Seek Wisdom, James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Introduction
Those who study bees tell us when a honeybee drives its barbed stinger into flesh, it becomes so firmly imbedded that the only way the bee can escape is to leave the stinger behind. This, however, is sure to cause the death of the bee. It receives such a wound that it cannot possibly recover. So it is with us. Sometimes we sting others because they are a little better than we are. Being jealous of them, we not only leave the sting in those who happen to disagree with us, but the act brings about spiritual harm to ourselves. If our zeal embitters others, it will multiply bitterness within our own hearts. Thus, when others feel the bitterness of our zeal, they will surely come to the conclusion that we do not possess Jesus Christ who descended from heaven to give us new life.
Transition
O, but if we possess zeal in the love of Christ, then how much more wisely shall she walk in this life? If our zeal is multiplied as the grace of God empowers and enlivens us, how great a wisdom we shall display. If we want to be a wise people who exhibit success in our personal relationships, who display contentment, happiness, peace, then we must learn to fear the Lord and walk in the power of His wisdom. To live wisely, we need the wisdom of God!
Psalms 111:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” (ESV) Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (ESV)
Exposition
In today’s text James draws a parallel, a contrast really, between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God. His contrast bears out for us the foolishness of those things the world calls wise and the wisdom of those things this world calls foolish. The kingdom of God, as I have often said, is an upside down Kingdom and it should not surprise us that the Lord commands us, in this passage, to seek a wisdom that comes down from Heaven which is juxtaposed to earthly wisdom.
The wisdom of any age of this world is ultimately foolishness when considered in light of the wisdom of God. I Corinthians 1:18-25
What, according to James, are the things which are considered wise in the eyes of the world, that is, the power structures, the driving forces, the common wisdom, of the governments, institutions, and people of the world, apart from the direct influence and indwelling power of the Holy Spirit? When James refers to “earthly wisdom” he is not merely saying the “wisdom that we find on the earth,” although that is inherent to the concept, he is saying that and more; he is referring to that wisdom which is present on the earth and tainted by the earthly, sin-sickened, fallen state of mind of humanity in his present imperfect state.
There is a notion prevalent in the modern culture that says that man is inherently good, or at the very least man’s moral condition is neutral and as such his wisdom is merely a growing wisdom as he evolves further and further from the animal kingdom into an unknown destiny and future. What James is saying is completely opposed to that notion; and so is the rest of the Bible for that matter.
According to the Scripture, there is not such a thing as neutral wisdom. There is that wisdom born of the fallen and imperfect mind of man and that wisdom born of God. The world says that what is wise is that which gets me what I want. The world says that what is wise is that which produces the best results and goes on to qualify, quantify, and justify those results in terms defined by similar wisdom.
The wisdom of the world is self-perpetuating and driven, according to James, jealousy and selfish ambition. (v16) Do I really need to give a great deal of example for us to see plainly that James words speak to our circumstance in the here and now of today? We live in a culture driven by jealousy of physical appearance; were it not so would plastic surgeons be so well compensated and so regularly employed in their craft?
Must I really work to persuade you that we live in a culture consumed by selfish ambition when we each know so many men women who work tirelessly, day and night, to provide financial means for bloated lifestyles? Are we not, in light of the modern economic situation keenly and painfully aware of the consequences of selfish ambition and greed?
Look with unfettered eyes, even if only briefly, at our culture, and you will see the foolishness of its abandonment of a healthy reverence, fear, of God and its forsaking of even the so simple a thing as the wisdom to be ashamed.
The culture tells us constantly, plainly, that we need not be ashamed of even the vilest of sins. Look at the culture for what it is in light of the word of God and your eyes will be forever seared with the images of the pain which unfettered pleasure ultimately brings.
Listen closely… do you hear it… those are sounds of the screams of the consequences of a culture which has embraced all notions of truth and in so doing destroyed the very idea of truth. As a wise mentor who is now home with the Lord said to me once, when everybody is somebody, nobody is anybody.
He was speaking of the inflation of titles, degrees, and selfish ambition, but the principal plays out well in our observation of the supposed wisdom of this world and specifically of this modern era. There is such a thing as truth. There is such a thing as that which is right and that which wrong. Our experience of even the simplest of human experiences bears this out.
When we ask for directions to a specific location of a gas station attendant, for example, and if he should tell us to follow our heart, should he tells us to go whichever way feels right to us, if he tells us that all roads will lead us to our destination, merely along different roads, what will we do? We will ask someone else for better directions. So it is with the directions that the world gives us.
James 3:16-17 says, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” (ESV) James, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is saying to us that the wisdom that is prevalent in the world only speaks to matters of this world.
What is the popular saying? It’s a dog eat dog world. You gotta’ get yours. The culture tells women to use what Mother Nature gave you to get ahead before Father Time takes it away. Those who are growing in Christ are also rightly growing in grace and in wisdom. And those who are growing in wisdom are also necessarily growing then in peace, good spiritual fruits, sincerity, openness to reason, they are reasonable, peace loving, Spirit Filled people, or at the very least they are in the processes of becoming such people, increasingly, daily.
Those who are wise are those who trust in God’s wisdom, more than the world’s.
Conclusion
When I was a child growing up in North Central California, my favorite time of year was winter. While it seldom snows in the San Joaquin Valley, the great agricultural valley which runs nearly the full length of the State of California, only a little more than an hour’s drive away from Modesto are the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Well within a reasonable distance for a day trip is the beauty of same mountain region of Lake Tahoe, Sonora, and the Giant Sequoia. We spent time there year round but in the winter it was particularly magical. My siblings, cousins, and I would have snowball fights; climb over and under fallen logs, wearing our snow bibs and moon boots. We would inevitably have to head home in the evening, often after having dinner at one of the rustic western restraints in the area, but not without packing an ice chest or two full of hard packed snow. That ice chest may as well of been a treasure chest, for a young boy who loved snow, and that snow was more valuable than any gold, rubies, and silver, for when we returned home we had a piece of the snow of the mountain with us!
I remember making snow castles in the front yard and praying for colder weather so that the snow would last just a little bit longer. But it never did last for more than just a short while. The snow that I had removed from the mountain was destined to melt. The snow could not last forever when removed from that mountain side and even there the snow inevitably fades and melts into the soil, into the rivers, and evaporates into the sky. It does so because that is what snow does; it does not last forever. Earthly wisdom, the vanity of this life, is similarly fleeting and does not last. O, but the great wisdom of God is eternal. It is mighty and shall never fade!
Why do we grow content with the wisdom of this world? Why do we place our trust and such high premium upon things that will not last? Dear Saints of God, while the world says that only what can be seen, touched, or tasted, with our physical senses is worthy of trust, I beg you to consider the snow which melts, the physical body which passes away, and great edifices of human construction which fall with but a little time, a little pressure. Let us place our trust in the God who created all things; in the wisdom of the Eternal One, our great hope lies not in the passing and fleeting things of this world, but in our Redeemer who though He was slain, yet lives! Let me be a fool if it is foolish to trust in what I do not see which is eternal over what I do see which is fading away before my very eyes! Amen.
