Dr. Dale Miller, September 10, 2006

Do-Be- Do-Be-Do Gibberish

James 2:1-10, 14-17 and Mark 7:24-37

Yesterday morning I attended my first Saturday Men's Study Group at 8:30 a.m. Led by Wes Brun, we are studying a book entitled Compassion by Henri Nouwen. The discussion took us to the four corners of the world but mainly stayed on the topic of compassion. For Nouwen compassion is not so much about having empathy for someone, but rather compassion is the willingness to be with someone in their need. That led us into a conversation between the difference of "being" and "doing." As that dialogue unfolded before us, I found myself smiling because I knew the sermon topic for this morning: "Do-Be-Do-Be-Do Gibberish."

What I am referring to comes from some graffiti written on the walls of a New York subway station:

To BE is to DO - Plato
To DO is to BE - Sartre
DO - BE - DO - BE - DO - Sinatra

Being and doing. Doing and being. This sounds like some kind of playing with words, but the writer of James is more concerned with the reality of the attitudes and actions that are necessary to follow Jesus Christ. There is a grand canyon between "being" and "doing," or "faith" and "practice" long before Mr. Sinatra made them into lyrics for his song, "Strangers in the Night."

We know about this grand canyon of difference because we try to jump it every day:

Practice what you preach!
Put your money where your mouth is!
If I could only turn thought to action!
That's easy for you to say. I wish it were as easy to do!
Actions speak louder than words!

In religious talk "Do-Be-Do-Be-Do" becomes "faith" and "works"

Faith is about essential, confident, trustworthy belief. Works is about busy, involved, exhibited action.
Faith usually boils down to things like doctrine and declaration. Works is about deeds and directly getting down to doing.
Faith is about heads, hearts and mouths. Works is about hands and arms and legs and feet.
Faith and works. Works and faith. Do-Be-Do-Be-Do.

Which is more important, faith or works? How do they fit together? Do they fit together at all? How does "who" we say we are play out in "how" we live our lives as the children of God and disciples of Jesus? When and how does performance stack up to profession? When does profession come to life in performance? Do-Be-Do-Be-Do?

James speaks up for an active faith in a living God. By the vitality and liveliness of that relationship with the living God, gracious and caring behavior is made known. James also spoke at a time when, as the early church grew, more and more folk from various religious and social backgrounds came to be a part of the communities that were centered in the way of Jesus.

One common idea of the time held to the notion that matters of believing were the heady stuff of the mind alone. This meant that being Christian was simply an intellectual understanding of certain beliefs. Faith means believing rightly. Believing rightly is sufficient to itself. In this way of thinking, ethical behavior does not count. Make a correct profession. Don't worry about performance. Don't be concerned acting out our faith.

Fast-forward two thousand years. All the Gallup surveys indicate the vast majority of Americans profess some belief in God. The surveys go on to indicate that less than half of that number is connected to some church, synagogue or mosque. And again that less than half of those who are connected somewhere; admit to attending worship or any other church activity on some regular basis. One of the people polled made the comment, "Of course I believe in God. But I'm not nuts about him or anything."

I can imagine the people reacting to James: "Be careful, James. You are dealing with precious things here. Don't want to alienate anybody. Faith is important. Works are important. Both are ways of finding and keeping Jesus in our hearts. One person will have faith. Another person will have good works. You carry on with your do-good actions, feeding the poor and clothing the naked. We will keep the faith pure; keep folk professing and confessing Jesus as Lord in the time honored traditions and precise language of the faith. And both of us will be truly religious. Both of us will be faithful in our own ways. You will have your works and I will have my faith."

James quickly responds: "What use is faith that is only words? What use is caring without meaning? Faith without works is lifeless. One says they have faith. Another one says they have deeds. Show me how one can have faith without action and I will show you how faith comes alive in action. What is faith if it is not the catalyst for the living action of a gracious, loving, providing God? Faith is not real until it works. And it does not work well until it is real. Why are we making it an "either/or" proposition instead of a "both/and" understanding? Do-Be-Do-Be-Do.

A comedian use to say, "I am a Jehovah's spectator! I would be a witness but that would require too much work!" Faith without works is not just dead; it is deadly.

In a life that has some coordination, a life that can walk and chew gum at the same time, there is both thought and action. It is tempting and effective sometimes to divide people into categories of "thinkers" and "doers." The thinker" contemplates, thinking deep thoughts, dreaming great schemes, and praying inspired, poetic prayers. Quiet please, the "thinker" is meditating.

Meanwhile the "doer" is up at six, always on-the-go, working, organizing, getting things done, never standing still, accomplishing multiple tasks and finishing the day by filling in their Franklin planner. Noise please; the "doer" is exercising on the treadmill!

The "thinker" and the "doer." Fortunately, life does not fit neatly into two unrelated categories. The "thinker" is only half a person unless thoughts are turned to deeds. Thoughts are thoroughly uninspiring unless there is at least the possibility of their coming to life. Neither can the "doer" be truly effective unless s/he has some motive or moving cause upon which the action is founded.

Do-be-do-be-do is all well and fine, but we can dig a little deeper. The message of James is that faith cannot be made compatible with certain behaviors and attitudes. It is not enough to turn our faith into action, but the appropriate action is necessary as well.

A minister on a dark street felt a gun in his back. When the robber saw the clerical collar, he withdrew his demand for money. He said, "I'm sorry, Reverend. I never take money from preachers." The pastor, whose wife had just given birth to their first-born child, relaxed and said, "Good, here, have a cigar." The robber replied, "Thanks anyway, but I don't smoke during Lent."

In this passage from James there are two related kinds of incompatible actions. There is the incompatibility between faith and favoritism, and there is the incompatibility between faith and indifference.

Faith and favoritism is the first issue. James uses the example of favoritism being shown to the rich over the poor. Most of the time we nod our heads in agreement saying that the faithful should treat everyone the same. We agree because we want to be on the receiving end of being treated equally. We have a stake in this behavior pattern. We don't want favoritism shown to others. What is difficult for us to perceive or admit is that we are often on the receiving end of favoritism.

A few years ago I was presiding at a special church conference as their district superintendent. The discussion was heated. A vote was about to take place when a woman said, "Mr. D.S., my family have been members here for four generations. One woman here has only been a member of this church for two weeks. Her vote doesn't count as much as mine, does it?" It was one of the moments where I simply could not believe my ears. James is clear - there is no place for favoritism in the life of faith. Faith and favoritism are incompatible. There is no place for favoritism of any kind. That's it. Everybody here is God's favorite.

Faith and indifference are also incompatible. When we know the differences between spoken word and attitudes, we cannot afford to ignore the disparity. We seek out ways to reconcile the differences made known by us - the differences between spoken word and acted out behavior. The life of faith, as followers of Jesus, calls us to seek reconciliation in areas that seem irreconcilable. The community of faith, of which we are a part, challenges us and helps us to overcome the incompatible behaviors and attitudes.

A young man approached his pastor and said that he desired to be a Christian. The pastor instructed him to read the Book of Acts as preparation for him to make this important decision. Weeks passed, but the young man did not return. The pastor began to think he had made a serious mistake in his suggestion. Finally, almost a year later, the young man appeared at his study door. When the surprised pastor asked where he had been, the man said, "You told me to read the Book of Acts. Every time I started to read, it told me to do something. So, I stopped reading and went and did it. I have just been too busy to get back." That is acting like Jesus acted. The young man did not allow his ideals to stay in his head. He could not be indifferent to his faith, so the ideals went to work.

Faith and works cannot be divorced. Faith and works are joined at the hip, unable to be separated. Do-Be-Do-Be-Do is not gibberish.

• The church is the community that calls us to a higher ground where we walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

• The church allows us to fail and encourages us to continue in our efforts.

• The church reminds us that we are all children of God and fellow strugglers.

• The church reminds us that God's grace is sufficient for all that we attempt.

We follow in the footsteps of Jesus with the prayer that our behavior and attitude will be contagious for those in whose company we find ourselves.

A young lady was visiting the points of historical interest at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. There are many portraits of people who died at the Alamo along the inside wall of the old church. Near the main entrance is a painting with this inscription, "James Butler Bonham - no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom."

Although we have many paintings depicting Christ, we know that Jesus did not sit for a portrait. But then again, if our faith is in him and we try to do good works in his name then maybe people will see him in...Do-Be-Do-Be-Do...us.