James 5:13-20

We have come to the end of ten weeks of exploration of a letter from the brother of Jesus, a man named James.  The teachings of James at times contained harsh, rigid, and blunt warnings to the first followers of Jesus.  At other times, James’ teaching offered encouragement to those who were trying to live faithfully.  Overall, James was addressing real problems being experienced by real people as they came together in the collective of the institution, we call church.  We need James’ teachings today because James was calling on the Christians to recognize that a key element of life was to live with a new sense of community founded in God’s victory over sin and death evidenced by the life, death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.  In living out that life, James made clear Christianity is not a “go it alone” life.  Christianity is a community lifestyle.  Honoring God is not done in secret.  Honoring God occurs in living our lives in a new family setting of brothers and sisters in Christ.  And one of things we come to realize, and James focused very much on this point, is that siblings, brothers and sisters, do not always naturally get along. Afterall, we see that the very first sibling relationship of Cain and Abel ended in Abel’s murder.  The idea of a Christian community does not come naturally to us.  It comes to us supernaturally through Jesus.

So as James concluded his letter, it appears James wanted his readers to take on the best sense of community as possible, the sense of brotherhood and sisterhood that Jesus came to establish, gave his life for, and arose from the dead to give hope to.  Now, James was not trying to paint a picture that following Jesus meant everything would be easy and joyful all the time.  That is not real.  James was saying that life even for the follower of Jesus will have its difficulties. There will be times of suffering and times of joy.  And the boundary that separates joy and suffering can be terrifyingly thin.  Last week, Becky and I sat with some parents who have lost children to death.  One mother shared that she had been with her adult son on a Thursday.   It was a good day.  At the end of the day, she and her son went to their respective homes.  They had made plans for Friday and Saturday. Sadly, Friday did not come for her son. He died peacefully seated on the couch watching television.  This is reality of life.  It is a mixture of suffering and joy often with a very thin boundary between them.

James began to confront the reality of life in the Christian community and the thin boundaries we face.  James wrote, “13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.”  James’ understanding of following Jesus in this life was simple. His formula was: in trouble, pray; in joy, praise.  Prayer and praise were and are the appropriate response to trouble and joy.  Prayer and praise are two forms of communication with God. Prayer is our way of setting out our dependence upon God for compassion and mercy to be extended in our times of trouble.  Praise is our expression of joy in knowing our God will listen and has been and will be present in our life. 

Prayer and praise say a lot about our relationship with God.  If either prayer or praise or both are missing in our life, it would suggest our relationship with God needs repair. James said earlier in his letter, “You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives” (James 4:2b-3a).  James was expressing that his readers’ relationship with God was in need of repair because genuine prayer and praise were absent.

Now there can be a temptation by some to make prayer too complicated or too formal and mechanical.  I read an article the other day stating that there are nine different types of prayer. There is prayer of intercession, supplication, faith, corporate, in the spirit, thanksgiving, confession, dedication, and imprecation or curing someone.  The article said each prayer had its own format.  I would find it exhausting to remember the details of each form of prayer and a source of concern as to whether I had used the “proper” format for the purpose.  Jesus said pray.  James said pray.  The Gospel message is simple; just talk to God and if you ask for anything, do so with right motives regardless of the specific reason you are praying.  Do not make it complicated.  Just pray.  In case you were wondering, I read another article on the seven forms of praise.  Each again reason for praise carried with it a specific purpose and format.  Jesus said praise.  James said praise.  The Gospel message again is simple; just praise God for his compassion, mercy, and provision.  Do not make it complicated.  Just offer praise.

Now James suggested that when we pray to God, we need not go it alone. Prayer can and should be a corporate exercise as well.  James wrote, “14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.”  James encouraged his readers, now you and me, to make use of the community of brothers and sisters and invite them into our prayers for our troubles.  James said we should bring the elders in when someone is not well.  The term “elders” here means the leaders of the church. Inviting the leadership of the church is intended to bring the full weight of the church to support those who are sick.  Involving the elders means people who have the strength to pray can do so.  Involving the elders also means the answer to the prayer may have already been provided through the community of brothers and sisters called church.

Allow me to offer an illustration.  Tony Campolo is a well-known American preacher. Some years ago, Tony was invited by a Christian group to speak at their annual conference.  On the day of the conference, the master of ceremony gave Tony a glowing introduction and then asked Tony to lead the group in a prayer that God would provide the funds for the orphanage this group financially supported. Tony made his way to the pulpit and considered how best to pray.  Tony looked around and realized the people in this group were financially stable, with a few appearing to be wealthy.  When Tony arrived at the microphone, he paused for a moment, and then said, “I will not lead this group in prayer.”  Tony continued, “I will not pray that God would make the funds available for this orphanage because God has already answered that prayer.  In this very room is enough money for the orphanage and before I begin speaking we are going to take a collection.”  A few people chuckled at this amusing thought.  Tony said, “I am not kidding.”  Taking a breadbasket from the table, Tony said, “I am taking all the money out of my wallet and donating it to the orphanage. I am now going table by table and asking each of you to do the same; empty your wallets of all cash into the basket.”  Tony went table to table and took up an offering.  When it was counted, there was more money than the orphanage needed for the year.  Tony then gave his prepared remarks to the group.  That group never invited Tony to return.

Bringing the elders into our prayers brings the weight and power of the living body of Christ to bear down upon our sickness, whatever form that may be expressed.  God can use the living body of Christ to lift the sick but only if the body is willing and engaged in moving.

James then went on to say that in community, we need to be honest with one another and seek accountability from one another. James said, “If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:15b-16).  Sin causes wounds within families, churches, and nations.  Sin is a wound that at best will leave scar tissue and at the worst will allow infection into the spiritual body.  Confession, disclosure of sin, frees us, cleans out the wound, and opens the possibility of reconciliation with others.  When we confess our sins, we open ourselves up to God and to restoration with others so that we can have a new future. Confession is to be about building the future.

Confession is hard because we must trust in the person to whom we are confessing, and we must confess with proper motives.  Often our motives for sinning get in the way of our confessing.  A learned pastor wrote, “We sinners are so backwards that we try to justify ourselves by some condition which preceded the sin. Motives console us.”[1]  What does this pastor mean by that?  Ever hear the words come out of your mouth or have someone say to you, “I am sorry that I yelled at you, but you made me angry when you said…”  We have confessed with improper motives by justifying our actions as a natural response to the actions of the person to whom we are confessing.  The confession then becomes an instrument to accuse.  That learned pastor completed his though this way, “It isn’t some preliminary cause, some motive before sin that justifies me, but rather the forgiveness of Christ which meets my repentance after the sin.”[2]  Forgiveness comes, reconciliation comes, healing comes after we repent.

James then concluded with this touching thought, “19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”  If we wander from the truth we are at risk.  The term wander means to aimlessly move from place to place or in this case, from one belief to another.  James knew something about being aimless.  James lived many years with Jesus and did not see who Jesus was. James listened to Jesus and thought he was insane.  James tried to get Jesus to do things that we either not proper in time or place. James was aimless in his pursuit of God. Then something remarkable happened. Jesus was killed on the cross and buried.  I do not doubt that James grieved his brother’s death.  Sorrow had entered James’ life.  Then just days later came the word, “Jesus had risen from the grave. Jesus was alive.”  Sorrow gave way to joy.  While the boundary between joy and sorrow is thin so too is the boundary between sorrow and joy.  The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate act of joy for all humanity and reshapes our understanding of sorrow and joy.  The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate act of creating new individuals for a new community.

