James 2:1-13 "Show No Partiality"

                Today we continue our look at the epistle of Jesus’ half-brother James.  If you recall, we ended last Sunday by James giving us some pretty direct words about what true faith is to look like.  We saw that true faith doesn’t just stop with hearing the gospel, but that true faith means putting it into action as well.  We were told to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”  I said last week that the sad truth of the matter is that most folks who attend worship services on Sunday mornings have already moved on from the gospel message before lunch is even paid for and have turned their attention to what they really view as important, their secular work.  Most self-proclaimed Christians are not doers (or even listeners for that matter), but hearers only.  Now, I could just skip the sermon and go around the room and let everyone share how they went out in search of the lost this past week or tell me whether or not their heart remained on the gospel through Sunday lunch and all throughout the week, but I won’t do that.  I prayed last week that we would all be placed in situations where we could minister to those in need, even if it meant that we had to be uncomfortable in our doing so.  Well, did that happen for you?  Or, did you just go throughout the week and remain isolated and insulated from the world around you?  Some of you may answer yes, some no, and some maybe.  Well, if you answered yes then good, if you answered no then you know better, and if you answered maybe, then we’re going to talk about you today.

                However, before we get into that, we need to connect what James has said thus far with the text that we have for today in order to fully develop the full reach that our faith ought to have.  James has already spoken about difficulties and blessings (trials of life) as being opportunities for growth and not excuses for our lack of faith.  He’s already given us those words about our faith being worthless if we are able to stop it at a mere acknowledgment without action.  Merely acknowledging the existence of God and acknowledging that Jesus is his Son, our Savior, isn’t nearly enough.  Even Satan and the demons do that, and they aren’t saved.  James opens this second chapter by saying, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.”  In other words, James calls us to go all out.  He calls us to commit fully to the gospel and to give it all we have.  This gospel isn’t just worthy of a little commitment, but of a full, complete, and total commitment.  Let this be a little foretaste of what we’re going to say when we talk about those folks who were in the “maybe” or “no” camps in just a moment. 

                However, before James fully develops this notion of faith being all or nothing, he gives this little example of sin through the showing of favoritism between a poor man and a rich man entering some type of gathering.  Now, Amy can attest to all of you in here that people don’t impress me.  I don’t really care who you are or what you’ve done; you’re just a person to me.  As my dad would always say to me, “We all put our pants on one leg at a time” (except for Thomas).  I’ve never really understood the admiration that one person may have for another.  I’m not talking about respect, that’s a different matter.  I’m talking about being in awe of another person or catering to them for really no reason other than them being who they are.  I’ve had lunch with billionaires, homeless folks, U.S. congressmen, addicts, fortune 500 CEO’s, convicts, professional athletes, and famous social figures.  I’ve listened to a lot of them and I’ve joked with all of them.  I’ve even made fun of some of them with them sitting at the table; obviously, not about the same things because all of their backgrounds were different, but ultimately we’re all human.  We’re all created in the image of God (Imago Dei), and deserve the respect that goes with that.  There is no inherent value within a person that makes them more or less worthy of our love and affection than any other person.

I love what James does here.  After telling these Jewish Christians what true faith looks like, he gives them an example.  If two guys walk into a building and one is dressed nicely and the other not-so-nicely, do you show preference?  Well, if you do, then you have “become judges with evil thoughts” as James says.  Think about where we sit today.  If someone wearing a custom-tailored Italian suit walks in and sits somewhere in this room and someone else comes in off the streets, how many of you are going to rush to talk to the homeless man?  I would guess not many of you, yet he’s probably the one more in need of what we are to offer as the church.  James says that we are to love them both.  “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?”  James isn’t saying that only the poor will enter into heaven, but he’s saying that God’s children can be from both the rich and the poor.  We also have to remember that the majority of Christians living during James’ time were poor, since it had yet to be completely accepted within government circles to follow Christ.  Don’t fall into the trap of mistaking earthly treasures as a stamp of acceptance as one of God’s chosen.  It’s so common for people to think that earthly success means favor with God, but such thinking isn’t only not biblical, it’s anti-biblical.  James says that when we show this favoritism that we “have dishonored the poor man” and that we oppress him.  This word that is translated oppress carries with is a meaning of the oppressive work of Satan.  In other words, by showing favoritism to one, you are sending the message to the other that he is not important. By oppressing this man, you are carrying out the work of Satan, which is to counter to the work of God.

