James: A Word of Grace to the Doubting | Student Pastor: Sam Rapp

So last week Russ taught through verse 4, and he kind of talked through how, hey, you're gonna suffer, it's gonna hurt.

Um, but James encourages us to rejoice even in the midst of that.

Um, and that's hard.

It's hard.

Because James argues that as we go through suffering, as seasons are hard, as we go through things that hurt, James says it brings us to maturity.

But I'd like that not to be the case, wouldn't you?

I'd like for my growth in Christ to just be a nice, pretty upward slope.

But what James is saying is that, and the most most of the time the growth we experience comes through suffering, and that's hard.

I think that we can argue, and I think what James is arguing, is that verses two through four, which say, you know, count at all joy, my brothers, when you go through suffering.

I think verses two through four are kind of the ideal.

That's kind of like what Jesus would respond with in seasons of suffering, and so I think James knows that, and I think in verses five to eleven we see, okay, when I'm not living in the ideal, what do I do?

This past Tuesday, uh, my wife Grace and I celebrated our three-year wedding anniversary.

So I know that you're thinking, they get it now.

They're masters now, figured it out.

Three years, they know it.

For Christmas of last year, Grace and I were given a gift card to a restaurant in Atlanta called Houston's.

Uh we've spent my whole life going there for birthdays, celebrations, things like that.

And it's become a very special place for us.

So, our original plan for anniversary on Tuesday was to just go to dinner, hang out, and then come back home, just have a chill night.

Um, but a few days before this, I think it was Friday, Grace and I were sitting there watching a movie, hanging out, and I was thinking about our anniversary, and I was like, maybe I could brainstorm.

And so I pulled up the Marriott Bonvoy app, as one does, start scrolling, looking through, man, what sort of nights in Atlanta could we maybe figure out on our you know, salaries?

And so I Marriott gets me good.

They pull up this little message and it says, You've pre-qualified for the Marriott Bonvoy boundless credit card.

And if you accept it, you get a$250 e-gift card effective immediately.

And so I thought, heck yeah, all right, we're gonna treat ourselves on Tuesday then.

So I look over at Grace and she loves surprises, loves surprise.

She eats it up.

And so I looked at her, I was like, Grace, I have a surprise for you on Tuesday.

And she was like, what?

Like it made her day.

So pack our bags on Tuesday, go to Houston's, and we pull up and I look at Grace, and as we're pulling up, we see Houston's there, and all of a sudden I'm like kind of emotional, and I'm like, what's going on?

Why am I emotional?

You may be thinking, Sam, like if a restaurant makes you emotional, maybe you need to get out more, like that this is you know what's going on here.

So let me explain why Houston's means so much to Grace and I.

So my father died about almost exactly two years ago, unexpectedly.

Uh, next week is the anniversary of that.

I realized as we were pulling up that Grace and I had not been to Houston's, just to the two of us, since he died.

So all of a sudden, Grace and I are in the parking lot inconsolable because this truth is just weighing on us, like, oh my gosh, we haven't been here yet.

This place means a lot to us.

So the tears are just flowing out of nowhere.

Houston's is very tight on the reservation schedule.

They do not like you to be late.

Our reservation was at 7.

We pull up at 6.58, we start crying, we have minutes to get inside and lock it up and go tell the Maider D we're here, okay?

So Grace sits in the car for a second, gathers herself.

I try to gather myself, and I go to the Maider D.

I'm like, hey, you know, reservation for Sam choking it out.

Uh reservation for Sam's at 7, rap, whatever, and she's like, okay, Mr.

Rap, no worries, we'll get that for you.

And I first of all I was like, she's calling Mr.

Rap?

I don't get that much.

Okay, Mr.

Rap's here.

So I have literal tears in my eyes as we're doing this.

I'm like, okay, sounds great.

And so then I go outside, and Grace and I sit on a bench, cry a lot uh more, and people are probably like, These people are crazy.

You're at a restaurant, why are you sobbing?

And then the girl comes back, I was like, Mr.

Rap, your table's ready.

So we go, we sit down, we order our drinks.

The server didn't even take our drink order, the host did.

And then he set a little pretty piece of paper on the table.

I was like, what's going on?

So we sit there, it's our anniversary, got this beautiful little corner table that looks over the whole restaurant, have a delicious glass of wine, we talk, we cry, we laugh, we process together.

And let me just say this.

It's pretty easy to laugh and cry at the same time like that.

It's easy for the reality of pain and the reality of joy to also coexist when you're at a table like that.

It's our anniversary.

We're at our favorite restaurant.

We got a fancy hotel coming next.

I'm at dinner with my favorite person.

The dinner is pretty much free because of the card.

The hotel is also free uh because of the credit card, other than the sneaky little yearly fee that they threw in there.

Didn't tell me about that.

That's alright, figure that out.

