Who? Me?

The Greek word that James uses for “testing” is only found in one other place in the Bible … 1st Peter 1. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in Heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time.”

Listen … here comes the good part.

“In this” you what?

“… you rejoice!”

“… even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, …”

Ahh … here’s the important part: “… so that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold that, though being perishable, is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor” … for whom? For you? No! For Jesus Christ. You see, my glory, my honor comes from bringing glory and honor to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

You see, the Navy SEALs are a pretty exclusive and elite group of men. But you and I are part of the most elite group in the world …. We are Christians! Nobody … absolutely nobody … is qualified to be a member of this group. None of us. Not matter how hard we try, we will never be morally perfect. No matter how hard we try, no matter how hard we persevere, we can never earn our own way into Heaven. We have a 100% wash-out rate. As Paul says in Romans 3:23: “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

But! We are now “justified by Jesus’ grace” because He literally went through “Hell week” on our behalf. Over 50% of all SEAL applicants wash-out during Hell week but 100% of Christians who put their faith and trust in Jesus make it all the way through the trials of this life. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made a way for us to have a relationship with God because we can’t earn it. Jesus persevered for us and died for us. Jesus endured the agony and shame of the cross for you and for me to forgive us our sins. When God asked His Son to do this for Him … to do this for us … His answer was ….

“Hooyah!”

[Serve Communion]

Trials of many kind make us a better person in Christ when we allow God to mold us and shape us through the trials. We come to understand God more fully. We internalize who Jesus Christ is to us when our world is collapsing. We draw comfort from the Holy Spirit when our heart is in a hundred pieces. We come to understand the role of faith more after it has been tested. A person of faith who has been through trials is a person with a mature faith who trusts God more and more. Each experience increases our faith and our trust in God. Like James, I believe that a person who trust God, no matter the trial or test, will be perfectly complete in their faith. Can I get a “hooyah?”!

Let us pray …