James: Practical Faith
James 1:1-8
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
09-08-2024
Dancing in the Rain
I watched the sky grow darker and felt the wind kick up. I checked the radar, and sure enough, a thunderstorm was about to let loose.
Maxine and I spent last Friday and Saturday in Michigan City, Indiana. Because there was a chance of rain, we took the short drive to the Lighthouse Outlet instead of heading to the beach.
Five minutes after we arrived, the sky opened and began raining hard. In the south, we would call it a "gully washer."
I got caught walking across the parking lot to another store, and my shirt was soaked. I grumbled that I should have brought an umbrella or stayed put until the rain let up.
Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.
And that's when I saw her. She was about two years old, her hair in pigtails, and the biggest smile on her face.
What was she doing? She was dancing in the rain. She would spin and jump in the puddles with wide-eyed abandon.
I was proud of her mom. Instead of filming her for a social media post, she was giving her full attention to her daughter, clapping and laughing right along with her.
Suddenly, I was convicted of my grumbling. I was mad and soaked to the bone. When faced with the same situation, she laughed and danced in the rain.
I want to be more like her!
Welcome to James
This morning, we will begin our fall book study. We will read the book of James verse-by-verse.
James is the most practical book in the New Testament. It's very similar to Proverbs. In 108 verses, there are 59 commands. This book is where the rubber meets the road of genuine faith.
The central theme of James is that genuine faith produces genuine works.
Remember that good works do not save us. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But once we are born again, our belief will be accompanied by good works.
Chuck Swindoll breaks down James this way:
James 1 - when genuine faith is stretched, it doesn't break.
James 2 - when genuine faith is pressed, it doesn't fail
James 3-4 genuine faith is expressed with control and humility and not arrogance.
James 5 - when genuine faith is distressed, it doesn't panic.
This book was written between AD 45-50, making it the earliest New Testament book.
Please turn with me to James 1.
Prayer.
James the Just
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
The author identifies himself as James. Although there are several men named James in the New Testament, most scholars agree that the writer was Jesus's half-brother.
How hard would it be to be Jesus's little brother?
Mary and Joseph had a large family, and Jesus had multiple siblings.
When Jesus taught in the synagogue in His hometown, the crowd was indignant and asked:
"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him." (Mark 6:2b-3)
His siblings didn't believe He was the Messiah.
At one point, his family tried to stage an intervention:
"When his family heard about this [calling disciples], they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." (Mark 3:21)
But all this changed when the resurrected Jesus appeared:
For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." (I Cor 15:3-8)
In Acts 1:4, his brothers pray with the disciples in the Upper Room.
James became the church leader in Jerusalem, functioning as their first pastor.
He was called James the Just or James the Righteous. But the nickname that stuck was "Old Camel Knees." It was said that he spent so much time on his knees in prayer that his knees were calloused like a camel's.
In AD 62, James was thrown off the top of the Temple because he refused to recant his faith in Christ. Legend tells us that he didn't die from the fall so they beat him to death. As they did, he prayed for their forgiveness.
Interestingly, James didn't name-drop at the beginning of this letter. Name-dropping is rude. Brad Pitt taught me that.
Instead of saying, "You guys need to listen to me. I'm Jesus's little brother!" He calls himself a "bondservant/slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." That's how Paul, Peter, and Jesus's other little brother, Jude, all describe themselves.
He acknowledges that Jesus is the Messiah and is sold out to serving Him.
He is not writing a letter to a specific church, so James's book is known as a general epistle.
He is writing to the "twelve tribes scattered among the nations." After the stoning of Stephen, a great persecution broke out, and Jewish people left Jerusalem and settled in multiple foreign lands.
He writes to his "brothers and sisters." These are fellow Jewish Christians. We know that they were poor and being harassed by Gentiles because of their faith in Christ.
This is a very Jewish book. James makes references or allusions to 21 Old Testament books. He also references Jesus's words in the Sermon on the Mount.
His introduction is short and to the point - Greetings.
Then, he jumps right into the heart of the matter.
Consider it all Joy
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
He begins the body of the letter with a command that, on the surface, seems completely irrational.
What is James commanding?
Is he saying that you should break out dancing with joy when you get the bad diagnosis?
Or when you have a flat tire on a busy highway?
Or who your daughter gets arrested?
Or when you lose your job?
Is James nuts? Is he being mean? Is he advocating "Don't Worry, Be Happy" theology? No. James isn't crazy, and this isn't cruel. He is giving us a secret of Christian growth.
