FaithWorks
“The Key to Getting God’s Attention"
James 4:1-4:10
The Bible tells us that at the beginning of what we now refer to as holy week or the week of passion that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and that the crowds were following Him. At that point He was easily the most popular man on the planet. He had healed the sick, fed the 500 and had even raised the dead. Everyone seemed to love Him. So they laid out their palm branches, like a red carpet for Him to ride in on. 5 days later they crucified Him. You have to ask what in the world happened in those 5 days?
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem with all the crowds following Him, he was giving them the opportunity to make a decision. And the decision was simple. Would they submit their lives to Jesus? Would they choose to follow Him? Some chose to follow Him. Some rejected Him. In many ways this same scene is played out in our lives as well. Jesus comes in our direction. And we want all the good from Him. We want to be blessed, we want to be healed…we want all the blessings but what we don’t want is the commitment and the last things we want is to have to submit to anyone. (v.7).
The word submit in scripture is a very interesting word. It comes from a military word and we also get the root word hypno from this as we get the word hypnotize. Now don’t take that too far but what it does mean is to allow ourselves to come under God’s control. Submission is a difficult thing.
When I was a kid we would go watch live wrestling on Tuesday nights. Our scout troop got in free. Free was always good. So we would go to the wrestling matches on Tuesday nights. Or “wrassling” matches as we called them in Arkansas. One night one of the wrestlers fought with an alligator. The alligator hardly moved. I think he was actually sedated. I think I could have taken him. But I remember one of the wrestling moves was called the submission hold. And it would basically involve one of the wrestlers grabbing someone right in the stomach and then squeezing them with both hands until they gave up; until they submitted. And how they would submit would be by pounding that mat. They were saying, I give up. I submit.
I believe this is the biggest obstacle we face when we are considering becoming a follower of Jesus. This is the hardest part. We want all the benefits but we still want to be in control. We want everything God has to offer without any of the responsibility. We want Jesus in our lives; we just don’t want Him to be in charge. And so this brings tremendous conflict into our lives. The apostle Paul explains it this way…Galatians 5:17. Romans 7:15-20. (LB) What Paul and James both are telling us is that there is a war/battle raging in our lives over this issue. A war over who will be in control of our lives. And as a result we have no peace. Peace and war/battle cannot coexist. There is either one or the other. James gives us at least 3 truths to consider here.
1. (James tells us) there is a spiritual conflict going on inside of us and the source of the conflict is selfishness. Vv. 1-3a. It is when we view pleasure as our primary goal in life. Listen again to the words James uses here…fights, quarrels, battles, killing. You see war is going inside of us. God wants control and you want control and the problem is our selfishness. We want God in our lives but we’re really afraid we may have to give something up and we much rather keep that “something” than have God. James says that the people who live in like this don’t pray or if they do pray their prayers are selfish. James said in chapter 1 that kind of man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.
2nd. (James tells us) the result of this conflict (he has been describing) is rebellion. Resistance to God’s will leads to outright rebellion. Even if it destroys us we are determined to have our way. And so we are much like someone who has two lovers. We are trying to love one when we are made for the other. We’re trying to love the world when we were made for God.
Basketball star Dennis Rodman visited a NY bookstore a few years ago to sign copies of his new book. In walked Rodman, 6’8” talls, decked out…well look, a wedding gown. He lifted his veil to show off his blond wig, 2 nose rings and full makeup. Now you would think that would turn people off but thousands of people lined up to get his autograph. The name of his book? “Bad as I wanna be.” There is a trend you see to make heroes out of people who are known for being bad. Even if it destroys you, you’re still popular. Sports figures cheat, Pete Rose even bet against his own team, Alex Rodriguez clearlt used steroids and wasn’t the first and the public falls in love with them. God will allow you to be as bad as you wanna be but there will still be consequences that you and I will face.
You see we live under the mistaken impression that there are 3 ways to live life. God’s way, Satan’s way and our way. And we tend to choose the 3rd option. But the fact is there are only two options. . And if you don’t choose God’s way then you have in fact chosen Satan’s way.
