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What does it mean to be a “doer of the word”?

On this, the fifth Sunday of easter, we are called by the Holy Church to reflect on how the resurrection of our Lord changes our lives. In light of the resurrection, how are we different? How have our lives changed? Do we live and act differently as Christians?

Right now, there is a small sort of revival going on in the Western Church. Across Europe and North America people are returning to the faith of their fathers. People are studying theology. People are studying Church history. People are coming to the same conclusions that have been held by the Church Catholic for centuries: apostolic bishops, liturgy, sacraments, tradition, and beauty. Great books are being written on philosophy, theology, and Christian virtue. Aquinas is being seriously engaged again. Baptisms are up. Heady Christian blogs and magazines are thriving. Great discussions on capitalism, the enlightenment, a sacramental world view, an open cosmos, and so much more are happening. It is truly and exciting time to be a priest. I love reading this stuff. I love the books. I love the book studies and the amazing questions and discussions I get to participate in. (Which, by the way, check out the symposium coming up on the 21st…)

But… what does it mean to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only?

I worry sometimes that folk are getting so deep into trying to figure out the exact nature of the Eucharist or the exact nature of our fallenness and precisely how Jesus saves us and precisely what He’s saving us from, that we forget about Easter, the Ascension, and Pentecost.

Sometimes it seems we all think that we’re sitting with Jesus by the Jordan listening to him teach. Of course, we are called to make disciples, to study, to learn, to read and go deep into the deposit of faith handed down to us. The Bible is the word of life. We are watered by the blood and witness of the martyrs and saints. It is good to fill our mind with truth as a shield against the lies and deceptions of the world.

But… Jesus didn’t leave us at the river. Jesus wasn’t a great rabi. He didn’t leave us with collected and organized sayings or a systematic theology.

He left us, resurrected from death, ascending into heaven after 40 days with the apostles. As He ascended, the angles asked us why we were looking up? Our focus was down in the city, not up in the sky. Jesus would be back. We had a lot to do before He returned.

So, what does it mean to be a doer of the word?

I think there are two parts to that answer; the first part is fairly clear in the readings, but the second is maybe a little less obvious. I’ll start with the first.

We are blessed to be at a parish that is active and known for its acts of mercy. The hungry come and are fed. The weeping come during mass and are comforted and prayed for. Clothes are washed and the poor in spirit are lifted. Camps are visited. Coffee is shared.

It is a blessing to be at a parish where I don’t have to talk about the doing of Christ’s kingdom in the hypothetical, but can talk about it in the concrete and practical. If you are ready to stop just thinking like a Christian, but actually want to get to have a go at being a Christian and doing Christianity, just hang around this building. Come on a Saturday morning. Come an hour early to mass. Stay thirty minutes after mass. Come on Wednesdays or Tuesdays. If those times don’t work, ask any one of your clergy to coffee. There are so many needs, so many things happening that you aren’t even aware of. There is no shortage of places where you can do the work of a Christian in the life of St. Andrew’s. Whatever your giftings we (and God) have need of you here.

Now, you might think that you are not qualified to do the work. You need to study more. You don’t want to lead someone astray. I get that. I felt that way for a while too. But, remember the Spirit always goes with you. And me, Deacon Kevin, and Father Dan are always a text away. And, God equips you for the work He gives. Just have faith.

[story, homeless man, sharing gospel, crying, realization]

So, you see, the doing of Christianity isn’t necessarily complex or hard. You don’t have to found an orphanage. You don’t have to solve world hunger. You simply need to put yourself into places where you’ll be needed. You need to make space in your week for God to use you. You need to open your heart and your calendar for the unexpected.

But, these acts of mercy: feeding, praying, talking, cleaning, volunteering; these are not the only ways of doing Christianity.

You’ll note that I’ve been saying “doing Christianity” where St. James says “doers of the word”.

