James, the half-brother of Jesus, the son of Joseph and
Mary, wrote his letter to the Jewish Christians probably before any of the rest
of the New Testament was written. His
letter, written only about 10 years after the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ, was circulated throughout Jerusalem and the surrounding
areas. In the early days of the church,
Christians were being persecuted in much the same way as they are today in the
middle-east. The Jewish establishment
hated them just as much as the Roman government did. James, the brother of Peter and John had been
beheaded. Another of Christ’s disciples named James, the son of Alphaeus, had been
stoned, as had Steven. Paul had not been
converted and was still actively persecuting the Christians. Many of the believers had left Jerusalem
because of the persecution they faced there.
So James wrote his letter to give these persecuted believers some
practical advice about how to live out their faith. Many people criticize the book of James,
saying that it contradicts the doctrine of salvation by grace alone, through
faith. However, nothing could be further
from the truth. This letter was written
to those who had already received the gift of salvation. It was not intended to tell them how to receive
something they already had, but rather to instruct them about how their lives
should demonstrate that gift. Even
though our lives are quite different from theirs, there are still very many
similarities. The instructions James
gave are still very relevant to us today.
I will not attempt to summarize the entire book here today. It is only 5 chapters, and I encourage you to
study it for yourself. Instead, today we
will focus on the first instruction that James gave, because if we can apply
that first instruction to our lives all the rest will follow.
The very first instruction James gave almost 2000 years ago
was that we should not allow our circumstances to overwhelm us, but rather we
should find joy in knowing that God will use our circumstances to mature us and
to grow our faith:
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, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).
Joy in persecution? Joy in pain?
Joy in unemployment? Joy in
sickness and death?
YES!
James wrote that we are to choose JOY, “whenever you face trials of MANY
KINDS!”
I can hear the sighs now, as though my computer is tapped
into yours. “You don’t know what you are
talking about!” “You don’t know what I
am going through.” “You must be crazy!”
I get it. I HAVE
been there, done that, got the scars (not the t-shirt) to prove it. I won’t re-write my book here, but after you
have studied the book of James, you might want to read my book, “I Choose Joy!” There is a tab at the upper right hand corner
of this page where you can order it. I
say that, not to try to sell more books, but to assure you that I know what I
am talking about.
First of all, you need to understand that there is a huge
difference between joy and happiness.
Happiness is dependent upon circumstances. James did not instruct the persecuted
Christians of his day to “be happy.” He
knew there was much to be unhappy about.
People were being tortured and killed.
Families were being torn apart.
Fortunes were being lost.
Hard-working, honest people were being oppressed. In spite of all the unhappiness, James was
teaching his friends to “count it all joy.”
That phrase was a business term, one that was used in accounting to keep
track of debts. We can keep track of all
the bad circumstances, making a list that might be titled, “Reasons to be
Angry,” or “I’ll Get Even Someday,” or “Everyone Should Feel Sorry for Me
Because. . .” Or we can place each
circumstance on a list we might entitle, “For Jesus to Handle.” We can give each circumstance over to Him. We can ask Him to bear our burdens, we can
thank Him for loving us in spite of our failures, we can trust Him with our
future, and we can trust Him with our past.
We can know, without a doubt, that He will never leave us or forsake us,
no matter what:
“Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).”
For I am convinced that neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
In all my prayers for all of you, I always
pray with joy because of your partnership in the
gospel from the first day until now, being
confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:4-6).
Cast all your anxiety on him because he
cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).
Once you learn the habit of living in JOY
rather than in worry, regret, pain, sorrow, anger, or bitterness, then the rest
of the teachings of James will fall into place much easier.
Secondly, James taught that we should ask
God to give us wisdom. Not the kind of wisdom
that the world might offer, but the kind of wisdom that God gives. Worldly wisdom is based on being puffed up,
learning for the sake of learning, or learning so that one can feel superior to
others. Some Christians fall into the
trap of a worldly form of wisdom – they go from one Bible study to another,
learning more and more about the Word, but never putting what they have learned
into action. Some would say that they “sit
and soak and sour.” Instead, James tells
us that if we have true wisdom, along with the joy that Jesus gives, it will be
reflected by our attitudes toward others, as well as by our actions. We will be stable, not wishy-washy in our
faith; we will be humble, impartial, and merciful:
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 (James 1:5).
Do not merely listen to the word, and so
deceive yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:22).
Religion that God our Father accepts as
pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27).
My brothers and sisters, believers in our
glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose
a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor
man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you
show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good
seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor
by my feet,” have you not discriminated among
yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts (James 2:1-4)?
Suppose a brother or a sister is without
clothes and daily food. If one of you says to
them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their
physical needs, what good is it? In the same
way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James
2:15-17).
Who is wise and understanding among you?
Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes
from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts,
do not boast about it or deny the truth.
Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly,
unspiritual, demonic. For where
you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil
practice. But the wisdom that
comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate,
submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of
righteousness (James 3:13-18).
I hope that you will remember what James
said about prayer and praise:
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them
pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is
anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them
and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the
Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful
and effective (James 5:13-16).
I promise that I will pray for you this
week, as I pray for myself, also. My
prayer is that we will choose joy and God’s wisdom and that we will sing songs
of praise to Him, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in this week.
All scripture is from the New Living
Translation.
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