                So, let’s look at how this stacks up with what James has called us to do already thus far in his epistle.  We were told to bridle our tongue (which includes our actions as well as our words), to care for the orphaned and widowed (i.e., the poor), and to keep ourselves unstained from the outside world.  Well, when we show favoritism (and as a result show another person that he is of lesser value), then we have already violated all three of these markers for true faith that James has given us.  After all, as James points out in verse 8, if we were fulfilling all of these things, then we would be fulfilling part of what Jesus gave us as the Great Commandment, to love our neighbors as ourselves.  This is the part of that commandment that pertains to how we treat others.  None of us would want to be ignored or told that someone else was more important than we are, so why would we think it is okay to do that to someone else?  Yet, we do it every single day.

                Now, I’m well aware at how many of you will probably view favoritism, and I can predict some of the comments that may come about from this discussion.  “Yeah Tommy, I understand that favoritism is wrong, but it’s not really that bad.  After all, it’s not like it’s something serious like theft, adultery, or even murder.  It’s only human nature to tend to care more for those that are similar to us.”  Well, hold on just a minute before you start to think that.  “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.”  In other words, sin, no matter how big or how small, is still sin, and it still places us outside of complete conformity to God’s will.  It’s difficult for us to understand because of the way that things are structured in this world.  Look at it like this; I have received seven civil (driving) citations in my life for speeding, wrong-way on a one-way street, and failing to stop at a stop sign.  That’s not very good, but I have never been convicted of a crime.  If I have to fill something out asking if I have committed any crimes then I’m free to mark no because of what we consider to be a distinction between a crime and a civil citation.  However, if the question was, “have police ever had to be involved to prevent you from doing or to stop you from doing something outside of the law?” then the answer would be yes.  Myself and a convicted felon would both mark the same box.

                Now, there’s no one who is going to argue that a speeding ticket (even 7 of them) is in any way comparable to burglary or murder on the scale of severity.  However, there is no debate that both of them are things that involved the breaking of the law.  Well, that’s what sin is; it’s the breaking of the law of God.  Some sins are indeed more heinous than others, there’s no denying that.  However, even in the smallest sin a serious offense is made against God.  To sin at any point (small or large) is to sin against the law and therefore against God, the Lawgiver.  And any sin whatsoever (even the civil citations of God’s law) places us outside of God’s favor and places upon us condemnation and wrath.  James is telling us that for us to abhor one sin and excuse another is a false view of God’s law.  “For he who said ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not commit murder.’”  The same God who said that we should not murder is the same one who told us to keep the Sabbath holy.  The same God who told us not to commit adultery is the same one who said that we are to give him our firstfruits.  Do you see where James is going with this?  If you’re going to live by the law then that’s great, but you have to keep every jot and tittle of it.  One little mistake, even a very tiny and seemingly insignificant misstep from the law, and you stand completely condemned by God.

                So, where does all of this fit in to our discussion about true faith being one that works as we look at this epistle?  Well, look at vv. 12-13, “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.  For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.”  Do you remember what I said last Sunday the phrase “law of liberty” represents?  It represents the gospel, the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his conquering of sin and death.  And what this means for us is that although God is never obligated to show mercy, he freely chooses to do so in great measure.  As Romans 9:15 says, God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, which doesn’t depend on us but upon him.  However, we are commanded by his law to temper justice with mercy.  Refusal to do so will cause us to loss that mercy.  In other words, we are to show mercy to others as a result of God’s showing us mercy.  That’s the balance between faith and works.  Remember the C.S. Lewis quote about faith and works being blades of a pair of scissors.  We can’t stop at head knowledge.

                In other words, our good works ought to be the outpouring of love and gratitude that we have for God because of our being saved based on the gospel (i.e. Jesus) and not the law.  And when we show this gratitude, we are not to do so partially, but with all that we have.  When someone thanks you for something that you’ve done, or if you send one of your kids to go thank someone for giving them a present, you don’t want them to just walk up to someone and give a half-hearted thanks.  No, you want them to give a look-in-the-eyes whole-hearted thank you.  You want there to be a totality of thanks and not a partiality.  Again, there’s a big world out there with thousands upon thousands of opportunities for us to show our gratitude to God.  Are you going to seize one of those opportunities?  Yes?  No?  Maybe?  Well, building off of the past two weeks, faith that can be turned on and off like a light switch is not true faith.  And faith that does not call us to be both hearers and doers of God’s word is a dead faith and of no value.  So, if we aren’t to be able to silence our faith and the right manifestation of our faith is to be our works, which are our thanks to God, then how in the world could our answer not be “yes”?  How in the world could we not go out into this world and find opportunities for witnessing, serving, loving, and showing the grace and mercy of Christ?  That is, we have true faith, without which we stand hopeless and destitute.  Apart from Jesus and his saving work, we’re as good as dead.  Don’t have a dead faith, but have a right faith, a saving faith, that shows our gratitude by carrying out the works of God.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

