The Message of James:
"The Festive Sufferer"
James 1:1-18
Introduction:
*Illustration- Do you remember Harold Kushner’s book titled When Bad
Things Happen To Good People? R. C. Sproul had a great answer for that.
Someone asked him on one occasion, "Why do bad things happen to good
people?" His answer was classic. He said, "I don’t know because I haven’t
met any good people yet."
*James opens his candid-style book with an abrupt statement about trials
and what our response to them should be. No statements about his personal
state or statements about the progress of the churches. He simply begins
quite quickly into his message. And James’ message again confirms for you
and I that the Bible speaks on those things that you and I wrestle with
in life every day. The Bible is not an out-dated book, but speaks
relevantly and courageously about very difficult topics.
*This book poignantly addresses the harshness of poverty and oppression
which was experienced by many Jewish peasants in his day. But that does
not negate its import for you and I today in 1999. We must hear clearly
the message and understand what it is that God is trying to get through
to us via has servant James.
READ TEXT
I. There is something about life that you need to know.
A. You will face trials.
*You should note that there is a word that it’s absence speaks louder
than it’s presence. The word is "if." That word is not employed by James
in verse 2. He chooses the word "whenever." Do you see the implications
in that subtle choice of grammar? There is no question as to whether you
will or will not face trials - it is already a concluded matter. You will
face trials.
*There will come events too impossible to face. Canyons will appear too
wide to cross. There will be heartache, sorrow, and pain. You will face
trials.
*Illustration - I do not claim to know much in the realm of engineering
but I was watching an interesting documentary on the Golden Gate Bridge.
The show said that, as with all bridges, the engineers had to take into
account three loads, or stresses, while designing the bridge. These are:
the dead load, the live load, and the wind load. The dead load is the
weight of the bridge itself. The live load is the weight of the daily
traffic that the bridge must carry. The wind load is the pressure of the
storms that beat on the bridge. The designer plans for bracings that will
enable the bridge to bear all these loads.
*God, the supreme architect and engineer of the universe, has provided
bracings for our lives as well to carry the dead load of self, the live
load of daily living, and the wind load of emergencies. You see at issue
is not "if" the trials will come, but when. And whether or not we have
put our trust in Christ to face the various trials that come our way.
*Illustration- I read once that logging companies that collect tress
from mountainous regions will separate trees that weathered storms from
trees that were protected from storms. Apparently the trees that are
protected from storms have a courser grain than the trees that endure
them.
*Now I don’t know trees or bridges, but I do know life my friend. And it
can be hard and harsh. I can’t imagine enduring the loss of a child. I
can’t comprehend being told, "You have cancer." I can’t imagine not
knowing when I will eat again. I can’t imagine having my wife tell me she
doesn’t love me anymore.
*The point is - we will face trials. And so this connects the next
thought:
B. Your Faith Will Be Tested.
*Illustration- I heard a story about when Mount Vesuvius erupted over
Pompeii, burying the city in ash, that people were found everywhere. Some
were found in their cellars, some were found in upper rooms, some were
found cowering outside. But there was one that was found at the city
gate. It was the Roman Sentinel who had been placed there by his captain,
he was still grasping his weapon. As the earth shook, he stood faithfully
at his post until the end.
*Now, to be honest, this story doesn’t apply to me very well. Because if
I had been one of Pompeii’s residents then, I would have not been the
Stoic Roman Sentinel standing guard faithfully. I would have been one of
the ones found cowering in the basement cellar.
*I guess all of us are supposed to be the Roman Sentinel standing at his
post, but we begin to wonder why the General put us at the post when the
city was being destroyed.
*Why is it that God allows such horrible tragedies to occur to His
faithful children?
*I suppose that one could conclude that James’ point is to convey this
message as well: Our Faith Will Be Tested.
*Illustration- One of my professors back in Bible College had a really
annoying habit. Every time we would have a test, he would not call it a
test, he would say that we were having an opportunity. I had to study for
this "opportunity" like I did for tests, it was always in the same format
as a test, so in my book we had tests in his class.
*You know what though? Sometimes when we are tested in life, we don’t
know the answers. God doesn’t test us so that we will become more
knowledgeable, he tests us so that we will simply trust in Him.
*But testing includes a double-edged sword with it. Because when tested,
many times the temptation is to doubt. But doubting is the worst response
one could have when tested. Listen how James describes the doubter -
"That man should not think he will receive anything from the LORD; he is
a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
*Thankfully, James wants us to know this too:
II. There is something about God that you need to know:
1. God is not playing games with you.
*It is so easy to blame God for the bad things we face in life. We view
things as if we are pawns in the midst of some cosmic chess match.
*When we endure trial and our faith is tested and we persevere, God has
promised us a gift. READ VERSE 12.
What the picture is of here is not one of a God who is removed from his
creation, not involved in their lives, but it is a picture of a God who
desperately wants to give us eternal life.
*Illustration- A Pastor was preaching on going to heaven. He said, How
many of you would like to go to heaven tonight?" And everybody raised
their hands except for a little boy in the balcony. He tried again, "How
many of you would like to go to heaven?" Everybody but that one little
fellow in the balcony. So he said to him, "Son, don’t you want to go to
heaven?" The little boy said, "Yeah, someday, but I thought you were
getting up a load right now."
*You know what, God wants to offer heaven to you - right now. He offers
it to you even in the midst of your trials. God desires this gift for you
more than you can ever comprehend. He is not the absent God.
2. God has been there.
*The other day I read a word in my Bible that has since taken up
residence in my heart. I didn’t know what to think at first, its only one
word and not a very big one at that. I was reading a passage that I’ve
read before and the word came out of nowhere and bounced me like a speed
bump. The word has since moved my spiritual furniture around a bit. READ
MARK 7:31-35.
*Here it is, Jesus does something I’d have never anticipated. He sighs.
LOOK IN VERSE 34 AGAIN. The word seemed out of place to me. I’d never
thought of God as one who sighs. I’d thought of God as one who commands,
or calls forth the dead, but not as one who sighs. I guess it caught my
eye because I do my share of sighing.
*I’ve sighed wishing that those who knew the truth would live like it.
*I’ve sighed when I sat in the living room of Larry and Karen Phillips
the day their son died.
*I’ve sighed as I’ve sat watching the nightly news, worried for our
nation.
*There is no doubt to me that each of you has done his share of sighing.
The sigh I read about in the gospel of Mark gives me comfort. When Jesus
was looking that blind man in the face, he knew that things weren’t
supposed to be this way. Our God is a God who knows our pain and has not
left us alone!
*Do you know that this morning?
INVITATION