The early apostles, I think, have an additional understanding of what it means to be a doer of the word. Of course, St. Peter is deeply concerned about acts of mercy and the first meaning I’ve just discussed. The order of deacons is created specifically to serve these needs in Jerusalem.

But, St. Peter, I think, has an understanding that goes deeper than acts of mercy. In our reading from Acts today you see St. Peter twice call upon Jesus to reach down into the present moment and do a miracle. He asks the Lord to heal a very sick man. He asks the Lord to raise a dear sister of the Church from death to mortal life again.

Now, a plain reading of this passage is that Jesus is using these miracles to show that St. Peter is truly the boss of the church now. He has the keys. Christ gave the apostles true power. It wasn’t a metaphor.

And, of course, this is true.

But, I think there’s more. Peter isn’t so crass to do these things only to show his authority. Actually, if you were listening closely, I intentionally misspoke earlier. I said St. Peter asked Jesus to heal and to raise the dead. That’s not actually what he did. In both cases, St. Peter makes a declarative sentence. Not a command to Jesus. Not a plea to Jesus. Not a question to Jesus. No, St. Peter says, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise to him.” He says, “Tabitha, arise.”

Peter believes that Jesus heals. Peter believes that Jesus raises the dead. It isn’t a hypothetical. It isn’t something he studies and hopes. He believes. He knows it to be true. He knows it is Jesus’ desire. For St. Peter, the very foundations of reality were changed when Jesus rose from the grave. His small, Roman occupied world is gone. He’s entered a new world where men walk on water, illness is healed, and the dead can be called from the grave.

This is the faith I call all of us to today. A faith that truly changes how we perceive and interact with reality. It’s one thing to make time in your calendar to do acts of mercy. Even secular folk see the value in that. Even secular folk will celebrate you for those actions. But, it is another thing to actually live, talk, and act as if Jesus is Lord. As if God really does and can reach into reality and do the miraculous. This is the harder and deeper type of doing. This type of doing makes you sound and look like a nutter. This type of doing forces you to go out on a limb and truly trust the Lord, truly be ready to seem like a fool for His name.

[story at ken & carol’s of demon; focus on decision placed before me, not outcome]

So, when the opportunity comes, be doers of the word. Be ready to step out the now and into the New Creation as a child of God equipped for battle. Jesus says that He has overcome the world. Jesus has truly risen from the dead. Jesus presently reigns in heaven. Jesus has all power and authority in the universe. Let’s step out in faith and live like.

Yes, be doers in the action sense. Me, Deacon Kevin, and Father Dan need help all over at almost any time of the week. The needs of our community are great and there is so much opportunity to be a Christian to them. Right at this moment there are people who don’t know of Jesus’ great love for them. Right now, there are people who don’t know that Christ’s Church has a meal prepared for them. Right now, the widow, orphan, prisoner, and so many others stand ready to receive that light God has so graciously filled you with.

But, Jesus invites you not just into action, Jesus invites you into His New Creation. A world that’s breaking in all around us if we open our eyes in faith. A world where the sick are healed, the dead can be raised from the crypt, a world with demons to be cast out, and angels working just out of our sight.

The world tries so hard to keep us prisoner in its closed and rational universe. Jesus, however, rose from the dead to free us from these chains. We are children of God, free from the chains of death, unbound from rational cause and effect, free to live in the reality of a universe created and sustained by a living, all-powerful God. A God who, by the way, loves you so much that he eternally constrained himself into a human body. A God who walked on water and can still walk on water. A God who healed the blind and still does.

We do not understand His ways, why some are healed and others are not. But, that does not change the reality we are called to live in; a reality full of miracles and full of God’s mighty acts.

Bible and books studies are all great. Read those blogs. Study scripture. Read and discuss great books. But, know, knowledge alone is not enough. The good news of the gospel is shared person to person through the Spirit. The good news is shared in our doing through action and through how we live. People can sense when you live as if God is real. It opens the door for conversation. It opens the door for the Spirit to work through you.

St. James says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.’ […] ‘I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.’”

Amen.