The reality of death still really stung at that table that night.

Even with the glass of wine, even with the delicious food, even with the special night.

But like I'd like for my dad to still be here.

But that night was pretty special for us to be able to find joy and have our eyes set at the cross in that.

So when it's not an ideal night like that, when it's not the special anniversary, when it's just the normal Tuesday, when it's the sad, lonely Friday night, when we fall into that sin or that addiction again, how do we rejoice in God on those days?

That's the question.

I think that's what James is hitting at here.

And what the world is gonna argue, and what your teenagers are being discipled by on Instagram and uh by their friends, there's the world is saying this since the world is broken and suffering exists, there cannot possibly be a God that exists, and even if he did exist, he can't be good or he can't be all-powerful because it's still here, right?

That's what your kids are hearing.

That's what the atheist philosopher David Hume argued, and it's a philosopher that your kids, when they go to college, will probably read, even if it's a school like Samford.

But here's how James's argument lands it says, you will suffer, and your suffering is not meaningless.

Why?

Because in your suffering you're brought to maturity.

What James argues is that the present evil and suffering in the world do not mean that God's not here or active or exists.

It actually is part of God's redemptive plan in Christ to come defeat the very evil and sin that we experience.

So the big argument that James is hitting on here is when you suffer in your maturity, you get Christ.

You get more of Jesus through that.

And in our ideal moments, it's easier to believe that, right?

Like on the anniversary night where we're able to laugh and cry together all on this perfect, beautiful night, but what about the other 364 days in between?

How do we how do we process the pain of our lives then?

So let's pick up in James 1, verse 5.

James 1:5

Says this if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

So quickly James shifts.

He shifts.

He says, if any of you are lacking, which assumes you're gonna lack.

And he says, lack what?

Wisdom.

So what does James mean by wisdom?

Wisdom, I think, for James is properly living and understanding the ideal of verses two through four.

And he acknowledges pastorally that we won't be living in this wisdom most of the time.

Because most of life is not the ideal, beautiful anniversary night, like Grace and I had on Tuesday.

Most of life, we're not living in the ideal.

Wisdom, I think, to James, is when our will and God's will mesh.

When we recognize, hey, this suffering is not meaningless.

Why?

Because I have the mind of Christ.

But here's the encouragement.

When we lack, not if, when we lack, when our wisdom is not like God's wisdom, what do we do?

James says, ask God.

We learn three things about God's heart just in verse five.

Three things that I just pulled out from the text.

Number one, it is in God's nature to give.

It's not just like something he does, you know, uh reluctantly.

It's it's in his nature to give.

Number two, God gives generously and without hesitation.

We see that in verse five.

And then lastly, number three, God's generosity is boundless, and all who ask in faith will receive.

That's the promise.

It's not a maybe.

We will receive this wisdom.

And what James is doing here is this when you suffer, when you're finding it hard to rejoice, when you're finding it hard to find Christ as rest and refuge, ask.

Ask.

Lord, give me this joy.

I would like to rejoice in my suffering, Lord, but I'm finding that hard.

Help.

Great.

Okay.

James seems a little bit more pastoral than we remembered.

Let's look at verses six through eight.

Verse six.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting.

For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Whoa.

Full disclosure.

I've been student pastor here for about three years.

I have had countless students come to me with those three verses with tears in their eyes.

Because they think God's mad at them for doubting.

So this that's why this passage matters.

That's why we've got to make sense of what James is doing here.

So how do we make sense of this?

First, we need to remember who James is writing to.

James is writing to Christians, which means he's writing to people who are fully, freely, and forever forgiven by the blood of his son, Jesus.

Not because they've held it together, not because they never doubt, but because Jesus is sufficient for salvation.

So we read these verses in the context that he's writing to people who are forgiven in Christ forever.

Justified.

And James gives us some direction.

Hey, when you're lacking, when you're doubting, when you're having a hard time believing that God is good in your situation, ask.

Ask.

He says, how?

He says, in faith.

Not doubting.

So let's talk.

That's what we need to, that's what we need to talk about.

If we're honest, I'm honest.

I probably doubted like on my drive here this morning about the character of God.

So it's like, I'm preaching on this, does that mean I'm disqualified?

James says, person will not receive anything from God.

Whew, okay.

So James does say, with no doubting, not even just a little, none.

So I think in order for us to understand what he means by this, let's look at verses 7 through 8 one more time.

It says, For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

What I want to say first is that God never condemns honest faith struggles.

From Genesis to Revelation, never condemns it.

In fact, he welcomes it because God is big enough to handle your struggles.

So if we want to know what a life of honest faith and doubt and struggle is, we can just read the Psalms.

Look at King David wrestling and lament with God.

Even Jude 22 says, Have mercy on the one who doubts.

What about Thomas?

