needy, to come alongside those who are hurting. And you might need help looking in. You might need community around you that's willing to talk to you, not just about what you can do for the Lord, but what it looks like to get honest before him. To have a concern for your Holiness and not just a compassion for the helpless. You might need to look within this week. What parts of your life are still marked by worldliness? What words do you know and say that you are not obedient to look within, but on the other hand, some of us in this room might need to look out. You have been given a great God given disposition to hate your sin. And thank you for modeling that you love the idea of getting together as a connection group, going deep, talking about theology and uncovering the sin in your heart. Thank you. But have you lifted up your eyes and looked at the hurting in our community? Have you helped meet a need in any way, shape or form that shows that you are a recipient of compassion? Maybe you need to look out and see the hurting and the helpless and be an extension of the compassion of Christ. You see, both of these are necessary. And I think what's true is as a church we would hate to be divided over these issues, to look across the aisle and say, well, if they would just care more about the helpless or if they would just care more about the Holiness, what if instead of looking down on each other, we would link arms and start doing ministry together? That we need brothers and sisters in this family who think differently than us, who are wired differently than us, who are gifted differently than us, so that when we come together, we both have great compassion for those who are hurting and a deep concern for our Holiness. Wouldn't that be amazing? You would love to belong to that type of church. I trust you would. There's a story of this lived out through a couple friends of mine from Cedar Falls who felt compelled by God himself to move towards this mission of foster care. And they were compelled in such a way that they said, we care about the family unit. Right. Most foster parents are moved that same way. We want to enter into the mess of hurting families and see redemption lived out. And by God's grace, they got a front row seat to this, right? They get this baby girl in their home, but they don't just care for this baby girl. They care for her mother. Her mother starts coming with them to church. She meets Christians, the church. They get to the root of her needs. Most importantly, in the Gospel, she's baptized. The church gains a sister in Christ, and they come alongside her and they say, you still have real needs. Your trailer's not up to code. Well, praise God. We have a couple of people who are gifted in woodworking. How can we do that? She gains employment, gets two, three jobs, and now childcare is hard to afford. People step up and they say, how can we? Watch your baby girl? It's not just about doing the right thing, right? I think about Matthew five. This is the church the way Christ designed it. You are the light of the world, a city on a hill. So here's what you should do. Let your light shine before other people, so that when they see your good works, what do they do? They glorify your Father who is in heaven. Right. This is our mission statement. To raise up mature disciples, to care deeply about our Holiness, to send out everyday missionaries, people who really go into our real city and care for their real neighbors. Why? So that God would get the glory. Because he alone is worthy. Amen. Let's pray together. God, thank you. That you truly are a father to the Fatherless. You are a protector of widows. God, you care for the most needy and the most helpless, of which we are evidence when we could not save ourselves. You sent Christ to be the perfect fulfillment of the law. Jesus, you were moved with compassion when you saw us in a broken state. That also fueled you to live this life of holiness, dependence upon your father, where you recognize you could do nothing on your own. And God, we need your help. Holy Spirit, stir within us a deep compassion that maybe we have been lacking when it comes to the hurting in our community. Show us the sin that is so easily entangling and ensnaring our lives where we just fit in with the rest of the world. Show us our sin. Carve it out that we might not sin against you, that we might be a people of your own possession, God, and not for us. Not for us, but so that you might be glorified in and through your church, because you alone deserve the glory. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.