First, notice that he commands "consider." Your version may say, "count." This word means to make a mental judgment. It is not about emotion but about how we think about these trials.
James is using a play on words you don't see in English. He writes "Greetings" followed by "Greet all trials."
We are to count it "pure joy." Happiness is dependent on circumstances. When everything is going well, we are happy. When they are not, we are unhappy.
Joy, the kind James is talking about here, is very different from happiness. It is contentedness, a deep-seated joy in believing the Gospel.
He does not call us to "feel" happy when the call comes in the middle of the night, and he does not expect us to walk around with fake smiles when our world falls apart.
He is writing about the posture of the heart that says, "No matter what happens to me, I'm going to be okay because God is working behind the scenes for my good and His glory."
Notice also that it says "whenever." James doesn't write, "if you face trials." Trials are a normal part of living in a fallen world.
Jesus told His disciples:
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
Peter made it clear to expect trials:
"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." (I Peter 4:12-13)
He writes that we will "face trials of various kinds." Trouble comes in all shapes and sizes. They are unpredictable.
The Greek phrase for various kinds is where we get our word polka dots. Our lives are splattered with troubles.
It's been said that you are either going into a trial, currently in one, or coming out of one.
James then gives a purpose to our pain.
Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
This is how we can greet every trial as a friend and have joy amid chaos.
The word testing comes from the world of pottery. A finished piece would have a mark on the bottom indicating it had gone through the fire without cracking.
Peter begins his first letter with this word picture in mind:
"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (I Peter 1:6-7)
God designs these tests to stretch our faith and grow us spiritually.
What do these trials produce? Perseverance. In your version, it may say, "Patience." The word means "to abide under."
It's the idea of staying power, fortitude, heroic endurance.
Ali Truwit had just graduated from Yale. She was a competitive swimmer and ran a marathon with her mom.
In May of 2023, she was snorkeling off the coast of the Turks and Caicos when a giant shark attacked her. He bit off her left foot at the ankle. She could swim back to the boat, and her friends could apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
She was airlifted to Miami, where she underwent multiple surgeries and blood transfusions.
She was moved to New York, and on her 23rd birthday, she had her left leg amputated below the knee.
She made a decision:
"I had lost enough, and anything that was on the table for me to regain, I was going to fight to regain it," Truwitt said. "I didn't want to lose a limb and my love of the water, too."
She started training again, and in June, she qualified for the Paralympics in the 100 backstroke, 400 free, and 100 freestyle.
On Thursday, she won a silver medal in the 100 m backstroke, and on Friday, she won a silver medal in the 400 m freestyle!
She has started a charity called "Stronger than You Think!"
She is a living example of heroic endurance.
In Paul's letter to the Christians at Thessalonica, he bragged about this virtue:
"Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring." (I Thes 1:4)
What’s our part in this process:
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
We are to allow perseverance to do its job of making us more and more like Jesus.
What's the result? We will be "mature and complete, not lacking in anything."
This is an allusion to the Olympic Games. If an athlete won, he was said to be perfect.
It also refers back to an animal sacrifice that had to be perfect.
This doesn't mean sinless perfection. We will not experience that until heaven. This is the idea of sanctification.
Paul wrote the Roman Christians:
"We boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Rom 5:3-5)
Do you know how a pearl is formed? A bit of sand gets in the shell, under the mantle, and the oyster stops the irritation by encrusting it with the pearly formation.
Why does God do it this way? Gary Hammock gives three ways:
Maturation
It's been amazing to watch the Goose grow up. She will be eight in January. Last weekend, when we were at the pool, she stood on the diving board. I used to have to catch her. But not anymore.
She put a hand on her hip, said, "Sometimes you have to face your fears," and then did a perfect dive!
Something would be wrong if she was still in diapers and saying "Ga Ga Go Go" at seven years old.
It is God's will that we grow up spiritually. Unfortunately, there are many baby Christians who were born again decades ago.
They are still drinking milk when God wants them to eat meat.
God wants to use trials to draw us closer to Him and cause us to depend on Him more and more.
"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." (2 Cor 1:8-9)
Billy Graham wrote:
"When a ship's carpenter needed timber to make a mast for a sailing vessel, he did not cut it in the valley, but up on the mountainside where the trees had been buffeted by the winds. These trees, he knew, were the strongest of all. Hardship is not our choice, but if we face it bravely, it can toughen the fibers of our souls. God does not discipline us to subdue us, but to condition us for a life of usefulness and blessedness."
Joseph, who was human trafficked, falsely accused of rape, and spent over two years in prison for something he didn't do. But because of these events, God positioned Joseph to become second in command of Egypt.
He had a choice - to be bitter or to see the hand of God in it all. He reassured his brothers:
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Gen 50:20)
Correction
Sometimes, the trials we encounter are brought on by our bad choices.
The prodigal son sat in a pig pen. He was so hungry he wanted to eat the pig slop. This was a disaster of his own making.
God told Jonah to preach to the Ninevites, and Jonah took off on a ship headed in the opposite direction. A violent storm buffeted the boat, and Jonah told the other passengers that he had disobeyed the Lord. They threw Him overboard.
Instead of drowning, God had a large fish swallow Jonah and spit him out on dry land. Jonah got the hint and headed to Nineveh.
I've known several people whose criminal behavior landed them in jail. But it was in that place that they understood the Gospel for the first time and were set free, even though they were still behind bars.
Direction
Sometimes, the trials are God's way of redirecting you to where He needs you to be.
Paul was on his way to Rome on a ship that ran aground during a storm. The island they ran aground on was Malta, and Paul was able to share the Gospel and heal people there.
Paul was not supposed to stop in Galatia, but because of an illness that probably affected his eyes, he stayed and ministered to them.
In January 2015, we moved to Florida after I landed my dream job, which turned into a nightmare.
Seven weeks later, we moved back to Pontiac. Our heads were spinning. What happened? Why didn't it work out? We almost went bankrupt and were worried we would lose the house.
The church I served at had a full-time registered nurse on staff. Her name was Debra. After I had shared my testimony, Debra asked to talk in my office. She said, "You keep talking about being "born again." I've never heard that term before. What does it mean?
I shared the Gospel with her and asked her about her spiritual journey, and it quickly became apparent that she wasn't a Christian.
Yes, she was on staff at a church, but she thought she had to be an good person to go to heaven. She prayed in my office, surrendered her heart to Jesus, and was born again!
The next week, she brought her adult daughter in and asked if I would share the Gospel. I did, and she was saved as well!
Could it be the only reason that I was in Florida for seven weeks was so Debra and her daughter would be with us in heaven?
If that's the case, then, from an eternal perspective, all the painful detour to the land of sand and sun was worth it.
Look down at verse 12, which we will cover next week:
"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him."
Ultimately, all our trials will work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.
Wise Guys/Girls
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible! Wisdom is needed to make the right decisions and choices when facing life's trials.
Solomon wrote to his sons about the central importance of wisdom:
"Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." (Proverbs 4:5-7)
One of my favorite preachers, Dr. Frank Pollard, defined wisdom as "sanctified common sense."
Wisdom is not something we naturally have, but it is available.
James says all we have to do is admit that we lack it and then ask for it! The Greek says, "Let him ask the giving God."
When we present that request to God, we can expect Him to respond generously and without finding fault.
This word means to utter an insult. In other words, if you need the wisdom to deal with a trial and ask God for it, he will pour out wisdom with generous joy. He also will not chastise you - "Oh, it's Jeff. In trouble again, I see. Okay, I could spare some wisdom for you since you are such a doofus!"
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However, James does put some conditions in place to receive this wisdom.
Don't be Double-Souled
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
What's the condition? Faith. What can derail your request? Doubt.
Does that mean that if you have any doubt about how the thing you are asking for will happen, God will shut the door in your face?
John the Baptist, during the dark days of his imprisonment, sent word to Jesus asking,
"Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Matt 11:3)
How about Thomas, who was nicknamed "Doubting Thomas" because he wouldn't believe in the resurrection until he put his fingers in Jesus's wounds?
How about the sincere father who brought his boy to Jesus to be healed and exclaimed: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
This is not what James is saying. The doubt he says will derail your requests for wisdom during trials is a question of God's character.
Not "how will He do it?" But "I'm not sure He is good or cares."
That kind of person has no anchor for the soul and is is tossed like the ocean's constant, surging, restless waves.
James invented a word to describe this kind of person—double-minded. It literally means "double-souled." Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength.
John Bunyan, in Pilgrim's Progress, calls this character "Mr. Facing Both Ways."
It's like trying to keep one foot in one boat and another in another. Eventually, you will have to choose which boat you will stand in.
Review
So what did we learn about trials this morning?
Our response to trials proves our faith is genuine
They are unpredictable, varied in size and direction, and are brought by God for our good and His glory
We can learn to dance in the rain if we have the right attitude about our trials.
Interview with Maxine
Ending Song: All Things