James 1:19-27 "Not Just Hearers, But Doers Too"

                Today is our second week in our study of the epistle of James, the half-brother of Jesus.  Last Sunday, we looked at James’ introductory text where he wrote to Jewish Christians about persevering through the trials of life.  We noted that James warned his audience to not mistakenly think that the trials of life were only the difficult things.  It is just as easy for family, wealth, power, fame, or any other blessing to become a trial for someone growing in their faith.  Good gifts can be especially damaging to our faith when we don’t see them for what they actually are, gifts from God.  Everything that we have and all that we call our own, are actually gifts from God.  Our families, our earthly successes, even our faith itself, all find their origins in God Almighty.  Trials come through both hardships and abundant blessings.

                James links these opening sentiments about trials as opportunities for growth with the words for today by using the phrase “Know this.”  Now, even though it may read as an imperative in our English translations, the original Greek actually conveys a meaning of “you know this.”  It’s similar to if I were explaining how to start a car.  I would go through the things you need to check before starting, then say, “but you know this” and then continue on with the rest of my instructions.  James is encouraging these tribes in the Dispersion (and us as well) by saying in essence, “Look, you already know what I’ve said, it’s nothing new.  You also know what I’m about to tell you.”  He goes on and says that “every person [should] be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”  Now, James isn’t giving us advice here about how to deal with others, but he’s telling us how we are to approach the Word of God and listen to it without becoming angry or spouting off all of our objections.  Yes, there is great wisdom in being slow to speak and slow to get angry in conversation or dealing with other people, but that isn’t the main focus of James’ words here, and we know that from the context.  He’s talking about how we are to respond to God’s word.

                James calls his audience to “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”  He’s saying that part of the way in which we learn to listen is by doing these things; putting away filthiness and wickedness and receiving the implanted word.  What’s odd about James’ phrasing here is that the order is backwards from how God actually works.  You see, in terms of our coming to faith, we first receive God’s word (whether it be through Scripture, prayer, or some form of general revelation) and then we work at putting away the wickedness of our lives.  After all, how can we know what is truly wicked and filthy until we have received God’s word, which tells us what is filthy and what is wicked.  However, James is being very pastoral here.  He’s not looking at it from a theological perspective, but from a pastoral one.  He’s seeing it as we often do from our earthly perspective, that we have to remove the filthy before we are worthy of receiving the holy.  One of the most frustrating things as a pastor is when someone tells me that their reason for leaving the church or not coming back to church is because they don’t feel as if they are holy enough or good enough to be part of the bride of Christ.  It’s like what C.S. Lewis once said, “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust.  But how had I gotten this idea of just and unjust?  A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.  What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”  James is telling us here that we’re not expected to have all the evil shed before coming to Christ, but that part of the process of coming to him is the shedding of this wickedness.  I love the fact that James doesn’t focus too much on the order of things, but works at really driving home what it all means in the next few verses.  He really works at telling us how we are to respond to God’s word.

                “But be does of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”  Notice that James doesn’t say to be doers above hearers or that hearing isn’t important, but he says that we must be doers and hearers.  If that word “only” wasn’t there then we might could give doing some supremacy over hearing, but it’s there.  Sure, it’s important to read God’s word, read literature containing sound doctrine, and hear sound preaching and teaching, but what good is it if you’re never stirred to any action.  I’ve often been puzzled at how so many Christians can sit in churches much like this one and hear sound, articulate calls for going out into the world and witnessing to others (not that I always make such presentations), yet as soon as worship is concluded they do their best to remain as isolated from others as they can and to distance themselves from ever coming in contact with anyone who is in need of hearing the gospel or experiencing the love of Christ.  Hearing or reading God’s word ought to be an emotional event each and every time it occurs.  There’s a new movie that’s out in some theaters, however, not a majority of them, titled The Hunting Ground.  This movie is about the rising problem of sexual assault of young women on college campuses.  Shamefully, this issue has been overlooked many times in our culture, especially when it pertains to college athletes.  I was listening to the radio the other day when a female radio host said, “I dare anyone to watch this film and hear the experiences of these women and to continue to treat this issue so nonchalantly.”  That’s the type of sentiment we ought to have towards the gospel.  “I dare anyone to hear the word of God and be able to see the world as nonchalantly as we currently seem to view it.”

