"Practicing What We Preach" - James l:22-25/Mark 9:42-50 - September 28, l997

My grandfather Arnold was a very wise man. He was a minister and over the years we had many conversations. I can’t remember anything he ever said from the pulpit. I do however, remember that he had National Geographic magazines on file from many years back. He had a great library of books too. But, what I remember most about my grandfather is the things he taught me. Things that have stuck with me all of my life. For example, he showed me the correct way to hold a hammer. He showed me how to remove a nail from a board by using a piece of board as a fulcrum. My grandfather was a good theologian and popular preacher. But it was his acts of teaching that have really enhanced my life.

Did he practice what he preached? I don’t know, I can’t remember anything from his sermons. I do know that when it came to doing practical things, he was the expert. The only time I ever remember him making a mistake was when we were trying to move a big rock from the edge of the driveway. We didn’t have the steel fulcrum firmly in place and when we tried to move the rock it came lose and my grandfather fell to the ground. We all laughed, including my grandfather, which showed me that a person can make mistakes and still get on with their life.

One evening this past week I prepared dinner for my wife and I. I baked fish primavera, baked potatoes and a vegetable. It took about 45 minutes. I was real proud of myself. I followed every direction to the letter. It came time to dish it out, and when I dished out the fish I dropped it on the floor. All that preparation, (all that pride) went out the window. I stumbled just as my grandfather had.

In our gospel lesson the disciples were stumbling. Jesus warns his listeners about stumbling. "It would be better", he said, "If a man had a millstone around his neck and thrown into the sea than to cause a little one to sin." In other words, we have no value if we are causing others to stumble. I believe what my grandfather taught kept me from stumbling. If I did stumble it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

That one act of carelessness ruined a terrific dinner. Fortunately for me, my wife was very forgiving. But, that incident reminds me how important it is for us to act out our faith, just as we have been instructed. If we hear the word here in church but do not carry it out the rest of the week our faith will not be realized. As James said, we must be "doers of the word, not just hearers".

My grandfather may have relied on National Geographic for much of his information but now we can use the internet. When working with the internet we work with links. Links are what make the connection between a piece of information from one site to another. If a single digit is wrong in the transmission, the link cannot be made. In James we read about the link between hearing and doing. Hearing is useless unless we carry out what we hear. It’s just like preaching. It means nothing unless we practice what we preach.

We can gather here every Sunday, listen to scripture, hear great sermons, be enriched by worship and fellowship. But, it means nothing unless we connect it to the rest of our week. It’s what we do on the outside that really counts.

I attended a funeral yesterday of a colleague. What impressed me about the service was that they gave an opportunity for people so say anything they wanted about their friend and pastor who had died. Almost no one said anything about what he had said, but everyone spoke of what he had done. They remembered his acts of kindness, his warmth and caring. As I listened to the service I thought about what people might say about me. How will people remember me? Will they talk about my sermons, or great jokes? Or will they talk about what I did?

How do you want to be remembered? It is certain that our actions will speak much longer than our words. What do James and the gospel tell us? First. We must be careful not to stumble. We all make mistakes but that doesn’t give us a license to live carelessly. Do you ever take walks? Have you ever tripped on a crack in the cement on a sidewalk? You have to keep looking a few feet in front of you, just like driving defensively. You never know what’s around the next curve.

How do we react when others stumble? Do we ridicule them or do we forgive them? Jesus wants his "salty" followers to be people who forgive. Jesus also warns his listeners of misusing resources. We are to use our hands, our feet and our eyes, for example, for what they are intended. Where did your feet take you this past week? What did your hands touch? What did your eyes see?

Jesus is not totally negative. Besides telling us to be careful and warning us of misusing our resources, he also tells us to be "salty". By this he is encouraging us to be positive role models. The best way to influence young lives is to live by positive example. When you want to reduce crime and violence in a society children and youth need to be exposed to positive role models.

There is a man by the name of John Thompson who lives in Norfolk, Virginia. He is a postal worker who makes $30,000 a year. But for the last 25 years he has given away $96,000 of his hard-earned money to people in need. The folks in his community say he has a "heart of gold". Think what our communities would be like if they were full of people like John Thompson. It is the John Thompsons’ of this world and people like my grandfather who are doers and not hearers only. Just as the state of Virginia has been influenced by John Thompson, I have been influenced by my grandfather and his hammer.

Our actions speak louder than words to others. We must remember that what we do could easily cause someone who is vulnerable to stumble. By being positive role models in society we can make a real difference in the lives of those around us. By being "salty" followers of Christ people will learn and consequently behave by observing our activity.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio