James 5:19-20 October 17, 1999
Living in Expectation of Jesus¡¦ Return (Part 5); Disaster Relief
INTRODUCTION
About 6 weeks ago, people on the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina were bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Floyd. The hurricane at one time was a class 5 storm ¡V the most powerful classification of a hurricane. Everyone prepared as best they could, and then millions of people fled their homes for higher ground. By the time that the hurricane reached land, it had decreased in power to a class 3 storm. The initial damage from the storm was minimal. People south of North Carolina headed back home to begin the clean up of what was mostly minor damage. The preparations had paid off, or so it seemed. But there was no way that anyone could have been prepared for the amount of rain that fell in North Carolina. Over 20¡¨ of rain fell in just a couple of days. Since the ground was hardened from the lack of rain earlier in the summer, the rains that fell from Floyd did not soak in but just ran off into already full rivers like they would if they had fallen on concrete. The rains came down, and the floods came up. Thousands of homes were completely destroyed, and many thousands more were damaged extensively.
In just the last week or so, the floodwaters have receded enough for people to return to their homes and begin the task of cleaning up, repairing and rebuilding. Can you imagine what this experience must be like for the people in that area? Try and put yourself in their place. First, you are woken up in the middle of the night by someone pounding at your door saying, ¡§Get up! You¡¦ve got to get out of the house! The floodwaters are coming!¡¨ You only have time enough to gather up some clothes for you and the kids. There¡¦s no time to get the wedding pictures, the computer files, the kids¡¦ toys, or all those knickknacks that you have collected over the years. Once you get out of the house, you have to go to a shelter for 2 or 3 weeks, all the time wondering what is happening to your belongings and wondering what you will find when you finally do get to return home.
After the rains have receded, and you have an idea of what Noah must have felt like, you take the trip that you have been dreading ¡V the trip back to what used to be your home. When you walk in the door, the tears begin because you see something that you hadn¡¦t prepared yourself for. You see mud. It covers the carpet, the walls, and the furniture, everything that is still in the house. You walk to the basement door, and inside, you find mud that is 3 feet thick. Your washer and dryer are totally covered in it. That load of laundry that you had in the hamper is definitely going to have to be washed again. Before you can even begin to think about repairing or rebuilding, you have to think about cleaning. How are you ever going to get all the mud out?
At that point, you hear someone at the door say, ¡§Hello¡¨. You turn around to see a short, black-haired man with a big smile on his face. He says, ¡§Hi, my name is Bob White. I¡¦m with the southern Baptist disaster relief team. We¡¦ve come to get the mud out of your house. Where would you like us to start?¡¨ Once you regain your composure and can talk clearly through the sobs, you ask him to start on the basement. By the end of the day, Bob and his buddies have cleaned out the basement, have taken up the carpet and are preparing things for the construction work that will begin tomorrow. You can¡¦t believe the work that these men and women have done for free for you ¡V a total stranger! You wonder why people would take vacation days from work, and come hundreds of miles from home at their own expense to help you. So you ask, and Bob says something like this: ¡§We do it because we want to show you that God loves you, and that even in the midst of this tragedy, He is in control.¡¨ Up to that point, you had never thought too much about God, but now, you want Bob to tell you everything he knows about God. Bob tells you about how Jesus suffered and died for you in order that you might receive forgiveness from your sins and get the mud out of your life not just out of your home. There in that virtually destroyed home, you and Bob kneel on the still moist dirt, and you ask Jesus to come into your life and clean your heart.
By being a part of the southern Baptist disaster relief team, Bob White has given us an example of what it means to live out our faith in our everyday lives. That¡¦s the theme of the book of James ¡V making our faith practical. Allowing our faith ¡V what we believe about God ¡V to impact how we live our lives and how we treat other people.
We have spent the last 5 months studying the book of James. To help you remember the truths that we have learned from this book, I have compiled all the main truths from each of these messages into a summary and made these available to you on the back table. If you did not get one on the way in, you may pick up one when you leave. This morning, we come to the last two verses in the book. As we look at the last thoughts that James, the half-brother of Jesus, recorded, I want us to take a look back at where we have been these last 5 months and ask ourselves this question: Do I allow my faith to govern how I live my life, or am I claiming faith even though there is no external evidence of an internal change? If there has truly been a change in your relationship with God, then there must be an accompanying change in how you relate to the world and the people that inhabit it. Let¡¦s read verses 19-20 of James 5.
1. True faith changes the way that I deal with suffering.
„« it causes me to see that God has a purpose for everything that He allows into my life (i.e. Jimmy Layman¡¦s friend ¡V Dwayne ¡V is examining his own life as Jimmy fights for his life) (1:2-4; 5:11)
„« it causes me to see that God is there and that God is good (1:7-8,16-18)
„« it causes me to see that God will bring healing ¡V if not in this life, then when I stand before Him (5:12-16)
„« it causes me to see that I am not alone as I go through the suffering
„« it causes me to see that God will bring an end to all suffering when Jesus comes (5:7-8)
2. True faith changes the way that I deal with money.
„« It causes me to see that God will provide for me now and exalt me later (1:9; 4:6)
„« It causes me to see that God is pleased with obedience in spite of small bank accounts rather than being impressed with luxury due to large bank accounts (2:1-7; 5:1,5-6)
„« It causes me to see that God is watching when others use me to get rich (5:1-6)
3. True faith changes the way that I deal with sin.
„« It causes me to see that God offers me life and peace, but that sin only offers me destruction (1:12-15)
„« It causes me to see that God does not consider any sin small or insignificant (2:8-11)
„« It causes me to see that God will reward those who endure temptation without giving in (1:12)
„« It causes me to see that God will forgive anyone who is willing to take the blame for his own sinfulness and confess it to God (4:1-6)
„« It causes me to see that God will establish a fulfilling relationship with anyone who is willing to seek God on God¡¦s terms (4:7-10)
4. True faith changes the way that I deal with people.
„« It causes me to see that God values all people equally, and He calls me to do the same (2:1-7)
„« It causes me to see that God has put people in my life with good things to say, and I need to listen to them (1:19-20)
„« It causes me to see that God gives to those who can give nothing back to Him, and I need to do the same (1:27)
„« It causes me to see that God loves people even though it makes no sense to do so. I need to love people too. (2:8)
5. True faith changes the way that I deal with my tongue.
„« It causes me to see that God has given me a tongue to use it sparingly and carefully (1:19-20)
„« It causes me to see that God is the Judge of man¡¦s attitudes and actions. When I bite people in the back with my tongue, I put myself in God¡¦s place (4:11-12)
„« It causes me to see that God hears my prayers, so I can use my voice to affect my life and my world through prayer (5:17-18)
„« It causes me to see that God has put great power in my tongue ¡V power that I can use to strengthen or to destroy (3:1-12)
NOTE: examine the key verses that have to do with the overall theme of James (1:22; 2:18; 4:17)
CONCLUSION
There are two categories of people in this room, and each of us fits into one or both of those categories.
1. You are living a disaster. You may not be as much of a disaster as the next guy, but to one extent or another, you know that you are a disaster. Maybe your marriage is a disaster, or your family is a disaster. God offers you disaster relief. Jesus said, ¡§Come to me, all you who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.¡¨
2. You know people who are living a disaster. James says that the one who rescues another from disaster saves a soul from destruction and covers over a multitude of sins. You¡¦ve got a tongue that you can use to give them words of encouragement and that you can use to pray for them. And you have hands that you can use to care for them. Allow God to use you as His disaster relief team.