                James goes on to write, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”  In other words, we look at or we hear God’s word without ever really getting it or seeing it.  As soon as we end our reading of it or we leave church or we’re not around our church family, then it is as if there is no impact upon our lives.  It’s like when you tell your kids (or in some of your cases employees) to stop fighting and they do it for a few seconds and then as soon as one of you leaves the room they go right back to it.  They never listened; there was never any real impact.  “But to the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a does who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”  Now, these phrases perfect law and law of liberty are references to Scripture and the gospel respectively.  In other words, it’s as if James is saying “But for those of you who read and hear God’s word and receive the good news of the gospel and don’t turn a deaf ear to it, but instead become active workers on behalf of God, God will certainly bless you in your endeavors.”  Doesn’t this have the same feel to it as the passage earlier in this epistle when James said that the “crown of life” would be received by those who remained “steadfast under trial”?  James is driving home the point of acknowledging the difficulties of being a doer of the word, but never once does he diminish the necessity of being such a doer.  As Tom Hanks said in the movie A League of Their Own, “It’s supposed to be hard.  If it were easy, everyone would do it.”  The good news for us is that we are not left alone to accomplish such work.  We are given the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish glorious and wonderful things for the kingdom of God.

                James finishes his opening chapter by saying, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”  Wow!  There certainly is a lot there from James and only a little time to comment on it.  First, we cannot miss the connection between the bridling of the tongue in v. 26 and the call to be slow to speak in v. 19.  Throughout this entire text, James has been encouraging his audience to not speak at/to the word of God, but to let the word of God speak to them.  There’s absolutely nothing that we need to add to God’s message to complete it.  Don’t misunderstand me; things like the WCF and the catechisms are wonderful, but they are not additions to God’s word.  What they are are summations of God’s word so that teaching the principles contained in Scripture becomes much easier.  In fact, the first chapter of WCF (On Holy Scripture) speaks to the supremacy of Scripture above all other sources.

                A second thing to take from this closing section of chapter one is the activeness with which our faiths are to operate.  This is the same point that James has already made about being not only hearers of the word, but doers as well.  He says that true religion, the right response to God’s word, is to reach out to those in need and to seek to live a life that is in line with God’s will as it is laid out in his word.  I’m going to be really frank here about what this means and how it applies to our lives as we sit here today.  James is telling his audience that if your faith is such that all you do is listen to God’s word and you never act upon it, then it’s worthless, it’s of no saving value.  In other words, if the extent of your faith is attending church and maybe doing some little devotional each day without actually becoming active in your faith, then it’s worthless, you might as well not be doing anything at all.  The view of Christianity that places attendance in worship as if it is the ultimate expression of faith is quite honestly a Christian faith that is unbiblical.  Yes, it’s a part of it, but not the whole.  If a student went through med-school and never dealt with one patient, never learned anything new, or never practiced any of what was taught to him, but had perfect attendance would you let him operate on you?  Absolutely not, why we wouldn’t even consider that man/woman to be a real doctor.  Well, why in the world would we consider a person who simply goes to church but never grows and never puts their faith into practice to be a real Christian?

                It’s not about faith versus works.  It’s not about being justified or saved by what we do versus what we believe.  It’s about a faith that works.  It’s about our hearing the word of God and responding to it by doing something, anything.  However, the sad fact of the matter is that many Christians who attend church on Sunday mornings have already allowed that “gospel feeling” to leave their bodies before Sunday lunch is even paid for.  Friends, don’t have that type of faith.  After all, as James tells us, “[that] person’s religion is worthless.”  Instead have a faith that works.  Do something with your faith.  Be not just hearers, but doers as well.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

James 1:1-18 "True Faith Works"