He's a pretty good apostle until the one moment, and then we change his name to doubting Thomas.

He did pretty good other than that.

It's a tough nickname.

When Thomas doubts, how does Jesus respond?

Does Jesus condemn him?

No, Jesus doesn't even open the door, he appears in the room all the time, so that's crazy.

Appears in the room, moves towards Thomas in grace, resolves Thomas's doubts and love, says, Hey, here are the holes.

One of my favorite examples of doubt in the whole Bible comes in the end of the Gospel of Matthew.

It's right before the Great Commission.

You know, yeah, go forth and make disciples, I'll be with you.

Heck yeah.

Let's look at verses 16 and 17.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.

I love that.

The eleven.

Some doubted.

I love how honest the Bible is.

This is the resurrected Christ about to ascend to the Father.

Holes in his hands, hole in his side, hole in his feet, rose from the grave on Sunday.

Some of them are like, I don't know.

Can you imagine?

You're standing there on this mountain right by Galilee.

You see the risen Christ.

He's like rising up to heaven.

You're like, ah, I don't know.

I'm good.

What?

That's crazy.

I love the Bible.

It's so honest.

It doesn't condemn them for doubting either, does it?

It just makes note of it.

It's fascinating.

So we read hard passages like this in James 1 in light of the rest of the canon.

In light of what the rest of the Word of God has made clear, which is that it's normal and regular to have doubts.

It's normal and regular to have questions.

And we see God nowhere condemning believers for that.

So please hear that as we have this hard passage.

So in that case, what on earth kind of doubt is James talking about?

So in verse 8, James uses the phrase double-minded.

Double-minded.

So in the Greek, let's have a Greek little nerd out.

The word for double-minded is only used three times in the whole New Testament, from Matthew to Revelation.

It's only used three times, two of which are in the book of James, and one is in the book of 1 Corinthians.

The word could better be translated as double-souled.

Person with a divided soul, the soul cut in half.

This person essentially has a divided heart.

Allegiance here and allegiance here.

And even Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says that's not possible.

So the doubt that this person is experiencing isn't just an intellectual one.

It's a moral and a spiritual one.

And this is way deeper than just honest questions in our faith.

It would be like someone asking God for wisdom, but not even believing God can give them wisdom.

So in a few weeks, on September 30th, the Georgia Bulldogs are driving down to Auburn, Alabama, play the Auburn Tigers.

Now let's just say, for story's sake, that Georgia loses.

That's a silly story, I know.

But let's just say that Georgia loses the game.

Okay.

It's possible, and now it might happen.

I don't want to speak that.

Now, let's just say, say I'm at the game, got my Georgia jersey on, cheering.

But then all of a sudden it's becoming very clear that Georgia's not going to win the game.

Now, let's say, as the seconds are winding down, games coming to a close, I you see me, and I start slowly peeling my Georgia jersey off just to reveal an Auburn jersey underneath.

Let's say that's what you see me doing.

That's not what's gonna happen in that moment.

I'll probably be crying and pretty sad, but I'm not changing my allegiance to be for the Tigers all of a sudden because Georgia loses to them.

That's kind of what James is doing here.

It's about allegiance.

It's about where our heart is finding its identity and our rest in.

This isn't just a Christian wrestling with doubts in their faith.

This is a person who doesn't even actually believe in God, asking God for something, kind of like a genie in a bottle.

This is an author named Paul Copen.

He writes in this article, he's talking about our passage here, verses six through eight.

And he's speaking specifically to parents with students, but I think what he talks about can actually speak to all of us.

This is what Paul writes, Paul Copen.

He says there is a secret infidel in every believer's heart, a kind of internal dialogue between one's believing self and unbelieving self.

The wrong response to doubting and to questioning youth is to keep them in a Christian bubble, or simply to dismiss their questions and exhort them to pray hard or read the Bible or just believe.

The right response is to teach them to doubt wisely.

Christian leaders and parents should give the young people entrusted to them ample room to grapple with doubts, to ask questions around the supper table or over a cup of coffee.

The next generation should receive direction in honestly working through these questions.

We should seek to sharpen their minds and strengthen their faith so they can embrace it as their own.

I love this quote because it does two things.

First, it accepts that all of us, young and old, will experience doubts.

Will experience doubts.

And it offers no condemnation for that.

And then, second, it encourages us to find safe community with people that we love and trust to wrestle with them through.

So I want to say this again with this hard passage.

You are free in Christ to wrestle with God in faith.

He actually welcomes it.

Christ in Matthew 11 says, Come to me all who are heavy laden, and I will give you what?

Rest.

God wants you to think deeply about him.

He wants you to think deeply about him.

And when you think deeply about something, you're gonna have doubts.

And God actually welcomes that.

But in the midst of our doubts, what I think James wants us to know is that the heart of Christ is for you as you wrestle.

