A very popular show in the sixties and seventies was a little half-hour police drama called … [do the theme music] … “Dragnet.” Remember that show? It starred Jack Webb as “Joe Friday” … a detective with the Los Angels Police Department. Joe Friday was a no-nonsense cop. His famous line was … “Just the facts.” He didn’t want to hear anything irrelevant to solving the case. If somebody started to go off on a tangent, he’d cut them off and get them back on track with: “Just the facts.”
James is the Joe Friday of the New Testament. He cuts to the bottom line without messing around. He’s not really interested in “hearing” your “profession” of faith … he wants to “see” your “practice” of faith.
Several Bible scholars and writers refer to James’ letter as the least theological epistle in the New Testament … except for Philemon. It’s not that James discounts the importance of sound doctrine but what good is sound doctrine … or any doctrine, for that matter … if it doesn’t affect the way we live our lives. Talk is cheap and theories are a dime a dozen. James wants to see results. Of the 108 verses in his letter, 54 … exactly half … contain imperative verbs. James is like a crusty sergeant barking orders at the troops. When he barks he expects action. His “barking,” however, comes from the heart.
Speaking of “crusty sergeants” … when you join the Armed Forces, they don’t just hand you a gun and a pair of boots and send you off to combat, do they? They train you. They challenge you. They toughen you up, don’t they? And there is no tougher training in the world … military or otherwise … than the Navy SEALs. Anyone know what “SEAL” stands for? It stands for “Sea, Air, and Land.” It means they are trained and prepared to go any place … on the land or on the sea or in the air … and handle any situation. By undergoing a grueling regimen of sleepless days and nights, sensory overload, and physical training, these recruits are transformed into some of the toughest human beings in the world.
The training has to be rigorous and it has to be tough … almost cruel … because of what they will have to face out in the real world, in real combat situations. What they will have to face in war and on missions will be far worse than what they had to endure at Coronado Naval Amphibious Base in San Diego, California. By pushing these men to the very brink of insanity during times of peace, the Navy is giving them the best chance to be ready to face the cruelty of real war if it comes.
James is trying to do the same thing in his letter … and he doesn’t pull any punches. Right from the start … right out of the gate … James reminds his suffering brothers and sisters that they should not be surprised when they experience intense periods of testing. He knows … and he wants them to know … that they face a spiritual conflict that will require a toughness learned only through instruction and monitored experience. Sugar-coating it or putting heir heads in the sand would only prove fatal.
James calls God’s training regimen “various [kinds of] trials” (James 1:2). As he prepares his friends for the inevitable test, he outlines for them ... and for us … the following five strategies to employ when times of testing challenge us.
The first one might seem pretty radical … certainly counter-intuitive. James tells us to “celebrate” the reason behind our trials. I want to make sure you heard that correctly. He is not saying we should celebrate our “trials.” He is saying that we should celebrate the “reason” for our trials.
The reason for the suffering of his people is the “dispersion” or “diaspora.” The world that James uses is a technical term that was first used to describe the situation of the Israelites after they had been taken away as slaves by the Babylonian army and forced to live outside of Palestine among the gentiles. A similar thing happened to the early church. “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen,” Luke reports in the Book of Acts, “traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word” (Acts 11:19). In some of the major cities, such as Corinth and Alexandria, large populations of expatriate Christian Jews were being persecuted by their own countrymen, abused by the gentiles, and in many places had less standing than slaves.
This is the context of the trials that James mentions in this first section, but the translation of verse 2 is very important here. “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind” is more accurately translated: “My brothers and sisters, whenever you ‘fall into’ trials of any kind.” James uses the same term that Jesus used when He told the parable of the “Good Samaritan” where the traveler “fell among thieves” (Luke 10:30). In other words, James is acknowledging that their trials were not the result of their sinful activities. They didn’t bring this suffering and this persecution upon themselves.
For the early Christians, the trials they faced were persecution. For us today, they could be any number of things … loss of a job … a divorce … trouble with our children … severe financial strains ... illness or death in the family … relationship problems … all kinds of things we have little or no control over.
One writer, Homer Kent, observed that this emphasis by James stands in stark contrast to much modern thinking. “A matter worth pondering,” says Kent, “is the fact that the very first topic James discussed involved the difficulties encountered in the Christian life. Totally foreign to him was the curious modern notion that becoming a Christian will make life easier, that all problems will disappear, … and that the prospect in this life for each believer is that he [or she] will live ‘happily ever after.’”
Maybe your life’s pretty good right now … pretty smooth. You still need to heed James’ advice. I agree with James. He didn’t say “if” you fall into trails. He said “when.” And here’s the truly counter-intuitive part. When these inevitable trials come, James says our first strategy … our first response … should be to do what? Look at verse 2. We should “consider it nothing but” what? “Joy!” When we fall into trials … when life comes at us with both fists … we should consider it “nothing but joy”?
Remember what I said earlier. We are to celebrate the reason behind our trials … not the trials themselves.