                Today we’re going to begin a series on the epistle of James.  This series is going to last probably about nine weeks, and it will cover the entirety of the book of James.  The title that I’ve given to this series is “True Faith Works.”  So often the discussion is had as to whether we are saved by what we believe (faith) or what we do (works).  We Reformed folks cling to the notion that we are saved by faith and faith alone, but we don’t really practice that statement accurately.  We fall into one of two corruptions of this phrase.  The first corruption is that we say we’re saved by faith but we act as if we’re saved by works.  We claim that faith is all we need, but we attempt to judge according to the outward actions and put more emphasis on what is seen that what is believed.  It’s very possible to do good things without saving faith in Christ or even a belief in him.  The second corruption of the notion of being saved by faith is that we pay no attention at all to the outward actions because we don’t view them as valuable; sort of the complete opposite end of the spectrum.  After all, if we are saved by faith alone, then what good are works?  In other words, we use the fact that we are saved by faith in Christ alone as an excuse to sin and not do good works.  Lately I’ve seen the phrase “Only God can judge me” on numerous trucks and clothing around town.  It has been embraced as a motto of sorts by those who believe in God, but wish to live lives that don’t represent that belief.  Remember, even the Satan believes in God, and so do demons.  Quite honestly, what kind of sense does it make to have such a system exist?  Why would a system exist where our being saved can be seen as a license to sin?  Well, such system doesn’t exist, as we’re going to see as we work through James.  What James is going to teach us is that while it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that we are saved, our good works ought to be the byproducts of that faith.  In other words, true faith doesn’t exist apart from good works.  As we work our way through James, I’m going to keep reminding you of this C.S. Lewis quote, “Christians have often disputed as to whether what leads the Christian home is good actions, or faith in Christ … it does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.”  Well, we’re going to begin our study of true faith not existing apart from good works today by looking at a section on how our faith is tested.  We will see James warning that our faith is tested by both external and internal trials, but that there is opportunity for growth in either one.

                In this first section of James’ epistle, after James’ identifying of himself as the author, he goes on to talk about external trials by saying, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”  Now, before you go find the closest person you can who is in the midst of a crisis and tell them that they should count themselves joyful because of their trials, let me make something very clear about this text here.  When James speaks of trials of various kinds, he’s not just talking about difficulties or hardships.  Sure those things are part of it, but there’s something more to it.  You see, James wrote this epistle “to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion”, which is a reference to Christians who were formerly Jews but converted to Christianity who dwelt outside of Palestine.  He wrote it to them so that he could teach them about what true faith was to look like, i.e. a faith that produces good works.  This was a needed description given the Pharisaic mindset that many of them had grown up with and had lived much of their lives adhering to.  Now, not all of these Jewish Christians were in dire situations.  Some of them were in what would be considered very comfortable situations.  It wasn’t as if physical persecutions, financial difficulties, or some other hardship were the only stumbling blocks that many of them found to living lives that adhered to Jesus’ teachings.  Imagine being a Jewish Christian with wealth and hearing that Jesus said that it would be easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven.  We all know that it is possible to have a faith that doesn’t produce works no matter what we’re going through in life.  It’s not just “bad” things that can keep us from a proper relationship with God.  So, when James speaks of these various trials, he isn’t just talking about something that is difficult.  There are times when we want for absolutely nothing worldly, yet we’re still under attack.  I have seen a lot of wealthy men allow their praise to be muted at the expense of their faith.  I have seen a lot of people with large families (which is a blessing) allow themselves to be so consumed by their loved ones that their faith and its out-workings are almost non-existent.  While many will just assume that trials of our faith come during difficult times like illnesses, loss, or struggles at home, make no mistake that your faith is always being tested and tried.  Trials come during sunny days just as much as cloudy ones.

James says to “let [this] steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  In other words, let this steadfastness (which in the Greek carries with it a meaning of faithful endurance) that is produced from our trials do its work and cause us to grow from these trials (both good and bad), not diminish as a result of them.  James then goes on to say that when we lack wisdom during our trials that we are to ask God and he will grant it to us.  Notice that he doesn’t say that what we want will be given, but that when we earnestly ask God for wisdom and understanding that he will bestow it upon us.  Now, that desire for wisdom has to be sought on the premise that we seek to grow in our faith and not just make some earthly sense as to what is happening.  Part of growing is going through the process.  You don’t simply pick up a guitar, golf club, or any type of tool and just automatically become great at using them.  It takes time and practice to achieve even the most basic levels of mastery, to achieve any type of growth, and our faith is the same way.  You see, trials and tests are meant to cause us to grow in our faith.  The more difficult the task, the more opportunity there is for growth.  I know for me, that I have personally experienced more growth in my faith during difficult times because I have had to rely upon myself less and God more.  Trials and tests aren’t meant to prevent us from getting to some point in life or to throw us off course, but to produce within us a faith that functions and works properly.  They are to work at helping us have a faith that looks to God for all things good, as we will see later on.  However, don’t make the mistake of assuming that every experience is beneficial to the growth of our faiths.  Some do little or nothing for such growth, but we will address that later on in this series.

