Tribes, Trials, Trust Series

How do you respond when your rights as a citizen or resident of the United States collides with the life that God has called you to live as a follower of Christ? Can there be a conflict?

This week, one of the the guys who came through for training was a man named Stephen. Story:

malfunctioning washing machine

-hundreds of gallons of water

-damage - to the carpet and pads, to the crawl space

-company enlisted to remedy water damage - carpet pads, crawl space, etc.

-several weeks later - Stephen smelled mold

-mold is dangerous to his wife

-the company that remedied the initial problem was not certified to fix the mold issue, but was liable

-multiple quotes - resulting in about $11k of work

-communication with initial company

-low-ball settlement offer

-Stephen had determined not to sue - he didn’t feel like this was something he should do as a Christian - and yet as an American - suing was perfectly acceptable.

-multiple letters regarding mediation

-Stephen was willing to work with them over timeline.

-Eventually - correspondence or responses stopped

-In his heart, while he was out over $11k, he was excited about what God was going to do with that scenario.

-After two months of waiting, Stephen thought he would give it one more week and then he would put it out of his mind.

-later that week a letter came - with a check - the full amount paid.

-His faith was tested - he faced a trial.

God knew that this setback, impacted their financial stability, his wife’s health

Stephen trusted God through it all. While he was willing to be out the $11k and willing to let it go, God rewarded his faithfulness and perseverance.

When I heard that, I was convicted, because I have been in lesser situations and have not responded with such grace and faith.

He had every right as a citizen to sue, but felt that the exhortation from Jesus to “love your enemies” took precedent and sought another solution. In the end, God was glorified, Stephen was upright in his dealings, and the company was able to avoid a nasty legal battle - win, win, win.

But, frankly, the trials we face may not end that way. The question is - will we respond to trials biblically or some other way?

If you have your bibles, open them to the book of James. We’re going to look at the first 8 verses today. Unfortunately, we don’t have any slides this week, so having your bibles open will be helpful. If you’re not familiar with the bible or are using a pew bible - if you start with the last book - revelation - and start flipping forward, you’ll find it about 8 books from the back - nestled between the big book of Hebrews and the smaller book of 1 Peter.

James 1:1–8 ESV

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

As we go through this today, our title will essentially be our outline - we will begin with “Tribes” as we consider the opening verse, then we’ll move to consider “Trials” in verses 2-4, and finally conclude with “Trust” as we get to verses 5-8.

As we begin by looking at the opening verse, I think it’s important for us to note that as believers, our identity is in Christ.

Tribes: As believers our identity is in Christ

Often times, when reading books of the bible, especially NT letters, we may be tempted to skip over the first verse. Most of the opening verses of letters contain some identifying information about the author and the audience and then it includes some sort of blessing or greeting. But as we come to the book of James, considering the author is important. Understanding a bit about the audience will be very helpful as we look at how this book relates to us.

James 1:1 ESV

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: