It is reported that when Martin Luther was ask about the
imperative works discussed in the epistle of James he said, that he would like
Òto throw Jimmy into the fire.Ó But even Martin Luther could not throw certain
sections of the Bible into the fire, or neither can we just emphasize the
sections we like, as we ignore others. This week we will look at a brief
section of James in a context that might help us understand more fully the
works that James so clearly emphasizes.
The verses that I would like you to notice follow, but
they are pretty much self explanatory when you put LutherÕs fiery statement
into the proprer biblical context. In that way one of the great deductive
biblical truths and MartinÕs personal understanding of it, makes his response
perssonally justified, and it truly shows how God has chosen real live persons
to proclaim His message. If raised
in any different circumstances, perhaps the great gift of the restoration of
the concept of GodÕs grace alone as manÕs only hope of salvation, may have had
to come from a different sourcethan Luther.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by
good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have
bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the
truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual,
demonic. For where envy and
self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not
come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder
and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you
do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may
spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that
friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a
friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the
Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But
gives grace to the humble."
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will
flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your
hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn
and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 3:13-4:10)
Like no other writing in the Bible, James is a family
letter. The Son of God truly had a natural younger brother. And they both had
Joseph as there father. With all the reverence given Mary, sometimes we forget
that Joseph was also chosen to be their daddy. Where I was working today, a
little girl was trying to show her daddy something that was important to her.
ÒLook at this daddy! Look at this daddy!Ó she repeated over and over. But it
wasnÕt that her daddy was really ignoring her, she was just so excited about
what she wanted to show her daddy, who had just returned home from work.
The Bible is first and foremost a book written by a Daddy
to His children. If you were to summaries its thousand or more pages, it
basically lays out the facts of life and speaks about what will happen to you
if you follow those precepts, or you donÕt. As we illustrated last week, we can
describe these terms in a number of different ways, but they are really
different ways that a Father can speak to His children. Sometimes He lays down
the law, sometimes He offers unmerited grace. That is the role of God the
Father, and should be the role of all fathers throughout history. But all too
often, in our age fathers are not present at all, but when present their
attitudes are skewed toward either all grace and no discipline, or all
discipline and no grace. Martin Luther had a father of the latter persuasion.
Therefore it should be of little surprise, that when he found in the word of
God, a Father filled with grace and compassion, that Martin would proclaim it
with all his strength and vigor. But with that understanding of unmerited
grace, it would be realistically quite difficult to deal with biblical
passages, that state get up and do some work, because your Dad wants you to
amount to something of everlasting merit. As we mentioned in the beginning,
perhaps you would want to throw a letter from someone like that into the fire.
The Abrahamic covenant is really, from AbrahamÕs point of
view, about him becoming a daddy. A daddy of a child of GodÕs promise. The part
about uncountable descendants not only would have to flow out of one son, but
it is also structured in such a way, by a good Father, so that Abraham can
somewhat understand this wonderful unmerited blessing.
In that same way, Jesus and His younger brother James
could have even a better father than
Abraham. Perhaps that is why we know so little about Joseph, because he
could have been such an outstanding model, that no one could ever follow in his
steps, if those steps were commonly known. But you can surely believe, that
Joseph was a godly example of both attributes of rule and exhortation, not only
for Jesus, but also for James and the rest of the children. Then again, how difficult it would be
for James to deal with a brother that he could not best in any way, and still
experience that love of always being built up and accepted as GodÕs chosen
natural brother.
The timeless words of James in the passage above should
exhort us to obey God and work diligently to perform the work given to us. To a
certain extent, the reason we do not do a better job in many cases, is the lack
of a tangible godly father, balancing in love rule and exhortation, indicative
and imperative, law and gospel. I have mentioned before, when growing up men would
come up to my father and say, ÒYou did more for me than my own father.Ó Well
that father was my papa, and while
he was not at home sometimes when I wished he was, and he did not have time to
play with me sometimes when I wanted him to, throughout my life I have never
run across anyoneÕs dad I would trade for my papa. Once I gained some
perspective of age, I also became aware, that most of the time he knew what was
going on in my life more than I did. Many times he didnÕt intervene was not
because he did not care, but he wanted me to work it out for myself, or to ask
for help from the proper source. One day to make me a better man.
The Bible is a book written by a perfect Father. That
means if you did not have one, then you have a good book to tell you all about
Him. That balance or tension is shown perhaps better than anywhere else in
scripture in this passage written by James, brother of Jesus, son of Joseph.
Now the good news is that the story just does not remain written in the book,
but comes alive by the mystery of the gospel. We, like James can become the
brother, or sister of Jesus of Nazareth, the redeemer of the world. And through
that sacrifice He performed on the cross taking on our sins in our place, He
shows His love for us, and allows us to be adopted into an eternal family.
Those first fruits of that amazing gift are available after we are redeemed, by
learning to work, playing out our calling within that family atmosphere. If we
do not work at it, James clearly spells out the consequences. We therefore do
not have to throw JimmyÕs letter into the fire, but understand the true wisdom
that flows from his pages, adding a true fatherly tension between grace and
works.
Work is a gift from the Lord that provides many functions
in our lives. It is a means of livelihood, a way of serving others, away God
uses to keep us out of trouble when we will mess other things up, among a host
of others. This last week or so must be one of the trouble saving means, for I
have been incredibly busy, well beyond what I can sustain on a long term basis.
But I do know, that I can really foul things up sometimes, with the best of
intentions. There is no way I will ever earn enough here to make the vision the
Lord as given me a reality, but if the option is between work and worry, work
is by far the most productive. I say my mom never went to college, but she had
a PHD in worry. So with that heritage also in my blood, please continue to
intercede for our desire to obtain the capital, personnel, and other provisions
to move to the Little Dalles and do the LordÕs work from that location.