James concludes this section about outward trials and tests by saying, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”  Now, I don’t know if this is the way that James intended for this to be read, but this is how I read this verse and the following verses as he transitions from talking about outward trials to inward ones.  I look at it as if verse 12 is James’ congratulations to anyone who remains steadfast, who shows that faithful endurance in the face of trials that come upon them from the outside world.  But then he goes on to say in effect, “If you think that the outward trials are tough, you haven’t experienced anything until you’ve been through those inward trials.”  I’ve got to tell y’all a funny story about our first hurricane season living here in Louisiana.  If you recall, Hurricane Isaac happened the first year that we were down here; we had been here for about nine months.  Now, Amy and I were used to winds and we were used to rains, so that didn’t bother us.  I mean, we had lived in areas that got hurricanes on the back end and also had been through numerous storms that produced tornadoes.  So, we never really had any thought about evacuating and it was understood that I wasn’t going anywhere.  However, we had never lived in a place where flooding could occur so easily.  In fact, we had never lived in a place where flooding was ever a concern.  As the rains came, I got a few feet of water in my front yard and I’m kind of freaking out because it’s only a few steps from my door.  I go ask my neighbor at the time, one Robert Theriot, if I have anything to worry about.  I don’t even need to tell y’all what his response was.  Needless to say it would have taken much more water for him to think I had any reason to be concerned.  However, his lack of concern didn’t cause me to watch the water level in my front yard any less.  It was as if Bob was saying, “Yeah, you’re right, the rain is causing the water to rise a good bit, but it’s nothing compared to a stronger storm, levees breaking, etc.”

So, James acknowledges that indeed outward trials are tough, inward trials are probably even more difficult.  And don’t think for one second that God is the one that is tempting us inwardly; that’s all on us.  There is a great difference between testing and tempting.  God will allow us to be tested from the outside, but he doesn’t tempt us from within, that’s where we tempt ourselves.  When we see something on the outside and we forsake all we hold dear to attain that thing, we can’t blame it on the external temptation.  If I’m struggling with true hunger and I go and steal a sandwich from some place, I can’t blame the sandwich on looking so tasty, I have to blame myself for stealing.  If we think back to the story of Job, we see that God indeed allowed Satan to test Job through outward means, but never once did God do anything internal to Job or his thinking.  Job was completely left alone as far as his mental state was concerned; it was his talking to and taking advice from his friends as to how he should feel about God (external temptation) that caused problems.  When he earnestly sought God, God gave him the wisdom that we mentioned earlier.  Ultimately, we know that Job’s being able to truly praise God during the midst of his trials and suffering led to the restoration (of sorts) of all the things that Job lost as a result of Satan’s works, and also a strengthening of Job’s faith.

                James encourages his audience to “not be deceived…every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”  This is that notion that I referenced earlier where our faiths should be at.  This is how we ought to view God.  Instead of seeing him as this harsh judge and constant tester or our wills and resolve, we ought to see him as the One who gives us what we do have.  It’s not just our hard work or our abilities that give us all the things that we call “ours”.  God has allowed us to prosper through our own earthly endeavors, but has helped us all along the way.  This notion is going to be crucial for our understanding that good works are the byproducts of our faith.  When we view God as being responsible for all of the good things in life that we enjoy, then the concept of our works being a response of thanksgiving comes very naturally to us.  However, if we view ourselves as having earned all that we have and God simply having not gotten in the way, then the notion of good works in response to God becomes a little more difficult. 

                We’re going to take time over the next two months and look and see how James tries to develop this notion of good works coming as a result of our faith.  It’s something a little different than most views of this epistle.  So often it’s faith vs. works, but again, I would remind of that C.S. Lewis quote that was somewhat the inspiration for this study.  However, as for this opening section of James’ epistle, let’s remember that these trials serve an important purpose.  They’re not there in our lives to trip us up or to cause us to fall away.  They’re there to help us grow in our faiths.  They’re there to strengthen our relationships with God.  They’re there to help us understand that God is not the enemy, but that he is the supplier of all good things.  I’ll end by making this comparison.  We’re (Amy and I) not at this point, but someday we might be.  In life, you go through stages.  When you’re a little kid and don’t understand much, your parents know everything.  We could make up something and our kids would believe us.  Then, as they get older and gain a little bit of understanding about where they stand, parents then become the enemy.  “Mom and dad just don’t understand.  All they even do is try and ruin my fun.”  This is the uninformed Christian or the immature Christian.  However, there comes that point, usually after someone has children of their own, when they begin to see all the ways in which their parents truly loved them and sought their well-being at every turn.  This is the point where we can thank our parents for disciplining us because it taught us character (and that’s why I have so much of it).  That’s the view that a mature Christian has of God.  It’s when we can look upon the trials of life and thank God that he cares enough for us to give us those opportunities for growth.  God isn’t some harsh overlord, but the giver and origin of all good things.  Let us rejoice and have faith in him, and let our good works flow out of us as a proper response to all that he has done for us, in us, to us, and through us.  Amen.w

