One of the most vivid memories of my early childhood was frequently going to the neighborhood Italian restaurant to eat dinner with my parents. I remember the red checkered tablecloths, the mini jukeboxes in each booth playing an endless selection of favorite songs, and the wonderful aroma of the Italian sauces cooking.
My Dad would most often order their specialty, spaghetti and meatballs. When they would bring his plate to the table they would generously add the parmesan cheese and then they would do something that I always found amusing…they would tie an oversized white bib around his neck. I would usually order a club sandwich, so no bib for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching my Dad, wearing that huge bib, eat his large order of spaghetti and meatballs.
The bib, of course, was to keep the rich red sauce from splattering on his crisp, white shirt as he ate. As a child, the idea of the bib was humorous to me because I associated bibs with babies. Babies, who could care less about stains, are bibbed to keep their clothing clean while they are eating. We want our clothing to be clean and unspotted; therefore we often take steps to prevent stains.
James 1 is filled with so many lessons…it is hard to take them all in. For the most part, they are not easily implemented lessons. Joy in trials, asking in faith, fading riches, enduring temptation, stopping sin, avoiding wrath, planting the Word, looking honestly at ourselves, and bridling our tongue are the main ideas James touches on.
He ends this chapter with the very last verse giving us the key to “pure and undefiled religion.” It may sound simple, but really it is huge. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble (easy enough!), and to KEEP ONESELF UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD.” Wow… “unspotted from the world”?? We live in the world, we walk in the world, and we work and go to school in the world…how can we keep ourselves from the world?
How often have you been eating out at a restaurant in nice clothing and gotten a spot on your shirt? What do you immediately do? Dab it with your ice water, excuse yourself and go to the restroom and try to remove the spot before it sets. When you get home, if any of it is left, you take further steps to remove the residue. All for one little spot! The idea is to remove it quickly and immediately.
There is a key to keeping ourselves “unspotted from the world” in both the spaghetti bib and the spot removal process. If we take preparations beforehand to cover ourselves, much like the bib, with God’s Word and protect ourselves from the temptations that come our way, we are much less likely to become “spotted” by sin. However, as hard as we try, we are human and we will sin. If we are diligent in removing each small individual spot of sin as it comes into our lives we are much more likely to “remain unspotted.”
Sometimes though we may find ourselves in a position where the “spotting” from the world is so large that it seems impossible to correct. In times like this we may just give in to Satan and feel that we are “ruined,” that there is no use in overcoming our sin because it is so large it will be impossible to rid our lives of it. This is truly a lie of Satan. While it is possible for our clothing to become so stained that it is unsalvageable, our lives, covered in sin, never are!
Christ’s blood, which we come in contact with through our baptism and obedience to His Word, is always cleansing us from sin. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:7-9. Though we cannot live unspotted, sinless lives, we can always be cleansed from our sins through Jesus Christ.
The “pure and undefiled religion” that James points us towards is attainable with God’s grace and our diligence. Cover yourself with the “bib” of God’s Word, work daily to remove the “spots” that overtake you, and pray often to see your distractions to stop them before they become the stains of sin. Know that "spots" of sin will get past any "bib" you may try to wear...but that God's grace and Christ's blood are always working to help you "keep yourself unspotted"!
Roberta Pledge 11/16/11
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