After God finished creating a perfect world for us to live in, He gave us the capacity to manage and affect that world. With that privilege and responsibility, human beings allowed sin to enter into the world. Once sin entered the picture, a creation that God had declared "very good" began to deteriorate. The descent was accelerated by lies. First there was the lie that Eve believed from the serpent, "You will not die." From that point on, it seemed that there was a twistedness in the minds of people. The truth became shaded and distorted so that it didn’t have to mean what it really meant. Spinning words into half-truths is not a political invention of the twentieth century. It goes back to the earliest days of the human race.
In Genesis 4 we have recorded what happens when someone allows a lie to take root in their mind. Two brothers, Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to the Lord. Cain was a farmer who tilled the land and so his sacrifices were fruit. Abel evidently was a shepherd, so when he brought his sacrifice, it was from what he had, livestock. But there was more of a difference in their sacrifice than what was brought. There was a difference in the quality. While Abel brought the best he had, Cain evidently brought only whatever he could scrape up. God noticed the difference. While he was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice, He didn’t think much of what Cain brought. Cain became jealous of the fact that his brother’s sacrifice was acceptable to God while his was not.
In his anger, Cain lured Abel out into the fields and killed him in a fit of rage. It was a terrible crime, the first murder. Not long after that God approached Cain with a question that the all-knowing one already knew the answer to. He said, "Cain, where is your brother, Abel?" Cain’s response is classic. "I don’t know! Am I my brother’s keeper?" Can’t you see the lie that has already taken root in the mind of Cain? In satisfying himself that his actions were appropriate, he has already begun to justify the murder of his brother by believing, "He’s not my responsibility, I have enough to take care of myself."
Although there aren’t many of us who bear the guilt of killing another person, like Cain, I wonder how many times we are content to sit idly by and watch the people around us die, all the while using the excuse of the world’s first murderer, "Hey, it’s not my responsibility! Am I my brother’s keeper?"
If you’re looking for a "No" answer to that question, you better not ask James. He is certain that the answer is "Yes, you are your brother’s keeper." As he closes out his letter, he leaves no doubt about it. Listen to what he has to say.
Read James 5:19-20
Now you cannot fail to recognize how important James thinks this is. Not only does he end his letter with a challenge to be our brother’s keeper, but he has devoted the last five chapters to the task itself. He has been focused on turning sinners like us from the error of our ways. (This is the fourteenth week we have focused on the book of James. Thanks for hanging with me in this series, and thanks for being such great listeners) As we have worked through this letter, remember the direction James has offered us.
1. Don’t give in to the temptation to quit when you face trials. Instead allow God to use them to shape you into who He wants you to be.
2. Don’t think that you can just sit around and say, "I have placed my faith in Jesus, so there is nothing more to do." Put your faith to work and do something in response to God’s grace.
3. Be very careful not to treat people unfairly based on who they are or how much money they have. Treat everyone with love.
4. Don’t let your tongue get you into trouble. Instead turn it over to God and let Him set the standards of your speech.
5. Use the resources that God has given you in a godly fashion, and don’t take advantage of others who don’t have as much as you.
6. However, if you are taken advantage of, don’t retaliate. Be patient in your suffering and God will reward you richly.
7. Don’t try to make it through this life on your own, but involve God in every aspect of your life. If you do, you will be blessed and God will be glorified.
And even within those big themes from James’ letter, there are strong directions for us to tell the truth at all times, to turn our plans for the future over to God, to pursue wisdom, and to withstand temptation. When it is all said and done, you see what James is doing, don’t you. James is being his brothers’ and sisters’ keeper. He is taking the time and making the effort to turn sinners from the errors of their ways. And with the last breath of his letter, he tells us all to go and do the same for other people.
Now over the course of my 30 some odd years in the church, I’ve seen people have two responses to this notion of being their brother’s keeper. I’m sure that neither of them is healthy.
Some people are thrilled with the prospect of being their brother’s keeper. Just the thought of getting to meddle in the affairs of others makes their pulse race with excitement. They can’t wait to identify a problem in the life of somebody so they can tell them how to take care of it. To those who love to point out others faults Jesus said, "Make sure that the plank in your own eye is out of the way before you go trying to pick the speck of sawdust out of your neighbor’s eye."
I think the other extreme is more common with the people I’ve been around. Most people in today’s culture live more by the philosophy "Live and let live." This way of thinking believes, "The way other people live their life is up to them." Those who follow this philosophy think it’s highly offensive to go sticking your nose into other people’s business. They think it’s important just to keep their own nose clean and let others worry about themselves. This is the person you are very likely to hear asking that classic rhetorical question from Cain: "What, am I my brother’s keeper?"
I heard a story about a guy who applied for a job as an usher at a theater in the mall. As a part of the interview process, the manager asked him, "What would you do in case a fire breaks out?"
The young guy answered, "Don’t worry about me. I can get out fine."
That’s exactly how many in today’s world respond to a lost and dying world around them. If you asked them "What would you do if Jesus came back tomorrow?" they would probably respond, "Oh, don’t worry about me. I’d be fine." But what is all to easy to forget is that you’re an usher! It isn’t enough just to get out yourself. You are responsible for helping others know the way.
