Seeking Wisdom
James 1:1-8
May 21, 2023
I love to read and it’s not unusual for me to be reading 4 books at a time and order more as well. I buy very few books, although I just bought 1 because it was to new to be transferred by the library. It had a great paragraph in it, that I glanced at. It may be the only paragraph I like, but it’s worth it.
Learning how to speed read was one of the greatest things to happen for me when I was in college. I still use it on non-technical books. I want to recommend a book to you today - - - it’s one that you can’t speed read through, because you’ll miss so much.
Obviously, it’s the Bible. But, I want to jump on one particular book of the Bible. As we start a new series today . . . for the next couple of months, through the summer, we’re going to dive in deep and look at the most practical NT book of the Bible. It’s the book of James.
I could probably give you 20 minutes of background on this book, but I’m not. I’ll give you about 3 quick minutes and then we’ll look at this power packed book which offers us so much wisdom on how to live our lives, that it very well may transform and shape or reshape your life.
James, the author of this book is considered to be the ½ brother of Jesus. Half brother because they had the same mom, but Jesus was born supernaturally. James was against Jesus, as was his family when Jesus started His ministry, but somewhere along the way, James and others in his family came to see Jesus as the Messiah.
This is also believed to be the first book written in the NT. Most likely it was written around 48 AD. And it’s believed James died as a martyr for Christ, his Lord, and his brother in 62 AD.
The book of Acts tells us that James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem - that’s the first church! In Galatians 2:9 — Paul referred to James as “a pillar” of that church. Acts 12 says that when Peter was delivered from prison by an angel, he made a point of sending a message to James to let him know what happened. And it was James who moderated the church conference described in Acts 15 which dealt with the potentially divisive issue of what to do with Gentile converts to Christianity. James was able to bring peace and unity to the church.
So, that’s a snippet of James. Now let’s look at what he said. Today, we’re look at James 1:1-8 - - -
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
6 But 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.
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
That’s pretty practical teaching. I mean you almost don’t need me to explain what James was talking about. I said almost . . . .
James starts by telling us this letter is for the 12 tribes in the dispersion.
James is reminding these Jewish Christians of their spiritual heritage as the people of God, gathered by Jesus the Messiah. Because of Roman persecution, many early Jewish Christians fled from Jerusalem. They feared for their lives, so they went to areas that were more sympathetic towards them - - - and not threatened by the fact that Jesus was their King.
I kind of have a thought that this series of sermons will vacillate between being a Bible study and sermon. I spent a lot of time researching the Greek of our English words and they give us a little different flavor of what James was saying. I really believe this will give us a deeper and richer understanding of what God wants us to understand from this book.
So, James continues by saying what none of us want to hear - - - -
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Ah, yes, count it all joy when you encounter trails, whatever they may be. Yup! Great start there James. Let’s close the book and pick a different one.
So, what’s he getting at?
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Obviously, we don’t jump up and down when bad things happen to us. That’s not what James is getting at. Instead we count it joy because two things are happening in our lives and if we’re willing, if we choose it, our lives will change for the good.
James isn’t talking about a “pasted-on fake smile” nor is he advocating some form of masochism in which we seek painful things. James is writing about an attitude of joy that comes from knowing pain’s purpose.
I found the following story on the Internet: someone let their pet ferret play in a pile of clothes in the laundry basket. The ferret was having a great time frolicking in the clothes. And finally, he fell asleep.
It had been a glorious day for the ferret, but mom didn’t see him sleeping and threw the pile of laundry into the washing machine. Things went from good to bad before he knew what was happening.
The lid was shut and all was dark. Water started pouring in and when the churning finally stopped and began to drain out the ferret must’ve thought he made it . . . then the rinse cycle began. And just when he thought the worse was over . . . the spin cycle began.
Later that night, the little ferret was found in the washing machine, alive, wet and confused. Can you relate to that ferret? One minute your life is going great, and like the ferret, you’re singing and thinking it doesn’t get any better than this.
Then all of the sudden, out of nowhere, your world becomes a place of spinning darkness. Your boss tells you you’re no longer needed. Your spouse tells you, ‘I don’t love you anymore.’ The phone rings and you hear the words "there’s been an accident." The doctor gives you a report that rattles your world.
You didn’t see it coming, but in the blink of an eye, you find yourself sucked into the darkness and your world begins to spin out of control. If you haven’t been there, James tells us someday you will.
I’ve been there. It was June 22, 1990, I was dancing in the drizzling rain on an island somewhere off the coast of Stockholm, Sweden. Someone came to tell me I had a phone call. I knew nobody in my family would have known that phone number and they weren’t calling to say hello. They were calling to say ‘mom has cancer and is on a respirator and they are keeping her alive until you come home.’
When that happens, James has challenging words, yet they are words that can bring comfort.
Notice that James doesn’t say if you face trials, but when you face trials. Trials, hardships and difficulties are part of life. If you think your life is going to be smooth and calm, you’re fooling yourself. Jesus warned His disciples, "in the world you will have trouble" (John 16:33) and Paul said, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
It sounds absurd, be joyful when you face trials? Come on. It sounds good on paper, but not in reality. But, remember, friends, James is about building character. We know people who have endured and people who have given up.
Many of us do that. If God doesn’t solve our problem in the first 24 hours, we give up on Him. We stop pounding on His door with prayer. And we seek solutions to our problems, that can easily lead to bitter spirits and angry lives.
Then there are those who face amazing difficulties in life and somehow they make it to the other side. What can we learn about those people who face their trials head on, trusting that God is good and sovereign, trusting that while life may not make sense, God has a plan that will work out, even though it will be painful. When we’re tested, we must confidently turn to God, trusting Him, not ourselves.