You and I are part of that new community.  We need to pray for one another.  We need to bring the full weight of the church community down upon the problems we face and to be used by God to lift one another up.  This is the will of God.  Jesus said, ““Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  Let us live in a community peace as brothers and sister.  Amen and Amen

[1] Wagerin, Walter, Reliving the Passion, (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan, 1992), 46.

[2] Ibid.

James 5:1-11

There have been many writers who have taken on the charge to describe the conditions of the world around them and to give their readers insight into the need for change.  Our own Declaration of Independence used most of its space to describe the tyranny of King George against the American Colonies and the consequence of those abuses; namely, the need for the American Colonies to abolish the established relationship with the King and his government.  The ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence was that governments were instituted to protect and defend God given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  In a like manner, James, the author of our New Testament reading, took on the charge to describe some conditions that were of concern to him and the consequences of those abuses.  James said that his letter was written to the Twelve Tribes scatter among the nations. This has been taken to mean that James is writing to early Christians who had been raised as Jews and then came to accept Jesus as Lord.  As such, we should view James’ writing as to Christians describing conditions within the Church.  Those conditions were not all peaches and cream. 

James described tyranny and corruption within in the early Church, particularly among the people with money.  James warned those with money of the severe consequences of abusing those without money.  Then, James described the need for the faithful of the early Church to hold fast to the life and to the freedom granted by God through Christ who was uncorruptible, faithful, merciful, and compassionate.  Though James wrote his letter centuries ago, the issues of wealth inequalities and abuse continue to exist today, even within the contemporary Christian Church.

James began describing the conditions most concerning to him with broadside of verbal cannon fire much like a fighting ship of days bygone days.  James wrote, “1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.”  In literature, writers are encouraged to begin their work with what is called a “hook” sentence.  A “hook” sentence is one that grabs the reader’s attention and gives them a reason to keep on reading.  “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.” That is an A+ “hook” sentence because everyone, rich and poor alike, will want to read on.  The idea that rich people would weep and wail in misery is the opposite of the conventional wisdom for rich people.  The expectation for those who are rich is a carefree and comfortable lives, not lives marked by misery.  James’ words destroy the Jewish conception that the possession of wealth was an indication of God’s favor.  Instead of favor, the rich would face misery or God’s wrath.

James, the brother of Jesus, was sharing spiritual insights with the early believers and followers of Jesus and revealed here that the rich will face misery.  In James’ day, there was no real middle class.  For the most part, people were either rich or they were poor.  The poor worked daily for the resources to eat that day. The rich, of course, stockpiled not just the necessities of life but also the luxuries of life.  Now, we might ask ourselves, “Am I hooked to what James said because I consider myself rich or because I consider myself poor?”  The answer to that question depends on our understanding of wealth.  In the United States, our perceptions of wealth and poverty may be askew compared to the world at large.  Consider for a moment that if you woke up this morning and you had food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep.  If so, then you are richer than 75% of the people in the world.  If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. 

With those statistics in mind, we can ask ourselves, “Am I rich or am I poor?” as we read again James’ opening sentences, “1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.  2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.”  James was pointing out that the rich had material goods and clothing in abundance such that some of it was beginning to rot and be eaten by inserts.  Their goods and clothing were rotting and spoiling because it was not needed to meet their own needs and not being shared with those who were in need.  The rich had secreted money and even it had sat unneeded for so long that the coins were beginning to corrode.  James said the rot, spoiled, and corroded excess unused wealth will be the evidence to testify against the rich of their love of money and their indifference toward the poor.  That evidence would convict them of their lack of genuine love for God and for their neighbors.  James was making clear that hoarding wealth is a sin of omission; the act of not acting. We will recall that last week James spoke about the sin of omission when he wrote, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them” (James 4:17).  That is the sin of omission; the act of not acting, the act of knowing what ought to be done and not doing it.

Now James was not done with those who had saved up resources to the point of rot, spoilage, and rust.  James went after those who were involved in the sin of commission; that is, they acted against the poor.  The sin of commission is the act of knowing what ought not be done and doing it. James wrote, “4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.”  James was citing that the corruption within the early Church was so complete that love, friendship, compassion, humility, and empathy was lacking by the rich.

James’ words are an extension of those Jesus taught his disciples about the love of money.  Jesus taught, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely” (Mark 12:38-40).  The Apostle Paul expressed Jesus’ teaching this way, “9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).  The love of money is a serious problem for the Christian life because we can only have one first love: God or money, but not both.  James was warning the rich that their love of money was evil and unchristian.  The rich were reflecting the progressive wisdom of the world which James described as earthly, then unspiritual, and finally demonic.  We, individually and as a local church, must examine our love. Is it for possessions, fine things, and money or is it for God? 

To the faithful of the early church, James said, “7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about” (James 5:7-11).  James was encouraging the faithful, particularly those who were poor, to be patient and hold fast to the Lord, Jesus Christ, who would set things right.  In and through Christ, eternal judgement would be brought upon the rich or anyone who lived by earthly, unspiritual, and demonic wisdom and the faithful would be rewarded eternally.  James may have had in mind the story Jesus told of such a judgement.  “19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  22 The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he [the rich man] was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side” (Luke 16:19-23). Abraham speaking to the rich man said, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony” (Luke 16:25).  Jesus was revealing to us the fate of those who love their money more than God and more than their neighbors.  Coldness, indifference, and cruelty in this life will not go unpunished and misfortune, difficulties, and struggles of the faithful will not go unrewarded.

            How do we know God will act to reverse the fortunes of this world?  James concluded this section of his letter with the truth, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11).  God will make things right because he is compassionate and merciful.  But the faithful must be patient.  James cites the need for patience four times in this passage.  Patience is difficult for us, especially in our culture of instantaneous living.  We can communicate with people on the other side of the world as quickly as we can with the person next to us.  We can cook food with microwave ovens in a small fraction of the time earlier generations ever thought imaginable.  We can travel at 500 miles per hour in aircraft to destinations that 50 years ago may not even be reached in a lifetime.  If Jesus is going to set things right, then we want and even feel entitled that he does so now.  We want our vindication in the certainty of today not in the uncertainty of tomorrow.

            Jesus understood our need for assurance that God was compassionate and merciful.  That is why he gave the faithful a sign and reminder of compassion in the present and mercy in the future.  On the night when Jesus was betrayed for a mere 30 silver coins, Jesus shared a meal with his faithful followers.  At this meal, Jesus took the daily bread, the sustenance of life.  He blessed the bread, giving thanks to God for his provision of their needs.  Then Jesus broke the bread into smaller pieces and gave it to his followers. Jesus said, “Take and eat, this is my body.”  In the certainty of the present moment, Jesus reassured his followers that God saw them, heard them, loved them, and was compassionate upon them.

