We are starting a brand new series today called a search for what is real. Between now and the end of June we are going to be walking through one of my favorite books of the Bible, and one of the most controversial ones, the book of James.
When I was in college, I led a small group of high school students and we spent an entire school year going through the book of James. I want to lay out a challenge that all 8 of those high school guys took up as we study the book of James. It is a short book, only 3 pages in my bible. 7 years ago, I took up a challenge with a bunch of high schoolers and the challenge was, to read through the book of James each day we studied it in our group. So for a full year, I read through the book of James everyday, we all did. We printed out copies and stapled them together, taking them to classes, we had them in the car, in our backpacks, one guy left his in his “reading room” so he could always redeem the time.
Here is what happened, at the end of the year, high school guys were quoting the book of James in conversations, praying for each other. They probably couldn’t quote any other verse, but they could quote almost the entire book of James. It became a part of them, that is what the bible is to be. If you take this challenge along with me, don’t read through it to find stuff. Just read it. When you get to the end, the next day start again. Maybe you can commit to read through it 3 times a week. Imagine what you will know of this short letter after 3 months of that, you would have read through it 36 times. It changed the lives of 9 guys 7 years ago, and I can guarantee it will do the same to you.
Let’s pray as we go on this morning.
The book of James has been forgotten for the most part in Christianity in past years, but is getting more press recently as more and more Christians are talking about social justice and issues involving materialism and poverty. The book of James is also the book that split the Catholic and Protestant churches hundreds of years ago, and we will look at that in 3 weeks.
We are going to spend the next 10 weeks going through the book of James. Here is what we will look at. Today we are going to look at storms in life, we will also look at favoritism, having an authentic faith, a provocative faith, gossip, knowledge, wisdom, planning our lives out, prayer, suffering, materialism. So this is going to be an action packed 10 weeks.
If you would ask most people, they would probably say they are searching for something real. Whether it is a real friend, maybe to experience real community, maybe it is to have a real, vibrant faith. Even the pope is looking for something.
Anyway, I don’t know if that is real, but that is real funny.
Have you ever met somebody that was just incredibly fake? They always had this fake smile on, you knew that if you turned your back, they would go back on their promise they just gave you? If you know anyone like that or if you are like that, then you understand who the book of James is written to. James is written to Jewish Christians who are mostly faking it, not living out their faith and James is a good kick in the pants. One historian put it this way, “James was a simply, homespun preacher who was perturbed at people who were not living right.”
One author describes it like this, “James wrote to a church beset by a number of problems. These problems included divisiveness, intolerance, favoritism, and the overpowering desire for wealth and status. Giving shape to and electrifying these problems were the presence and popularity within the community of errant teaching that was vibrant enough to question the great commandments as expressed by Jesus and yet to maintain an influential place in the community. It was a teaching tailor-made for the time, for it allowed its followers to understand the church as one among many opportunities for social climbing and the exhibition of social snobbery.” Sounds like a lot of churches I’ve been to.
If I could sum up the book of James it would be stop sitting around and do something. The book breaks down into two different sections. Either roadblocks to living out a vibrant, real faith; or ways to live out that kind of faith. The passage we are looking at today would fall into the roadblock category.
If you have your bibles, you can open them to the book of James. James is one of the first books written in the New Testament, but it was one of the last books put into the Bible when it was recognized as an inspired book in the 4th century. It is believed to have been written between 45 & 50 A.D. Which means, it was written roughly 10-15 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is believed to have been written by the brother of Jesus. Which gives this an interesting twist. To have someone that spent that much time with him and these are his thoughts.
James was killed by stoning in A.D. 62 by Jewish leaders. He was the leader of the church in Jerusalem, so he was a major player in the early church movement. Many of the people he is writing to are dealing with all kinds of persecution, and they aren’t sure how to cope with it.
James’ life took some interesting twists. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry we are told in John 7:5 we are told: For not even his brothers believed in Jesus.
That was just a decade before writing the book of James. So his journey takes a complete 180, as he eventually is killed for believing in his brother.
So James 1, verse 1: 1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
Most of the New Testament letters start with a greeting and all of them, but James are lengthy ones. One of the things I love about James is he doesn’t beat around the bush. He would probably be a one line e-mailer. Say it and get it over with. So he says that he is writing to Jewish Christians all over the world, which is what dispersion means.
Verse 2: 2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Now how is possible to rejoice when we meet trials? This is a mystery I think to a lot of us, because the reality is, we are going to meet trials in our lives. What happens though when we have a bad day? We get mad, we blame people, we wonder we did to deserve this bad day. So how is it possible to take James advice and rejoice? How is possible to actually say thank you for trials which is what count it all joy means?
Right now, all of us are going through some kind of trial. Maybe it is a financial trial, and you don’t know how that next bill will get paid. You feel that no matter what you do financially, you can just never get ahead.
Maybe you are going through a trial with a family member, a child, spouse or parent. Maybe you relate to the pictures around the church today when you read the couple saying, “we struggle to connect with each other.” Maybe that is relationally, spiritually, emotionally, or sexually. And you think, is there an end to this in sight. Things used to be better than this.
