This is the manuscript of the sermon preached at Christ Church Los Angeles on September 14, 2025.
Scripture Reading:
James 1:19-27 (NIV): "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 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. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
Text
James 1:23-25 NIV Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 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.
Over the last several days, the passage from James that James read earlier and this text has kept coming up in my life—in my personal devotions. I felt a sense of conviction that the Holy Spirit was trying to get my attention, pointing me to this scripture. I've read these verses countless times before, but as I’ve meditated on them recently, I realized that I had been missing the real message. The Holy Spirit was revealing to me that this passage wasn’t just a good spiritual lesson, but a profound and personal challenge for my own life. It was a call to move beyond simply hearing God's Word to truly living it out.
The world around us is filled with noise and conflict. It's a world where divisions deepen, anger flares, and the tragic consequences of hatred are all too real. We see it in the news headlines and in the brokenness of our own communities. We are grieving the senseless loss of life in recent school shootings. We are left bewildered by acts of violence like the murder of a prominent insurance company CEO. We are heartbroken over the targeted and tragic killing of Charlie Kirk, a young man with a wife and two small children who was killed while simply speaking his mind whether you agreed with him or not it was a tragic murder.
In just the past year-and-change, there were two attempted assassinations against President Donald Trump, then a candidate, the shootings of two Minnesota state legislators and their family members, the arson attack on Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home and the shooting at the Centers for Disease Control headquarters in Atlanta.
Other episodes included the shooting of Republican congressmen in 2017, the Unite the Right rally at Charlottesville that left one person dead in 2017, the attempted mail bombing of Democratic congressmen and other political figures in 2018, the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband in 2022, the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the murder of 9 African Americans by Dylann Roof a white supremacist at a bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, SC in 2015 and, of course, the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The motives for all of these varying threats or acts of violence are not always clear or straightforward. But what they share in common is that they were all targeted at killing or injuring people because of their race, views on politics or other sensitive issues, or just anger at a system they disagreed with.
We are witnessing an escalating wave of violence, where anger and ideological division are spilling over into physical harm, not just in our nation but throughout the world. The sorrow and outrage we feel are a testament to the profound evil of such acts. They leave us searching for answers, seeking a way to respond in a world that often seems to be spiraling out of control.
When confronted with such darkness, we are tempted to believe that the solution is to meet force with force, to shout louder, or to choose a side and fight. The world tells us that political power and human might are the only ways to bring about change. But as followers of Christ, we must ask ourselves some critical questions: What is the way of the cross? What is the way of the one who said, "My kingdom is not of this world"?
In a conversation during Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate, Pilate asks Jesus if He is the "King of the Jews
John 18:36 NIV [36] Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
Earlier in the Garden of Gethsemane right after Judas's betrayal. When Peter attempts to defend Jesus by drawing his sword, Jesus tells him;
Matthew 26:52-53 NIV “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
1. The Mirror of God's Word: A Call to Action
I want us to turn our attention to the powerful and unsettling analogy that is our text today.
James 1:23-25 NIV Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 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.
In the metaphor that James uses, the mirror is the Word of God. When we come to the Scriptures, we are looking into a mirror that reveals our true spiritual condition. The Word of God doesn’t just show us what we do, but it shows us why we do it. It exposes our motives, our desires, our hidden sins.
Hebrews 4:12 NIV says For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
When we read the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount, we see a reflection of our failure to live up to God’s holy standard. We see our anger, our selfishness, our pride, and our tendency to retaliate.
The danger James warns us about is not in looking into the mirror, but James’ is warning us about being a "hearer only."
James 1:22 NIV Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
We can fill our lives with Christian knowledge, attend church services, listen to sermons, attend Bible study and yet remain spiritually unchanged.
It's a tragic paradox: we hear the truth about ourselves—we recognize our need for grace, our call to love, and our brokenness—yet we turn away and act as if we never heard it at all.
In a world reeling from acts of violence it is easy to hear the Word of God that calls us to peace, to reconciliation, and to a different way, yet we often simply forget what we heard. We can hear the call to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors, and yet, in the face of injustice and pain, we can immediately turn to anger and hatred. This is the very essence of being a forgetful hearer. We see the reflection of our own sinfulness in the world’s brokenness, yet we are quick to condemn and slow to act in a way that truly brings about change.
2. Choosing Jesus: A Radical Response to Violence
The world promises that violence brings victory, but Jesus offers a different path. He tells us in
Matthew 5:43-44 NIV “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
This is not a passive command; it is an active choice. This is the "doing of the word" in its most radical form.
Just think about the futility of violence. When Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus, what was Jesus's response?
Matthew 26:52 NIV “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
Jesus, with all the power of heaven at His command, chose not to fight. He showed us that the kingdom of God is not advanced by force, but by love.
