Sermon 2020.11.15 James Part 9

Those of us who grew up in the church, learned from our earliest years about how God is eternal, infinite, and omnipotent.  Those who come to the church later in life soon learn these things as well.  We learn that God created the entire universe, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the galaxies, simply by speaking it all into existence.  And He created plants, and animals, and all living things, including us, simply by breathing life into the world.  Yes, our God is indeed an awesome God, but for all of His power, there is one thing that He is incapable of doing, and I promise that I am not being a heretic here.  God is incapable of creating love.  And the reason that God is incapable of creating love, is the fact that love can only be given of one’s free will.  And so, God created humanity, and then He set us free to live our lives as we choose, in the hope that we may possibly come to discover the incredible love that God has for us, and that we might possibly choose to respond to that love in kind.

Soren Kierkegaard tells the story of a wealthy young prince.  This prince is of marrying age and has been looking for his future queen.  The prince often traveled throughout the kingdom doing his father’s business, and one day as he traveled to the poorest part of the kingdom, he saw a woman who was the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.  As luck would have it, he met the woman as he conducted his father’s business and found her to be as kind and of as good character as she was beautiful, and after several meetings with her, he realized that he was quite in love with her, and now he has the problem of figuring out how to ask for her hand in marriage.  At first, he thinks that he will summon her to the palace, but if he did that he would never know if she really loves him or was just too intimidated by his princely surroundings to decline his offer.  Likewise, he couldn’t just show up on her doorstep in his princely regalia.  Then he thought that perhaps he could masquerade as a commoner and then reveal himself as prince after they had met and fallen in love, but then he realized that their relationship would be founded on deception, and that was unacceptable to him as well.  So, finally the prince did the only thing he could do.  He abdicated his throne, traveled to the poorest part of the kingdom with nothing but the clothes on his back, and took a job as a simple carpenter in the hope that, perhaps they would meet, and perhaps she would fall in love with him.

God IS love, and God created humanity for the specific purpose of having people who He could love, and people who would love Him, but just like Kierkegaard’s prince, God can’t summon our love.  God has surrounded us with reasons to love Him, and He created us with an innate knowledge of who He is because He made us to be like Him.  He has filled us with a need for love and companionship, He has expressed His love for us by giving us things of beauty, wonderful food, art and music, and He has gifted us with a sense of humor.  God has filled this word with the evidence of His goodness, and our search for meaning in this life should lead the humble heart directly to Him.  But for God, that’s a big if!  A few weeks ago, I quoted Blaise Pascal, who said “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each [person] which cannot be satisfied by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.  God has planted the seeds that can lead to us finding Him in our lives, and indeed the evidence is plentiful to anyone who is willing to look, but ultimately, the decision of whether or not we choose to love God remains entirely our own.

Through 21 sermons talking about the two letters of Peter and this letter of James, we have spoken at length about two different ways of looking at the world.  Both Peter and James contrast a worldly way of living that is rooted in self-interest with a heavenly way of living that is rooted in love. 

The heavenly way is not the easier way of the two.  The heavenly way sometimes involves sacrifice, as we choose to deny ourselves of something that we may want, in order to see to it that a need is filled elsewhere.  The heavenly way involves choosing a mindset that is incomprehensible to this world.  On more than one occasion the Bible tells us that the wisdom of God is foolishness to humans, and those who practice living according to God’s wisdom will sometimes be shunned or disadvantaged by a world that can’t comprehend the love that drives our actions.  Sometimes people may make fun of us because our faith, or they may revile us for our faith, or even persecute us for our faith, and sometimes that persecution may come from an apostate church that is also incapable of comprehending the love that drives our actions.

We may be denied employment opportunities because we chose not to work on Sunday mornings, we may lose opportunities for recreation because we refuse to participate in Sunday morning sports. We may lose friends because they don’t understand the change that takes place in our lives as we allow the Spirit to guide us, and in some parts of the world, our lives themselves can be threatened by our faith. 