            Jesus then took a cup of wine.  Again, Jesus blessed the wine, giving thanks to God for the fruit of the fields.  Then Jesus gave the cup to his followers and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).  The covenant was an unbreakable agreement established by God that His mercy would be on the followers of Jesus.  The blood of Jesus represented in the cup was a seal giving certainty to the mercy of God for eternity.  What was required of Jesus followers?  They must take and eat of the bread and drink from the cup and follower Jesus.  In following Jesus, God, not money becomes the love of life.  God given wisdom and not earthly wisdom guides and instructs lives of Jesus’ followers.  In following Jesus, compassion and mercy found in God is found in abundance in the lives of his followers and the distinction between rich and poor is to melt. The rich shall use their resources to meet the needs of the poor.  James said earlier in his letter, ”Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” (James 2:5)

            Let us come to the table of the Lord as his followers, patient in the present, and assured of the future.  In taking the bread and the cup, let us be renewed in our faith and in our desire to share the riches of Christ and the riches of this world as an expression of our first love for God.  Amen and Amen.

James 4:11-17

We have been looking at the writings of James, the brother of Jesus. James was a man who it appears throughout Jesus public ministry did not believe what Jesus’ said about himself. And yet, James listened to what Jesus said.  At one point in Jesus ministry throughout Galilee, James thought Jesus was out of his mind and came to seize control over Jesus and bring Jesus home.  And yet, James paid attention to Jesus’ teachings and remembered them.  James’ separation from his brother Jesus’ ministry seemed so complete that upon Jesus’ death on the cross, Jesus appointed his own disciple, John, as the caretaker of Mary, mother of Jesus and mother of James.  And yet, James would come to honor his brother Jesus as Lord and Savior and did so even to the point of his own death by the hands of a mob who stoned and clubbed James to death.  What accounts for the transformation of James from doubter and skeptic to disciplined believer?  The apostle Paul revealed to us the reason James’ transformation in the letter Paul wrote to the church at Corinth.

3 For what I [Paul] received I passed on to you [the believers in Corinth] as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he [Jesus] appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me [Paul] also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

Jesus, risen from the dead, first appeared to those who believed in him and who grieved so terribly after Jesus’ crucifixion.  Paul said Jesus appeared to Peter, a man broken by his own denials of Jesus.  Then Jesus appeared to the other apostles.  Jesus then to 500 people who believed in him, men and women alike. Only after resurrecting the faith and spirit of those who had believed in Jesus, did Jesus then appear to those who had not believed in him.  Paul lists only two such appearances to non-believers: James and Paul.  Jesus first appeared to his brother James, a man who thought Jesus was insane.  We do not know when or where Jesus appeared to James.  We know when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, Jesus spoke her name, “Mary,” and at Jesus’ calling, Mary threw herself to the ground and wrapped her arms around Jesus’ feet and cried out “Rabboni,” a term of endearment.  Did Jesus do likewise when he appeared to his brother and simply say, “James?”  And did James fall to Jesus’ feet knees calling Jesus by some pet name?  Or did Jesus just appear, standing before his brother, James and say nothing?  And in that silence did all the words James said about Jesus, about being insane or a fraud, come pouring into James’ mind, reminding James of the judgments he had made against his brother, Jesus?  And in that silence, did Jesus who was and is perfectly innocent judge his accuser James? Innocence accuses its accuser. And after those few moments of terrifying silent reflection by James of what he said to and about Jesus, did those words depart from James’ mind and replaced by forgiveness and words of Jesus? We do not know.

            But we do know two important things about James from that encounter with his brother, Jesus.  First, James believed in Jesus.  The resurrection changed and transformed the entirety of James’ life.  The resurrection of Jesus was and is the defining event for James, for you, and for me.  Today, people chant, “No justice, no peace.”  For the Christian, the statement should be “No resurrection, no peace.” The apostle Paul said, “17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).  James believed and so after becoming a witness to the resurrection, James called himself, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1).   James called his brother, the “glorious Lord Jesus Christ” (James 2:1).  James believed in Jesus without reservation and, instead of being a detractor of Jesus, became a servant of his brother.

            The second thing we learn about James after the resurrection appearance by his brother is that James was concerned about what came out of his mouth and the mouth of Jesus followers.  James’ letter is not long and yet he speaks numerous times about what we say to one another.  Let me give you just a few examples.

• Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James 1:19).
• Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless (James 1:26).
• Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law (James 2:12).
• The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell (James 3:6)
• With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be (James 3:9-10).

James was concerned about what people said, perhaps because what James said before the resurrection of Jesus about Jesus was unkind, unworthy, and earthly leaving James open to judgment by the Son of God. James seeing his brother, Jesus, appear before him, resurrected from the dead, must have been a terrifying moment. The final words of James’ letter may give us some insight into what those brothers shared in that moment. James wrote, “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).  In that moment of the resurrection appearance of Jesus to James, it seems clear that Jesus turned James from James’ error and rather than judgment into eternal death, Jesus covered a multitude of James’ sin and brought him into eternal life.  That is the promise we too share with James.

            James, perhaps like few other people, understood the significance of brother speaking against brother and the power of forgiveness found in one brother forgiving the other.  James wanted his readers, he wanted you and me, to understand that what we say matters in this life and what we say carries eternal significance.  From today’s reading, James wrote, “11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.  Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it.  When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”  (James 4:11-12).  James’ words showed the eternal significance of our words.  “Do not slander one another.”  The King James Version of this verse is more pointed, “Speak not evil one of another.”  These words are as old as one the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 5:12). Slander is the act of making a false statement against someone else.  James made this connection.  To slander is to violate the law of God.  To violate the law of God is to set yourself as judge of the law.  To judge the law is to judge the lawgiver, God.  Slander thus hurts the person we speak against and places us in the position of judging God.  James said, “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy” (James 4:12).  James’ words here reflect that he understood what Jesus said on this very matter and in many ways applied to the way James treated Jesus.

            Jesus said, “21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:21-22).  “Raca,” meant the person was considered emptyheaded or a fool.  Makes you wonder if James felt he had called his brother Jesus, ”Raca,” when James believed Jesus was out of his mind. James had judged Jesus and quite wrongly.  To judge another is not a small matter. Jesus said, “28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). James must have remembered his brother, Jesus’ words, when James wrote, “12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy” (James 4:12).  James, standing before his resurrected brother Jesus, stood the risk of being judged for eternity but instead James was saved by Jesus whom James saw as his Lord.  James, the new person saved by his brother, the Son of God, said, “Who are you to judge?” (James 4:12).  Indeed, who am I and who are you to judge another and slander the reputation of a brother or sister?  James’ question and his words of admonishment are powerful and should call us to check our words.  Jesus said, “36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).

            James finished up this chapter by continuing to address the impact of what we say.  We pick things up again at verse 13, “13 Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’  14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  15 Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’  16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes.  All such boasting is evil.”  James’ point here was that his readers, believers in Jesus, were using the gift of language and testimony to boast that they would use their lives, also a gift, to make money – lots of money.  The boasting represented a desire to set their own plans in motion for the purpose of amassing wealth for themselves.  Wealth itself is not necessarily a problem.  The problem James was pointing out was that God was absent from the plan.  The boasts of James’ readers were strictly earthly centered and that the objective was to amass wealth such that these people would become even more self-reliant. The boast means James’ readers saw no dependence on God at all for their lives.  James brought his readers up short and said, “What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).  We are a mist.  A mist appears for a while and then vanishes, and no one remembers anything about the mist. That is a sobering thought and a hard truth.  Now we could be discouraged or even depressed by the idea that we are seemingly so inconsequential.  But that was not James’ desire.  His point was that we must not see our lives through the lens of earthly living alone. We must have an eternal view. James was reflecting the teaching of Jesus who said, “19Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Jesus point, James’ point, was that the treasure of life will not be found here in the pursuit of wealth.  The treasure will be found in doing what God desires.  James said we must approach God in humility and in dependence to him.  From that posture, James wrote, “15 You ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:15).  Our posture ought to be found in seeking God and in seeking God’s will.

            James knew something about the power of words and thoughts expressed about life.  James knew something about the power of words and thoughts expressed to God and about God. James shared the same living space as God lived among us in the person of Jesus.  James had plenty of time to know Jesus, his brother, and to speak with his brother.  James thought his brother was insane.  James thought his brother was not genuine.  James thought his brother was wrong in his thinking.  James was not quiet about his thoughts and his words were hurtful.  Then something happened.  James’ brother Jesus was killed and buried.  Then came the terribly wonderful and terribly frightening news.  Jesus was alive.  He had been raised from the dead.  Jesus was who he claimed to be, the son of God.  The wonder and terror of that news came to a peak when James stood before Jesus.  All of James’ idle and unkind words flooded James’ mind.  James must have thought to himself, “I am doomed.”  Then Jesus spoke to James in a reassuring tone that James’ sins were forgiven; that is why Jesus came and died.  James shared with us that we need to be thoughtful about what we say and to use our words not to judge our neighbors but to seek the will of God; God’s good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2).  That is the good we can do.  With that in mind, James concluded, “17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

            This week, let’s restore our language with our brothers, sister, parents, children, and neighbors because we know what is good and seek to just do it.  “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18).  Amen and Amen.

James 3:18 & 4:1-10

“Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.  What [then] causes fights and quarrels among you?” (James 3:18; 4:1) The opening statement and the question appear back-to-back in the New Testament Book of James.  James, the brother of Jesus, wrote these words to the people of the early Christian churches.  James’ statement is comforting.  “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:18).  We like to hear words about peacemakers, peace, and righteousness.  To James’ readers peace was embodied by the word Shalom, which means wholeness and complete in every regard.  We are content when we feel complete and settled.  When we are at peace, we do not tense up nor are we easily startled. When we are at peace, we breath easier because we feel safe.  People who can usher a sense of peace, peacemakers James calls them, are a true blessing to our lives.  But James’ comforting statement about peacemakers, peace, and righteousness is abruptly changed by a harsh sounding question to his readers, “What [then] causes fights and quarrels among you?” (James 4:1) James’ question makes clear that James does not consider his readers to be peacemakers.  They are instead peace-breakers.  James’ readers are engaged in fights and quarrels; shouting and screaming at one another.  It seems their behavior is not a just an occasional sort of thing, it is persistent and pervasive.  Fights and quarrels are part of the lives of James’ readers.  James asks his readers, “Why are you behaving this way? What is going on inside of you to choose to behave in such a way as to oppose peacemaking, peace, and righteousness?” James’ questions were an extension of his thoughts we talked about last week.  Namely, that fighting and quarreling come from using the wisdom of the world which is earthly (self-centered).  Such wisdom progresses to being unspiritual (peace-breaking), and it culminates in demonic behavior (it outright opposes God).

James asked, “What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they [these fights and quarrels] come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet [jealously envy others] but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have [peace] because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask [God for something], you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:1-3).  James wasted no words laying into his readers and putting the responsibility for the fighting squarely onto the individual.  James does not allow for lame excuses for the situation.  James does not allow his readers to say, “I am only responding to the way I am treated by others.  I would not have to fight if others would listen to me the first time.  There would not be any quarrels if people just agreed with me.”  James said to each, you are responsible for the fighting and quarrelling because of two reasons.  First, you desire control, authority, and power believing that they are the means to bring you wholeness, joy, and peace.  I remember when I was a kid, we enjoyed playing a game called King of the Hill.  The object was to stand on top of hill or mound of dirt while all the other kids came at you from every side of that hill to wrestle you to the ground and throw you off that hill so they could become king of the hill.  As king, you had to fend off the attacks of others and try to throw them down the hill.  As king of the hill you were considered in control, you had the authority, and you had the power, but you never had any peace.  It was a fun kids’ game.  It is a terrible game for adult Christians to play with one another’s life.  James point was you fight because first you desire to be king of the hill believing that brings you peace and you know that it does not.

Second, you fight and quarrel because you do not ask God.  You do not ask God for what?  James previous said people lacked wisdom from heaven.  James said in Chapter 1, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).  In Chapter 3, James wrote, “17 The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). James point was that his readers are not asking for wisdom from heaven to put an end to the fighting and quarreling. Instead, James’ readers were asking God to intervene on their side in the dispute and give them the victory over their battles with other Christians.  The motives behind their prayers were all wrong.  James said God was not answering such prayers because those prayers were earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

James’ point on prayer is sobering.  Many people, Christians and non-Christians, can remember and recite Jesus’ words on prayer.  They remember Jesus said, “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).  Religious practices, even our own worship services, reinforce the idea of all prayers answered as we desire.  Jesus said, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).  This gives rise to us concluding every prayer with the words, “In Jesus name we pray.”  People pray for all kinds of things that are not of God.  “God, please let me win the lottery.  I promise the money won’t change me and I’ll even give some of the money to the church.  In Jesus precious name I pray.”  We pray with wrong motives because we want to believe Jesus answers all prayers.  But the quote from Jesus was not, “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you,” it was “ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).  To abide in Jesus and his words, means our motives in prayer will be proper because our prayers will be focused on the wisdom of God not on self-centered desires.  James’ point was his readers were not having their prayers answered because Christ was not abiding in them and they were not following Jesus words.  As a result, James’ readers were acting and thinking in an earthly, unspiritual, and even demonic manner and at the same time asking God to bless their mess.  God will not bless a mess.

James went so far as to say that acting earthly and praying heavenly is a form of adultery because his readers were trying to share in an intimate relationship with the world and with God.  That just cannot be.  James said, “4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble’” (James 4:4-6).  Strong language.  “Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” You cannot love God and have the world as a secret lover.  A relationship with God means peace.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they are the children of God.”  James gave the other side of the same coin, “Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world [a peace-breaker], becomes an enemy of God.”  The language used by Jesus and James gives the impression that we face the ultimate coin toss.  Heads you’re a child of God.  Tails you’re an enemy of God.  Heads you will.  Tails you lose, and lose, and lose.

But here is the good news. Whether we want to be known as a child of God or an enemy of God is not a game of chance or a coin toss.  James in completing his thought set out a new set of ten commandments to be on the side of God, even if we are presently fighting, quarreling, and otherwise acting in an earthly, unspiritual, and demonic manner as an enemy of God.  James wrote these 10 commands:

1.  7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. 
2.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
3.  8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. 
4.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and 
5.  purify your hearts, you double-minded. 
6. 9 Grieve, 
7.  mourn and 
8.  wail. 
9.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 
10. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Let’s see what James was talking about here.