To consider it all joy in the midst of our trials is to respond with a deliberate, intelligent appraisal of our situation. Navy Captain Larry Baily, commanding offer of the Coronado school for the training of SEALs, said: “Completing hell week is 90 percent mental. The men don’t believe it at first, but it is.” The same is true for Christians going through trials … 90 percent of our success is mental and spiritual. We must learn to look at our experiences … good and bad … from God’s perspective and recognize the trial … not as a “happy” experience in itself … but as a means of producing something very valuable in life.
Bible scholar Spiros Zodhiates explains that the world “consider” should rather be translated “think forward … regard. “As you live in the present,” says Zodhiates, “consider the future, think forward to the future. Gloom now, but glory in the days to come.”
I think that Philip Yancy can give us the right perspective on what James is trying to say: “By the words [‘rejoice’ and ‘be glad’], the Apostles did not intend a grin-and-bear it or act-tough-like-nothing-happened attitude. No trace of those attitudes can be found in Christ’s response to suffering or in Paul’s … nor is there any masochistic hint of enjoying the pain. Rejoicing in suffering,” says Yancy,” does not mean that Christians should act happy about tragedy and pain when they feel like crying.” And here’s the best part: “Christianity is not phony” … amen? “The Bible’s spotlight,” Yancy explains, “is on the end result, the use that God can make of suffering in our lives.” And here’s the key: “[God] first needs our commitment of trust in Him, … and the process of giving Him that commitment can be described as rejoicing” … as in realizing ‘thank God He’s in my corner!’” We don’t rejoice in our trials and suffering but we do rejoice in the fact that God has our back … and that is worth rejoicing, am I right?
James says we must celebrate the reason “behind” our trials … then we must look “above” the immediate unpleasantness of our trials and find joy in what God will accomplish by it. Paul said something to the Roman Christians that is very helpful here: “And not only that,” Paul writes in Romans 5, “but we also glory in tribulations, … knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (v. 3-50. In his book, “The Fight,” John White writes: “Tough times … either make you or break you. If you are not utterly crushed by them, you will be enlarged by them. The pain,” says White, “will make you live more deeply and expand your consciousness.”
James says that the testing of our faith produces “patience.” “Patience” is not a passive term but an action one. It is not resignation to whatever happens but a strong and tough resolution in the midst of any adverse conditions. It would be better translated as “steadfastness,” “perseverance,” or my favorite, “brave endurance.” In fact, in some of your Bibles it may already be translated as “perseverance” or “endurance.”
Trials in the lives of believers refine their faith so that the false is stripped away and the genuine faith that continues to trust God can develop victorious positive endurance. Bible commentator William Barclay points out that the endurance of the early Christians was not a passive quality. “It is not simply the ability to bear things,” says Barclay. “It is the ability to turn them to greatness and glory. The thing which amazed the heathens in the centuries of persecution,” says Barclay “was that the martyrs did not die grimly … they died singing.”
James tells us to “let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing” (v. 4). When patience, when perseverance, and brave endurance have done their work, it causes Christians to be “perfect” and “complete.” The word “perfect” means “to be fully developed.” In other words, a “fully developed” Christian is a “mature” Christian, amen? Without this perseverance, this endurance, this durability in trials, you cannot fully mature because you will quit before God can complete His work in you. Three times Paul asked the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh. God not only refused his request but explained to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, … for my strength” is what? “… made perfect in weakness” (2nd Corinthians 12:9). The term “perfect” that God used is the same word that James uses here. We are to persevere in our trials so that the work that God has begun in us may be brought to completion.
A mature Christian is also a “complete” person. This word refers to something that has all its parts and is therefore “whole” … “complete.” It is possible for us as Christians to be mature some areas and, well, not so mature in others … anyone willing to testify to that? Shoot … I will. If we are lacking in any of these areas, such as endurance, then James says that we are not complete … we are not whole.
So … according to James … we are to celebrate the reason behind our trials … we are to calculate the results of our trials … and then he tells us to call upon God’s resources in our trials. Every recruit who goes through SEAL training … whether they wash out or not … learns a very valuable life lesson. Some learn that they don’t have what it takes and those who graduate learn that they do – both, believe it or not, are equally valuable lessons. When we talk about becoming mature Christians, the most valuable lesson that we can learn is that we don’t have what it takes. Without God, our trials can consume us and beat us down, down, down.
There was a poster with this title: “A Prayer to be Said.” Then it went like this:
When the world has gotten you down and you feel rotten,
And you’re too doggone tired to pray,
And you’re in a big hurry,
And besides, you’re mad at everybody” …
It tells you to pray this prayer … you ready? It says: “Help!”