Maybe it is a child, and you just can’t seem to get through, maybe you have a child that just doesn’t seem to listen to you. And there are days when the pain of a child is so much, you cry, you want to scream, you just don’t know how to get through to them.
What about parents? Many of us right now are dealing with hurt we have received from parents, things we have held onto for years. Maybe it is broken promises, hurtful things they said to us, maybe something you said to them. Maybe you see the picture of the kid with the basketball that says, “I’ll never be good enough” and think, that is me. I am still not good enough for my parents. We would give anything to hear our Mom or Dad say, “way to go, I’m so proud of you.” We go through our days wondering, will these end? Will I ever hear those words?
Maybe it is a job, you are unhappy at yours, or you can’t seem to find a job, it always seems to be out of reach. Maybe you have a boss that continues to pile on work and shows no appreciation and a promotion is always a step away.
Look at verse 2, how is possible to consider it all joy when we meet trials?
I think the answer lies in this, when you become a Christian, one of the things that drew you is this idea of spending eternity with God. That not only was there a better way to live your life now, but there was a better way to spend eternity, with God. The reality is though, that after most people become Christians, they start living like eternity is a fairy tale. Eternity becomes one of the last things on their minds. But eternity is a huge topic in the book of James. Throughout the book of James, he keeps pointing to eternity and says you can make it through this, or you need to change the way you live because of eternity.
As we said 3 weeks ago when we started Ruth, instead of looking for the easy door out of a trial or problem, we need to look at what God wants to do through that problem. Maybe he wants us to grow in an area, maybe he wants us to come to know him and become a Christian because of a problem. While Katie and I were going through some hard times at the last church we worked at, it wasn’t until we started looking at what God was trying to show us that our troubles made sense and we were able to get through them. Now they still hurt and they weren’t fun, but we are better because of them.
Verse 5: 5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6But 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. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
These verses sound a lot like what Jesus said in the gospels about asking God for things. Have you ever had a time though where asked God for something and nothing seemed to happen? In high school and college, for an A or a date and you told God you would go the end of Africa for it, right? But you still got a D and went stag to the dance. So is it that easy? If we just ask, we get it? A lot of times we read those verses or hear them and think it is just a license to get what we want. A lot of books on prayer use this verse to say, just ask God for whatever and believe with all your heart and he will give it to you. Is that what it is saying though?
Let’s look at the first part, wisdom. Since God is willing and able to give us wisdom, any lack of wisdom must be our fault. Often though, when we go through trials and storms, we don’t ask for wisdom, we ask to what? Just get through them. James is saying, change your perspective, ask for wisdom. Ask, so that you will know why you are going through it. Don’t just ask to get out of it, ask to figure out why it is happening.
In our culture, we are fascinated, even obsessed with the elimination of discomfort, let alone actual trials. But James tells us to change our viewpoint and the patterns of thought that sustain our culture, and instead ask for wisdom to understand God’s purpose behind a trial. James is saying, in the midst of trials and storms in our lives, you need two things, prayer and wisdom.
What about asking in faith? I think we need to understand this verse in the framework of what is going on in the letter. I have heard this verse in messages before and got the idea, if I just asked for that new car, it would be there in the morning. But what is James talking about here? Wisdom. He isn’t talking about anything else. He is saying, ask God for wisdom in trials and you will get it. Ask God to help you see from his perspective and you will get it.
The problem isn’t with God, because he wants to give us wisdom, the problem is, we don’t ask.
Let me say one more thing about the word doubts here. The contrast in this passage is with doubt and faith. And since doubt causes us to waffle back and forth, the result of doubt is inaction. The one who doubts wavers and is tossed around like when you are in the ocean. Honest intellectual doubts are not part of the discussion here. After all, to have doubts is to be human, as the book of Psalms clearly shows.
David, the greatest king in the history of Israel and a man after God’s own heart gave voice to his doubts about the character and trustworthiness of God in Psalm 96.
In Psalm 6 he wonders out loud if God has rejected him, and he even attempts to force God into action by an obvious bribe. Yet in the midst of this honest doubt, David is reminded of all that God has done for him in the past, and he gains the hope necessary to continue. Faith here in James understands and has experienced the character of God, who gives freely and generously; because of this experience, such a person has confidence.
Verse 9, James switches topics: 9Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Throughout the book of James, one of the things James continues to touch on is the poor. Our relationship to money and our view of it.
Verse 12: 12Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
James now goes back to main point of this part of his letter, the big idea he is trying to get across how we deal with trials and temptations, the storms in our lives. He now begins the discussion on the difference between trials and temptations. Trials are things that come into our life, which may have come from God that has a purpose of making us grow. Temptations though come from us or Satan, but not from God. The tough thing is sometimes, it is hard to know the difference.
He reminds us, that if we make it through the trials in our lives, there is something better waiting for us, there is sun on the other side of our storm. He reminds us to keep eternity in our view.