James said the first commandment is to submit yourself to God.  Submitting to God is a recurring theme for James.  Submission means to let God be God of your life.  To submit means to accept what God’s word says and to obey it. In James’ language, we end the adulterous relationship with the world.

Second, James said to resist the devil and the devil will flee from you.  This is an important point. If we are submitted to God, then we can guarantee the devil will make his appearance.  We must resist his presence by drawing closer to God, not moving away from God.  When we feel that pull to leave our faith journey by praying less, going to church less, by following worldly thought, that is the precise moment we need to draw nearer to God.  The closer we draw to God the less influence the devil has over us because evil will not come into God’s presence.

This is notion of movement is affirmed in James’ third command to draw nearer to God.  The Apostle John put it this way, “5 This is the message we have heard from him [Jesus] and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him [God through Jesus] and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he [God] is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).  Draw near to God and the devil leaves.  Draw near to God, and we become purified.  Draw near to God and we stop fighting and quarreling and we have fellowship with one another.

Fourth, we need to cleanse our hands. We need to stop the actions that contaminate our life with sin.

Fifth, we need to purify our hearts. We need to stop taking into our life the things of this world that contaminate our thinking and emotions. We are both blessed and cursed to have access to so much information through newspapers, books, television, and the Internet.  But not all of what we can allow into our life is good.  Some of what we can receive is enriching and a lot of it is destructive, rude, and crude.  We need to purify our hearts and use the wisdom of heaven to bring into our lives what builds us up.

Commandments six through eight call us to grieve, mourn, and weep.  The object of these behaviors is the sin of our lives and making a public decision to turn from these behaviors.  Our grieving, mourning, and weeping expresses that our past life is done and over.  We have entered into a new relationship with God alone.

The ninth commandment is to transform our laughter and joy at sinning and the frailties of others.  The Apostle Paul said it this way, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).  We need to push the world out and let God in.

Finally, James said humble ourselves before God so that God can lift us up.  We need to stop trying to be the king of the hill by force and be a humble servant toward others.  In our servanthood, God will place us high as a righteous person; someone worthy of being called a child of God.

In a few words, James brought his readers from being confronted about the nature of their fighting and quarreling with each other that James equated to murder and adultery to being humble and lifted up by God. He gave ten things to do but at the very center of James’ words was the key.  James said the key is to draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Regardless of the issues and challenges we may face, the imperative action is to draw near to God so that we can be made right.  James’ command spoke of God’s character for God loves when his children return to him. Jesus shared this part of God in a story.  Jesus shared a story of a father who had two sons. The younger son asked for inheritance from his father, who granted his son's request. This son left home with his money and squandered his fortune on sinful living. The son eventually became destitute. As consequence, the son had to return home empty-handed,  He intended to beg his father to accept him back as a servant. To the son's surprise, he was not scorned by his father but instead his father welcomed back his son with celebration and a welcoming party.  The son drew near to the father and the father drew near to the son.  God stands ready for us to draw near to him and in doing so, he will draw near to us. In our drawing toward God, our fighting and quarreling nature will subside, our prayers will be answered because they will be consistent with God’s will, and will we exalted by God. The apostles of the New Testament said, “3 We proclaim [the gospel message of peace] to you what [because] we have seen and heard [it], [in sharing the message] so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).

This week, let us draw near to God and feel Him draw near to us.  In that closeness, let the tension of life give way to the peace from God that surpasses all understanding surround us.  Amen and Amen.

James 3:13-18

I have shared with some of you that later in September, I plan to begin teaching a ten-week course online called Christian Ethics.  What is Christian Ethics?  Christian Ethics is simply the way that people think about moral questions from a Christian perspective.  Christian Ethics is not about telling someone what they must think about a social issue. Although, some churches and denominations do prescribe what congregants are to think through a catechism.  If you are interested in reading a book on ethical responses to a variety of circumstances, you can borrow my copy of the catechism for the Roman Catholic Church.  Even with fine print, the catechism is 845 pages long.  Christian Ethics that I will present is more about helping to organize our thinking from a Christian perspective.  If we know how to think like a Christian, then we can apply that understanding to whatever circumstance or issue comes our way. There is no need for someone else to write a book telling us what must think about an issue.

Now what Christians and non-Christians believe should be done in a situation or on an issue is guided by three primary considerations.  First, what we decide to do can be dependent upon what goal we hope to achieve. Second, what we decide to do can be dependent upon what duty I feel I must fulfill.  Third, what we decide to do can be dependent upon what kind of person we should be.  So, let’s say that this afternoon, you are in your front yard just enjoying the moment. Across the street from you is your neighbor who is in their front yard also just enjoying the moment. You get along with your neighbor, even though they seem a little sketchy.  One thing you do know is that your neighbor is an atheist; they do not believe in God in any way, shape, or form.  As you are both enjoying the day, a car drives slowly down the street between your house and your “across the street” neighbor’s home. You recognize the car as belonging to someone who lives down the street.  The driver of the car is known to be a very disagreeable person, to everyone. As the car passes by, you notice something odd.  There are small pieces of paper coming off the roof of the car.  The pieces of paper look like money.  You see that your neighbor notices the paper coming from the car as well.  After the car has passed by, you and your neighbor calmly walk to the street and discover the paper coming from the car are $100 bills.  You collect 10, $100 bills and your neighbor collected 4, $100 bills.  That is $1400 between you.  Your neighbor says, “Why not give me all the money.  I will take care of this matter if you like.”  What you decide to do, and what your neighbor will decide to do, will be guided by ethics.  Your decision, and your neighbors, will be guided by a combination of goals, duties, and what type of person you want to be.  But here is the thing.  Although you will have the common ways of making a decision, that is goals, duties, and what type of person you each want to be, the Christian Ethics you will use is different from worldly ethics your neighbor will use.  Or at least it should be.

This was the point James was making in this weeks’ reading from the book bearing his name.  James was concerned about how Christians make decisions.  Do Christians make decisions based upon the wisdom of the world with its goals, duties, and role models.  Or do Christians make decisions based upon the wisdom of God with its distinct and different goals, duties, and role models?  James asked in verse 13, “13 Who is wise and understanding among you?”  Being wise here has nothing to do with intelligence or education.  It has everything to do with being having a solid foundation, a solid relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Jesus explained being wise through the story of two builders found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  One person built a house by first digging down deep into the soil and laid a foundation for the house in the rock.  The other person built a house on the ground without a foundation.  Then the heavy rains came.  The house built on sand was washed away by flood waters but the one built on a good foundation could not be shaken by the flood.  Jesus said, “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).   To be wise then is to know the words of Jesus and to make Jesus words the foundation of their way through life.  James’ question focused on whether Jesus’ words formed the basis of his reader’s goals, duties, and type of person they were being called to be.  James asked, “13 Who is wise and understanding among you?  Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13).  Whoever has Christ in them, the very wisdom of God, then let that person show it by the way they live that life.  James wanted his readers to live life like Jesus lived his life.  James wanted his readers to do things in humility; that sense of wanting to serve others without a desire for status or ambition or repayment. In the New Testament, this type of love fueled desire is described by a Greek word for love, agape.  Agapeic love is not reciprocal.  You simply give requiring nothing in return.  Agapeic love was the type of love Jesus spoke about when he addressed the host of a banquet.  Jesus said, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:12-14).  The purpose of giving was to express love leading to righteousness. 

A couple of weeks ago, Becky and I met with the parents of a young man who died at the end of April.  The parents shared about their son and his desire to help other people. Some of those this young man helped were kind and others were, quite frankly, dangerous people.  What struck me was that this young man was as humble with kind as he was with the dangerous.  This young man gave to each type of person knowing that those he gave to could not or would not ever return his love.  That is agapeic love moved by humility.  We cannot learn humility from a book or a course.  We can only learn about it through experience.  James wondered aloud if anyone who was reading his letter was wise and understanding of the ways of Jesus and had shown those qualities in humility through experience.  Living agapeic love is difficult.  Let me illustrate.  When Jesus was approaching Jerusalem just before his death, two of his disciples asked in secret for seats of honor; one on each side of Jesus.  When the other disciples heard of the secret request from the two disciples an argument sprang up among the Twelve each arguing they were greater than the other.  Jesus interrupted the argument and said, “11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12).  James was asking in his letter, “Who among you is the greatest servant of the others?”  If that is who you are, then that is wonderful, continue following your Lord, Jesus Christ.

However, James knew his readers and was aware that few if any of his readers were living a life of humility and agapeic love.  So, James offered an alternative view in verse 14.  James wrote, “14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.”  James had a simple view of life.  Either you were fully like Jesus or you were envious and selfish.  There was no middle ground.  James said of those who had envy and selfishness in their lives, “15 Such “wisdom” [such an attitude] does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”  I suspect he was called a lot of things in his time but the “life of the party” was probably not one of them.  James was blunt and James pointed out something we could easily miss.  James said that envy and selfishness, that type of wisdom or attitude, is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  James was not using three adjectives to describe the same condition.  James was describing the inevitable progression of envy and selfishness.  James’ point was that envy and selfishness is at first earthly, meaning we put on a façade, our relationships are superficial, we avoid people who offer conflict, we may be friendly but for the most part indifferent to the problems others face.  If left unchecked, uncorrected by God’s intervention, then our approach to life develops into that which is earthly and unspiritual.  We develop other priorities such as money.  We allow dishonesties to enter our life; small ones at first and then larger ones.  We avoid the truth.  We criticize the church and openly doubt the goodness of God.  If left unchecked, uncorrected by God’s intervention, then our approach to life that is earthly and unspiritual becomes demonic.  With demonic elements we want what we want when we want.  We seek attention, power, and greed.  We no longer care if we upset people; too bad, deal with it.  We are easily tempted.  We no longer even try to understand someone else view or experience. It does not matter.  They will just have to deal with us the way “God made us.”  Except God did not make us this way.  We chose this path and are following demonic leadings.  Envy and self-centeredness have a progression to them; earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  To see that progression unfold in someone’s life is frightening and we want to intervene and change that person.  The truth is we cannot change someone who is on the progression toward demonic behavior. Only God can change that person.

This change away from earthliness, and unspiritual and demonic behaviors was James’ next point.  James wrote, “17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”  James shows that wisdom from heaven, a transfusion from God, follows a progression and corrects what is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. This progression and transformation occur when we first accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.  The transfusion of Christ, Jesus living within us, begins with purity, the very character of God.  The Apostle Paul said it this way, “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18a).  With the purity of Jesus, we then become considerate meaning we want to just towards others and avoid being abusive.  We then become submissive toward the truth in God’s Word and we want to follow it.  We progress and acquire the desire to express mercy and to produce good fruit.  Our deeds are not self-centered, they are rich in agapeic love.  We care for those who are in need because doing so is good for them.  Finally, we understand the being impartial and sincere is the mark of a focused person.  We are no longer doubleminded being concerned about the things that concern God and being concerned about how the world see and respects us. We are devoted only to God and to a positive spiritual life from which flows a life lived like Christ.  The transfusion of Christ, the wisdom of God, brings us peace.

To be a peace with God, to be a peace with one another, to be a peacemaker is the Christian life.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Congratulations from God are in order for those who have taken God’s wisdom from heaven which is “first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17) for they shall be God’s children. James put Jesus words this way in the final verse of chapter 3 of the letter bearing James’ name.  “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:18).  James’ final words form the basis for our Christian Ethics because peace and righteousness from God serve to inform our goals, duties, and the kind of person we want to be.

What do we do with James’ words which can be hard to hear? James’ words, like all of Scripture, are focused on life.  And because we can hear and read James’ words there is hope for renewal in our life.  Let me illustrate.  One time, two young men worshipped God.  One worshipped with purity and sincerity.  The other worshipped in an earthly and self-centered manner.  The one who worshipped with sincerity found peace with God.  His name was Abel.  The one who worshipped selfishly found no peace with God nor with Abel, who was his brother.  His name was Cain.  God could see the conflict within Cain.  God saw that Cain was acting in an earthly and unspiritual manner and so God intervened. God said to Cain, “Cain, why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:6-7).  God was offering to restore Cain and confirm upon Cain the acceptance of a loving father.  But Cain would have none of it.  Instead, Cain progressed from earthliness and being unspiritual to demonic.  Cain, in a rage of selfishness, lied to Abel and then murdered Abel.

God knows that each one of us is tempted to be earthly, unspiritual, and, yes, even demonic.  God offered to restore us and confirm upon us the acceptance of a loving father if we would just receive Jesus and live a life like Jesus lived; that is “first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere”  (James 3:17).  Jesus is the wisdom of God from heaven.  The questions then we need to ask ourselves is, “Have I received the wisdom of God through Jesus?”  If I have, am I using that wisdom to form my goals, determine my duties, and establish what kind of person I should be by living my life like Jesus lived?  If you have not received the wisdom of God through Jesus, then today is the day to ask God for that transfusion of Christ.  If you aren’t sure what that all means, let’s talk because I know that God wants each one of us here today to be known now and forever as children of God.  Let’s pray.

James 3:1-12

This past week, I received a box in the mail.  It was just an ordinary cardboard box.  My name and address were handwritten on the box as was the sender’s name and return address.  Some postage was placed on this box.  That was all that was needed for one postal employee after another to move the box hundreds of miles.  Those postal employees did not question themselves as to what was in the box; they simply moved it along.  All that was required to cause people to move the box along were some silent words handwritten on the outside of a cardboard box.  Words, simple words, have enormous power.

The box I received was from my brother.  He is four years older than me.  Inside the box was a very package carefully wrapped in thick white paper.  The wrapped item containing something soft and yet substantial.  Taped to the top of that wrapped package was a single sheet of paper.  It too had words on it.  The words were neatly typed into a letter.  Here are a few things my brother said.  “I’ve been meaning to send this flag to you from Dad’s funeral service for quite a while.”  My brother’s words immediately caused me to pause and not be in a hurry to remove the wrappings.  I still have not unwrapped the flag; I am not sure if I will.  My brother continued, “Honestly, just looking at this flag makes me get emotional.  All I can think about is a little boy with immigrant parents, who then loses his dad at a young age.  He grows up in a house where the other brothers and sisters all chip in to make ends meet.  He meets Mom, gets married in a catholic-episcopal merger (that must have been interesting) and soon after, he gets drafted and shipped off to fight for our country in a faraway place.  No email, no Instagram, no way to communicate back home while gone except for writing a letter, which could take a month or probably longer to receive.”  I will not now share with you other things my brother said because the sentiments in those words are just too personal and just too strong.  It felt good to receive what my brother had to say.  It reminded me of things about my father and taught me again that an ordinary cardboard box and an ordinary piece of paper with a few words have enormous power.  Some of you have been emotionally affected by what I have shared even though you never met my father or brother, or have seen that cardboard box, the neatly typed letter, or carefully wrapped flag.  You are affected because you have heard my words.  I think you will agree with me, words are enormously powerful and revealing.

בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים בְּרֵאשִׁית, (re'shiyth bara’ ‘elohiym):  “In the beginning, God created.”  With these powerful words, God began to reveal himself to us.  So important were God’s words that He caused humanity to memorialize what He said into what we now call the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament.  The words contained in those texts are unlike any other.  They are deep and rich with emotion, joy, sadness, struggle, and triumph. God’s words shaped people, nations, and destinies.  And as rich as the words of the Old Testament are, God sought to reveal Himself a more intimate way.  We read about His new revelation start this way, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.”  The He referred to here was Jesus and Jesus was called the Word because the words of Hebrew Scriptures that revealed the character of God were literally lifted off the page and made alive in the flesh.  The words of Scripture became flesh in Jesus. For this reason, at birth, Jesus’ was called Immanuel, God among us.

Jesus spoke and His words caused people to be healed of illness, blindness, deafness, and paralysis.  Jesus spoke and His words caused people to be raised from the dead. Jesus spoke and His words gave eternal life to those who would follow Him.  We are so impressed by the words Jesus spoke that many of us have Bibles in which the words of Jesus are shown in red lettering.  We recognize words are enormously powerful.

Jesus spoke to his disciples and cautioned them about the power of their words.  Jesus said, “21You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:21-22). Raca was term used by Jewish people to convey the person was emptyheaded or senseless.  Jesus’ point was to insult another was to murder their reputation and it was sinful.  Jesus knew the words of His disciples would speak in their day were enormously powerful. It remains true that the words we speak today as disciples of Jesus matter.

If fact, one of the things we should keep in mind is that those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior are largely indistinguishable from their neighbors in the way they dress and their mannerisms except for one thing, the way we speak.  What made the early Christians different and what makes them different today was and is the understanding that their words about life are different than their non-believing neighbors.  Or at least, that is the way the words of a Christian should be.  It is that difference of Christians being guided by Christ that Jesus’ brother James went after in our New Testament reading today. James was not concerned about the way people dressed but he was concerned about the way they spoke to each other.  James was concerned about the power his readers had given to their tongues.

Listen to how James describes the effect of the tongue, the instrument of speech.  James wrote, “2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.  3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:2-6).  Many of you may have heard James’ words before.  I have.  But this time, the words that stood out to me and ring so true were the words that the tongue, “sets the whole course of one’s life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell.”  I have known and know some people who have or are presently setting their whole life on fire by what they say.  They are systematically destroying the very people and ideals they claim to love by what they are saying.  That is very sad.  And more than the destruction of their own mortal life to the distress of those that love them, they are, as James says, creating the conditions for eternity in which their tongues will be set on fire by hell.  James’ words may have their origins in a story Jesus once told of a rich man and a beggar.  In that story, the rich man is unnamed.  The beggar’s name was Lazarus.  Jesus said, “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades [In Hell], where he [the rich man] was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he [the rich man] called to him [Abraham], ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire’” (Luke 16:22-24).  The rich man’s eternal life and his tongue were in agony through the fire of hell ignited by words he chose to live by.  Words are enormously powerful in the present and for eternity.

James continued to get his readers to recognize the harm that comes from ungracious speech.  Verse 9, James wrote, “9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and saltwater flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water” (James 3:9-12). The ending James gave to his words were consistent with the tone of his entire letter.  “Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”  James point was that if what comes out of the mouths of his readers was curses, then that reflects what is what spring within can produce.  If we curse others, then any praises we may utter to the Lord, to God, are as worthless as handing a cup of saltwater would be to a thirst person in need of fresh water. In Chapter 1, James said, “26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”  In Chapter 2, James said, “ 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” In Chapter 2, James also said, “15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”  James is repeatedly hitting the point that our words matter and should distinguish us and reflect the holiness of Jesus.

James’ thoughts are not original to him.  James drew his understandings from the teachings of his brother, Jesus.  One day, Jesus was engaged in conversation with the religious leaders of the day who fought Jesus at every turn.  Jesus said, “33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37).  Jesus was making plain, that our words reveal our inner convictions and that we will be held to account for the idle or unkindness words we speak. 

There are consequences to what we say.  In the book Through the Looking Glass, Alice found herself in Wonderland speaking with the Red Queen.  When Alice misspoke and tried to take back her words, the Red Queen said to Alice, “'It's too late to correct it, when you've once said a thing, that fixes it, and you must take the consequences.”  How many of us are living with scars from the things we have said that could never be fully taken back?  We know from personal experiences that words are enormously powerful, and we must use care in what we say.

What then are we to do with James’ words?  James said use your mouth and your words to praise our Lord and Father.  The apostle Paul said, “Bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:14).  Paul said, “Let your speech always be gracious” (Colossians 4:6).  “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up” (Ephesians 4:29).  “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).  James’ point, echoed by Paul, who gathered their strength from Jesus was simple, “In the name of Christ, stop.”  Stop speaking curses upon one another, like the world does.  Instead, be different in your speech because you are different. Become quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.  Let this approach allow the Spirit of Christ living within you come and produce the fruit of blessings and not curses.  Let the Spirit of Christ living within you produce praise and not division.  Let the Spirit of Christ living within us steer our entire life away from the fire found in hell and toward the peace found in heaven.  James said, “no human being can tame the tongue” (James 3:7).  But the Spirit of Christ living within you can.

As Christians, your words and my words are enormously powerful, if we allow them to be powered by the Spirit of Christ.  If we do not allow Christ to power them, then they are at best worthless and in the worst case, powerfully destructive towards those we claim to love and to ourselves.  Today, let us begin a life spent with words that praise, bless, and enrich.  Amen and Amen.

James 2:14-26

We have been exploring the words of Jesus’ brother, James, through a letter James sent “to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations” (James 1:1b).  James’ letter referencing the “twelve tribes” suggests that the original readers of this letter were Jewish people, the twelve tribes, dispersed among the various nations of the Roman world who had come to believe in the message of hope that Jesus was the Messiah promised by God.  This was a wonderful development in God’s plan; people coming to faith.  And as wonderful as it was that people were coming to faith, James was concerned that these people were not saved.  How can that be?  Does not faith in Jesus as the Son of God mean that we are forgiven, made free, and saved?  Why “Yes” it does and “No” it does not.  Yes, having faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior grants us salvation and eternal life. But James was concerned that the people had only accepted Jesus as an act of intellectual assent.  James was concerned the people of these churches only thought about Jesus as a fulfilment of God’s promises in Scripture and had not received Jesus as Lord of their life.  Let me offer an oversimplistic illustration.  I can believe that 4 plus 4 equals 8.  I know that in my mind but knowing that fact changes nothing about my character, my ethics, my relationships with other people, my desire to express compassion, my soul, or my destiny.  I simply believe 4 plus 4 equals 8.  If I treat my belief in Jesus in a similar manner, that is I only believe Jesus was a historical figure, even sent by God, to teach and perform miraculous signs as the Messiah until he was killed, then nothing changes about my character, my ethics, and my destiny.  I have not believed in the Biblical sense of believing.  The Biblical sense of believing encompasses and changes my  mind, body, and spirit.

If I only ever mentally accept Jesus, or his teachings, then “No” that sort of belief, that sort of faith, does not lead to salvation.  C. S. Lewis, a 20th century Christian writer once observed, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus]: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to” (Mere Christianity).

James was addressing the same issue C. S. Lewis talked about. James was concerned that some people in these congregations were living out their beliefs of mental acceptance of Jesus, an intellectual faith, which was in other words “practical atheism.”  Practical atheism is a faith in Jesus that does not transform the person and thus they are not saved.

James offered a test of sorts for these people, his readers, to take so that they could gauge for themselves whether their faith in Jesus was just intellectual or genuine leading to salvation.  He started at Chapter 2, verse 14.  James wrote, “14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?”  James offered that intellectual faith cannot save anyone.  Only a genuine faith that encompassed the mind, body, and spirit could save someone and that there would be easily identifiable evidence of that faith expressed through deeds.  An intellectual faith could be secretive and hidden but a genuine faith cannot be hidden. A genuine faith would be evident through the deeds and actions.  And so, James asked, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?”  This is a rhetorical question in which the answer is such faith is not going to save anyone.

Where did James acquire such thoughts?  James’ source was, of course, his brother, Jesus.  One day, crowds were coming toward Jesus.  Jesus gathered his disciples and they, together with the crowds, moved up on the hillside.  There Jesus sat down and began to teach.  Among the things Jesus said were these words, “14 You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).  Jesus’ point was that genuine faith is like a light in the darkness.  The darkness cannot hide the light and that everyone can see it.  In the same way, our faith expressed through the performance of good deeds lets others know that God is part of us, and they see that God is glorified through our actions. In this sermon on the hillside, Jesus offered his disciples and the crowds a positive expression of how deeds reveals our faith.

We learn the same lesson about deeds in a completely opposite way at the scene of the crucifixion.  Jesus was crucified with two criminals, one on each side of him.  One of the criminals hurled insults at Jesus.  “40 But the other criminal rebuked him [the insulter].  ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’”  This criminal was making clear that his deeds expressed an outworking of his beliefs and that his own deeds were deserving of death.  The criminal saw that Jesus expressed an outworking of his beliefs and that Jesus’ deeds were deserving of life.  Biblical belief in Jesus, that is believing in mind, body, and spirit will cause us to express an outworking of our beliefs with deeds that are deserving of life.  With an active faith, we move from death to life, which is the very meaning of salvation.

So James had a good foundation from which to open this topic of faith and deeds when he wrote, “14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14-17).  James gave us this painful example of dead faith.  He supposed an encounter with another believer in Christ who is without clothes and without food.  And the response is, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed.”  This is a response empty of heart.  It is shocking and cruel.  James minces no words.  Faith expressed in such a manner is dead.  When we think of something as dead, we think of it as no longer having life.  The sense James was conveying is slightly different.  Faith without action was dead in that it was “never alive.”  It is not that the light has gone out, it is that the light was never lit. We might think to ourselves, “I would never be so cold and heartless to a member of my church who is without food or clothing.  I would give them something to wear and something to eat.”  But what about the member whose love one dies, do we do more than send a card or offer a “I’m sorry?”  What about the member who cares for a sick family member at home and is now rarely seen? Do we bring a meal to make to burden lighter?  My point is not to compile a long list of things we could be doing for one another.  My point is that we should not assume James’ specific illustration of a heatless response to the needs of another does not more generally apply to us.

The Apostle John expressed this idea in this manner, “6 If we claim to have fellowship with him [If we claim to believe in Jesus] and yet walk in the darkness [without his light within us], we lie and do not live out the truth” (1 John 1:6).  John’s point was that faith in Jesus, genuine belief in Jesus, must be lived out in a manner like Jesus not because we are obligated to do so but because we must.  We must because John could not imagine a life lived in another way.  Moreover, John and James wanted their readers to know that consistent Christian living has the power to draw others towards the kingdom of God and that an inconsistent Christian life repels people from the kingdom.  We become a stumbling block to others.

As we return to James, we see that James was no one’s fool.  He knew his words would spark some disagreement.  Beginning in verse 18, James dealt with the disagreement.  “18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.  20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”  James then offers two examples of faith and deeds together as a unity.  James’ first example is that of Abraham, the founder of the Hebrew people and for the Jews a man of unquestioned and unquestionable character.  James asked, “21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions [deeds] were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”  For the Jewish people, now believers in Jesus, at least intellectually, seeing the example of Abraham combining faith and actions would be compelling.  Jews would welcome having their life favorable comparison to the likes of Abraham.

For James’ second example, James goes a completely different direction from the faith of Abraham.  James selected a woman named Rahab.  When we first meet Rehab (Joshua 2:1) in the Bible, we see she is a woman of questionable reputation because she was a prostitute.  Rahab was living in the city of Jericho, a city under the control of the Canaanites.  Rahab was not Hebrew.  Yet, she offered comfort, protection, mercy, hospitality, and faith to Hebrew spies sent to Jericho in advance of an attack by the Hebrew armies.  Rahab gave testimony to the goodness and greatness of God with her words and the strength of her faith through her actions to safeguard the Hebrew spies.  James used Rahab in his second example of the unity of faith and deeds.  He wrote, “25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” James 2:25).  Rahab was faithful in her words and actions.  And so, James offered two seemingly unmatched bookends with Abraham and Rahab as model examples of the unity of faith and action. Yet, as different as Abraham and Rahab appeared, they were similar because their faith informed their actions and they demonstrated their faith.  In using unmatched bookends for his examples, James made clear that we can all find ourselves somewhere in that spectrum between prostitute and patriarch.  Thus, James’ message of faith applies to us.

James then concluded, “26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”  The spirit, the very breath giving life, must be present to energize and show evidence the body is alive.  No breath, no life.  So too, are deeds the evidence of a body alive in Christ.  No deeds, no life.

What then do we do with James’ teaching?  James’ words should make us free and make us alive.  James’ words should reinforce to us that Jesus did not say to us, “Pick up your cross and sit right there!”  Jesus said, “Follow me!”  To be in Christ, to be saved by Christ is to be free, alive, and as active in following him as our mind, body, and spirit are capable.  If you are a believer in Jesus, then you want to be obedient to Him. If you are obedient to Him, then you are a believer.  Belief and obedience are two sides of the same coin.  As far as I know, there is no one sided coin.  Obedience precedes faith and obedience is a consequence of faith. Each of us should examine our lives in view of James’ words and immediately look for those opportunities to express our faith in action and service in the name of Jesus, our Savior and giver of life. Amen and Amen.