John 13:34-35 NIV “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
The acts of violence we have witnessed are painful reminders that the problems we face—greed, hatred, and injustice—are symptoms of a deeper issue: the problem of sin in the human heart. We can change laws, and we can protest, but if the human heart remains unchanged, we will simply create new forms of oppression.
As Jeremiah 17:9 NIV says The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
While the human heart is deeply flawed and incomprehensible to us, it is completely known to God. In biblical terms, the heart is not just the organ that pumps blood, but the spiritual and moral core of a person. It is the center of a person’s entire being, including their thoughts, emotions, desires, and will.
This points to the necessity of relying on God's guidance and truth, because our own hearts cannot be trusted to lead us.
Our idea is that we can try to change our behaviors through willpower, self-help books, or therapy, and while these things may lead to external changes, they don't address the root issues. We can stop a bad habit, but the underlying desires, motivations, and sinful nature of the heart remain unchanged. Only Jesus can truly change a heart.
True change must begin at the deepest level. This is where Jesus comes in. Only a divine act can perform the spiritual "surgery" needed to transform a person's inner nature.
Ezekiel 36:26 NIV I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit, is the one who fulfills this promise. While the initial heart change is seen as a definitive event that occurs at salvation, it also begins the ongoing process of sanctification. As a person continues to follow Jesus, their heart is continually being molded and transformed to be more like His.
Romans 8:28-29 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Jesus didn't come to start a political revolution; He came to start a heart revolution.
3. The Doer of the Word: A Living Testimony
So, how do we avoid being a forgetful hearer in a world that tempts us to respond with anger and violence? The answer lies in our text.
James 1:25 NIV 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.
The key here is not a one-time glance into the mirror of God’s word, but a persistent, deliberate gaze. When the mirror of God's Word reveals our anger and our desire for revenge in the face of tragedy, we are called to be doers of the Word. We are called to actively seek to love our neighbor as ourselves, and yes, to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Luke 6:27-28 NIV “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
This is the difficult, beautiful, and world-changing work of being a doer of the Word and allowing the fruit of the Spirit to be active in our lives.
Galatians 5: 22-25 NIV [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. [24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25] Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Being a doer of the word is not an act of weakness; it is an act of divine power when we realize that our weapons are not swords or guns; they are prayer, love, forgiveness, and truth.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
In a world polluted by violence and hatred, our mission is to be doers of the Word, to bring light into the darkness, to comfort the grieving, and to be a living testament to the love of God. The Christian life is not a passive existence; it is an active one.
Conclusion
In a world that screams for us to take up arms and choose sides, let us remember the quiet, powerful example of Jesus. Remember what He said during His crucifixion from the cross;
Luke 23:34 NIV Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” …
Let us align our priorities with God's will and be a people who embody His kingdom which is a kingdom of peace, grace, and unshakable love. Let us look intently into the mirror of His Word, not just to see our brokenness, but to be empowered by His Spirit to act. Let us not be a people who look and forget, but a people who do.
The problems of sin and the world are too great for us to solve on our own. But the good news is, we don't have to. The work has already been done through the cross. Let us choose peace over violence, love over hatred, and reconciliation over revenge, so that we may be truly blessed in our doing.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we come before you now, with hearts heavy with the knowledge of the brokenness in our world. We thank you for your Word, which is a mirror for our souls, revealing not only your truth but our own need for you. We confess that we are often forgetful hearers, quick to look at ourselves in the mirror of your Word, but slow to act on what we see. We walk away and immediately forget the call to love, to forgive, and to seek peace.
Lord, we grieve the senseless acts of violence that have taken place. We pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones, for those who are injured and traumatized, and for communities torn apart by hatred. We ask that you would bring your comfort, your healing, and your peace to these situations.
And Father, we also pray for ourselves. When we are confronted with anger and division, help us to remember the way of the cross. Remind us that our weapons are not of this world, but that they have divine power to demolish strongholds of hatred and despair. Help us to take every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ. Empower us to not only hear your call to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, but to actively live it out in our daily lives.
We know that our own hearts are deceitful and beyond our understanding, but we trust that you, O Lord, search our hearts and know our every intention. We ask that you would do a mighty work in us, changing our hearts from the inside out, so that we may be living testimonies to your kingdom of love, peace, and grace.
In a world that tempts us to meet force with force, help us to choose peace. In a world that tells us to hate our enemies, help us to choose love. In a world that offers revenge, help us to choose reconciliation. May we be a people who are doers of your Word, blessed in our doing, and a true reflection of your Son, Jesus, who is our ultimate example.
We ask all of this in His holy and precious name. Amen.