3. James says that there is a spiritual conflict/war going inside of us and the solution to the conflict is submission. Vv. 7-20. There are 10 commands James give us in this passage…submit, resist, come near, wash purify, grieve, mourn, wail, change, humble yourselves. All of these words describe (in some way) the transformation that must take place in our lives.
Jesus told this parable, Luke 14:31-33. This is what this means. When you come to do battle with God be sure of this… you cannot win. You will have 2 choices. You will have to submit or you will be destroyed. You see war can only be ended in one of two ways. Either there is a total surrender or there is total destruction. And the same is true for us. So the wise thing to do is to give up, to surrender and to submit.
But here’s the tough part. A relationship with God is all or nothing. And so we start asking ourselves what will that look like? Will I really be able to give up the things God wants me to? And just what will those things be? Will my life be boring now? Will I have to become a missionary and move to Africa? The answer is you will become exactly who God wants you to be. You will be a better you. You will be at peace because the war will be over. You know what gets in the way? Pride does. (James 4:6) we must submit. Notice here that when you resist the devil he will run from you/flee from you and when you submit to God He will draw near to you. Satan will be running away from you and God will be running to you.
Here it is: the key to God’s attention is found in one word. Submission. When we are young and live at home it means we submit to mom and Dad. When we’re in school it means we submit to the teacher. When we get out in the working world it means we submit to our boss. When we give our lives to Christ we submit to Him/Jesus.
You may remember the names of Jim and Tammy Bakker. In the 80’s they build a very successful theme park and a highly successful TV network. Called PTL. Contributions received from viewers were estimated at over 1 million dollars a week. But people began to realize that they stood for greed more than anything.
• Private jet
• Rolls Royce and Mercedes Benz
• A/C dog house
Jim Bakker sold timeshares and he old far more than he actually could provide. He Bakker ended up in prison for 5 years. Then he wrote a book and in every chapter he would tell his story and then he would close the chapter with 3 words. I WAS WRONG. That was the title of the book. There comes a point when all of us have to do that. We have to submit to God and we have to say those words, “Lord I was wrong.” I thought I could do it on my own. I thought I was strong enough. I thought I was good enough. But Lord I was wrong. We must submit to Jesus.
That old lighthouse tells the story. The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he sent a message “alter your course 10 degrees south.” Promptly a return message was received, alter YOUR course 10 degrees north.
The captain was angry because his command was being ignored. So he sent a second message: alter your course 10 degrees south. I am the captain. Soon another message was received alter your course 10 degrees north—I am seaman 3rd class Jones.
Immediately the captain sent a 3rd message, knowing the fear it would instill…alter your course 10 degrees south…I am a battleship. Then the reply came, alter your course 10 degrees north—I am a lighthouse. Too many of us want to try to tell God what to do. We pick and choose what we will believe from the Bible as though it is a buffet. I’ll take more of this and less of that. In fact that tithing part, that surrender all part, that submission part, that’s chopped liver, that’s beets, that’s turnips…I don’t like those. But we can’t. When we accept Jesus and we submit our lives to Him we submit to everything He has for us. Everything.
Life is short. We are here one moment and gone the next. The Bible says our lives are like a vapor….here one moment then gone. My dear mother was here 12 days ago…12 days….now she’s gone. My brother is gone. Two of my brothers in law. Gone. My father. Gone. One of these days someone will likely mention your name or mine and ask where are they now? And someone will reply, they’re gone. Gone. I know where I am going when I leave. I am going home. Not to some strange place where I won’t know anyone. Not to a place that will be unfamiliar. Not to a place where there will be pain or suffering. I’m going home. And I want you to go with me. We stopped in a hotel on the way back home and when we were greeted at the desk, they ask our name and they replied, yes I have your reservation right here.
So perhaps you would like to make a reservation today. You can do that by submitting your whole life to Jesus right now.