Making a choice to follow a heavenly path isn’t one to be taken lightly.  Those folks that you hear on the TV promising prosperity if you’ll just pray hard enough and maybe send them a buck or two, are unfortunately, not preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Bible tells us plainly that in this world we will have tribulation.  But the promise that awaits those with patient faith is tremendous, and well worth the wait.

And it’s here that we intersect with James’ closing remarks.

Remember, James was speaking to a congregation that was enduring persecution and hardship.  Judging from the previous section, it’s likely that a good part of his congregation was poor also.  James closes his letter by encouraging his readers to stand firm in their faith.

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.” James writes.  “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.  You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”  The Greek word ἐγγίζω (eggizo) that we translate “near” is not so much about the time of the return as it is about the imminence of the return.  We don’t know the day and time and Jesus said that He didn’t either, but only the Father, but we do understand the importance of being prepared.  Here, James tells us to be patient, using as an example, a farmer watchfully waiting for his crop to become ready for harvest.  The farmer waits with the understanding that there are things that are out of his control.  A farmer doesn’t control when or if it rains, but a farmer doesn’t just sit idly by waiting for the harvest, he must always be ready to respond to situations that require his attention. 

It’s interesting to note that there are two different Greek words that describe this patience to which we are called.  Μακροθυμέω (Makrothumeo) is used first.  “Be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return”.  The word actually means to be long tempered, to defer, or refuse to retaliate with anger.  The second word is ὑπομονή (hupomone) which is about enduring patiently.  Μακροθυμέω is the response of the believer to other people, choosing to be gracious and even tempered, ὑπομονή is choosing to be patient with circumstances.  To one facing trial, these two go hand in hand. 

I actually much prefer the King James translation of verse 8 which, instead of saying “take courage” says “establish your hearts”.  The idea is to hold fast to God’s promises and not to let the difficulties or trials of life deter you from maintaining that faith.

Throughout James’ letter, his primary focus has been living your faith.  As he closes his letter, we can look at his exhortations in two different ways.  We can, of course, view his remarks as instructions, and that is certainly an appropriate way to read this section, but we can also look at this as his final words as a checklist to look at our own lives and evaluate how we are doing in living our faith. 

Are we anxious and impatient?  If we genuinely believe in God’s goodness and love for us, then we needn’t be overly anxious about our future, because we know that we are in God’s hands.  When we do become anxious or concerned, how does it affect how we treat others.  Are we generically crabby?  (That’s me, by the way).  Do we blame others for our difficulties or lash out in frustration?  If our love is directed outward, then our concern for how we treat others should preclude mistreating them when things get difficult.  James follows this exact line of thinking with his next statement that we shouldn’t grumble about each other.  This grumbling, James says, puts us in danger of judgment.  And again, please remember that the judgment faced by the believer is different from the judgment faced by the non-believer.  Sin, in the believer’s life, has already been judged at the cross, so the believer’s salvation is secure, but we can’t forget that we also will face judgment as to how we stewarded God’s resources and gifts.

James then calls our attention to the faithfulness of the prophets, and there is an excellent lesson to be learned by studying the lives of the prophets.  Not all of the prophets were successful by worldly standards.  They were not all able to make their messages heard and accepted.  There were prophets who were ignored, were mistreated, and were killed for their testimony, and yet these very same prophets who failed in the transmission of their message are regarded as great examples of patience.  They were faithful to their calling and will receive the reward the Lord has prepared for them for their faithfulness. Our attitude should be no different.  God has called us and prepared us to serve Him.  Is that our priority?  Store up treasures in heaven, right?

James then cites Job as an example.  Hopefully, everyone is familiar with the story of Job.  It is an uncomfortable story.  Job is a faithful servant of God who God allows Satan to test.  Job basically loses everything; his wealth, his health, even his family.  Still, Job never loses his faith, even though he questions God’s actions loudly and forcefully.  Eventually Job’s health and fortune are restored by God and he begins a new family, but the message of Job is clear, and was echoed by Jesus when He said “In this life you will have tribulation”.  Difficulties are going to happen, but God is teaching us both kinds of patient endurance.  The kind that honors God by trusting in Him to provide for our needs, and the kind that honors others by not responding negatively to others when difficulties or frustrations build.