Revelation 5:1-14 "Only the Lamb is Worthy"

                Over the past month, we have been looking at the significance of the title of Jesus that John the Baptist gave him when he saw him walking towards him and shouted, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  We’ve been looking at why Jesus would have been referred to as a lamb and not some other animal (although he was referred to as the Lion of Judah as well).  After all, it’s not as if the lamb is an animal that is greatly feared or thought of as being one that represents a place of honor, at least not in our modern thinking.  However, if we walk back through this series, we see that the lamb did in fact play a significant role in the proper worship and daily living of Old Testament Israel.  We also see that the Lamb of God plays a significant role in our proper worship and daily living today.  In fact, the Lamb of God doesn’t just play a role in how we worship, but he is how we are able to worship God today.

                We saw during our first week in this series the need for an unblemished lamb as a sin offering for the people of Israel.  The priests were to follow the rules of Leviticus 4 and take the unblemished lamb from the people and offer it up as a means of atoning for their sins.  This was our introduction to this system of sacrifice and atonement of sins coming through the shedding of innocent blood.  After that, we looked at Isaiah 53 and the Song of the Suffering Servant where Isaiah made the connection between the coming Messiah, the Suffering Servant, and this unblemished lamb used for sin offerings.  “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”   We then moved on to 1 Peter 1 and we looked at the cross as the place (or altar) of the sacrifice of this lamb, the Lamb of God.  We noted that the cross is both a sign of God’s love for us and a sign that we are to fear him.  God’s wrath is displayed just as much in the cross as his love is.  We then turned to the scene in Revelation 7 that depicts the Lamb of God being surrounded by a multitude of people who were waving palm branches at him, and we made the connection to the scene of Jesus entering Jerusalem on that Sabbath day prior to his arrest, trial, and crucifixion.  We talked about the ultimate victory that Jesus was on his way to accomplish despite the people who cheered him having no idea how it was to come about.  We even took a few moments earlier this week to draw the connection between Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper and the Passover prior to Israel’s leaving Egypt.  The blood of the lamb that saved the Hebrews in Egypt cannot be separated from the blood of the Lamb of God that saves us this very day.  We noted that the Passover was ultimately a foreshadowing of the crucifixion, and that brings us here to our text today.

                Now, I’m sorry if any of you are disappointed that we’re not specifically looking at one of those glorious texts that tell us of the resurrection and the empty tomb from one of the gospel accounts.  Notice that I said I’m sorry if you’re disappointed, but I’m not sorry for the text that we have.  You see, this text that we have today, while being part of the revelation of John as to the things that are to come about, tells both a story of what has happened and what will happen.  This text give allusions back to Christ’s first coming and looks forward to his second coming as well.  Just look at some of the words and phrases used with our current context of Easter Sunday and the resurrection in mind.  “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seal?’  And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.”  As I read these words, my mind goes back to what it must have been like to have been an Israelite prior to Christ’s coming into the world.  If we look at the scroll as being a covenant between God and man (which is a common view of what this scroll could represent), then we can sort of picture it.  We can picture the people of Israel looking around asking themselves if anyone was worthy of living up to this covenant.  After all, the people of Israel knew that there was a Messiah coming to fulfill promises that God had made, even if they didn’t know the full extent of what they really meant.  Finding no one anywhere who was capable of fulfilling the will of the Father, the only thing they could do was weep and hope for the future Messiah to come.  It’s kind of similar to where we stand on Christ’s second coming.  Sure, we believe completely that it will happen, but we most certainly don’t live as we should in light of that fact.

                Then, we see the words, “weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”  It’s as if we see the promise of the Messiah all over again in these words.  It’s as if we’re reading Genesis 3:15 or Jeremiah 31 spoken through illustrations.  In other words, Jesus has come and he and he alone has the power to fulfill this covenant of works between God and man.  How is he going to fulfill it?  Well, “between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”  Now, I feel like I need to explain something here.  The number 7’s usage in Revelation is not a literal amount, but instead is used to signify completion.  So, this passage is saying that whatever it means for these scrolls to the unsealed, that work has been completed through the slaying of this Lamb.  The means by which Jesus will complete his work is through his being slain.