Most of us have found ourselves at the point of crying out for help at one time or another. But, sadly, it is usually our last resort. We’ll do everything we can … try every which way that we can … to keep from having to admit that we need help. Sure, I’m more than willing to help anyone here … but admit that “I” need help … and, gasp! … ask for it? Never! Absolutely never … unless I absolutely, positively have no other options left and I have to …
James takes the word “lacking” in verse 4 and ties it to verse 5: “And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, … lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you” (James 1:4-5). It is important that you understand what James is saying here. A mature Christian … a complete Christian … is one who knows not only that they are immature and incomplete but knows that God is the only one who can give them what they need to be mature and complete Christians. Want to be a mature Christian? Want to be a complete Christian? Then you have to turn to God. Before we can obtain help with our trials, we have to realize that we lack the sufficient wisdom to sort them out and solve them ourselves. James’ argument is this: when facing trials, it is important to know how to cope with them … and the only way that we will be able to understand those trials and respond to them properly is to ask for the wisdom that God alone can give … understand?
When our friends and loved ones are going through trials, we may think we see what God is doing through their ordeal, but when we are the sufferers … when we are the one going through a trial by fire … it is very difficult to be wise, amen? This is why we are to ask God for wisdom. Nine Hebrew words and five Greek words are translated “pray” but the Holy Spirit takes James past all of them and chooses the more common word: “ask.” All we have to do is “ask” and God will give us the wisdom that we need to get through our trials.
I once came across this bit of wisdom a few years ago that helps me understand why we need to ask for God’s help. I think it will help you too. It goes like this: “Unless there is within us that which is above us we will soon yield to that which is around us.” Let me repeat that: “Unless there is within us that which is above us we will soon yield to that which is around us.”
As James motivates troubled believers to seek wisdom, he describes God in such a way as to make us wonder why we wait so long to reach out and ask for help. “If any of you are lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly … and it will be give you.” God is good. He is generous. Our God, who is the Source of all wisdom, will give wisdom to all who ask. He is not partial in any way. He will always answer prayers for wisdom. He never turns away a sincere request from anybody. God gives His wisdom simply, plainly. Straightforwardly, and individually to all who ask of Him. “But,” says James, “ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-8).
James was no doubt picturing the Sea of Galilee when he created this image. The Sea of Galilee is only fifteen miles long and seven miles wide. When storm winds sweep down from the surrounding mountains, they whip up the waters. The Sea of Galilee can be come quite violent. To James, the constant churning of the water the lake’s waters resembled the agitation and confusion of a doubter’s heart.
The mature Christian, the complete Christian, is a stable Christian. They know that they need wisdom and they know where to seek it. Only God is able to respond and fulfill our need for wisdom.
So … James says we are to celebrate the reason behind our trials. We are to calculate the results of our trials. We are to call upon God’s resources in our trials, and we’re to consider our reactions to our trials.
Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, was talking to a young missionary who was about to start work in China. “Look at this,” Taylor said, and then proceeded to pound his fist on the table. The teacups jumped and the tea spilled all over the table. While the startled young man was wondering what was going one, Taylor pointed to the spilled tea and explained: “When you begin your work, you will be buffeted in numerous ways. The trials will be like blows. Remember, these blows will bring out only what is in you.”
And finally … we are to contemplate the rewards of our trials. James made us aware that our trials produce patience and maturity and causes us to seek and follow God’s wisdom. But God’s trials also point towards the future, for our current trials reassure us of future blessings. “Blessed is anyone,” says James, “who endured temptation. Such a man has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord promised to those who love Him” (v. 12).
I don’t want you to miss the powerful image that James uses. The word he uses for “crown” is “stephanos” in Greek. Christ “stephanos” is no ordinary crown woven out of olive branches or flowers. It was a crown made up of thorns woven together … placed n Jesus’ head as He was being prepared for crucifixion. A “stephanos” … the symbol of Jesus’ glory and His suffering … His suffering a “stephanos” of His glory. We are saved by trusting in Christ, but we are “crowned” when we are tested by fire and continue to love Him. Yeah!
Author and pastor Andrew Murray was suffering from terrible back pain … the result of an injury he had incurred years before. One morning, while he was eating breakfast in his room, his hostess told him that there was a woman living downstairs who was experiencing a lot of trouble in her life lately and wanted to know if he had an advice for her. Murray handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on and said: “Give her this advice that I’ve been writing down for myself. It may be that she’ll find it helpful.”
This is what was written on it. “In times of trouble, say: ‘First, He brought me here. It is by His will that I am in this strait place; in that I will rest.” Next, say: ‘He will keep me here in His love, and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child.’ Then say: ‘He will make a trial a blessing, teaching me lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow.’ And last, say: ‘In His good time He can bring me out again … how and when He knows.’ Therefore say: ‘I am here (1) by God’s appointment, (2) in His keeping, (3) under His training, (4) for His time.”
While the average number of sailors in each SEAL basic training class is around 75, on average only about 38 graduate and go on to become Sea-Air-Land commandos. Almost half of the class quit during the process. When Christians face their basic training in trials, there are also many casualties. But James wants us to know that we can be victors instead of victims if we will mentally and spiritually prepare ourselves by: celebrating the reasons behind our trails … calculate the results of our trials … call on God’s resources in our trials … consider our reactions to our trials … contemplated the rewards of our trails.
Let us pray …