James then talks about not making oaths.  Now, this isn’t an admonition about not using impious language, it is specifically about swearing to the truth of something.  In fact, James really isn’t so much talking about the use of oaths here, as he is talking about character.  James Moo describes this beautifully when he says “Our truthfulness should be so consistent and dependable that we need no oath to support it: a simple “yes” or “no” should suffice.  Our mere word should be as utterly trustworthy as a signed document, legally correct and complete.” Is our word trustworthy?  First century Israelites commonly used oaths to support their statements, but would sometimes make their oath calling on lesser things, as if it was OK for their words not to be true because they swore by something that was inconsequential, rather than swearing by something more serious, as if the lesser oath somehow made lying OK. 

Finally, James talks about prayer.  Are you suffering hardships? You should pray.  Are any of you happy?  You should sing praises.  Personally, I think that’s a great idea!  A quote, dubiously attributed to Augustine says “He who sings, prays twice”.  Whether Augustine actually said it or not, I do agree with the sentiment!  Are you sick” You should call the elders of the church to come and pray over you. 

James then says “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”  James tells us that Elijah was just like us, and yet his fervent prayers kept it from raining for 3 ½ years, then his prayers ended the drought and brought back the rain.  Prayer is not about us or our abilities, it’s about God and His abilities.  We need to be faithful in prayer because it’s our faithfulness in prayer that keeps us connected to God.  Brian Lindquist says that “Our relationship with God is not primarily about the destination (spending eternity with Him in heaven) but it’s more about the process of getting there.  He wants to walk with us in, and through, every situation in this life as preparation for all of eternity spent with Him.

The choice to follow the kingdom strategy is not an easy one, but it’s well worth the choice.  It’s also not a singular event.  It is a series of choices made day by day and minute by minute.  It’s about choosing to live lives of grace and compassion.  It’s about choosing to love.  It’s about taking the actions and experiences of everyday life and consecrating them to God, with the result of making our every action an act of praise.  And as we live this life of praise, as we make the little every day choices to love and to serve, our hearts will begin to look more and more like God’s heart.  And that, my dear brothers and sisters, is the whole point of this life.  We are preparing for an eternity of service to a God whose love for us is so deep that He sent His only Son to die for us, in order that we may be reconciled to Him.

No, life will not always be easy, and we will never, in this lifetime, experience the full measure of joy that God has prepared for those who are faithful.  But it’s waiting for us my friends… it’s waiting.

Sermon 2020.11.08 James Part 8

At first glance, today’s Old Testament lesson doesn’t seem to have a whole lot to do with the subjects that we’ve been addressing in James, and yet I believe that there’s a story within, that will speak volumes, and also speak directly to James’ point; and the central figures in this little story today are going to be the Pharisees. 

Unfortunately, to modern Christians, Pharisees are often the low-hanging fruit.  Given the almost constant friction between Jesus and the Pharisees the Pharisees have become almost a caricature of themselves; so much so that we may find it hard to take them seriously, so as we think about them this morning, there are two things that I would like for us to remember.  First is the fact that these were deeply committed, children of God.  Their entire lives revolved around the worship and service of God, and in some ways, worship and service that the modern Christian believer would do well to emulate.  The second, and more easily forgotten thing, is the fact that prior to Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was not poured out on all believers.  Prior to Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was reserved for prophets who God anointed, and so the Pharisees were “flying blind” so to speak.  They did not have the advantage that we have, of God Himself guiding and instructing them, and in that light, it becomes much easier to understand why Jesus had such a challenging job reaching them with the truth of God’s Word.

In today’s Old Testament lesson we read “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”

In Matthew 23:5, referring to the Pharisees, Jesus said “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long…”  So, what exactly IS a phylactery?  A phylactery was a small box, worn tied to the forehead, into which you have placed a piece of paper upon which you have written a Bible verse or two.  “Bind them on your foreheads”, right?  For those of us who are familiar with the old TV show Get Smart, this brings to my mind the character of Himey the robot, who always took everything just completely literally.  Now while I would imagine that walking around all day with a box tied to your forehead might possibly serve as a reminder to be thinking about God’s Word, in reality, I believe the Pharisees missed the point here, by approximately an inch to be precise.  The Word of God is not meant to be external.  It’s not intended to be merely a reminder of what we are supposed to be thinking.  God’s Word is intended to be a part of who we are.  The Spirit teaches us that to bind God’s Word to our foreheads is to internalize God’s thoughts and precepts so that they become our own. 

So much of the world, so much of Christianity has this phylactery faith going on.  A person’s Bible has an honored place on the mantle at home and every year at Christmas they blow the dust off of it so that they can read the Christmas story again.  We show our faith by holding our Bibles up for all the world to see, but where the world NEEDS to be seeing our Bibles, is in actions of love and justice and humility. 

The Bible refers to Jesus as being the Living Word of God.  Have we ever thought about what that means?  In the Greek, the word that we translate as “Word” (with a capital “W”) is λόγος (logos). At its essence, λόγος means the verbal expression of a thought or an idea, but in ancient Greek and Christian theology, λόγος represented something much more.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, λόγος was “the divine reason, implicit in the cosmos, ordering it, and giving it form and reason.”  In Christian theology, λόγος is the physical manifestation of everything that IS God, and this entire physical manifestation of God is expressed in the person of Jesus; The Living Word.  And the call to the Christian is for this word, this λόγος to be expressed in us as well.  It’s simply not good enough to carry our Bible verses around in a box on our foreheads.  The Word of God needs to live within us, expressed daily in our words, our thoughts, and most importantly, in our actions.

As James continues his letter, he issues a series of warnings, and each of these warnings is speaking directly to the idea of failing to have God’s word dwelling within us as an active and functional part of our lives.  He begins with those whose plans are not rooted in God’s will.  James says “Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”  James refers to this as “boasting about your own pretentious plans.”  When God’s Word is at the center of our hearts, our plans will reflect God’s will and purposes.  These people were making their plans to benefit themselves and nothing more.

Indeed, we probably recall Jesus’ parable about the rich fool.  A farmer has an extraordinarily abundant crop.  The farmer, realizing that his barns were not big enough to hold this bounty, decides to pull down his barns and build bigger ones so he can store his surplus for many years, affording him the opportunity to “eat, drink, and be merry”.  But as we know; God took the farmer’s life that very night. 

“Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone”, James says.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

When one’s heart is set on earthly things, one’s actions tend be self-serving.  When this farmer harvested a bumper crop, that abundance was created by God, and the crop was indeed OWNED by God, our farmer was merely a steward of the abundance that was harvested, and that abundance must have been truly remarkable because it was worth even more than the cost of the tearing down and rebuilding of barns.  I can’t help but think that a heart that was aligned with God’s heart would have been able to find a use for this abundance of grain that was better than just hoarding it.

James continues this exact thought with a sobering warning to the wealthy.  “Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.  Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.  Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.”  James makes the point that, the rich people to whom he speaks have denied workers their wages.  I find myself wondering if our rich fool shared the bounty of his harvest with his laborers. 

James continues, “You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.  You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.” 

It’s at this point that I would like to clarify something.  How many of you are familiar with the Biblical phrase “money is the root of all evil”?  How many are familiar with the fact that that phrase is possibly the most commonly misquoted phrase in the Bible?  The phrase, partially quoted, actually DOES say that money is the root of all evil, but that is not what the phrase was intended to mean.  Properly quoted in context, the quote is “the LOVE of money is the root of all evil”.  There’s nothing wrong with money, there’s nothing wrong with having money.  There’s nothing wrong with having a lot of money.  The problem is when the love of money, or the love of acquiring money, or even the love of attempting to acquire money unsuccessfully, supersedes your love of God, and of God’s children.  You see, this is not a teaching about money at all, it’s a teaching about the condition of the human heart.

In Genesis 30 we read that “Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys.”  And yet in Malachi 1 God, speaking through Malachi, says “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob.”  God loved Jacob, and blessed him with enormous wealth, but Jacob was faithful, never allowing his possessions to become more important to him than his service to God. 