                Later on John saw some of the multitude singing a song to this Lamb that goes, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”  Does this language not just scream out Jesus Christ?  Or how about what we find beginning in v. 12, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”  How can we read these words and not think of Jesus, the Lamb of God?  We even see all the creatures of the earth saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”  If I haven’t done an adequate job over the past few weeks of equating Jesus and the title of Lamb of God and the correlation between these two and the sacrifice of the lamb to atone for sins then this certainly is taking care of that today.

                Now, with the time that I have left, I want to answer one big question.  How does this Lenten series on the Lamb of God, this text on the Lamb as being slain for the unsealing of this scroll and the fulfillment of God’s covenant, and the resurrection that we celebrate this day (that we read about in our Call to Worship) all relate to one another?  The answer is simple really; it’s the message of the Gospel.  It’s the message of Romans 5:12-21, that we were dead in Adam but are alive in Christ.  Our Lenten series has been focused primarily upon the sacrificial aspect of the Lamb of God.  After all that’s what that title really indicates.  Sacrifice is a large part of what is included in this particular title of Jesus.  Well, why was there a need for a sacrifice?  As we’ve said all along, because of the sins of mankind.  One little lamb temporarily cleansed the sins of an individual (or family), but the Lamb of God has the power to completely cleanse all of mankind for all of eternity.  Jesus was the only one who could do it, which is the point that we get to today.  The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ the Son, was the only one who could live the completely obedient life and fulfill what we could not in the covenant of works.   It would take his death to satisfy the wrath of God, the just and righteous wrath because of the sin of Adam in the Garden.  You see, as we said earlier, we can’t separate the wrath of God from the love of God.

                I heard someone telling a story the other day about someone who didn’t believe in the wrath of God.  Upon being further questioned, the person said that they simply viewed the cross as an act of love.  The person to whom this story was told responded with a story of their own.  “Let’s say you’ve got two friends sitting around a campfire sharing stories.  Then, one of the friends turns to the other and says “I love you” and jumps in the fire and is burned to death.  That’s not love, that’s foolishness.  However, let’s say your house is on fire and your friend runs in and pulls you out but in the process loses his life.  He receives the punishment (the fate) that should have fallen upon you; now that’s love.”  You see, to have an act of love then there has to be some punishment, some sense of sacrifice.  There has to be some measure of I deserve one thing but what I actually receive is something so much more.  We cannot begin to understand the love of God without understanding the wrath of God.

                And so we come to the empty tomb.  God the Father poured out his wrath upon his only Son, the Lamb of God, for our sake.  The Son has given his life as a ransom for our own.  He has breathed his last breath, died, and was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.  However, he did not remain in that state.  His rising up from the dead shows us his conquering of sin and sin’s greatest weapon, death.  This is the completion of his crucifixion.  This is the moment that we celebrate the angel’s words, “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.”  In just a moment, our time spent in worship will be completed and we will be back in the “real world.”  And you know what?  The tomb will be just as empty in a few hours as it is right now.  And when we go back to work tomorrow, the tomb will still be empty.  And a few weeks from now when the “high” from all the Easter celebrations has worn off, the tomb will still be empty.  As I said, this empty tomb represents the conquering of death and sin.  This is news that is too good to keep to ourselves.  All of the other things that we read in Scripture about Jesus; his teachings and miracles, all find their real meaning in the fact that he died and rose again from the grave.  Those folks who look to Jesus as some moral teacher only are those who look at Jesus as if he never came out of that tomb.  However, we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that our Savior was dead, buried, and the tomb closed in behind him.  And then on the third day, the Sabbath day, he rose again and left the tomb and remained for 40 days before ascending to heaven and sitting at the right hand of the Father, where he remains to this very day serving as our Advocate, our Lord, our Savior.  I think the Italian Reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli beautifully states what the resurrection of Christ means to us:  “Since he is risen and is our head, we are also risen in him.  Tell me, I pray you, when one holds his head above the deep and deadly waters of a fast-flowing stream, do we not say that he has escaped death even though his other bodily members are yet below the surface?  The same holds true for us, who are all one body in Christ.  Our head is risen from the depths of death.  Even though we may appear to be overwhelmed in the mortal stream, yet we are risen in him.”  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.