The apostles also considered it joy and an honor to suffer for Jesus. After being arrested and then freed, Acts 5:41 tells us - - -
41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
Paul says this numerous times as well. So, some might count it an honor to suffer in the name of Jesus, just as He suffered for us. Also, understand that this is suffering because of your faith.
Now, James tells us in verse 2 when count it all joy WHEN YOU MEET TRIALS.
That phrase when you meet is interesting in Greek because it means when you fall into the midst of difficulties or when you happen upon those tests and adversity, which is what trials are. They’re tests and adversity. You didn’t go looking for them, you just fell into them.
We can count it all joy when we’re in those moments, because, James tells us - - -
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Understand that the testing here is different than what we might be thinking about. I remember being in college and taking a test and the problems didn’t look anything like what we had talked about in class. It was like taking an intro to basic algebra problem 2x+2=4 and turning it into (2a + 3b + 4c)2, which =
4a2+9b2+16c2 +12ab + 16ac + 24bc
It was as if the teacher wasn’t so worried about what you knew, but wanted you to fail. Sometimes that’s how it felt. But that’s not what God is doing here.
You see, the word TESTING literally means ‘what is found approved and genuine after testing.’ In other words, God’s goal in the testing is to see you succeed. It’s like He’s giving you a problem and telling you part of the answer in advance, because God doesn’t want us to give up or fail, but He wants us to pass the test because it produces steadfastness. That’s a huge OT word we’ve talked a little about, and it’s so prevalent in the psalms.
It’s often interchanged with endurance/perseverance. But the goal is not just a grimacing perseverance, but a cheerful or helpful perseverance - - - - where we continue with a sense of constancy. And that’s what He’s getting into in verse 4 - - -
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Now that steadfastness, that persevering and enduring, doing it with hope and expectancy, when it has it’s full effect, it leads us to perfection and completeness. You see, when you’re steadfast, you are unwavering, determined to complete the task at hand. You’re not going to give up. And that’s all part of what James wants us to see in the midst of problems.
The word perfect, doesn’t necessarily mean perfect in the Greek. It means we’ve matured and moved through the necessary stages toward the end-goal, that is, we’ve developed more and more in our spiritual journey. And we will have fully finished the race and we as a spiritual person, will be complete in all respects.
So, James is telling us we can count it all joy when we’re tested, because God’s expectancy for us is that we will pass the test, which leads to greater maturity and completeness and gives us a greater testimony in the world.
You see, this is all supposed to flow together. Our lives aren’t a matter of fragments that we somehow try to piece together to make sense, because they’re all part of one, and they all work together for the glory of God.
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Now, let’s look at the final verses for today and again, this is filled with so much practical wisdom, and that’s exactly the point. James told us - - -
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
6 But 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.
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The final lesson from James is that we must ask God for wisdom. In other words, rely on God for help. We need to know how to handle the adversity and trials we’re faced with. The Bible, especially the book of Proverbs is filled with reminders to seek wisdom. We are instructed - - -
16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. - Proverbs 16:16
Wisdom will last longer than our gold and it’s something which changes who we are. And James tells us that God wants to give to us generously. He wants to give abundantly, if we’re willing to ask and receive.
And that’s not always easy. It seems pretty logical. I’d rather have God’s wisdom over mine. That’s a no-brainer, but we struggle with letting go of the control we want. If we can’t let go of our desire to control everything, then all of the wisdom from God won’t matter, because we will not see it or experience it.
And James tells us not to pray half-heartedly. Don’t pray like someone who is doubting, because when we doubt, we’re actually at odds with ourselves. Yet, we ask anyways. Not really believing, but it’s kind of “an excuse me, God, if you’re not to busy, I’d kind of - - - sort of - - - if you have the time - - - but if not that’s ok,” attitude.
Have you ever asked God for prayers like that? Have you asked for something, but even when praying, you were already doubting.
That will never get you anywhere. A double - minded Christian wants to do it their way, yet they still want God to do it His way. They want some of God and some of themselves. And that’s what the meaning is in Greek. A double minded person is like a person who has 2 souls or are divided within themselves.
And that will never work. When you pray asking for two separate answers to your prayer, you’re being double-minded.
That’s why James compares the doubter to a wave that’s being tossed back and forth in the sea. The doubter is someone who changes their mind constantly, they ask for one thing and then a different thing. There is no constancy in their requests.
A good friend shared with me this idea. It’s really not new, but it may feel new to many of us . . . since we have victory in Christ, since we know that we will be victorious, since we know God is for us, then when you pray, pray with a sense of victory. Pray believing in the name and power of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. That’s also what James is getting at. Don’t believing and trusting God will answer that prayer.
One of the most important aspects of becoming an authentic Christian is developing spiritual endurance. The question is NOT, will we face trials, the question is how will we handle the trials that come our way? Will you run for cover and turn your back on God and give up? Or will you endure?
God promises that the end result is worth it. The trials may be difficult to endure, but the trials aren't God's purpose for your life, the end result — your becoming like Christ — is His purpose for you.
If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us. If we value the material more than the spiritual, we won’t be able to consider it joy. If we live only for the present and disregard the future, then trials will make us bitter and not better.
We can say that these words from James are all about leading us to God.
Be joy-filled with bad things happen to you, because if you’re willing, they will lead you to become more Christ-like. Working through adversity will produce a steady and firm faith. And if you embrace God’s wisdom, not the worlds, and you ask God, believing God has the answers, you will grow in becoming more and more of the person God wants you to be. You won’t lack anything you need. And by the way, the world will see and experience Christ through you
