19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
The movie Snow White has a famous and iconic line that everyone knows. The evil queen looks into the magic mirror and says the famous line: “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” and the mirror tells her the answer that she doesn’t want to hear. It is Snow White. She is the fairest one of all. It certainly is not the evil queen, and she is upset about that. The mirror revealed who and what she is.
In the first chapter of James, he uses a mirror example to similar effect. He talks about a man who looks at himself in the mirror, and really studies his appearance. After some time, he eventually walks away and forgets what he looks like. In a sense, it is a rather ridiculous example. What person could look at themselves in the mirror and then immediately forget what they look like? It is quite puzzling.
James uses this mirror example to teach about our identity. He wants us to be hearers and doers of the Word. That is where his example comes into play. We are like the man in the example who forgets his face when we are hearers of the Word only. When we hear God’s Word, it spurs us to action. We want to live in what we have been taught and heard about. Our lives are not divorced from God’s grace. Rather, they are grounded in it, and our Christian lives spring forth from it! It completely changes who we are and what we do.
But when we look into the mirror, into the Word, what do we see? Unfortunately, we see sinful people who fail at keeping God’s Word and Law perfectly. We are certainly not the fairest one of all: only Jesus is! More than that, He is the righteous one, holy one, and perfect one. However, as we look back into the mirror, we also see ourselves in Jesus Christ. We see ourselves as righteous, blameless, and pure in Him. We see ourselves as heirs of heaven and recipients of eternal life. We see ourselves as unconditionally loved and as God’s beloved sons and daughters. James’ mirror example helps to remember this truth!
In Christ,
Pastor Nick Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XXIV, Number 2, September 2022)