Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve spoken about the severity of sin. We’ve talked about how when Scripture speaks of sin that it is not just referring to our outward actions. No, sin refers to any lack of conformity to the will or law of God in thought, word, or deed. Now, I’m fully aware that this look at the epistle of James was started back a few weeks ago with much of the conversation being about good works in the beginning. It was about taking our faith and responding to the glorious news that we are found in Jesus Christ by doing good works. So, why did I take a few weeks right here in the middle of it to talk about sin? Well, there are two reasons why I would do such a thing. The first and most obvious reason is that that is exactly what James did. I’m simply following the text as James, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote it to begin with some almost 2000 years ago. The second reason why I would do such a thing is that in order for us to truly understand the “good” portion of good works, we have to understand what bad, what sin, really is. We have to understand why we are to respond to saving faith in such a manner. You see, there are a lot of times when we may label something as being good, but it really isn’t. Those sins that we talked about last Sunday of jealousy and selfishness can cause us to distort the truth with any situation. We can take things that are sinful and tell ourselves that they’re really good. We can make ourselves believe just about anything; we can justify almost anything in our minds. In our text today, we’re going to explore the way in which worldliness and holiness (this inaccurate justification of things if you will) are at war within us, and we’re going to see that we so often view things from an earthly and worldly mindset and not the eyes of the gospel.
James begins this text by asking his audience a rhetorical question as to what causes quarrels and fights amongst them. He says, “Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” He then goes on to elaborate what he means when he talks about passions being at war within us. He’s talking about worldliness versus holiness. He’s talking about the mind that seeks God being opposed to the mind that seeks things of earthly value. The sins of coveting and jealousy are at play and they are causing a distortion within us. We want but we can’t have so we turn our full attention to getting. We don’t have because we haven’t asked, and even when we do ask it isn’t for God’s glory but for our own. What does this all mean? What is James talking about? Well, he’s talking about the fact that we so easily become fixed upon what we want that we forsake God. Now, we may not say openly that we’re going to forsake God, but we do so through our actions. When we place a friendship, a new car, the purchase of a new home, or getting that dream job as the most important thing in our life, we are forsaking God. When we say the words “My life would be complete if I had ______” and we don’t fill that blank with God, then we are forsaking Him. The most prominent example I can think of in Scripture is that of Israel wondering in the wilderness. Despite God’s delivering them out of slavery (something that they were crying out for by the way), once they were in the dessert all they wanted was comfort. Forget the fact that God had given them all that they wanted and that God was dwelling with them and leading them to the Promised Land. All that really mattered to them was getting what they wanted and not what God had in store for them. Well, James has some words for his audience that could apply to both wandering Israel and to us as well, “You adulterous people!”
He goes on to add to that even further: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’?” This is one of the texts that people often point to when speaking of the command to be in the world but not of the world. However, it’s a very difficult thing isn’t it? I’m not going to sugarcoat it and make it seem as if it’s an easy thing accomplish. And even if we are able to get to a point where things of this world aren’t important to us, it’s really hard to stay there. Getting there is one challenge and staying there is an entirely new challenge. They say that the hardest thing to do in sports is to repeat as champions. It’s not because players move and teams change, but because it is exhausting giving that much energy and most people don’t have the drive to sustain that from year to year. In terms of our faith, this is the battle of Christ versus culture that we are watching play out on a number of different levels. We’re watching in essence, God vs. America in the case of how we will define marriage. Now, the definition of true marriage won’t change because God doesn’t change. We are the ones trying to change the definition. “Friendship with the world is enmity with God.” We’re seeing this battle played out as well in arena of the church. God has established a certain order and a certain criteria for proper worship and a vetting process for those who are fit to serve in special offices within His church. However, we’re (and by “we” I mean fallen man) trying to change things to make it more pleasing to us. It’s not going to be more pleasing to God unless it’s more accurate to what He has already laid out in Scripture. Anything other than that would by definition be less pleasing to God. However, there is a place where this war is being fought between the world and God that is much more fragile than anything else and it’s a place that affects everything else; it’s within us. We are at war with God when we keep trying to turn from him to pursue our earthly desires. You see, our God is a jealous God, but not jealous in the sinful sense. I’m going to get in trouble for saying this but that’s never stopped me before. I’m going to pick on my mother and my mother-in-law for a moment. You see, when we’re around them, they serve as both grandmothers and surrogate mothers to our kids. If our kids fall down, then they care for scraped knees and all sorts of injuries. However, there are times when my wife (yes I’m bringing her into this too) will look at me and say “I’m the mama, I’m going in there.” Now, she doesn’t mean anything bad, but there is just a sense of love and compassion that she feels as Mom and I feel as Dad that no one else does with our kids. That doesn’t mean that others can love them, but there’s just a special relationship there that if you wanted to you could attach the word jealous to it. That’s the type of connection that God has to all of his children. Sure, he likes for us to love our families and our friends and our jobs, but he doesn’t want those things to ever become the most important things in our lives instead of him. However, that’s what we are constantly trying to do, putting these other things as the most important things in our lives. When we elevate our own friends, family, and selves above faithfulness to God then we have chosen those things over Him. If you’ve ever compromised your Christian principles in order to accommodate someone else, then you’ve chosen them over God. Do you see why it is that this war is so dangerous? It’s so subtle yet so deadly.
Now, getting back to the text, I realize that I’m not very far along here, but we’re setting the stage for something to come. After James’ charge to his audience to lay aside their pride and self-worth and rest more in the grace that God bestows upon them, he takes a more commanding tone. Instead of just simply pointing out where they are and where they ought to be, he gives them instructions on how to seek godliness over worldliness. Submit to God, resist the devil, draw near to God, cleanse your hands, and purify your hearts are some of these instructions that he gives us. Now, it’s worth noting that when we are told to resist the devil that we point out the fact that while God’s grace is irresistible to those who he bestows it upon, the pull of the devil is completely resistible. It may take a great deal of work, but it can be resisted. Satan is not anywhere close to an equal in power compared to God. I know this will sound odd, but I usually equate Satan’s power to that of food’s power over my dog. You see, anytime a piece of food hits the ground, Gumbo is right there on top of it. In fact, when we eat, he just lays under the table because it’s easier. However, there are certain things that are bad for him and so we have had to teach him not to just charge at anything that falls. Instead, he waits a moment and if no one is telling him to stop, then he goes ahead and eats it. Now, even when we tell him not to, there is still a struggle to resist within him that you can see through the shaking of his feet and the constant glancing back and forth between you and the food. But despite the strong temptation, that doesn’t mean that he is completely powerless to resist. You see we can resist the devil; we can resist sin and temptation. However, unlike my dog, we’re not left to resist such things by ourselves. We’re not expected to be able to resist the power of sin and temptation by the sheer magnitude of our wills. NO, we are given the power of God through the indwelling of his Holy Spirit to help us overcome the power of sin.
James calls us to mourn over our sins in verse 9 and humble ourselves before the Lord in verse 10. Remember those Beatitudes of “Blessed are those who mourn” and “Blessed are the meek.” We could take that a step further with verse 11 when James tells us, “Do not speak evil against one another.” This is the command of the beatitude that calls us to be peacemakers (i.e. someone who seeks to reconcile another to God and seeks only fruitful speech). Do you remember what each of these Beatitudes (or blessed be’s) promised? Well, they promised comforting, inheriting the earth, and being declared sons of God. James here is calling us to the Christian way of life. He’s turning our attention and the focus of his message back to where he began this letter by saying that acknowledging sin isn’t enough just as simply acknowledging Jesus as Savior isn’t enough. He’s telling his audience (and us) that acknowledgement without action (or more accurately acknowledgement that doesn’t lead to action) is a road that ends in devastation and destruction. Near the end of this discourse James brings up a familiar line. “The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.” Doesn’t this remind you of James saying that we must be doers of the word and not just hearers? Well, what exactly is the danger with being a judge? “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.” So, what’s the danger with just hearing God’s word and not doing? What’s the danger with not doing the law and judging? Well, such things render us trying to take the place of God in our lives. Such things find us committing the same sin as Adam and Eve in the Garden when they wanted to know what God knew and become gods themselves. Sure, they may not have had those express goals, but they wanted to be the standard-setters for their lives. Throughout all of their existence God had told them what was good and what was bad. Everything was good and the only thing that was bad was the eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, they decided (after being tempted by the serpent) that eating of that tree wasn’t bad but would be good for them.
Friends, we’re clueless, we’re dumb, and we’re foolish. Some folks have a hard time admitting that about themselves, but I’m not one of those people. In all honesty, no Christian should struggle with admitting that either. We have absolutely no clue what is best for us. We know what we want and we think that it’s best for us, but we are clueless as to what is truly best for us. We allow ourselves to view things from the worldly perspective. After all, that’s the only perspective that we can approach things from. However, it isn’t the perspective that God approaches from. God sees all things past, present, and future. God knows the outcome and he knows whom he will call to saving faith and whom he will give over to the passions of this world. And by sheer grace, God bestows upon those whom he calls to see things from a bit of his perspective. Now, obviously we don’t see all that God sees and know all that he knows, but we are given an assurance from him that he is working all things together for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purposes. Yet, despite this fact, we constantly value the world’s ideals, opinions, and definitions of success more than we value God’s. It’s tough fighting worldliness. It’s tough keeping our eyes fixed upon God and not upon the temptations of this world. In fact, we can’t do it, at least not by ourselves. Once again, this is where we rely upon God. We rely upon the only one who has a vantage point, a perspective that is not of this world. We rely upon him totally and completely. And when we do, then we finally have a chance at keeping holiness above worldliness. And this being able to have a chance of overcoming worldliness is just another reason in an ever-growing list as to why we are to respond to God’s saving grace and the faith that he grants us by doing good works. “Friendship with the world is enmity with God.” Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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