First Baptist Church, Main Street, Earlville, NY
“THE FONZIE PRINCIPLE” (James 1:19-27)
Series: JAMES; June 4, 2017, 10:30 AM.
Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor
TODAY’S SPECIAL: “A Moses Funny”
Nine year old Dewey, was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday school.
“Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then he used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.”
“Now, Dewey, is that really what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked.
“Well, no, Mom. But if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!”
INTRODUCTION As we close out Chapter 1, we finish the section in our outline entitled, “The Test of Faith”. Today, that test revolves around the one book that should be the center of every one here who claims to be a Christian, to love the Lord Jesus as Savior. That book, of course, is the Bible. On the inside of my mother-in-law’s old Bible were these words: “this Book will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from this Book.” An old saying, but a good one. We are going to look at how God designed this Book to be most practical. And in the process, we will be examining what I have profoundly entitled, “The Fonzie Principle.” Curious? PRAYER
#1. THE PLANTED WORD (vs. 19-21)
a. OK, we made it past Memorial Day. Of course, lots of rain. But it is also the season for gardens! You all are experts – what have you learned that plants very well in your yard? Do you rotate parts of your yard so that the soil has rest? Even if you’re not an expert, you know that growing stuff results in one thing: Food and Wonderful Looking Plants. (not us – we learned that when we planted, the time of pruning was when we were on vacation – and when we returned, the weeds were 2 feet high!). The point is, we all understand what it is to plant an expect a product in return for your effort.
b. Look at v. 21 and the phrase, “the word planted in you”. God, the Chief Farmer, has done some planting as well. Only in this case, He has planted His Word in the lives of those who have trusted Jesus as Savior.
c. And what is the fruit: in brief, (1) a curbed tongue (v. 19) – we should be familiar with Proverbs 15, Solomon’s discourse on “how to talk in a way pleasing to God”, (2) a submitted life which becomes a righteous life – a life lived right (v. 20), and (3) a practical life where the decay of our society has been slowly but surely curbed in our lives by our submitted to His Word. Look at Colossians 3:1-10. This is daily – not just once for all time. And the life of right living begins with being people of the Book – the Word that is planted in each of God’s children.
#2. THE OBEYED WORD (vs. 22-25)
a. V. 22 adds to what we learned under the first section. The word is not just to be listened to – it is to be obeyed by daily application. As the late Dr. John Hash, founder of “Bible Pathway” would constantly say, “we must be readers of the whole word – from Genesis to Revelation – on a regular basis. And then live what we’ve read.”
b. Vs. 23-24 then introduces us to what I call “The Fonzie Principle”. I’ve read this no where else! So you are getting first hand scholarly input! What then is “The Fonzie Principle”. Remember “The Fonz” on the tv show, “Happy Days”. At the start of every episode, do you remember what Fonzie would do – every episode! He would look in a mirror, take his comb to his hair, and then determine that “why mess with perfection.”. So “The Fonzie Principle” is the looking into the mirror of God’s Word and making a choice: do I obey it, or do I live as if I shouldn’t have bothered to read it in the first place. “The Fonzie Principle”.
c. God has a special favor, His own blessing, upon the one who reads His Word and then obeys what he reads. That’s what v. 25 says! What is your #1 source of information? Face book? Fox News? CNN? The Bible? Here is how you know: what you spend the most time with is identified as what you consider your most valuable source of truth. He who spends much time in God’s Word, and applies what he reads, God has promised will be a blessed, a happy person.
#3. THE ACTIVE WORD (vs. 26-27)
Here is where the Bible becomes meddling. How many of you say you are “religious”? Look at v. 26. James says that the Bible is to be active in your world. And an active Bible is on display by our use of how we speak. Ouch. Angry much? Your Bible is not active! Swear a lot? Your Bible is not active! Try to manipulate situations for your advantage? You guessed it, your Bible is not active!
And v. 27 becomes even more pointed: pure religion is active! It shows up in how we treat the helpless (in this case, widows who have no support system) AND it shows up in how the world system has rubbed off on our life styles. Now let’s be careful here. It does NOT say “don’t get involved with the world”. Because if you lived like that, no one would ever come to know Jesus as Savior! But as Romans 12:1-2 says in the Phillips translation, “don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.” The Word of God is to be active in every part of our lives.
CONCLUSION So a couple of easy questions: has the word been planted in your life – that is, do you trust Jesus as your Savior and are regulating your day around the reading of God’s Word? Is the word obeyed in your life, or do you read and behave like The Fonz? And is the Word active – does it not sit on your shelf but shows up in the places God has wisely put you? The Test of Faith in James 1 is surrounded by how the Word of God is on display in our lives!