It is not only completely appropriate for us to be our brother’s keeper, it is essential. We all know that we live in a dangerous world where there is all kinds of potential for falling into sin. Peter wrote in his first letter, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." In this world, in our community, there are Christians who have fallen back into the bondage of sin. There are Christian people who have given in to greed and lust and even despair, and we have a responsibility to encourage them to turn from those things and to give themselves wholly back to Jesus and his life of hope and peace. (pause)
There is not one of us here this morning who has not needed the correction, and perhaps even the stern rebuke of someone because of a failure in our own lives. It is not an issue of one person being superior to another person. It is simply an issue of one who has their feet on solid ground reaching out a hand to assist someone who has lost their footing.
James anticipates people asking the question "Why should I bother to be my brother’s keeper?" He answers us with two reasons.
1. If you turn them from error, you will save them from death.
The Bible does not teach that once you are saved, you are always saved. You don’t have to live your life in fear of falling out of grace, but you can certainly reject or abandon God’s grace if you so choose. James says that we have a responsibility to get the attention of those who have fallen into sin. If you saw someone speeding in their car down a road that you knew ended at the edge of a cliff, would you feel a responsibility to warn them of the result of their action? I hope you would. If you see someone living a lifestyle that does nothing but separate them from God and their brothers and sisters in Christ, do you feel a responsibility to point that out to them? I hope you do. If you turn them from their error, you just might be the one to save them from a death that will leave them separated from God for eternity.
2. If you turn them from error, you will cover over a multitude of sins.
Have you ever known a family who was caught in a downward spiral? You know what I mean, where one sin leads to another and then it continues to be compounded. Perhaps someone falls prey to alcohol, and they let drinking become their master. Before long that family comes to know abuse and neglect. There is fighting, physical and emotional pain, and a deterioration in the entire family structure. There might be a divorce that splits a home in two. Many times that kind of situation turns an entire family sour. If you were to look back in some family trees, you might find that several generations were affected by the sin of one person. Habits and lifestyles get passed on for years to come. Now, considering what we are talking about this morning, we have to ask the question. What if someone had cared enough to confront that alcoholic early on about their sin? What if someone who was close enough to them to come alongside them and say, "Hey, the drinking is getting out of hand, what can I do to help?" I think what James is saying here is that if you can do something to keep your brother from sin, you will save them and those around them from even more sin. Sin is a slippery slope that always takes us away from where God wants us to be.
Biblically there are certain attitudes we must have if we are to be effective as our brother’s keeper. Let me briefly mention 4 attitudes highlighted by Paul in Galatians 6:1-2. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."
1. We must be concerned.
Not so caught up in our own life that we can’t see to help someone who is in need.
2. We must have courage.
It is not easy to confront. We must be willing to listen, be patient.
3. We must have integrity.
It is the one who is "spiritual" who should be about this. Notice it does not say "elder" or "Leader." You might be the only one who has the opportunity to reach someone.
4. We must be gentle.
Now I find it very interesting that Paul writes this in Galatians. Just a few chapters before this he talks about confronting Peter. He stands up in front of the entire group of believers and it says he "opposes him to his face." There is a time to use the subtle approach, and the time to use the Hiroshima approach. (Intervention into alcoholism) Generally speaking gentleness is the norm.
Back in July in an incident that the news-media called "The Miracle at Quecreek," nine miners were trapped 240 feet under-ground for three days in a water-filled mine shaft. You probably remember, you were no doubt holding your breath with me as they were down in that flooded mine shaft without food and light and drinking water. After they were rescued, they were interviewed about what happened down there. They said that they "decided early on they were either going to live or die as a group."
The 55 degree water threatened to kill them slowly by hypothermia, so according to one news report "When one would get cold, the other eight would huddle around the person and warm [them], and when another person got cold, the favor was returned."
Miner Harry Mayhugh told reporters after being released from Somerset Hospital, "Everybody had strong moments, but any certain time maybe one guy got down, and then the rest pulled together. And then that guy would get back up, and maybe someone else would feel a little weaker, but it was a team effort. That’s the only way it could have been."
They faced incredibly hostile conditions together-and the world marveled when they all came out alive together. [Bill White, Paramount, California; source: adapted from "Teamwork Helped Miners Survive Underground," CNN.com (7-28-02)]
What a great picture of what the church is supposed to be. In a couple of weeks I’m going to begin a new series of messages called, "Why I love the Church." One of the reasons that I love the church is because we have been given a responsibility by God to help those who need it. There is no question about it; from the Bible’s perspective we are our brother’s keeper. When we do it the way we are supposed to, God is glorified and the church grows deeper and stronger and larger because people aren’t coming in the front door only to leave out the back because of the sin that they allow to control their lives.
Prayer
William Temple was a wise Puritan preacher in years gone by. He said that we should never tell people to "’Go to the cross.’ We’ve got to be able to say ’Come to the cross.’ He went on to say, "There are only two voices that can issue that invitation. One is the voice of the sinless Redeemer, with which we cannot speak, and the other is the voice of the forgiven sinner who knows himself forgiven. And that is our part." (William Temple, quoted by John R. W. Stott, "Keeping the Right Company," Preaching Today, Tape No. 46.)
This morning the invitation at this time is one to come to the cross. Jesus Christ came to set us free not just from the penalty of sin, but from the bondage of sin. He died on the cross so that we would no longer be under the control of sin in our lives. It is a tremendous gift that He offers us through the blood He shed on the cross. But it’s a gift we must personally accept through our obedient response to his invitation to come to the cross.
