When the Sermon Is Over — From Hearing to Living

IGEHIRDETÉS: Amikor véget ér az igehirdetés — A hallástól a megélésig

James 1:22–25 / Jakab 1:22–25

There is something special about Sunday morning. We step away from the busyness of the week. We sing, pray, listen to Scripture, and during the service we hope God will speak to us—perhaps through a verse, a story, or even one sentence that stays with us.

But then Sunday morning becomes Sunday afternoon. We go home, we prepare lunch, the phone rings, and we are already thinking about what we will have to do on Monday. By evening, maybe we remember one sentence. Or maybe we simply remember that the sermon felt a little long.

But James asks a more important question:

“Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers.” The question isn't simply, “Do I remember the sermon?” but “Did anything change because I heard God's Word?”

James gives us a humorous image. Hearing God's Word without doing anything about it is like looking into a mirror and then walking away and forgetting what we saw.

Imagine looking in the mirror in the morning. Our hair is standing up, there is toothpaste on our face, maybe we have a pillow mark on our forehead. We look carefully and say, “Very interesting...” Then we grab our keys and head out the door... What was the point of the mirror?

God's Word can be like that mirror. Jesus talks about forgiveness, and a person in our life comes to our mind. We hear “Do not worry,” and we realize how much time we spend worrying. We hear “Love your neighbor,” and realize that we are quite good at loving people in general, but it is much harder when we think of someone who annoys us.

What do we do after we see ourselves in the mirror?

Because faith becomes real in everyday moments. Tomorrow we probably won't face some big spiritual test. But we may need to admit we were wrong, make a phone call we have been putting off, listen when we are busy, or show someone kindness, when we do not feel like it.

And suddenly we put Sunday's sermon into an action…

There is a story about a man who heard a sermon about forgiveness. On the way home from church, another driver cut him off. He became angry, started honking. His wife said, “Wasn't the sermon about forgiveness?” He answered, “Yes. But that was church.”

We laugh because we understand. Church is where we talk about patience; but real life is where somebody tests us. Church is where we talk about trusting

God; real life is where the doctor calls, the bill arrives, or our future for some reason becomes uncertain.

But Jesus never wanted us live in two separate worlds: in church and out in the real world.

Today, on our Sunday School Opening Day our children start another year of Sunday School. But we don't simply want them to know that Jesus taught kindness; we want them to become kind. We don't just want them to learn about forgiveness; we want them to actually know how to forgive.

And the same is true for us adults. We never finish learning how to follow Jesus. We can have attended church for fifty years and still need to recognize when God is asking us to change.

So when you hear God's Word, ask: “Lord, what do You want me to do with this?” Maybe the answer is: Take a step... Have the conversation you have been avoiding. Change a habit. Give some of your time to someone.

Sometimes one small act of obedience is worth more than remembering an entire sermon.

So when today's service ends, the sermon and the worship service do not have to. Let us take God's Word to the picnic, to our homes, to work. Let us take it into the next week into our everyday life.

Because perhaps the best sermon is not the one we remember, but the one we actually start to live. Amen.