When Jesus said that it would be easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the disciples were amazed, because material wealth  was thought by the Israelites to be a sign of blessing from God, but Jesus knew the truth that, far more often than not, wealth is acquired by taking from others that which does not belong to you, hence James’ statement “For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

In this passage, James has illustrated beautifully the divergence between the earthly and heavenly ways of thinking.  The earthly mind views the fruits of one’s labors as their own.  I worked for this, I earned it, why should I share it with anyone else?  From an earthly standpoint, this mindset makes perfect sense.  Why SHOULD we toil for something, only to give it away, or have it taken from us?  What right do others have to expect that I should give some of that for which I have worked so hard to someone who didn’t work for it at all.  Yet look deeper within these statements and a different picture emerges.  Is it possible that we can look at these statements and see selfishness?  Can we look at these statements and see a rejection of the needs of others, precipitated by an almost complete lack of love?  Jesus said that you can’t love both God and money.  The one who loves money will find themselves lacking the ability to love God’s children, because their money is more important to them.

Now, is someone who hasn’t worked, entitled to a portion of that for which we worked?  Actually… no, they’re not.  But are we entitled to forgiveness, when we are incapable of living lives that merit that forgiveness?  Actually… no, we’re not.  In both instances, the operative process is grace.  The heart that has been filled with God’s love, the heart that has chosen to look at the world through heavenly eyes, understands first, that the fruit of our labors belongs not to us, but to God.  Everything about our labor, from aptitude, to training, to opportunity, to result, is a gift from God.  And second, as we view the world through the lens of God’s extraordinary love, we can see the desperate need of others, and the believing heart rejoices at the opportunity to share what we can with those in need. 

It all cycles back to that phylactery faith.  If one wears their bible in a box on their forehead and never allows the Word to impact their hearts and minds, then selfishness and self-serving ways can easily be justified.  It’s only when we allow the Word to permeate our being that this alternate worldview begins to make sense. 

And so, how do we affect this change in our lives?  How do we adopt this new worldview?  What do we have to do to allow God’s love to reign in our hearts?  Most of you know by now that I am a huge Warren Wiersbe fan.  I think the primary reason that I like him so much is the fact that, time and time again, his observations hit the nail squarely on the head.  In addressing these very questions, Wiersbe once again provides the perfect response.  “The will of God is not difficult to discover”, Wiersbe says.  “If we are willing to obey, He is willing to reveal.”  Wiersbe continues, “It has been said that obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge.  This is true.  God does not reveal His will to the curious or the careless, but [only] to those who are ready and willing to obey Him.”

So, let’s talk for just a moment about obedience, because, let’s be honest, humans HATE obedience.  From the time that we are toddlers, we feel an overwhelming desire for independence and self-determination.  As teens we can’t wait to grow up, because we’ve had our fill of people telling us what to do.  As adults we become irritated with people who are bossy or demanding.  The last thing that we want is someone else telling us what to do and how to live our lives. 

But here’s what we need to understand.  God IS love; and not only is God love, God is PERFECT love.  The impetus for God’s will for us is inextricably rooted in His perfect love for us.  God knows exactly what is best for us, what is right for us, and believe it or not, exactly what will bring us joy.  God wants us to be happy, to be joyful, to be fulfilled, His love earnestly desires this, and no matter how much things may seem to the contrary, true happiness is not to be found in the things of this world.  Yes, God did create the things of this world for our enjoyment and our happiness, but possessions can never replace love, and the path to true love can only be found in obedience to the will of God.  A will that has been crafted by God for each of us individually, specifically designed to lead us to a full understanding of the depth of love that God has for us, and given with the intention of filling our hearts with that love, in order that we will share that love with a world that is in desperate need.

I’ve said it before, that the very same Holy Spirit who makes Jesus perfectly God, dwells within each of us.  The extent to which the Holy Spirit will make our hearts look like God’s heart, is limited only by how obedient we are willing to be.

Gracious Father, teach us to follow you with all of our hearts.  Help us to trust in your love and to know that your will for us is designed to bring joy and fulfillment into our lives.  Help us to hold your word, your λόγος, in our hearts, and help us to be beacons of your love, shining for all the world to see, that you may be glorified.  Amen.