1. Author Jack London made some observations from his adventures in the Canadian Yukon. One thing he observed was that beginners on the Yukon trail attempted to carry with them all of their conveniences which belonged to their old way of life. Packs would begin to get too heavy and the trail would be strewn with abandoned utensils. Those who refused to give up anything usually did not make it to the end of the trail. Christians must realize that in order to make it to our goal, we must abandon much from our old way of life.
2. A debate among scholars over the years has been: Study or Act, which is greater? The answer to the issue is to study in order to act. One without the other is ineffective.
3. The book of James is a great practical guide to prepare us for our walk with God.
4. James 1.1
I. The Man, James (Jacob)
A. A reminder of Isaac’s Son
1. Heel Grabber/Supplanter/His deceptions, etc. – Yet God chose and used him – “The elder (Esau) shall serve the younger.
2. Trouble between brothers – John 7.3-8
3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
B. Several James in the NT
1. Brother of John – son of thunder; Matthew 4.17-22; killed by Herod in Acts 12
2. Son of Alpheus Matthew 10.3 (brother of Matthew?)
3. Lord’s Brother
a. Witnessed the resurrection – 1 Corinthians 15.7
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
b. Among the 120 – Acts 1.14
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
c. Leader in Jerusalem Congregation – Acts 12.17 (Peter’s release)
But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.
i. President of Council in Acts 15
ii. “Pillar” (with John and Peter) – Galatians 2.9-10
9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
iii. Paul reported his ministry to James & Elders – Acts 21.18-20a
18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God.
d. Familiar with Words of Yeshua (Jesus) and Hebrew Scriptures – 20 quotes from Sermon on the Mount
One of the great paradoxes of the Christian life is that God can take seemingly hopeless individuals and turn them into superbly useful people. Paul was violent towards the church and became a successful apostle; John Mark deserted but became a key servant.
In 1944, during WWII, Admiral “Bull” Halsey received word regarding the route of an enemy submarine. He planned to send Destroyers to intercept and sink it. His aides begged him not to send the ship, “The England.” The ship and crew had a dismal record. Shortly after being commissioned, it ran into a buoy in San Francisco harbor; destroyed a dock on her check out cruise; the crew was a joke and had the worst firing record of all the Destroyers in its class. Additionally, the crew was a bunch of brawlers. Six of them were currently in the brig for breaking up two bars in Honolulu.
Halsey laughed, ordered the six men released, and sent the England out on the mission. Twenty-four hours later the England chased down and sunk its first sub. The crew experienced a transformation. Over the next eleven days they sank five more Japanese subs. Every sub the England encountered she sank. The Japanese were stunned and assumed these subs were encountering the main body of the US Navy.
We sometimes make the same mistake the Admiral’s aide made in prejudging people. We may discount someone too quickly and fail to see what that individual may become. God sees what we can become, not just what we are. We become new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5.17). We become transformed into the image of Yeshua (Jesus) – 2 Corinthians 3.18.
II. The Role of Service
A. “Slave of Christ”
1. He was humble (did not call himself “Brother of the Lord”) and secure – willing to take on the role of servant
2. Showed care for displaced Jewish believers
a. Paul and Barnabas to Gentiles; Peter and James to Jews – Galatians 2.9-10
b. Dispersion by Persecution – Acts 8.4
Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
c. Dispersion by Claudius – Acts 18.1-2 (prompted Paul’s letter to Rome)
1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,
3. Practical Letter – “General Epistle”
a. Applicable to everyone (including Gentiles)
b. Not just one congregation’s issues
c. Instructions for Growth and Development as followers
1) God develops character in his servants – not many “instant” full-grown disciples
2) Takes Time
a) Abraham – 25 years before Isaac was born
b) Joseph 13 years before high position in Egypt
c) Moses – 80 years for 40 years of service
d) Yeshua (Jesus) – 30 years for 3 years of service
e) Disciples – 3 years for a lifetime of service
f) WE – continually growing
[For more than 40 years, each week a shy Welshman went to his neighbor’s door and slipped a love note underneath. Because of an argument years before, she refused to speak to the man. Finally, after writing 2184 love letters with no response of any kind, the 74 year old man went to the door, knocked, and asked the 74 year old woman to marry him. Much to his surprise she said yes, and they tied the knot.
This is much the same way the love of God works. He persistently shows his love for us – even in the face of rejection. It changes our lives.
B. Service is the Practical Fulfillment of the Teachings of Yeshua (Jesus) – Matthew 20.26-28
26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
1. Requires total obedience – Matthew 7.21
2. Requires total humility – Philippians 2.5-8; John 13
3. Requires total loyalty – Luke 14.33
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
C. Service is a Mark of Spiritual Maturity
1. There comes a time to put away childish behavior (1 Corinthians 13.11)
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
2. As SELFISHNESS
D. Service Results in Honor – John 12.26
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Reporters and city officials gathered at a Chicago railroad station one afternoon in 1953. The person they were meeting was the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner. A few minutes after the train came to a stop, a giant of a man - six feet four inches with bushy hair and a large mustache stepped from the train. Cameras flashed. City officials approached him with hands outstretched. Various people began telling him how honored they were to meet him.
The man politely thanked them and then, looking over their heads, asked if he could be excused for a moment. He quickly walked through the crowd until he reached the side of an elderly black woman who was struggling with two large suitcases. He picked up the bags and with a smile, escorted the woman to a bus. After helping her aboard, he wished her a safe journey. As he returned to the greeting party he apologized, "Sorry to have kept you waiting."
The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary doctor who had spent his life helping the poor in Africa. In response to Schweitzer’s action, one member of the reception committee said with great admiration to the reporter standing next to him, "That’s the first time I ever saw a sermon walking."
Practical Suggestions for the Study of James (“Be Prepared”)
1. Take a Spiritual approach – many physical aspects that are ultimately spiritual
2. Study the book repeatedly to get insights; look for cross-references to the OT
Mark Twain noted, "Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand."
3. See Ourselves in the light of the text – James 1.22-25
A savage saw his reflection in a mirror for the first time; it frightened him so much that he broke the mirror; as we look into the text we see ourselves in light of the perfect man of God, Yeshua (Jesus); will we break the “mirror” or remake ourselves into his image?
4. Pray for wisdom and understanding (James 1.5)
5. Practice what we learn
The Mona Lisa may be the most famous portrait that Leonardo da Vinci painted. But who was Mona Lisa? No one is for sure. She wears no identifying jewelry; her clothing is nondescript; and da Vinci never mentions her in his journals.
We do know the painting was one of his favorites. Some experts say that it took him four years to complete it; that while he worked on it music played continuously so that he would not lose his inspiration. After finishing it in Florence, he took it to Milan, then to Rome, then to France where he kept it with him until he died.
Lillian Schwartz, through computer wizardry, compared a red chalk self-portrait da Vinci made with the Mona Lisa. It appears that his favorite painting was actually of himself and reflected his own image!
God created man to bear his image. We are a type of self-portrait of God. His image is to be seen in our lives. The more we act like God (in faith) the more we regain the image with which we were initially created.