And James, the blood brother of Jesus of Nazareth, knew that.

You think James never had some doubts about his brother?

Bet he did.

So when we read verses five through eight, I pray you don't find condemnation there.

I pray you don't find yourself like the student coming to me with tears thinking God hates them.

So James closes our passage with another abrupt transition.

So he goes from our doubt passage, verses five through eight, and goes right into talking about money.

So here we go, verses nine through eleven.

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away, for the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass, its flower falls and its beauty perishes, so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

So if you remember, verse 2, James talks about trials of many kinds that we will all face.

When you face trials of many kinds, what James is doing here is giving us an example of a trial of various kinds.

He could have used a number of things: sickness, health, death, life, marriage, divorce, addiction, healing.

But he chooses money, finances.

Why?

I think we can all agree that money is the great equalizer.

Like life and death, we all are in these verses.

James is reading us here.

We are all either poor or rich in the world.

Most of us probably finding ourselves somewhere in the middle.

And what James is doing is driving the point of verse 2 home.

He's saying, whatever your circumstance, rich or poor, boast in the Lord.

That's what he's saying.

He's saying, hey, when you face trials in the world, whether you're rich or whether you're poor, find Christ there.

So, poor or rich, find Christ.

That's what he's saying.

He says, for the poor, verse 9, look how rich I am in Christ.

For the rich in verse 10, look at my great need for Christ.

That's what he's doing.

And the big point he's driving home, I think.

Our wealth will change.

Our savings accounts will change and one day not be here.

The kitchen renovation that one day was the best thing in our life will become dull.

Because what James says is that riches fade.

Beauty perishes.

Grass one day won't be green.

But what's the one thing that stays forever, unchanging?

Our beloved identity as a son or daughter of the King of Kings who loves us and gave himself up for us.

That's what won't perish, no matter what.

So James is reminding us here.

True joy, true contentment, true secure identity in this life, unwavering, cannot be found in riches.

Okay.

The draw of riches is pretty magnetic, though, isn't it?

We scroll on Zillow, we see houses we can't afford, you know, cars and clothes and country clubs and all that good stuff, shoes.

I think, oh, all the pain and sorrow of my life will go away if I had that$80 million house in the Hamptons, wouldn't it?

It's like, yeah, it's silly, but I get it.

James gets it.

That's why he's hitting on it.

What's interesting is that the Bible doesn't condemn wealth.

It never condemns wealth.

I mean, you just look at Solomon, King David.

Like those dudes were like rich, rich.

Like, I know y'all know some people that are rich.

Like, we're talking rich rich, like fun money plus sum, right?

And here's what James is doing.

He's showing us that God cares less about how much we own and more about what weight what we own holds on our hearts.

That's what he's hitting on.

And this is what James is doing.

He's saying, hey, like, suffering's gonna come.

Life will shoot you off out of nowhere.

And life on the side of heaven is hard.

So James is nailing this down, saying, hey, the cure of the pain of your heart is not more money.

The cure of the pain of your heart is not a better house or a renovated kitchen or a better perfect vacation.

What he's saying is the cure is Christ.

The cure is aligning our hearts with the heart of God and finding our secure standing in the person and work of Jesus.

So the offer for us this morning from James is to run and collapse once again at the feet of Jesus.

It's the invitation every week, because that's the invitation of the gospel.

It's to remember, to return back once again.

And even some things we can pray are, Lord, life is hard.

Verses two through four are a real present reality for a lot of us in this room.

Life has beat us up.

And so we can come to the Lord saying, Lord, life is hard.

I don't have the wisdom I want.

I don't understand why life hurts so much.

Lord, I'm finding myself frustrated at you.

I'm finding myself hard to find the joy in the midst of this pain.

So, God, help.

I'd love to have this joy that you're talking about.

I'd love to have the joy that Christ had, but I don't.

So I'd love to have it.

James says, Come to Him.

Find a refuge in the only one who has the words of eternal life.

The only one who loves you perfectly.

The only one who you can be fully yourself and still fully free and loved by.

And the one who, like Peter, you can look at him confidently and say, Lord, where else would we go?

For you have the words of eternal life.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you that your word is without fault.

These 66 books, give us the beautiful person of Christ.

Who, Lord, in our mess, in our addiction, in our shame, in our pride, in our messiness, Lord, we find perfect love there.

So Lord, I pray for the person in here who man, life has just beat them up this year.

Lord, I pray that they would not feel ashamed in questioning you.

I I pray, Lord, that they would not find you judging them in anger for wondering where you are in the midst of the pain.

I pray for all of us in this room, Lord, that we would collapse into the mercy of Christ, maybe in a new way this morning.

Thank you for Jesus.

Thank you that even in hard passages like this, Lord, we can find you there.

And I pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit would continue to do a work on us through your word and through the sacraments.

Pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.