Faith & Wisdom in a Challenging World

This podcast is brought to you by Walmart Room Lutheran Church in Langley, DC, in the hope that it will draw you closer to the one who loves you most.

So let me begin with a quick question.

What were you doing in the early 1980s?

For some of you, the answer is simple: nothing.

You weren't born yet.

But it may be a stretch for the rest of us to go all the way back to 40 years ago or more.

And maybe we'd rather not go that far back.

Well, in the early 1980s, Jane and I were recently married, living and working in Ottawa, and happily involved in Fifth Avenue Free Methodist Church.

And it was there that I taught my first adult Bible study class, which was on the letter of James.

I was using a recently published commentary by a Canadian Bible scholar called Peter Davids, and it nurtured in me a lifelong love of this captivating little letter.

I've said before, James is probably my most favorite biblical book, but James runs a very close second.

James is a hard-hitting, gritty little letter.

And this is in part because it stresses that we need to live out the gospel in very concrete ways in what is often a challenging and difficult world.

The letter's agenda is right there in the opening chapter, and it sets out, as you can see here, a series of five issues or topics which need to be tackled if God's people are going to make a real difference in the world.

And today we're going to look at four of these: faith, wisdom, poverty, and wealth, and testing and suffering.

And that last one, speech, whether it's speech amongst ourselves or our prayers, our conversations with God, that's going to have to be left for another day.

So, faith, which is going to be tested and needs to be resilient.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

So James here is speaking to believers, brothers and sisters, it says there in verse 2.

And he's telling them what they already know firsthand.

Their faith is going to be tested by trials of many kinds.

And they're told that their response to this situation should be joy.

Now, on the face of it, that seems rather odd.

What's James getting at here?

Well, the joy that's in view here is not some empty-headed, happy, clappy emotion or some martyr mentality.

It is rather a deep-seated joy which comes with one's confidence, one's faith, that God will surely uphold and ultimately vindicate his often afflicted people, just as God vindicated Jesus after his suffering in and through his resurrection.

But even now, in the present, testing has its certain rewards.

It produces, as James says, endurance or perseverance.

Well, what exactly is this perseverance?

It's a new aspect of the believer's character, which would not otherwise be present apart from testing.

It's a battle-tested resilience and fortitude.

It's a virtue that's actually often associated with Old Testament figures like Abraham regarding the sacrifice of his son Isaac, or Joseph and his suffering at the hands of his brothers, and Job, who James mentions later in this letter.

And James adds, this perseverance and fortitude is going to lead to maturity, to completeness of character.

The language sometimes used is perfection, but we all know that perfection can be problematic, and it's not that kind of perfection that James has in mind here.

It's a mature character of a covenant faithful person who is confidently committed to God and God's purposes.

That's the kind of faith-filled persons God wants us to be.

So faith.

Wisdom.

This is the second topic that James introduces quite quickly here.

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.

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 a double-minded and unstable in all that they do.

So I sometimes ask students, who is the wisest person you know, and why?

Any ideas on what's the most popular answer?

No, definitely not.

Mom and dad is close.

Grandparents is bang on.

Grandparents, that's interesting, isn't it?

Why?

Well, because grandparents have a lot of life experience and a lot of love with which to teach their grandchildren.

Wisdom, like faith, says James, is a key element in a mature Christian life.

And a person of faith will ask God for wisdom because God wants his people to be wise and discerning as they make their way in the world.

But when you ask, says James, believe and do not doubt.

Now, it's important to notice here that James is not saying that Christians can never ask tough questions, or will ever struggle with difficult situations, or will ever have doubts about this or that pressing concern.

To be honest, we all do.

Rather, James is saying believers cannot be perpetually torn in two different directions between faith and unbelief, leaning this way, always on the fence.

Rather, their overall pattern of life must be characterized by faithfulness, in and through the ups and downs, the twists and turns, the very difficult times that will surely come.

So in this way, wise believers of faith distinguish themselves from those who are double-minded, blown back and forth.

The double-minded will not be able to receive all that they need from God because they lack the faith, the continuing commitment to make their reception of God's wisdom all the more available.

Instead, people of faith must approach God expectantly and ask for wisdom.

And God's wisdom is Jesus-like, spirit-shaped.

Now, surprisingly, James never in his letter mentions the Holy Spirit explicitly.

But he does talk about wisdom.

Because James knows that wisdom is a gift of God's Spirit for God's people.

So this wisdom is not being smart, it is rather faithfulness seeking understanding, seeking discernment, seeking the wise way forward, having the mind of Christ, and being led by the Spirit.

The third topic that James introduces is this one poverty and wealth.

Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.

But the rich should take pride in their humiliation, since they will pass away like a wild flower.

So James is contrasting the situation of believers in humble circumstances with the rich who should take pride in their humiliation.

That is, recognize that they will, if not now, certainly in the future, be humbled, be brought low.

And we shouldn't be too quick to spiritualize away the hard-hitting force of what James is saying here.

In the wider context of the letter, it's clear that the contrast is between those who are socioeconomically poor and those who are socioeconomically wealthy.

It's less clear, though, whether the contrast is between poor Christians and rich Christians, which is possible, or between poor Christians and rich unbelievers, which I think is more likely in this case in James.

And we might fast forward to James.

Actually, I'm gonna read the text to you.

James chapter 5.

James 5 · chapter mention

I don't, is it out there?

Let me just check.

No, no.

Okay.

Listen to James chapter 5, the beginning of it.

James 5 · chapter mention

Now listen, you rich people.

Weep and wail because of the misery that's coming on you.

Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.

Look, the wages you fail to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you.

The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.

You have fattened yourselves on the day of slaughter.

