Sermon at St. Thomas, Dubois By Lynn E. Cunningham September 10, 2006 Is. 35:4-7a James 1:17-27 Mark 7:31-37

I come to these lessons in the midst of a very active week that saw closing on the purchase of the Ramshorn Inn, the planning for the new furniture store and liquor store there, continued development of the Opportunity Shop, and the digging up of the front yard of the church to replace the Stewart House sewer line. I know that most of you likewise have been very busy this past week. Our list of items to do has been quite full.
The letter of James instructs readers to be doers of the Word and not just hearers. What does it mean to be a doer of the word, as James urges? Are we not all doing enough already? Let me try to share with you how profoundly refreshing I find these lessons to be. They were like water in the desert for me.
In the gospel passage Jesus performs a miracle by healing the deafness and muteness of a man who could not hear, so that the man could live more fully by hearing and sharing the Word of God.
Isaiah prophesies a time when the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. He prophesies a time when the senses and powers of all the people will be open and able to engage fully in the joys of this life. The joy of life, Isaiah seems to say, breaks forth like water in the desert.
Hearing the Word and being a doer of the Word may be said to be interlocked with each other, and together they bring a special blessing, James says in verse 25.
What is the Word, James is talking about? The word means what the Jesus and the disciples preached of the faith. A few weeks ago, I asked the congregation to read together the Athanasian Creed, which is an ancient expression of the core beliefs of Christianity, similar to the Nicene Creed we will recite in a moment. These core beliefs in God the Father, the work of Jesus the Son of God, and the presence of the Holy Spirit might be thought of as what James was calling the word of God that Christians listen for. The faith statements of the creeds help guide the hearing of the Word. The real meat of the matter, James says, lies in the action, the actual doing of the word.
What does James mean by someone who is a doer of the Word? He gives a concrete example. He writes: “true religion is this: to care for widows and orphans in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” I paraphrase this as meaning, compassionate action in the world, but not action that is separated from the Word, the faith.
The lessons tie together being a hearer and doer of the word with the image of living waters springing forth in the desert. Remember Isaiah prophesies that waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, the burning sand shall become a pool. How can we tie together the Isaiah’s living water flowing in the desert and James call for his readers to be doers of the Word?
What is the clearest image any of us can have in Dubois of waters that break forth in the wilderness? Is it not Wind River itself flowing through our valley?
Many of us love that river deeply. It is scenic. People fish and boat in it. Many just like hearing the sound of its waters, perhaps because hearing its waters is as sweet as hearing God’s Word. And Wind River runs through dry desert country, like Isaiah’s prophecy.
It is hard to imagine this valley and Dubois without Wind River flowing down the middle of it, watering our fields, our trees, our imagination.
Now think of all the big creeks that flow into Wind River: Sheridan Creek, DuNoir, Warm Springs, Horse Creek, Little Warm Springs, Jakey’s Fork, Torrey Creek and finally, the big East Fork.
In turn, each creek both drains a huge area and each helps build the flow of Wind River. You have all seen the river swell up when one of the major creeks picks up a major rainfall upstream.
Now imagine what would happen if each of these creeks decided, just before it poured into Wind River to turn aside and NOT spill its waters into the River?

What if Horse Creek were to turn aside suddenly and say to itself, I am not joining my waters with Wind River?

Or Warms Springs, or East Fork?
What would happen?

Wind River would remain a mere trickle of lonely water. It might even dry up!
Wind River flows full and robust because each big creek joyfully pours forth waters into it.
Now imagine yourself as a stream which pours forth waters, energy, and vitality to make a river. Each of you has been pouring your life out into this church and this community and made them into the wonderful Wyoming places that Dubois and St. Thomas are. You and I are like streams flowing into the river of our community, like all the creeks that build up Wind River.
My recent efforts in buying the Ramshorn Inn has impressed upon me all the institutions and businesses and people that have kept this town going through good times and bad for decades. Look around this congregation this morning. Every one here has done things to make this church and town happen and continue to happen.
Think of all the major efforts this town has seen: the Headwaters, the Dennison Lodge, the Library, the Museum, the Health Clinic, the restoration of the Rustic Pine, the Opportunity Shop, the assisted living project, the big ranches. I am getting out of breath just listing all of them.
Being a doer of the word means not turning your energy and time aside, but pouring yourself into the life of the community, using the gifts you have been given, using the wisdom of the Word that you have heard in your own life. And then being supported in turn by the community. That is what a doer of the word does. And you have all been doers of the word.
Now reflect with me for a moment something deeper here. Reflect for a moment on that river of our common life that you contribute to, like the creeks that pour forth their waters into Wind River. Can you begin to sense as I do a deeper something in the flow? Is there

a deeper current moving along under all that we do?

Imagine yourself wading out into a really deep part of Wind River. Maybe you are out fishing and you wade out into one of the deeper channels. The water around is around your waist, the water is around your chest, the water gets up to your neck. If you cannot swim, you can skip this part! Imagine you are deep in the water and it is bubbling and bobbing with froth, but deep down in the channel, you sense slowly a quiet strength to the movement of the flow.
Perhaps at the deepest level of the flow are the living waters of Jesus’ life mixed in with our own. Jesus poured forth his life into the human community in his time on earth, just as you and I are pouring forth our lives in this time. Now at the deepest part of the channel, can you sense the flow from his life? Can you feel the life you are pouring forth, joining with the flow from his life and from the lives of all those who have gone before and emptied themselves into the river?
There are true living waters here. We are fed by them, even as our lives flow into them.
In a few minutes you and I will return to daily activities. But as you do, remember what these lessons reveal. Hearing and doing the Word complement each other. Hearing and doing the Word means not holding back your life and energy from the flow of the living waters of God, the larger river of life that God continually provides for us and for all God’s people.
Amen.