We are told throughout the Bible that God tests his children, but he never tempts them.
So what about temptations, how do you handle those? We have to understand where they come from to understand how to handle them. Temptations come from Satan and from us. Now how do they come from us? Because we are sinners, we have a sinful nature, that even after becoming a Christian, we still have a sinful nature.
This is not a popular idea today. As one author put it, “When James discusses the evil inclination, people today have a tough time believing him. Our culture does not like to face the fact that humans have a tremendous capacity for evil. Contrary to all evidence, we seem intent on forcing ourselves to believe that human beings are essentially good and that the universe is a kind of nonspecific storehouse of safety and support.”
My daughter Ava is by far one of the cutest kids I have ever seen. She is a great kid. She is 20 months old, her new favorite word is, “mine.” She sounds like the seagulls on Finding Nemo, mine, mine, mine. I didn’t teach her that, but she figured out that everything she sees is hers.
She also knows where she isn’t allowed to go. If she is doing something she shouldn’t be doing or going somewhere she isn’t supposed to go, she watches you as she does it. She wants to see if you are watching. She knows. Even before she is 2, she already has a sinful nature. That doesn’t leave.
Another author said this, “James teaches us this: There are forces in us and around us that are opposed to God, and within us exists a bent to opposed God, to hide from God, to disobey. We may not like the fact that we have the capacity to sin. We may not like bearing responsibility for our actions. But however much we may wish it were not so, our wishing cannot change what is. And so James discusses this capacity for sin within us, because he does not want us to fool ourselves.”
So how do you handle temptation? First, you need to know what tempts you. It is different for everybody. A lot of times when we talk about temptations, most Christians point to 1 Corinthians 10:13 that says: 13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Is that helpful though? I spent the last 10 years working with students and talked to countless guys who went to far with a girl they were dating. They would say how they couldn’t understand this verse. They were watching a movie, in a dark basement and it just happened. They would look at me and say, where was my way out? I saw countless, they could have stayed home. They could have not watched a movie at 2 in the morning in a dark room with no one around.
To not give into temptation though takes work doesn’t it? It is different for everybody. Some temptations aren’t necessarily bad. Maybe you are tempted to climb the corporate ladder, maybe you are tempted to be in a relationship you shouldn’t be in. Maybe you are looking at things online you shouldn’t. maybe you are tempted with things that could destroy your family and your life, maybe it is something smaller. Maybe you are tempted with food.
You need to know what your buttons are. You need to know when you are most likely to give into temptation. Like most guys, purity is something that isn’t the easiest thing for me. To help with that, I have a program on my computer that sends a list to Katie of all the websites I have looked at that might be questionable. She also knows all the passwords for everything. Because I don’t want to give in.
Maybe you travel for your job and you know that at the end of a long day, you know the place you need to stay away from so that you don’t give in to temptation.
I have a friend who travels as a speaker for a living. He asks the hotels he is staying in to take out the TV. If they don’t, the first thing he does is put a towel over the TV and throws the remote somewhere.
Sure that is more work, that is hard to do. But it is worth it.
Like I said before, all temptations aren’t necessarily bad. Maybe you are tempted to climb the corporate ladder, get that next promotion. It finally comes, you are offered that job you have been dreaming of. It isn’t bad, it will give you more money, but what will it take away? Will it hurt your family like, your marriage, your community, your relationship with God?
I want to say one more thing about this topic of temptation. Just because you are tempted with something, doesn’t mean you have failed or even sinned. I hate walking through the mall, every picture in a store has people with nothing on, and they are selling watches or something lame like that. Like cologne. How is a picture supposed to want to make you want to buy cologne? Now just because I have seen that, doesn’t mean I have sinned. It is when I act on it.
Reader’s Digest had a funny story about this. It said this, “While my wife and I were shopping at a mall kiosk, a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by. My eyes followed her. Without looking up from the item she was examining, my wife asked, "Was it worth the trouble you’re in?"
That is when temptation became a sin. When he act on it.
Verse 16: 16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
James closes the discussion of trials and temptations by saying, every good and perfect gift comes from a God who loves you. He brings eternity back into view for us by saying, here is the point, here is where good things come from.
I think it is important, when we go through the storms in our life, to remember eternity, to keep the big picture in mind. To ask the question, what is God trying to show me?
Let me close with this. Right now, everybody in this room is dealing with some kind of temptation. Maybe it is gossip, cheating (financially or relationally), food, working too much, whatever it is. Some of us are still fighting those temptations on our own. We are still being owned by our temptations because we can’t let go of them and allow God to work in us to bring us out of them.
There is a way out. It may be incredibly difficult for us to choose it. It may mean saying no to more money. You may have to confront a friend who makes it easy to sin. You may have to confess for not being honest about money or something else. Whatever it is, we need to confess that to someone and to God and ask for our friends and God’s help to break free of that.
Because on the other side of making that tough decision is something better. The sun on the other side of the storms in our lives are the gifts that God wants us to have, the life he wants us to experience.
Let’s pray.