You have condemned and murdered the innocent one who is not opposing you.

This is strong stuff.

If these later remarks are any indication, in James chapter 1, in verses 9 to 11, James then is making a contrast between poor Christians and rich unbelievers.

James 1 · chapter mention

In any event, it's clear that the poor Christians are to boast in their or glory in their lowly status because they're going to be raised up.

Think of Jesus and his lowliness and his being raised up.

And so believers are being encouraged to see their present difficult circumstances within the wider context of God's assurance that they will ultimately experience all the glories of God.

Here we might think of what Jesus says in Luke chapter 6, verse 20: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

The fate of the rich, says James, is otherwise.

If we're dealing with wealthy Christians here, then they are being admonished to take no pride in their possessions or their position, because that's going to fade away.

But if we're dealing with wealthy unbelievers, then they are being forewarned of God's judgment unless they humble themselves.

So the sequence of thought so far in the opening of this letter is that one area in which faith and wisdom will be tested is how we handle poverty and wealth in the world.

Faith and wisdom should produce humble lives that are deeply concerned for the welfare of others.

As James says at the end of this first chapter, religion, that is piety or faith, that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless, includes looking after orphans and widows in their distress.

Oh, there's the there's the passage from chapter five.

Okay.

Testing and suffering.

James then moves on to a fourth, and for our purposes today, a final topic, as he really addresses head-on testing.

Testing and suffering.

As verse 12 indicates, uh, well, let's read the passage.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.

But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desires and enticed.

So James gives at least two reasons here why we should endure testing, and in enduring that testing, we will be blessed by God.

First, most obviously, if they show themselves to be faithful and wise, mature believers who love God, that will be evident in and through their testing.

But also, he says, secondly, they will ultimately receive the crown of life.

That's a phrase that is found elsewhere in the New Testament.

Paul mentions it at the end of 1 Thessalonians, and it refers to the eternal life which believers will ultimately experience with the full and final coming of God's kingdom.

So testing here and now can produce battle-tested resilience, and it ultimately will lead to God's glory.

But at this point, in verses 13 and 14, James addresses a stern warning to any who are in danger of abandoning their resistance to the trials that they face.

James knows that believers can experience testing from one of three sources.

God can be responsible for testing, and God's testing is designed to make us stronger.

Think again of Abraham, of Joseph.

Secondly, Satan may be responsible, but in this case, the testing is actually, in effect, temptation.

A temptation that is designed to make us stumble and fall.

Think of Job's scenario.

Or thirdly, we may be responsible.

Again, we may succumb to temptation.

It's a condition which we may bring on ourselves.

Well, James doesn't have option one in view here.

James knows, and in fact, James says, God cannot be tempted by evil, and God does not tempt anyone.

Yes, God at times tests his people.

Would Abraham sacrifice his own son?

Will Joseph withstand being sold into slavery?

But God's testing is designed to make us stronger.

God never tests his people in a way that's designed to cause them to stumble, to fall.

That's the form of temptation.

God does not do that.

That's what Satan does.

And that's the second option here.

And the classic example is, as we've said, Job.

Satan wants to cause tempt to stumble and fall.

But in this case, James has the third option in view, where we allow temptation to arise from our own evil desires.

It's possible, of course, that Satan is at work behind all of that.

And the vivid language that gets used here in verse 14 is this this kind of temptation entices, evil desire entices, it drags away.

We're to think of a fish being drawn in on a hook or an animal being enticed into a trap.

And then shockingly, in verse 15, which we don't have here on the screen, in verse 15, James goes on to use what is otherwise a positive procreative metaphor, but he describes the terrible path and progress of this Satan-sponsored evil desire.

This evil desire is first conceived, it then gives birth to sin.

And this offspring sin itself grows up, and it in turn gives birth to death.

It's not a particularly pleasant picture.

In fact, it's the exact opposite of this faith with which James began his discussion, the faith that produces perseverance and that leads to maturity.

So the options in James here are clear.

We endure testing and we become mature, or we give in to Satan-sponsored, self-centered, evil desires, and that will lead to sin and death.

So all of this is very serious stuff.

And James issues a warning in verse 16.

Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

Don't be deceived and dragged away by sin.

But also don't be deceived into thinking that God is the source of such temptation.

Instead, James rightly recognizes that, yes, there is testing and suffering.

He doesn't sidestep that reality, he doesn't underplay it, but he goes on to say in verses 17 and 18 that God is a God who responds to all of this with the truth of the gospel.

In a series of lively images, he says, the God who created the heavenly lights, that's the sun, the moon, the stars, and so on, and whose purposes do not vary, this God gives good gifts.

He's probably thinking here of gifts like faith and wisdom.

And if God gives good gifts, says James, you may be sure that he doesn't shift, he doesn't deceive in the way that Satan does.

Indeed, as a case in point, James says that God has fulfilled his good providential purposes by choosing to give us birth through the word of truth, through the gospel of Jesus, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all that he created.

God's gospel, the good news in Jesus and in the Spirit, gives birth to the new covenant, the new creation people of God.

As Caroline so nicely illustrated in the children's lesson, we are to be God's new covenant, new creation people, be God's image bearers in the world.

And that will sustain us even in and through our testing and suffering, so that we can participate fully in all that God is doing to renew humanity, creation, and indeed all things.

They are critical to tackling two of life's big issues.

What are we going to do about poverty and wealth?

How are we going to handle testing and suffering?

And God's people are to bear one another's burdens and to look after those in need.

So let us pray then that God will give us faith and wisdom, that we may live this out in the midst of a world of poverty and wealth, and in the face of testing and suffering, so that we may indeed be the covenant faithful, new creation, people of God.

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